Lops Are Mellow and Other Myths

As an adoption counselor, I am frequently asked questions such as, “Which rabbit breeds are best around children?” Another common comment is, “I live in a small apartment, so I should get a miniature rabbit.” But what is the problem with thinking this way?

The biggest issue is that every rabbit is an individual, and there can be just as many exceptions as there are rabbits that appear to match the usual description of a particular breed. Another problem is evaluating an animal according to its physical appearance instead of its individual temperament. Anyone who has watched a tiny dwarf rabbit race from the kitchen to the porch, using the couch as part of its route, from around 3 AM until mid-morning will quickly understand why the idea that small homes require small rabbits is misleading. In reality, even a very large rabbit can live comfortably in an apartment if its needs are properly met. If there is one broad observation that can sometimes be made, it is that larger rabbits often tend to be calmer and less active, meaning they may actually require less space than some dwarf breeds.

Look Beyond Breed Labels

Be cautious whenever you hear statements beginning with phrases such as “Lops are…” or “Angoras are…”. These kinds of broad descriptions can distract us from the individual animal and replace a real personality with an abstract and often inaccurate breed stereotype. It is certainly true that animals, just like people, are born with individual personalities and are not completely blank slates. However, there is no simple gene for being “good with children.”

When rabbits are deliberately bred rather than produced by accident, the focus is often placed on physical characteristics instead of temperament. Through selective breeding, humans have produced rabbits with particular combinations of colors and markings, such as white bodies with brown ears, noses, feet, and tails. These characteristics can appear in both larger breeds, such as Californians, and smaller breeds, such as Himalayans. But selective breeding does not automatically produce a rabbit that naturally enjoys being picked up or handled by small, sticky children's hands.

The Personality Behind the Appearance

When evaluating a rabbit, paying attention to the individual animal is much more useful than focusing only on its breed or fur color. Look carefully at the rabbit's facial expression, posture, and body language. A gentle rabbit may have a soft and relaxed expression regardless of what breed it belongs to. An anxious rabbit may consistently appear worried and uncomfortable. Such rabbits are less likely to roll onto their backs or stretch out with their hind legs extended behind them.

Relaxed rabbits, on the other hand, may lounge in almost any position. They may casually hang over your arm or remain completely comfortable even in the middle of a busy room. A rabbit with an irritable temperament may have a tense or grumpy expression, much like an unpleasant bank employee who somehow makes you feel as though you are bothering her simply by withdrawing your own money. For anyone who takes the time to understand rabbit behavior, these individual differences are far more meaningful than breed stereotypes.

Breed preferences often accompany these generalizations. Foster volunteers with the House Rabbit Society frequently hear requests such as, “We want a French Lop,” or, “Our previous rabbit was a Dutch. Do you have another one like that?” But isn't this approach once again placing greater importance on a category than on the individual rabbit?

Even if we imagined that every Angora had a particular personality type, there would still be countless exceptions, differences, and contradictions among individual animals. The same principle applies to relationships between people and animals. Long-lasting relationships are generally built through an understanding of personality and compatibility rather than simply through physical appearance.

How Stereotypes Can Become Self-Fulfilling

One serious problem with breed stereotypes is that they can eventually create self-fulfilling expectations. Suppose a dwarf rabbit bites someone. The reaction might be, “Well, dwarf rabbits are known for being irritable,” as though the behavior were unavoidable and there were nothing that could be done to understand or improve the situation.

Because of these assumptions, some dwarf rabbits have ended up in shelters for behavioral problems that might have been tolerated, understood, and addressed if the same behavior had appeared in a breed without a reputation for aggression. The stereotype can therefore influence how people interpret an animal's behavior and, ultimately, what happens to that animal.

Labels Can Hide the Individual

Another troubling consequence of stereotyping is that entire groups of animals can be placed into categories and then treated as though they are fundamentally different from companion animals. Terms such as “lab rabbit” and “meat rabbit” are good examples.

What truly separates a laboratory rabbit from a house rabbit? Anyone who has rescued a former laboratory rabbit and watched her become a beloved companion can see that the difference is not inherent in the animal itself. The label creates the distinction. Yet simply using different names can reinforce the idea that some rabbits are meant for laboratories while others are meant to become food.

The Misunderstood Mixed-Breed Rabbit

Where does all this leave the mixed-breed rabbit? Whether openly stated or simply implied, breed-based thinking often gives purebred rabbits greater value or status. Mixed-breed rabbits can consequently be treated as though they are somehow less desirable.

When a similar attitude is directed toward human beings, we recognize it as social snobbery or, in more serious cases, prejudice. The same underlying habit of judging individuals according to ancestry or classification can be harmful when applied to animals.

Why Generalizations Can Be Dangerous

Human beings naturally make generalizations about other living creatures. Some are harmless, while others can become deeply harmful or even dangerous. Racism, sexism, speciesism, and other forms of “us versus them” thinking can all involve broad assumptions based on appearance, ancestry, background, or other characteristics.

Someone who would never consider judging a person according to their supposed “breed,” such as nationality or ethnic background, may nevertheless feel perfectly comfortable judging a rabbit according to the color of its fur, the shape of its ears, or the breed written on its paperwork.

Saying that all Lops are calm is based on the same kind of simplistic thinking as saying that blondes are unintelligent or that people born under Sagittarius are naturally tactless. These statements attempt to replace knowledge of an individual with a generalized assumption about a group.

Every Rabbit Is an Individual

Your rabbit is a unique individual, unlike any other rabbit. Getting to know him requires paying attention to who he actually is rather than trying to fit him into a predetermined category. The relationship develops through observation, patience, trust, and the shared experience of learning about one another.

A rabbit's value and beauty do not depend on whether he has pedigree papers, just as his affection for you has nothing to do with your ancestry. Once we stop viewing rabbits through the narrow lens of breed stereotypes, we can begin to appreciate the enormous variety of personalities and behaviors that exist within these animals.

The more we look beyond labels and take the time to understand each rabbit as an individual, the richer and more fascinating the world of rabbits becomes.