About Us
I started out in January 1994 with a guinea pig bought at a pet store. Little did I know how lucky I was to bring home one that wasn't sick or pregnant. I was real lonely without any four-legged critters running around.
I grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. From the time I was born, we had always had a dog and sometimes a cat too. For a while, we even had two Squirrel Monkeys! They were a lot of fun. Well, when my husband at that time and I moved to a rental in a college town in Northern Utah in May 1992, my long time friends, Billy-Joe, a CKC Shetland Sheepdog, and his buddy T-Jay the tabby cat, couldn't go with us. We had to give them to my mother in Canada and my husband's sister in Utah. I couldn't stand not having something to hold, cuddle and stroke, besides our infant daughter.
My eight-year-old stepson wanted a hamster. I wasn't too keen on the idea, but we gave it a shot. Well, she was cute for a few months, until she wouldn't let anyone hold her. She started to bite. From the beginning she kept us awake at night spinning in her wheel. She smelled up her double decker cage/aquarium home really quick and then there were the times she somehow managed to get out! She was not easy to find or capture either. I was the only one caring for her, so I KNOW her cage was closed tight. How on earth she ever found a way out is beyond me!
After a few months of putting up with her, we decided to add to our joy. We kept the hamster, but we added "Cocoa", an American Golden Agouti Cavy (guinea pig). She was really sweet. She cooed when we pet her. She acknowledged our presence in the children's bedroom, yes; she could stay in the bedroom and not keep them awake. She enjoyed being held and she didn't spend her days and nights trying to escape. That was a true blessing, and; she didn't smell up our home!
My ex-husband even liked Cocoa. He did not grow up with pets. They did have one outdoor cat for a short time, but he was not attached to her. He grew to enjoy my Sheltie though, and had him waiting at the door for a biscuit when he got home. Cocoa was fun and much cleaner than the hamster. In September of that year I found someone that raised cavies and allowed us to take Cocoa over for a few weeks to be bred. She was bred to an American Red Cavy. The babies came in November, but Cocoa didn't know what to do and they died before we woke up that morning. It was really sad to see her so very large one day, with the babies moving around inside of her, and then three dead babies the next morning.
The next month, I called the owner of the boar and asked if she would consent to Cocoa being bred again. She not only consented, she sold us the boar! On February 24th, 1995 Cocoa & Rusty had four healthy babies, all sows, two red, one golden agouti, and one black.
In July 1995, my ex-husband graduated and was offered a job in California. On the day he received the call, we went to the Utah Pioneer Day celebration in the park. There, I came across a lady I had met before that had baby bunnies. We ended up trading one of the red sows for a baby buck. The bunnies were from a neighbour of hers and she wasn't sure of the breed, but thought it to be a Silver Marten. I sure didn't have any idea - he just looked cute.
We made our move to California in a matter of about two weeks. My cat T-Jay, the five cavies and our new bunny "Whiskers" came with us. The hamster had lived her life and passed away earlier that year. Billy-Joe had to be put down due to cancer in June 1995. Within two weeks we acquired "Dusty", an Australian Shepherd/Golden Retriever cross we took in when her previous owners didn't want her any more.
By February 1996, our son decided to give 4-H a try. When the 4-H leader wanted to teach tattooing to the children, we took Whiskers. We then discovered that Whiskers was in no way, shape or form, a Silver Marten. He was probably one of the Chinchilla breeds, but his back was covered by brown tipped hair while his ears and flanks had the proper shade of black tipped hair, so our son couldn't enter him into the Fair. We went in search of a pedigreed bunny that he could enter. He chose a Castor coloured Mini Rex buck. At the Fair, "Thumper" received Best Opposite Sex of Variety and Best Opposite Sex of Breed! That was in August 1996.
While at the Fair, I found a lady who knew where I could buy my favourite breed of bunny - the smallest lop eared kind. I didn't know what they were called, but I wanted small and lopped, just for a pet of course! I found just the right colour too, Sable Point. I brought "Picard's Genie", a Holland Lop, home in September. She was born in January that year. She loved to be held and cuddled. She was much different than the cavies and I loved her just the same.
Just before a show in November 1996, we discovered Thumper was a "Thumpette". She was also of breeding age by then and we didn't want to go into breeding Mini Rex. We found her a home with someone that raised Mini Rex. Our son wasn't into 4-H as much as I was into the cavies and my Holland Lop. After the show, I decided to find a buck for Genie to be bred to. After all, I knew what breeding and raising cavies was all about, but I knew nothing about rabbit breeding and raising. I had joined a rabbit and cavy club around this time in addition to going to and being involved with 4-H, and it seemed nearly everyone had rabbits and I was the only one with cavies. I also became interested in showing my cavies and one rabbit.
