Broken Blue Otter BJB
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Black Fox SJD
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Let’s start with a game. Here are two juniors, both somewhere around 4 months old. We’ll pretend they are littermates.
On the left hand side, we have a broken blue otter junior buck. He is clearly lacking in type, but is a pretty color you can show. On the right side, we have a black fox junior doe. She is not a showable color, but has better type than the broken.
Given a choice, which of these two would you pick to grow out, and which would you cull?
Personally, I’d pick the fox a thousand times over. In fact, I will be breeding her to a fox buck as soon as she hits 6 months! Meanwhile, the broken is long gone, never to be seen again. While this might be surprising to some, hopefully this article will explain why I made that decision.
So what exactly is a fox? Simply put, a fox (also known as a torted otter or a tort otter) is a tort with the addition of a tan pattern gene. The primary body color is the same as a tort, the only difference being the otter markings: a white belly and underside of the tail, eye circles, nostril markings, jowls, triangle, collar, and ear lacing. As is true with torts and otters, foxes are further subcategorized into black, blue, chocolate, and lilac.
Unfortunately, at present foxes are not currently recognized in any breed. However, they are a natural occurrence in otter programs. This is because a significant number of otters carry nonextension. This recessive gene is responsible for both tort and fox color.
At the risk of terrifying some, let’s take a quick look at the genetics behind the fox variety. The genotypes are as follows:
Black Fox: a(t)- B- C- D- ee
Blue Fox: a(t)- B- C- dd ee
Chocolate Fox: a(t)- bb C- D- ee
Lilac Fox: a(t)- bb C- dd ee
For now, let’s ignore most of those letters and just focus on the A locus and E locus.
A – Agouti. Required for agouti color. Dominant to both tan pattern and self.
a(t) – Tan Pattern. Required for otter and fox color. Dominant to self, yet recessive to agouti.
a - Self. Required for self and tort color. Recessive to both agouti and tan pattern.
E – Full Extension. Required for otter and self color. Dominant to nonextension.
e – Nonextension. Required for fox and tort color. Recessive to full extension.
For more information on the rules of inheritance and basic color genetics, check out the following link:
lotsoflops.com/lessons-in-genetics
Now, it is important to understand that the fox variety is not related or synonymous to the orange and cream varieties. Orange and cream are genetically nonextension agoutis, whereas the fox varieties are nonextension otters. Despite being categorized in the wideband group, oranges and creams are genetically nonextension agoutis and are not genetically widebands. Therefore for the purposes of this article, we will refer to oranges and cream as agouti varieties.
So how do you tell apart foxes and oranges/creams? Many breeders, and even judges, struggle to differentiate the two. Having raised both varieties, I find it easy to tell them apart visually, but difficult to explain how I do it. This is more challenging in babies than adults, as foxes tend to darken and intensify in color as they mature. I recently compiled a bunch of photos of both varieties and studied the specific differences between them. Here is what I found:
1. Look at the nose. An orange will shade from light to dark, and a fox will shade from dark to light. Sometimes the more intensely colored foxes will maintain the dark color going up, rather than shading off to a lighter color. Dilute foxes will have very distinctly blue/lilac faces compared to creams. The nostril markings will also be more distinct in foxes.
2. Look at the cheeks. Foxes will typically have a strip of darker color running along the cheeks just above the white jaw-line. Some foxes will also exhibit a small patch of this color running vertically just behind the muzzle.
3. Look at the flanks. Typically a black or chocolate fox will display some sort of smoke gray shading on the sides. The dilutes (blue and lilac fox) will not display smoke gray shading, but they will typically display slightly darker variation of color on the flanks, and often darker color over the entire body with less of a fawn influence when compared to creams. Oranges will display darker color on their flanks, but will resemble a tort less than a fox.
It is close to impossible to distinguish foxes from oranges/creams by going off the intensity of head or body color alone. This is because 99% of orange and cream Hollands out there have extremely smutty color. Therefore in that respect they can be indistinguishable from foxes. I also recommend ignoring the ear color for the same reason.
