Netherland Dwarf type
The standard explained

This article explains the netherland dwarf standard along with pictures of examples.

This article written by K.Newberry on Nov 23rd, updated on April 19th for Bunnirabbitry...updated on June 18, 2002

Weight
Ideal weight is 2#, but most dwarfs with good type will be heavier that 2#. But, they cannot be over 2.08#, that's pretty simple to assess. Just get an accurate digital scale. Although, the standard states that the ideal weight is 2#...do not get stuck on breeding dwarfs that are exactly 2#. I've done that, and have probably sold alot of my best animals because they were bigger than the "ideal" 2#.

Dwarf Body
The body is to be short and compact....ok, but short and compact by who's definition? But, you want as little length in the midsection as possible, a dwarf moving around naturally should not show any length in body, if it is short and compact. I don't think that there is a thing as "too short and compact" with the dwarfs. Here's SV's Onyx, a short, compact bodied animal.

A long body will throw the balance of the animal off....it will affect the depth of the animal also, by pushing the hindquarters farther back. Here's SV's Sparkle-a long bodied dwarf.

Depth
Depth is from the ground to the top of the animals back. Many dwarfs lack depth at the shoulders, which causes their head to want to lay on the table when posing. These are called "table huggers" or "carpet huggers". The picture above shows a dwarf that lacks depth at the shoulders, the picture below SV's Honey lacks depth everywhere....there is no peak, the topline goes straigh across.

Shoulders should equal the hindquarters in width...lots of young dwarfs have narrow shoulders, it's hard to determine whether a JR will have width to the shoulders. Narrow shoulders are a severe fault.

You can check the width of the shoulders by looking at the animal from the top, the JR dwarfs above SV's Pepper and SV's Thumper, shows very narrow shoulders. You can also hold the animal on it's back and see how many fingers you can fit easilty between the forelegs, there should be at least 2 fingers width between the forelegs.

Hindquarters
Hindquarters are best checked by feeling the animal, you should put your entire palm on the animals back and feel down to the table, you shouldn't feel any protruding boney areas. Animals that are pinched, may show a dimple at the lower part of the hindquarters, make sure that this is not caused by the way the animal is posed. The hindquarters when viewed in profile, should show a smooth 1/4 circle arc. SV's Mystical has a nice arc to her hindquarters, but is long in the shoulders, throwing off her balance.

Balance
Balance is the amount of head to body, the amount of depth to width and length. Dwarfs should be 3 balls, the same size, 2 for the body and 1 set at a 45 degree angle for the head. Also, you can use the 1:1:2 rule. Dwarfs should be 1 part width, 1 part depth and 2 parts length. Although, some dwarf breeders believe that 1:1:1 produces a better dwarf. Use your own judgement. Depth--When you hear judges comment regarding depth of the rabbit, they are referring to the rabbit (when viewed in profile), the peak of the back down to the table...depth (or the high point on the back), should be at the shoulders.

Here's a very young doe -SV's Beauty, that shows promising balance...sometimes does overall aren't as well balanced as bucks, does tend to have smaller, narrower heads and muzzles. This doe also has a nice, smooth round head. And also a very nice round, full hindquarters, you can see the 1/4 circle arc that dwarf hindquarters should be.

Head
The head is important, although the standard only has 15 points allowed for the head. A dwarf will not win without a good head. The head needs to be wide, and ROUND. There should be no break in the arc of the head when viewed in profile. Also, the head should be positioned high and close to the shoulders. The picture of the first dwarf at the top shows a head set high on the shoulders and shows a head close to the shoulders, the blue doe above also shows a head set too far from the shoulders. Here's the bunny aboves mother, also showing a nice, round, smooth head. Here's a picture of SV's TuxedoMel with a nice, round DOE head.

.....and here's SV's Voodoo with a nice, round BUCK head

Ears
Ears are also important also, ears are also worth 15 points which combined with the head is nearly 1/3 of the entire points allowed. An animal with poor ears will also cannot win.

Ears should be as short as possible, the dwarf should hold the ears together and upright, the standard says an ideal length of 2", but I believe that is not the way they are judged. I have an estimate that 1/2" for every 1# of animal will give you the ideal ear length. So a 2.08# animal WOULD have an ideal ear length of 1 1/4", but a smaller animal should have smaller ear length, to balance with the body.

Here's a picture of SV's Nikki again, you can see that for a young JR, she shows promising width of shoulders also in this picture. This doe has excellent ear length, ear positioning and ear shape. Another problem with dwarfs is a slipped crown, the ears will lay back and not stand up straight...the problem is caused from the ears being too far back on the head.

This picture of SV's RojerJR. shows very clearly how far back the ears are set, and this is not what you want. This doe is the 1/2 sister of the black silver marten with the correct ear placement, goes to show that breeding a doe to a different buck can make the difference between a show litter and a poor litter. Also, thickness of ears is not easy to get either. Ears should be as thick as possible. There is no such thing in the dwarf world as "too thick". Ears should be rounded at the tip, and have a slight taper to them...when viewed from the front, should not show too much ear flange. The ears need to be close set and not set on an angle, but straight on the top of the head. A brood type animal that lacks the dwarfing gene will have ears that are longer and wider. In areas where summers are very hot, breeders have said that the bunnies born in the hotter months of the year, will develop longer ears to help cool their bodies. In Michigan, summers are not that hot. The black silver marten (SV's Nikki) was born July 17th!

Eyes
Eyes should be bold, and round, you should be able to see white all around the iris when you are looking at the animal.

Fur
Fur should be in prime condition, you should be able to see a "prime line" down the bunnies back when the fur is at it's best....Netherland dwarfs are supposed to have a "rollback" coat, which means that when you stroke the fur in the wrong direction...it should gradually "rollback" into place...if it snaps back quickly, it has a flyback coat, and i've heard judges say that a rabbit with a flyback coat is "a little fast on the coat!" This took me 2 years to figure out what a fast coat meant.

Color
Color is not worth much with Netherland dwarfs, but it is VERY important, that you pay attention--make sure your REW & BEWs are SPARKLING white, not yellow stained. When breeding the self colors, cull for stray white hairs...and strive for intense dark coloring. It is essential when breeding blues, chocolates and lilacs (or ANY dilute color) that you make sure that the nails are kept DARK. With the shadeds, watch that the saddle does not fade. The agoutis, make sure the ring color is clear, watch the ear lacing. With the silver martens make sure that you watch the eye circles and clean cut triangle and watch the ticking! The otters (as with the martens, need the ticking and eye circles, they also need the orange tones to be kept orange and not fade away over time. If you breed himalayans, be especially concerned with keeping the point color dark and clean! And if you (like me) breed steels, and have found the secret to good steel coloring, let me know, as I have not found it!

For more information see my picture page on posing Netherland Dwarfs!

Back to Index