05/29/2026
One of the hardest things to do when you are raising rabbits with the goal of meeting the ARBA breed standard is to know how to improve on what you have.
The first thing to accept is that you are never going to find the "perfect" animal. You have to "build your own" and put them together brick by brick.
If I were starting from ground zero, trying to improve a breed toward the standard, I would personally work in layers.
For example in French Lops:
First, I would focus on establishing width, bone, and overall mass.
That is the first thing that the breed tends to be judged on. So get those pieces right first.
Once that was more consistent, then I’d focus on improving height and topline.
After that, move to the crown width, ear carriage, head development, coat, refinement, etc.
But the important part is this.
You also have to be careful not to bring in a rabbit that only has ONE good trait while being weak everywhere else.
Otherwise, you end up taking two steps backward just to gain one feature.
That’s where breeding gets difficult.
You’re constantly balancing improvement while trying not to lose the progress you've already made.
There’s no perfect formula.
Every breeder has a different strategy.
Now it's your turn.
If you were trying to improve your breed toward the standard…
What order would YOU focus on traits in?
And what breed are you working with?
I think it would actually be interesting to see how different breeders approach the same problem.