If you still are not certain what variety your rabbit is, then now is time to study the pedigree. Enlist the help of your local genetics nerd if you can. If neither parent is an agouti, then the rabbit is definitely a fox. If, however, one or both parents are agoutis, then the rabbit in question could be either fox or orange/cream. Is there any otter on the agouti’s pedigree? If not, then it is probably an orange/cream. However, unless the agouti is a definite self carrier (Aa), and the other parent is an aa based variety, then we have no way of knowing whether the rabbit is a fox or an orange/cream. This is when we test breed. The best way of doing this is by breeding to a self. If the rabbit ever produces an agouti (chestnut, opal, etc.), then we know for sure that it is a true genetic orange/cream. If the rabbit only ever produces otter, then it is more than likely a fox. And if the rabbit throws a combination of otter and self, then it is definitely a fox.
Something else to keep in mind from a buyer's perspective is that foxes tend to be a very inexpensive way of acquiring quality rabbits. Personally, I tend to sell foxes for about half of what I ask for my rabbits of showable varieties, given that the demand for foxes is extremely low. Hence, you can buy a high quality fox for the same cost as a poor quality otter. Given how expensive otters can be, a fox can be a great opportunity to get your hands on quality genetics at a much more affordable price. And the best part is that you can still produce otters in one generation by breeding your fox to a full extension rabbit! It’s that simple.
However, many breeders avoid this color and will cull any animals displaying it. The problem comes when looking to improve type in your otters. Think back to the problem at the beginning of the article. Which of the two juniors did you keep? If you chose to keep the broken otter, your decision was to sacrifice type for color. If you chose the fox, your decision was to sacrifice color for type. In an ideal world, the best typed one would be the otter and we wouldn’t have to make a decision. Unfortunately, unless you have an entire herd of true breeding solid black torts, there comes a time when everyone has to make this sort of a choice. How can we as breeders preach ‘type over color’ and yet continue to prioritize color over type?
One of the most common suggestions for those wanting to improve type while not sacrificing color is to breed to a self. This way, in theory, you can improve type while avoiding foxes. Unfortunately, I don’t know of a single person who has a herd of true breeding homozygous EE self Hollands. This means that if you bring in a self to improve type in your otters, odds are it will carry nonextension. In your first generation you may get lucky and produce no foxes or torts, but give it one or two more generations and they will invariably start to emerge. The other issue is that despite the fact that black and blue selfs are relatively competitive varieties compared to most other project colors, it is still much harder to find a quality self with the parts you need than a quality tort, especially if you will not use anything that carries nonextension. So while in theory using selfs in your otter program rather than torts is a nice compromise, in practice it will probably not achieve the results in terms of color and type that you are looking for.
I’ve also heard it suggested that oranges and creams can be bred in to improve type without creating foxes. This is unfortunately not entirely accurate. As we’ve discussed, both orange and cream are ee nonextension colors, so by breeding them into your otters you are still propagating the nonextension gene. The only difference is that you will get agouti based varieties in addition to otters, and within a generation or two you will get a huge boom of random colors. Agouti is a ‘safe’ variety group to breed into your otters, but only if you are willing to get a crazy and unpredictable range of colors and still ignore the color when breeding and culling.
So what should you breed to your otters? Well, my personal view is fairly straightforward; I will breed any combination of otter, self, tort, and fox in the best interests of improving my herd. I keep rabbits that meet my expectations in type, vigor, temperament, and being good breeders and mothers. That's already a lot to select for! Why would I add something completely irrelevant to the list when I could be focusing on producing the highest quality animals I can? In that respect, to me color seems superficial.
There are some otter breeders who avoid nonextension like the plague, and will cull anything in their program that has the gene. But here's the thing. The nonextension gene is recessive. This means that it can hide for generation upon generation and then resurface out of the blue 10 years down the line. Unless you DNA test your entire herd and cull absolutely every carrier, you will probably never achieve a true breeding herd of EE rabbits. So why bother trying when you could instead be focusing on creating well-typed animals?
Here’s what I believe. The fear of producing unshowable rabbits is the main issue holding back the development of type in the otter variety and others. We would have so many more colored Hollands winning on the show tables if there was less fear of breeding to torts and producing a certain percentage of unshowable animals. To me, a few unshowable rabbits is a small price to pay.
