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Teddy and Teddy Satins

THE TEDDY CAVY

By John Kirkpatrick

from ACBA Guide Book 1989

The Teddy cavy, which was named for the teddy bear that it resembles, is unique in that it is the only one of the thirteen recognized breeds that does not have a straight hair shaft. Kinky, medium length hair shafts are what gives this little guy his plump, cuddly look with his body and other features being like that of the American.

A brief history of the breed reveals that Mr. Winkler in California first discovered the Teddy in 1967. In 1970, Joan Wiley of southern California began to raise them. Winkler and Wiley then began to sell offspring of their animals to serious breeders to get a wider distribution of animals. In 1974, the Teddy was introduced at the American Rabbit Breeders Convention in Ventura, CA and in January 1978, it became the fifth breed of cavy recognized by the A.R.B.A. Two years later, a Black Teddy boar named Black Bart strutted away with the top honor at the Second Annual ACBA Nation Cnovention n Denver, Colorado.

The Teddy is a mutation with a recessive coat so that they breed true. Since it is a mutation, a Teddy cannot be "made" from other breeds. One can, however, crossbreed into other breeds to improve the coat, type or color but you must always have at least one Teddy coat in order to breed Teddies.

The first mutation initially appeared in Tortoise Shell and White only, but it didn't take breeders long to go to work on that. Today the Teddy appears in all 23 of the recognized varieties.

As this was a brand new breed, the original working standard allowed for a slight center part, soft conditions and erect ears on a slightly pointed head. These conditions, if seen today, would be severely faulted as the breed has been greatly improved.

Breeders crossbred Teddies to Americans to improve the body type and coats. Abyssinians were also used to improve coat. The products of these breedings have resulted in two distinct type of Teddy coats; a harsh, wiry, kinky coat and a softer, plush one. The cross to the American produced the plush one and the cross to the Abyssinian produced the harsh coat which tends to be longer and a little more uneven. The desired end result is a short, 3/4 inch, dense kinky coat that gives a feeling of resilience when pressed with the open palm.

Judges are encouraged to pat the coat with the palm to check texture, density, and resiliency. Scissoring the coat with the fingers also checks density. Close examination of the hair shafts will determine the kinkiness and finally the coat should be stroked back and forth and left to rest. No breaks, gaps or flatness should appear. This is very important as the coat carries 40 points in judging Teddies. Rosettes or ridges in the coat are disqualifications.

The shape which carries 20 points should be a medium body length with broad shoulders, a Roman nose, and a high full crown.

Color carries 20 points and should match the corresponding recognized standard varitey discription.

Ears and eyes carry 5 points each. The ears should be drooping slightly, not fallen, shapely to match the body. The eyes should be large, full and bright and the correct color for the variety discription.

Ten points are also allotted for flesh condition which should be firm and hard.

The young teddies are born with wavy or kinky hair shafts which make them easy to evaluate at birth. Even their little whiskers are curly. Select animals that have a good dense kinky coat all over their body, especially the belly. There seems to be a correlation between the amount of curling on the belly as babies and the quality of the coat as adults. The kinkier the baby's belly, the better the adult coat.

As they grow, Teddy youngsters go through so many awkward and ugly stages one begins to wonder why you kept them. The juniors do alot of rubbing, causing bare spots in their softer baby coats. Then their coats seem to lose the kinkiness going rather flat on the sides. Don't despair, if they had good coats as newborns, they'll get them again as late intermediates or seniors.

Teddies, like the other short haired breeds, are nice because you can breed your show boars without destroying their coats. From personal experience we have found that sows generally show best as juniors and boars don't do well until one or two years old, although this is not universally true.

Grooming for shows is easily done with these wooly coated animals. If they are to be bathed, do so about 5 days before the show and thoroughly dry them with a hand held hair dryer while fluffing the coat. This helps remove the dry skin and debris that gets trapped in these dense coats. It also helps the coat to stand out evenly over the entire body.

If a bath is not particularly needed, the coat may be gone over with a vacuum cleaner. Just use the hose with the smallest nozzle to help pull out the only guard hairs and debris. This gives the coat a nice finished look and the animals seem to enjoy it as evidenced by all the chortling and strutting that occurs. Teddies have come a long way in a relatively short time. They have won and are continuing to win many Best in Show awards which is an indication that breeders are producing quality animals that fit their breed standard.

REFERENCES

Anderson, Lorna, "Reflections: The Teddy", ACBA OFFICIAL GUIDE BOOK, 1981

Edward, Margaret, ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GUINEA PIGS, Neptune, NJ: TFH Publications, Inc., Ldt,. 1980

Leishman, Robert, "Teddies are Terrific", ACBA NEWS GUIDE BOOK ISSUE, August 1979.

STANDARD OF PERFECTION, Bloomington, IL, American Rabbit Breeders Association, Inc., 1981-1985

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