Genie became a mom to three dead babies on the cage wire and one live one in the nestbox, which died by the next morning. I had her bred again. This time she put all four in the nestbox and had them covered up so nice and neat, but it was extremely cold out and they didn't make it alive by the time I found them. I tried again. She had only one baby that came out dead. Again she was bred. This time, 2nd May 1997, she produced a nice healthy litter of four babies born in our house where it was nice and warm. She raised three of those babies and I caught the "Holland Fever".
I love rabbits and everything to do with them. I've always collected rabbit things. I did, however, never believe I would get "into" raising rabbits. I was quite happy with the cavies. I once told my ex-husband after I decided to breed Genie, that I wouldn't ever have a whole bunch of rabbits because "they" take up too much room. Every rabbit needs its own cage eventually. The cavies are community animals and prefer to room with several others. Of course I only put male with male and female with female until I want babies.
It was a few months after Genie came home that my ex-husband told me that he wanted a bunny. I thought I was hearing things and asked him to repeat himself and explain. He told me he didn't want one of those "lambs" like mine with the floppy ears. He wanted one of those small bunnies with the short ears. In April 1997 we came home with "Picard's Derriere", a Siamese Sable Netherland Dwarf doe with a very 'nice for breeding' behind. She had already produced a couple of litters and came home with us bred, and produced a healthy litter one month later.
So, this was our start into raising rabbits and cavies. All along I continued to breed and raise the cavies. I bought additional cavies and had several for quite awhile. Then the rabbits needed more space and I seemed more content to spend my time with them. I didn't want to get rid of the cavies, I enjoyed them and their mini replicas of mom and dad when they had babies, but I did decide to stick with just one variety. Cocoa produced five litters in all for us and then I retired her. She spent time in my ex-husband's classroom and was the matriarch of my bunny barn for a long time. Cocoa passed away 12th June 2000. Genie was bred ten times, raised only four litters in all and then went to live with a family as their pet. I kept one of her daughters, Diana, who was a great mother. She stayed with us until September 2001 when she went to live as a family pet. Many rabbits born in those first few years had Genie on their pedigrees.
I received a ton of help in learning about raising and caring for my rabbits from Karen Picard of California. I now share that information with others, including hand tattooing their rabbits for them. When we had Whiskers tattooed, he was done with a clamp style tattoo. I decided then that I wanted nothing to do with that method of tattooing. Karen taught me well everything I came to know in the beginning. I'm grateful to have had someone willing to share her experience with me. I love to pass on what I've come to know with others now.
On October 14th, 2000 we received a phone call from a friend exclaiming, "The puppies are here!" We went to have a look that afternoon and fell in love with Anna-Belle. She was an Australian Shepherd. She passed away the 11th of December 2008. She was fetching her favourite rope on Tuesday and gone Thursday morning of illness that did not show itself until the day before. I'm guessing it was Cancer as the Vet looked at her and she was totally anemic.
In July 2004, we moved back to Utah to be a little closer to family. On July 2nd, 2005 I rescued a Red-eyed Orange American Cavy. I found him a new home after a few months and then obtained my precious American Himalayans, just as I used to raise. We were no longer Pig"less" 'N' Hare! Then came the divorce in the spring of 2006. I decided with no spare time due to college and several part-time jobs, that something had to go and so away went the cavies to a good breeder home in Salt Lake City, Utah in July 2006.
I used to keep 30 to 50 Holland Lops, but I've sold most and am down to just 7 now. No time for breeding or showing them. I'm managing to maintain them along with my 3 cats, a Blue Tortoise Shell named Precious, a precautious Seal Point Ragdoll Mix named Priscilla and on March 21st, 2006, while having Annie spayed, my daughter and I decided to adopt a 10 month old purebred Ragdoll we named Mandy. She has fit right in our home as if she's always lived here.
And that, as they say, is the history of how I got started with what was called Hemming's Pig 'N' Hare. Since I was divorced in 2006, I renamed it "Pig 'N' Hare Rabbitry". It is an ARBA registered rabbitry under Registration #: A257.
In 2008 I married Larry Warkentin and we now raise and show our rabbits together whenever we can. Larry and I added American Sable rabbits on the 22nd October 2011. We will learn and grow in showing and breeding them as well as provide meat for our family. Our very first litter was born on the 24th of February 2012. LJC's Sierra had ELEVEN babies!
We bred and showed our American Sables for a couple of years, however, ultimately, we decided that having only one breed was best for us and the bunnies. We sold out of American Sables on the 23rd of January 2014.
On the 16th of March 2019, we gained a NEW addition! We have an American Cavy in the house again! Her name is Annie, already given her before she came to us. I LIKE it!!! I really miss my Aussie named Annie! She is a Red-eyed Beige. She is getting used to the sounds of her new home. She's kind of skiddish, however, hopefully that will pass in time.
I grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. From the time I was born, we had always had a dog and sometimes a cat too. For a while, we even had two Squirrel Monkeys! They were a lot of fun. Well, when my husband at that time and I moved to a rental in a college town in Northern Utah in May 1992, my long time friends, Billy-Joe, a CKC Shetland Sheepdog, and his buddy T-Jay the tabby cat, couldn't go with us. We had to give them to my mother in Canada and my husband's sister in Utah. I couldn't stand not having something to hold, cuddle and stroke, besides our infant daughter.
My eight-year-old stepson wanted a hamster. I wasn't too keen on the idea, but we gave it a shot. Well, she was cute for a few months, until she wouldn't let anyone hold her. She started to bite. From the beginning she kept us awake at night spinning in her wheel. She smelled up her double decker cage/aquarium home really quick and then there were the times she somehow managed to get out! She was not easy to find or capture either. I was the only one caring for her, so I KNOW her cage was closed tight. How on earth she ever found a way out is beyond me!
After a few months of putting up with her, we decided to add to our joy. We kept the hamster, but we added "Cocoa", an American Golden Agouti Cavy (guinea pig). She was really sweet. She cooed when we pet her. She acknowledged our presence in the children's bedroom, yes; she could stay in the bedroom and not keep them awake. She enjoyed being held and she didn't spend her days and nights trying to escape. That was a true blessing, and; she didn't smell up our home!
My ex-husband even liked Cocoa. He did not grow up with pets. They did have one outdoor cat for a short time, but he was not attached to her. He grew to enjoy my Sheltie though, and had him waiting at the door for a biscuit when he got home. Cocoa was fun and much cleaner than the hamster. In September of that year I found someone that raised cavies and allowed us to take Cocoa over for a few weeks to be bred. She was bred to an American Red Cavy. The babies came in November, but Cocoa didn't know what to do and they died before we woke up that morning. It was really sad to see her so very large one day, with the babies moving around inside of her, and then three dead babies the next morning.
The next month, I called the owner of the boar and asked if she would consent to Cocoa being bred again. She not only consented, she sold us the boar! On February 24th, 1995 Cocoa & Rusty had four healthy babies, all sows, two red, one golden agouti, and one black.
In July 1995, my ex-husband graduated and was offered a job in California. On the day he received the call, we went to the Utah Pioneer Day celebration in the park. There, I came across a lady I had met before that had baby bunnies. We ended up trading one of the red sows for a baby buck. The bunnies were from a neighbour of hers and she wasn't sure of the breed, but thought it to be a Silver Marten. I sure didn't have any idea - he just looked cute.
We made our move to California in a matter of about two weeks. My cat T-Jay, the five cavies and our new bunny "Whiskers" came with us. The hamster had lived her life and passed away earlier that year. Billy-Joe had to be put down due to cancer in June 1995. Within two weeks we acquired "Dusty", an Australian Shepherd/Golden Retriever cross we took in when her previous owners didn't want her any more.
By February 1996, our son decided to give 4-H a try. When the 4-H leader wanted to teach tattooing to the children, we took Whiskers. We then discovered that Whiskers was in no way, shape or form, a Silver Marten. He was probably one of the Chinchilla breeds, but his back was covered by brown tipped hair while his ears and flanks had the proper shade of black tipped hair, so our son couldn't enter him into the Fair. We went in search of a pedigreed bunny that he could enter. He chose a Castor coloured Mini Rex buck. At the Fair, "Thumper" received Best Opposite Sex of Variety and Best Opposite Sex of Breed! That was in August 1996.
While at the Fair, I found a lady who knew where I could buy my favourite breed of bunny - the smallest lop eared kind. I didn't know what they were called, but I wanted small and lopped, just for a pet of course! I found just the right colour too, Sable Point. I brought "Picard's Genie", a Holland Lop, home in September. She was born in January that year. She loved to be held and cuddled. She was much different than the cavies and I loved her just the same.
Just before a show in November 1996, we discovered Thumper was a "Thumpette". She was also of breeding age by then and we didn't want to go into breeding Mini Rex. We found her a home with someone that raised Mini Rex. Our son wasn't into 4-H as much as I was into the cavies and my Holland Lop. After the show, I decided to find a buck for Genie to be bred to. After all, I knew what breeding and raising cavies was all about, but I knew nothing about rabbit breeding and raising. I had joined a rabbit and cavy club around this time in addition to going to and being involved with 4-H, and it seemed nearly everyone had rabbits and I was the only one with cavies. I also became interested in showing my cavies and one rabbit.
Genie became a mom to three dead babies on the cage wire and one live one in the nestbox, which died by the next morning. I had her bred again. This time she put all four in the nestbox and had them covered up so nice and neat, but it was extremely cold out and they didn't make it alive by the time I found them. I tried again. She had only one baby that came out dead. Again she was bred. This time, 2nd May 1997, she produced a nice healthy litter of four babies born in our house where it was nice and warm. She raised three of those babies and I caught the "Holland Fever".