Why do we fear unshowable colors so much? Just about every Holland breeder I know will use a Charlie or a normal in their program without hesitation. Those are both heritable traits. They will both invariably produce a reasonable percentage of unshowable offspring, yet the majority of successful breeders will still use them in their programs. Why is that? Because a smart breeder will look past the color, assess the strengths and weaknesses of the rabbit behind it, and breed accordingly. This is how quality rabbits are made, not by fixating on ‘correct’ color crosses.
That being said, it is totally normal and perfectly acceptable to have favorite colors. Like everyone, there are colors I love and colors I hate. For example, I adore black otters! They are my absolute favorite variety. However, I would much rather have a beautiful fox I can use in my program than a black otter cull. Why would I shoot myself in the foot by removing a quality rabbit from my herd that could end up a BIS producer, or the parent of my next herd buck?
Is it frustrating when the most gorgeous rabbit of the litter is a fox? Of course it is! Sometimes the color gods are on your side, and sometimes they exist just to mess with you. Train your brain to ignore the color when evaluating the litter. Close your eyes if you need to. Determine which rabbits have the type you need, and breed from there.
In the end, what my opinion boils down to is that a pretty color doesn't disguise an ugly rabbit.
How many otters with a truly excellent crown have you seen? Not that many, right? And if you come across one, it won't be for sale. On the other hand, how many torts have you seen with a correct ear/crown piece? I'm betting it's a darn sight more than the otters, and if you look in the right places you should even be able to purchase one. That is precisely why I bring in torts for my otter program. If there's a weakness in my herd that isn't something I feel I can improve effectively with the animals I already have, I will look for a suitable rabbit to fix that issue. 9 times out of 10, that rabbit is going to be a tort.
At the end of the day, it comes down to what you prioritize in your herd. For some, the priority is building a herd of entirely otters that will never throw any other colors, and culling anything that does. If I followed that protocol, I would have to cull all of my herd bucks, all my show does, all my brood does, and probably all of my Jrs, and in the end I would not have a single rabbit left in my barn. Not much of a herd! So that’s definitely out of the question. Personally, my priority is type, so I will keep, breed, and show whatever has the best type, regardless of what color genes they carry. Each time one of my otters wins on the show tables, I certainly am not complaining that it didn’t carry the specific color genes I wanted!
Now I'm not saying everyone should breed any color to any color, because that's just a recipe for disaster. The last thing the breed needs is a muddled, confusing gene pool because nobody knows what they're doing. A solid grasp on color genetics is crucial, not only for your herd and immediate goals, but for the future of our breed as a whole. Breaking the color crossing rules is perfectly fine, but I cannot stress how imperative it is to understand the rules before you break them. Make educated, intelligent decisions with that information in mind, and understand the possible benefits and consequences of the cross in question.
Now let’s talk about breeding for proper color. This is a popular topic especially amongst newcomers to the otter variety. However, personally I do not breed or cull for improvement of color. Color is worth 4 points in our breed, so why obsess on it? I don’t know of a single Holland out there whose color is their biggest fault, otter or otherwise. However, here is the information I’ve found in my time working with the variety.
In the past I have heard that by breeding tort to otter, one can strengthen the rufus of the otter offspring. Rufus is a modifier gene that affects the richness of red color. I thought this was interesting, and actually looked through files of photos on my computer, comparing rabbits out of otter x otter breedings to those out of otter x tort breedings. I found no correlation between the varieties of the parents and the intensity of rufus of the offspring. However, I did find a correlation between rabbits out of parents with intense rufus (REGARDLESS of their varieties) displaying intense rufus themselves when compared to those from parents lacking intensity of rufus. Pale rabbits made pale offspring, and rufusy rabbits made rufusy offspring. In other words, many varieties can display rufus, all rabbits possess the genes to produce rufus or lack thereof, but the varieties of the parents in question are irrelevant.
Another frequent concern among otter breeders is how to breed for correct otter markings. A common misconception is that lack of eye circles, nostril markings, etc. is a DQ. I have confirmed with multiple judges that this is incorrect; the only breed that disqualifies for lack of eye circles or nostril markings in otters is the Jersey Wooly for the Tan Pattern group. There are no DQs specific to otter Hollands. Therefore, an otter Holland could be entirely devoid of eye circles or nostril markings and still win a BIS.
