We do not raise or breed American Fuzzy Lops, but some of our Holland does occasionally produce fuzzy Holland babies and new lop owners are often curious as to how/why that happens. So here is a brief history of "fuzzies" in the Holland Lop, and the resulting formation of an adorable new breed!
History of the American Fuzzy Lop
The story of the American Fuzzy Lop begins with the Holland Lop. Holland Lops originally only came in the solid variety (meaning a solid-colored coat, unbroken by any white), and early breeders wanted to introduce the broken pattern. This was accomplished through careful breeding with the English Spot. However, in outcrossing, the Holland Lop lost its ideal "rollback" fur texture and gained the English Spot's "flyback" fur texture. To regain the rollback texture, the Holland Lop was again carefully outcrossed, this time to French Angoras. The result was a Holland Lop that again had the desired rollback coat, and the broken pattern from the English Spot had been successfully added to the gene pool. So where does the American Fuzzy Lop come in?
Genetically, there was a lasting side effect from that outcrossing to angoras so many generations ago. The wool gene! Not all Hollands carry the wool gene, but the ideal "roll-back" coat texture is obtained when a Holland carries just one copy of the wool gene. However, when 2 Hollands are bred together who each carry the wool gene, there is the possibility (roughly 25%) of producing purebred Holland Lop bunnies that carry 2 copies of the wool gene and have long, fuzzy, angora-type coats. They are fuzzy Holland Lops, or "fuzzies".
Fuzziness was considered an undesirable trait in Hollands, since it does not fit the standard and is not showable, but there were those who really loved the fuzzy Hollands and wanted to breed and show them. So, the American Fuzzy Lop breed was developed not from a direct crossing of 2 different breeds, but out of pure Holland Lops themselves. The originators of the new "breed" wanted to distance their bunnies from purebred Holland Lops by creating a completely separate breed standard. However, in trying to alter the shape of their rabbits to meet a new standard, the breeders struggled to get consistent results. At Convention time their results were rejected for a lack of continuity between the exhibited animals. So, in order to save their attempt at getting the fuzzy bunnies recognized as a stand-alone breed with ARBA, a new standard was developed for American Fuzzy Lops (AFLs) that reverted to the Holland Lop standard, with the simple addition of swapping out roll-back fur for an angora-type coat. They simply described a fuzzy Holland Lop. This working model was successful, and in 1988 the revised standard and the American Fuzzy Lop gained ARBA recognition as an official breed.
So is an American Fuzzy Lop simply a fuzzy purebred Holland? No, and yes... American Fuzzy Lops were developed directly from purebred Hollands, and to this day a fuzzy Holland is permitted to be shown in ARBA shows as an American Fuzzy Lop. To quote the American Fuzzy Lop Rabbit Club: "any animal meeting the breed requirements listed in the ARBA Standard of Perfection is allowable on the show table. A purebred pedigree is not required for exhibition in the ARBA show. Therefore, an animal produced from the interbreeding of Holland Lops and American Fuzzy Lops or a Fuzzy Lop produced by two Holland Lops is permitted to compete in any ARBA sanctioned show, local or national." However, to be registered (if the owner desires) a rabbit must have only other AFLs in its 3-generation pedigree.
So is it acceptable to breed Hollands with AFLs? That really depends. Initially, crossing AFLs with quality Holland Lop stock was desirable to help establish strong body type in the new AFL breed. Nowadays, the quality of AFL stock available is of a high enough quality that some argue that there can be "no advantage" to interbreeding with Holland Lops. However, consider the case of the English Bulldog and a gene pool that, over time, has become so restricted that not a single puppy born today is without some form of genetic defect. Something that could easily have been avoided if outcrossing with other, suitable, bulldog stock had been permitted. It is a sad warning that should be heeded by any person or group who is considering the breeding of purebred animals. When there are quality animals available with which a gene pool can be deepened while maintaining sound conformation, that certainly is an advantage worth considering. So, if you are considering adding your fuzzy Holland to a line of AFLs, first consider carefully the quality of the Holland, making sure that it does not detract from the AFL line, and then proceed, keeping in mind the overall betterment of the breed.