INTRODUCTION

Mini Plush Lops are a rare special breed prized for their small size, temperament and unique coat that sheds less. They are the best choice for allergy-prone families.

THE ORIGIN OF THE MINI PLUSH LOP

The American Mini Plush is a unique and very rare special breed created by Devie D'Anniballe in the 1990s in Ohio.

Today, only a handful of qualified breeders have direct descendants from the D'Anniballe herd. Because they are few in number and their popularity is growing, many people are trying to create their own version of the breed.

Unfortunately, these new versions are not of the same quality as Devie's founding herd, which took her over 12 years and a vigorous breeding programme to create. Ellie's Rabbitry is proud to have several undiluted pure lines from Devie's original stock, as well as some European Plush Lops imported from a show participating breeder named Christine Toyer, owner of Malvina Lake Rabbitry in Luxembourg.

Mini Plush Lops are not simply a cross between a Mini Rex and a Holland Lop as many believe, a true Mini Plush Lop has a total of 4 breeds combined, including one of the smallest rabbit breeds, the Netherland Dwarf. The Mini Plush Lop got its small size from D'Anniballe, who introduced some high quality Netherland Dwarf dozens of generations ago, when the breed was in its early stages of development. Carefully planned percentages of three other breeds were selectively bred over a 12-year period from only the highest quality stock of each breed to inherit their small size, velvety coat, floppy ears and relaxed, friendly personality.

It all started in the early 1990s, when D'Anniballe and a few other breeders shared the same vision. They all loved the personality and floppy ears of the Holland Lop and the soft coat of the Mini Rex. They decided to start a breeding programme to try to create a rabbit that combined these traits, but it was not easy. The Holland Lop was the desired size and closest to the desired body type. The Mini Rex was added for the coat type. Unfortunately, after two years of this breeding combination, D'Anniballe and the other breeders were still not producing what they wanted. The rabbits' ears were not drooping, which made them look too much like a Mini Rex, and their bone structure became too thin. Mrs. D'Anniballe's co-breeders decided it couldn't be done and stopped participating in the breeding programme. It was then that Devie D'Anniballe struck out on her own and took matters into her own hands.

She added 3 pound Mini Rex with excellent coats to a Mini Lop. This gave her the desired body type and caused the ears to drop, but the rabbits were too big. Only the females that were created from this cross were kept for future breeding. Mrs. D'Anniballe already had Holland/Mini Rex crosses with which she was partially satisfied, so she used these males to cross with her Mini Lop cross females to reduce the overall size. Only the females from that combination were kept. At some point Netherland Dwarfs were added to the mix to reduce the size even further. All rabbits were mated only once. If the females had litters and bred them, two females were chosen from those litters and the rest were eliminated from the herd. Only one or two males were chosen to be breeding males from several litters and the rest were culled.

Finally, their barn was divided into sections: one section for the breeding females that had litters and another section for the females resulting from those litters. Once they produced two females, they were removed from the herd. Another section was specifically for males that were kept for breeding.

After several years, new things appeared in his herd. Finally, Dillon was born, who looked very much like what D'Anniballe had striven to produce.

He discovered that if he crossed Dillon with a Holland Lop and then crossed the females with Dillon, it created the Mini Plush Lop he had been envisioning. He affectionately called his creation ‘the perfect fairy tale rabbit’. D'Anniballe created a simple, not-too-detailed standard for the Mini Plush Lop, including: 4.25 pounds or less with small, compact bodies, broad faces with short snouts, long, heavy ears, and velvety fur similar to that of a Mini Rex.

Devie D'Anniballe passed away in 2010.

THE MINI PLUSH LOP STANDARD

SCORE CHART

HEAD..............................20

EARS................................8

CROWN..............................12

PAWS AND LEGS ....................10

BODY..............................25

COAT....................................20

COLOUR AND MARKINGS........5

TOTAL ................100

WEIGHT: Adult weight should be between 1,250 kg and 1,900 kg.

NOTE: Mini Plush Lops can sit in a natural sitting position with the front legs firmly planted or with the front legs pressed down and the legs placed directly in line with the eyes. When ideally perched and viewed from the front, the legs should be strong and straight, with neither short, stubby legs nor tall, thin, fine-boned legs. The chest should look proud and prominent, but not too exaggerated or resembling a bulldog stance. The general body type of Mini Plush Lops should exhibit balance, be round, short, strong and compact. A longer midsection is not desirable. The coat is short, dense, silky, and the shaft is a little longer than that of the Mini Rex, but does not lack lustre, softness and gloss.