And yes, correct otter markings are more aesthetically pleasing than mealy and indistinct ones. However, to me a well typed otter with poor markings is vastly more aesthetically pleasing than a correctly marked otter cull. Trust me, if I ever get my herd to a point where their biggest fault is their color, I will be a very happy person!
My parting advice is that if you want to make truly competitive, quality otters, the most efficient way of doing so is to completely ignore color. Keep whatever has the best type, whether it be an otter, self, fox, or tort! Don’t overlook a fox purely because you can’t show it - a quality fox can be an invaluable asset to an otter program. Personally, my priority is always type over color, hence why I use foxes in my program, and will continue to do so for as long as it serves a benefit to my herd.
For in-color pictures and descriptions of the four fox varieties, feel free to check out the following link:
lotsoflops.com/fox-hollands
On the left hand side, we have a broken blue otter junior buck. He is clearly lacking in type, but is a pretty color you can show. On the right side, we have a black fox junior doe. She is not a showable color, but has better type than the broken.
Given a choice, which of these two would you pick to grow out, and which would you cull?
Personally, I’d pick the fox a thousand times over. In fact, I will be breeding her to a fox buck as soon as she hits 6 months! Meanwhile, the broken is long gone, never to be seen again. While this might be surprising to some, hopefully this article will explain why I made that decision.
So what exactly is a fox? Simply put, a fox (also known as a torted otter or a tort otter) is a tort with the addition of a tan pattern gene. The primary body color is the same as a tort, the only difference being the otter markings: a white belly and underside of the tail, eye circles, nostril markings, jowls, triangle, collar, and ear lacing. As is true with torts and otters, foxes are further subcategorized into black, blue, chocolate, and lilac.
Unfortunately, at present foxes are not currently recognized in any breed. However, they are a natural occurrence in otter programs. This is because a significant number of otters carry nonextension. This recessive gene is responsible for both tort and fox color.
At the risk of terrifying some, let’s take a quick look at the genetics behind the fox variety. The genotypes are as follows:
Black Fox: a(t)- B- C- D- ee
Blue Fox: a(t)- B- C- dd ee
Chocolate Fox: a(t)- bb C- D- ee
Lilac Fox: a(t)- bb C- dd ee
For now, let’s ignore most of those letters and just focus on the A locus and E locus.
A – Agouti. Required for agouti color. Dominant to both tan pattern and self.
a(t) – Tan Pattern. Required for otter and fox color. Dominant to self, yet recessive to agouti.
a - Self. Required for self and tort color. Recessive to both agouti and tan pattern.
E – Full Extension. Required for otter and self color. Dominant to nonextension.
e – Nonextension. Required for fox and tort color. Recessive to full extension.
For more information on the rules of inheritance and basic color genetics, check out the following link:
lotsoflops.com/lessons-in-genetics
Now, it is important to understand that the fox variety is not related or synonymous to the orange and cream varieties. Orange and cream are genetically nonextension agoutis, whereas the fox varieties are nonextension otters. Despite being categorized in the wideband group, oranges and creams are genetically nonextension agoutis and are not genetically widebands. Therefore for the purposes of this article, we will refer to oranges and cream as agouti varieties.
So how do you tell apart foxes and oranges/creams? Many breeders, and even judges, struggle to differentiate the two. Having raised both varieties, I find it easy to tell them apart visually, but difficult to explain how I do it. This is more challenging in babies than adults, as foxes tend to darken and intensify in color as they mature. I recently compiled a bunch of photos of both varieties and studied the specific differences between them. Here is what I found:
1. Look at the nose. An orange will shade from light to dark, and a fox will shade from dark to light. Sometimes the more intensely colored foxes will maintain the dark color going up, rather than shading off to a lighter color. Dilute foxes will have very distinctly blue/lilac faces compared to creams. The nostril markings will also be more distinct in foxes.
2. Look at the cheeks. Foxes will typically have a strip of darker color running along the cheeks just above the white jaw-line. Some foxes will also exhibit a small patch of this color running vertically just behind the muzzle.