I love rabbits and everything to do with them. I've always collected rabbit things. I did, however, never believe I would get "into" raising rabbits. I was quite happy with the cavies. I once told my ex-husband after I decided to breed Genie, that I wouldn't ever have a whole bunch of rabbits because "they" take up too much room. Every rabbit needs its own cage eventually. The cavies are community animals and prefer to room with several others. Of course I only put male with male and female with female until I want babies.
It was a few months after Genie came home that my ex-husband told me that he wanted a bunny. I thought I was hearing things and asked him to repeat himself and explain. He told me he didn't want one of those "lambs" like mine with the floppy ears. He wanted one of those small bunnies with the short ears. In April 1997 we came home with "Picard's Derriere", a Siamese Sable Netherland Dwarf doe with a very 'nice for breeding' behind. She had already produced a couple of litters and came home with us bred, and produced a healthy litter one month later.
So, this was our start into raising rabbits and cavies. All along I continued to breed and raise the cavies. I bought additional cavies and had several for quite awhile. Then the rabbits needed more space and I seemed more content to spend my time with them. I didn't want to get rid of the cavies, I enjoyed them and their mini replicas of mom and dad when they had babies, but I did decide to stick with just one variety. Cocoa produced five litters in all for us and then I retired her. She spent time in my ex-husband's classroom and was the matriarch of my bunny barn for a long time. Cocoa passed away 12th June 2000. Genie was bred ten times, raised only four litters in all and then went to live with a family as their pet. I kept one of her daughters, Diana, who was a great mother. She stayed with us until September 2001 when she went to live as a family pet. Many rabbits born in those first few years had Genie on their pedigrees.
I received a ton of help in learning about raising and caring for my rabbits from Karen Picard of California. I now share that information with others, including hand tattooing their rabbits for them. When we had Whiskers tattooed, he was done with a clamp style tattoo. I decided then that I wanted nothing to do with that method of tattooing. Karen taught me well everything I came to know in the beginning. I'm grateful to have had someone willing to share her experience with me. I love to pass on what I've come to know with others now.
On October 14th, 2000 we received a phone call from a friend exclaiming, "The puppies are here!" We went to have a look that afternoon and fell in love with Anna-Belle. She was an Australian Shepherd. She passed away the 11th of December 2008. She was fetching her favourite rope on Tuesday and gone Thursday morning of illness that did not show itself until the day before. I'm guessing it was Cancer as the Vet looked at her and she was totally anemic.
In July 2004, we moved back to Utah to be a little closer to family. On July 2nd, 2005 I rescued a Red-eyed Orange American Cavy. I found him a new home after a few months and then obtained my precious American Himalayans, just as I used to raise. We were no longer Pig"less" 'N' Hare! Then came the divorce in the spring of 2006. I decided with no spare time due to college and several part-time jobs, that something had to go and so away went the cavies to a good breeder home in Salt Lake City, Utah in July 2006.
I used to keep 30 to 50 Holland Lops, but I've sold most and am down to just 7 now. No time for breeding or showing them. I'm managing to maintain them along with my 3 cats, a Blue Tortoise Shell named Precious, a precautious Seal Point Ragdoll Mix named Priscilla and on March 21st, 2006, while having Annie spayed, my daughter and I decided to adopt a 10 month old purebred Ragdoll we named Mandy. She has fit right in our home as if she's always lived here.
And that, as they say, is the history of how I got started with what was called Hemming's Pig 'N' Hare. Since I was divorced in 2006, I renamed it "Pig 'N' Hare Rabbitry". It is an ARBA registered rabbitry under Registration #: A257.
In 2008 I married Larry Warkentin and we now raise and show our rabbits together whenever we can. Larry and I added American Sable rabbits on the 22nd October 2011. We will learn and grow in showing and breeding them as well as provide meat for our family. Our very first litter was born on the 24th of February 2012. LJC's Sierra had ELEVEN babies!
We bred and showed our American Sables for a couple of years, however, ultimately, we decided that having only one breed was best for us and the bunnies. We sold out of American Sables on the 23rd of January 2014.
On the 16th of March 2019, we gained a NEW addition! We have an American Cavy in the house again! Her name is Annie, already given her before she came to us. I LIKE it!!! I really miss my Aussie named Annie! She is a Red-eyed Beige. She is getting used to the sounds of her new home. She's kind of skiddish, however, hopefully that will pass in time.
Rhapsody's Cactus - was my herd buck that started me off to catching the Holland Fever! ~ He was a super sweet bunny! He always wanted to be loved first before eating and doted on the girls he spent time with! He lived to be 9 yrs, 4 mos.