2. HEAD: The head should be prominent, compact and somewhat broad, with good space between the eyes, tapering only slightly towards an oval muzzle, avoiding a flat or too rounded profile. The jaw should be strong and well developed. The cheeks should be broader than the forehead, giving a very round and full appearance. There should be minimal differences between males and females. The eyes should be large, bright and expressive. A long or narrow head and a pointed muzzle are not desirable.

3. EARS: The ears should be thick and fall vertically on both sides of the head from a well defined and well placed crown. The ears should hang close to the cheeks. Ears should be thick, well furred, broad and rounded at the tips. Ears should hang just behind the eyes and extend no more than 1.5 inches below the jaw line. The width of the ears should be in balance with the size of the head and body, and the length should be slightly longer.

4. CROWN/Legs/Legs: The crown should be a more subtly defined ridge consisting of cartilage and dense, prominent hair which appears to be level with the top of the head. The crown should wrap from just behind the top of the eye, up over the top of the head and down just behind the top of the other eye. The proper width of the crown from side to side allows the ears to fall vertically. The proper width of the crown from front to back places the ear just behind the eye.

5. BODY: The general appearance of the body is bean-shaped, well balanced and well carried, with pronounced shoulders and a round, full loin. Shoulders and chest should be balanced and look proud and not exaggerated. The width of the shoulders should narrow slightly in relation to the hindquarters. The hindquarters should be broad, deep, full and well rounded. The animal should be medium muscled, short coupled and balanced in length, width and depth. The tail should be straight and full.

6. HAIR: The coat should be soft and velvety, dense, with rex-type hair, but with a slightly longer shaft than that of a rex. However, the slightly longer shaft does not lack the silky, soft, dense and springy texture of a rex. A mini furry lop should have a shiny, glossy coat. The coat should be approximately 1/2 inch long and have a moderate bounce when stroked from shoulder to back.

7. COLOUR AND MARKINGS: All colours are recognisable from the descriptions in the Mini Plush Lop Colour Guide. The solid pattern classification includes all recognised colours within the recognised groups. The broken pattern classification includes all recognised colours within the recognised groups in combination with white. In addition, acceptable modifiers are the White Ear, Vienna and Harlequin gene.

FAULTS: Tight, long or narrow muzzle. Head too large or too small to balance with the body. Lack of roundness of muzzle. Pointed ears, ears too wide, too thin or bent; poor carriage or placement of ears; ears shorter in length than the jaw line or longer than 50 mm beyond the jaw line. Missing, torn or notched ears. Difficult control of the ears and can raise them erect.
Crown extremely strong and defined; narrow crown from side to side or front to back from landing to helicopter ears; crown not positioned just behind the eye (slipped crown).
Unevenly coloured nails in single coloured rabbits. Severe defects by long legs, narrow legs, extra thick short and bowed legs, bowed feet, toes pointing outwards or inwards, missing toes or nails.
Long, lean or cob-shaped body; short or high shoulders; short, tight or undercut hindquarters; flat hips. Bony or lacking fullness. Defects due to extremely short or broad body.
Coat unkempt and dull, textured and lacking a smooth coat, with bristly tips and lacking bounce when stroked.

MINI PLUSH LOP AND ALLERGIES

An interesting thing about Mini Plush Lop rabbits is that they do not shed as much as other breeds, which makes them ideal house rabbits. Mini Plush Lop rabbits shed twice a year and do little or no shedding the rest of the time. They also do not produce dander like dogs, which makes them a much better choice for those who may be allergic to other animals.

THE MINI PLUSH LOP IN SPAIN

The Mini Plush Lop is a non-existent breed in Spain, at present it can only be found in the process of improvement and selection in the United States and in the United Kingdom (they have some differences between them as they are two different lines -the American and the European-). This is a breed of dwarf rabbits with a high price like many others, ranging between 350$ and 450$ (314€ / 405€).

CONCLUSION

The Mini Plush Lop is a novelty breed and excellent to live with families allergic to rabbit fur, its gorgeous soft velvety coat is very eye-catching, and it has a fantastic personality.