3. Look at the flanks. Typically a black or chocolate fox will display some sort of smoke gray shading on the sides. The dilutes (blue and lilac fox) will not display smoke gray shading, but they will typically display slightly darker variation of color on the flanks, and often darker color over the entire body with less of a fawn influence when compared to creams. Oranges will display darker color on their flanks, but will resemble a tort less than a fox.
It is close to impossible to distinguish foxes from oranges/creams by going off the intensity of head or body color alone. This is because 99% of orange and cream Hollands out there have extremely smutty color. Therefore in that respect they can be indistinguishable from foxes. I also recommend ignoring the ear color for the same reason.
If you still are not certain what variety your rabbit is, then now is time to study the pedigree. Enlist the help of your local genetics nerd if you can. If neither parent is an agouti, then the rabbit is definitely a fox. If, however, one or both parents are agoutis, then the rabbit in question could be either fox or orange/cream. Is there any otter on the agouti’s pedigree? If not, then it is probably an orange/cream. However, unless the agouti is a definite self carrier (Aa), and the other parent is an aa based variety, then we have no way of knowing whether the rabbit is a fox or an orange/cream. This is when we test breed. The best way of doing this is by breeding to a self. If the rabbit ever produces an agouti (chestnut, opal, etc.), then we know for sure that it is a true genetic orange/cream. If the rabbit only ever produces otter, then it is more than likely a fox. And if the rabbit throws a combination of otter and self, then it is definitely a fox.
Something else to keep in mind from a buyer's perspective is that foxes tend to be a very inexpensive way of acquiring quality rabbits. Personally, I tend to sell foxes for about half of what I ask for my rabbits of showable varieties, given that the demand for foxes is extremely low. Hence, you can buy a high quality fox for the same cost as a poor quality otter. Given how expensive otters can be, a fox can be a great opportunity to get your hands on quality genetics at a much more affordable price. And the best part is that you can still produce otters in one generation by breeding your fox to a full extension rabbit! It’s that simple.
However, many breeders avoid this color and will cull any animals displaying it. The problem comes when looking to improve type in your otters. Think back to the problem at the beginning of the article. Which of the two juniors did you keep? If you chose to keep the broken otter, your decision was to sacrifice type for color. If you chose the fox, your decision was to sacrifice color for type. In an ideal world, the best typed one would be the otter and we wouldn’t have to make a decision. Unfortunately, unless you have an entire herd of true breeding solid black torts, there comes a time when everyone has to make this sort of a choice. How can we as breeders preach ‘type over color’ and yet continue to prioritize color over type?
One of the most common suggestions for those wanting to improve type while not sacrificing color is to breed to a self. This way, in theory, you can improve type while avoiding foxes. Unfortunately, I don’t know of a single person who has a herd of true breeding homozygous EE self Hollands. This means that if you bring in a self to improve type in your otters, odds are it will carry nonextension. In your first generation you may get lucky and produce no foxes or torts, but give it one or two more generations and they will invariably start to emerge. The other issue is that despite the fact that black and blue selfs are relatively competitive varieties compared to most other project colors, it is still much harder to find a quality self with the parts you need than a quality tort, especially if you will not use anything that carries nonextension. So while in theory using selfs in your otter program rather than torts is a nice compromise, in practice it will probably not achieve the results in terms of color and type that you are looking for.
I’ve also heard it suggested that oranges and creams can be bred in to improve type without creating foxes. This is unfortunately not entirely accurate. As we’ve discussed, both orange and cream are ee nonextension colors, so by breeding them into your otters you are still propagating the nonextension gene. The only difference is that you will get agouti based varieties in addition to otters, and within a generation or two you will get a huge boom of random colors. Agouti is a ‘safe’ variety group to breed into your otters, but only if you are willing to get a crazy and unpredictable range of colors and still ignore the color when breeding and culling.
So what should you breed to your otters? Well, my personal view is fairly straightforward; I will breed any combination of otter, self, tort, and fox in the best interests of improving my herd. I keep rabbits that meet my expectations in type, vigor, temperament, and being good breeders and mothers. That's already a lot to select for! Why would I add something completely irrelevant to the list when I could be focusing on producing the highest quality animals I can? In that respect, to me color seems superficial.
