Elvis Goes to School

Elvis and Priscilla are a couple: a couple of Basset Hound puppies. Casey bought them from Kelly T. a few months ago.

As puppies, they need to learn what dogs do, so Elvis and Priscilla are going to doggie school.

The top picture is Casey with Elvis on the right and Priscilla on the left. The next two pictures show Cole and Ashley snuggling with Elvis and Priscilla on their way to the doggie school during the car ride. The two lower pictures show Cole and Ashley taking the doggie class with Elvis and Priscilla.

As soon as Elvis and Priscilla graduate from the doggie school and reach 6 months old, they will be off to dog shows.

Golden Piglets

It is the Year of the Pig. The babies born in this year are called "Golden Piglets (Jin Ju Bao Bao)". They are believed to bring wealth and happiness to their families.

Here are two English Angora golden piglets wishing our members full of wealth and happiness this year.

Kelly's Big News

Kelly grew up with English Angora.


When she was in youth competition, winning Best In Show was a regular occurrence. The top photo shows her winning in a 4-H show.

In 1998, she attended the ARBA convention in Portland. That was her last year showing in the youth competition. The last year was a charm; her white doe Lauren won the convention Best In Show. Betty was honored to have a picture taken with Kelly, her winning doe and the big trophy.


The third photo of Kelly and mom Vicki was taken in the 2006 ARBA convention in Fort Worth. Kelly has graduated from college a couple of years prior. She has entered the graduate dental program at the University of Minnesota and she was married a year prior.


Now the big news: Kelly is going to be a mom! She is expected in December and we are looking forward to seeing her in the ARBA convention in Grand Rapids.

Is That Alive or A Stuffed Animal?

Holly and husband Glenn recently went to the one-day North Dakota State Fair. The fair goers were fascinated with Holly's rabbits, kept on asking: "Is that real? What is it?"

In the top picture, Nanuk sat still for a photo session. In the second picture, Glenn goofed around to show how the fair goers expressed their surprise when they saw Avalanche, Holly's winner doe.

Remember When: Betty's Rabbit Partner Suzanne

Betty had a rabbit partner from early to mid 90s. Suzanne went into rabbits around 1990. She and Betty hit it off really well. Suzanne went to her first ARBA convention in Pomona with two rabbits that she bought from Betty, a tort senior doe Sweety Pie and a tort junior doe Nikki. It was expected that Nikki would do well, instead Sweety Pie took Best of Breed!

After the convention, Betty and Suzanne decided to join force. Though each maintained a regular herd, they registered their rabbits in co-ownership form; used each other's rabbits in shows and for breeding. Suzanne had a keen eye for short body type. She was inclined to keep the smallest one in the litter; some of these turned out to have very cobby type when they became adults.

Suzanne is a registered nurse. Her work schedule was different each week and had to work weekends quite a bit. She would go to shows as far as Oregon during her work-free weekends. She was also the vice president of NCAG in charge of book sales.

Eventually her intensive showing and hectic work schedule burned her out. Around 1996-1997, Suzanne decided to stop breeding but still would go to ARBA conventions to have fun. In 2000, Suzanne went with Betty to ARBA convention in Columbus OH for the last time. Her last rabbits passed away around 2003-2004; the oldest one was around 10 years old.

After rabbits, Suzanne was very involved in keeping horses.

Camp Fuzzy

The Angora breeders call their group as the Camp Angora.

In a larger show, the Angora breeders and AFL breeders are in different areas. In smaller shows, the two groups merge.

In a recent show, the two groups were together. The AFL breeders need a good name when they congregate, how about Camp Fuzzy?

At the top is Carol G.; the second picture is her recent double Best of Breed winner Purdue. The third photo is Christina who has moved from youth to open. The fourth photo is Jenny who is still in youth division but competes in open in smaller shows.

Kool-Aid Dyed Sheep

We dye our Angora wool or yarn with Kool-Aid regularly. Kool-Aid dyed yarn is not something of a rarity; though a Kool-Aid dyed sheep would be a rarity.

Found on the net an article by "Moutain Shadow Ranch" talking about Kool-Aid dyeing the sheep for "Sheep to Shawl" contest. This picture is not a photoshop creation; the Kool-Aid is used to dye the wool on the sheep. Here is the insturction to go with the photo:

"Take one very friendly tame sheep, who will hate you for this, wash in cold water with a hair shampoo for greasy, oily, dirty, hair. (Use a people shampoo!) Rinse well, wash once more with shampoo. Don't use too much as the first time it won't suds too well, and the second soaping just use a little as you will rinse forever if you use too much. Then let sheep dry, help with towels, if she is still speaking to you by this time. (a hot day helps, too). Then mix whatever color of Kool Aid as follows: 2 packages of cool Aid to 1 c. of cold white vinegar. Pour on sheep and rub in with hands. If you don't want your hands dyed, use rubber or latex gloves and very old clothes, because the sheep will manage to shake just like a dog and get the dye all over your clothes. It will take several packages to dye one Cotswold adult ewe with a six inch staple length. I use several colors and make a rainbow sheep. Also, to get a bright yellow or green, I use food coloring, as Kool-Aid doesn't make those two colors. Next, let sheep dry overnight, and then rinse very well, with lots of cold water. The excess dye will rinse out. The sheep will have a fruity smell with a dash of vinegar. The dye job is pretty color fast, as I have spun the wool and washed and set it and the color remains. Now, I have also asked my vet. who's a sheep and goat specialist, and she said this does not harm the sheep in any physical way. I also make sure that the sheep has a very clean and draft free place to stay till dry and time to go to the sheep to shawl. I don't dye the sheep until a few days before the contest as I want the sheep to be as clean as possible for the shearing. "

This is very interesting, may be we could do that to our Angora rabbits? In the 80s, there was an exhibitor by the name of Elizabeth Deal who brought a green French Angora to a show in Dixon as a celebration of the St. Patrick's Day. She said it was done with food color. People were shocked; but unfortunately no picture was taken then.