There's a loving story behind the name of Daddio's Dutch. I have always been a passionate Mini Lop lover, and since I couldn't drive to shows, my Dad would come with me. He didn't show, and he insisted he enjoyed watching me exhibit my rabbits. I didn't see how he could stand it, since those 12- hour days could be very boring for the watcher, and sometimes even boring for the exhibitor!
When he wasn't watching me, he would prowl around the Dutch breeders cages and marvel at their lovely blazes and at how their markings could stop so abruptly. For about two years this pattern was followed, and an idea sparked in me.
On May 12/03 (2 weeks from my Dad's birthday), after months of conspiring over e-mail, and visiting many breeders' tables at the show, I found the perfect 52nd birthday gift for my Daddio! I bought him a young, friendly black dutch buck called Harris' XT1 (later named Xavier). He was just over 6 months old, with 4 GC legs. After paying for him in secret, I watched him show under his original breeder and win Best of Breed and onto Honourable Mention BIS! I was thrilled!
Under the pretense that I was holding the buck for a Victoria breeder to pick up later, Xavier came home with us. Almost immediately, Dad came out to my barn nearly everynight to look at him while I was feeding the rabbits.
May 28th came, and after all the gifts had changed Dad's hands, I gave him one last present...Hhe opened it up, and there was a framed photograph of Xavier, stretched out of the cage and towards the observer in curiousity. Seconds later, I went upstairs and retreived the real thing: Xavier himself! He was welcomed with shocked laughter and much petting from my father.
Unfortunately, although I volunteered to care for him, my Dad admited months later that he wasn't interested in showing. So, he gave me Xavier. It wasn't long after that I started looking for a girlfriend for the big lug, and so Daddio's Dutch was born, in celebration of my original intention. |