There are some otter breeders who avoid nonextension like the plague, and will cull anything in their program that has the gene. But here's the thing. The nonextension gene is recessive. This means that it can hide for generation upon generation and then resurface out of the blue 10 years down the line. Unless you DNA test your entire herd and cull absolutely every carrier, you will probably never achieve a true breeding herd of EE rabbits. So why bother trying when you could instead be focusing on creating well-typed animals?
Here’s what I believe. The fear of producing unshowable rabbits is the main issue holding back the development of type in the otter variety and others. We would have so many more colored Hollands winning on the show tables if there was less fear of breeding to torts and producing a certain percentage of unshowable animals. To me, a few unshowable rabbits is a small price to pay.
Why do we fear unshowable colors so much? Just about every Holland breeder I know will use a Charlie or a normal in their program without hesitation. Those are both heritable traits. They will both invariably produce a reasonable percentage of unshowable offspring, yet the majority of successful breeders will still use them in their programs. Why is that? Because a smart breeder will look past the color, assess the strengths and weaknesses of the rabbit behind it, and breed accordingly. This is how quality rabbits are made, not by fixating on ‘correct’ color crosses.
That being said, it is totally normal and perfectly acceptable to have favorite colors. Like everyone, there are colors I love and colors I hate. For example, I adore black otters! They are my absolute favorite variety. However, I would much rather have a beautiful fox I can use in my program than a black otter cull. Why would I shoot myself in the foot by removing a quality rabbit from my herd that could end up a BIS producer, or the parent of my next herd buck?
Is it frustrating when the most gorgeous rabbit of the litter is a fox? Of course it is! Sometimes the color gods are on your side, and sometimes they exist just to mess with you. Train your brain to ignore the color when evaluating the litter. Close your eyes if you need to. Determine which rabbits have the type you need, and breed from there.
In the end, what my opinion boils down to is that a pretty color doesn't disguise an ugly rabbit.
How many otters with a truly excellent crown have you seen? Not that many, right? And if you come across one, it won't be for sale. On the other hand, how many torts have you seen with a correct ear/crown piece? I'm betting it's a darn sight more than the otters, and if you look in the right places you should even be able to purchase one. That is precisely why I bring in torts for my otter program. If there's a weakness in my herd that isn't something I feel I can improve effectively with the animals I already have, I will look for a suitable rabbit to fix that issue. 9 times out of 10, that rabbit is going to be a tort.
At the end of the day, it comes down to what you prioritize in your herd. For some, the priority is building a herd of entirely otters that will never throw any other colors, and culling anything that does. If I followed that protocol, I would have to cull all of my herd bucks, all my show does, all my brood does, and probably all of my Jrs, and in the end I would not have a single rabbit left in my barn. Not much of a herd! So that’s definitely out of the question. Personally, my priority is type, so I will keep, breed, and show whatever has the best type, regardless of what color genes they carry. Each time one of my otters wins on the show tables, I certainly am not complaining that it didn’t carry the specific color genes I wanted!
Now I'm not saying everyone should breed any color to any color, because that's just a recipe for disaster. The last thing the breed needs is a muddled, confusing gene pool because nobody knows what they're doing. A solid grasp on color genetics is crucial, not only for your herd and immediate goals, but for the future of our breed as a whole. Breaking the color crossing rules is perfectly fine, but I cannot stress how imperative it is to understand the rules before you break them. Make educated, intelligent decisions with that information in mind, and understand the possible benefits and consequences of the cross in question.
Now let’s talk about breeding for proper color. This is a popular topic especially amongst newcomers to the otter variety. However, personally I do not breed or cull for improvement of color. Color is worth 4 points in our breed, so why obsess on it? I don’t know of a single Holland out there whose color is their biggest fault, otter or otherwise. However, here is the information I’ve found in my time working with the variety.
In the past I have heard that by breeding tort to otter, one can strengthen the rufus of the otter offspring. Rufus is a modifier gene that affects the richness of red color. I thought this was interesting, and actually looked through files of photos on my computer, comparing rabbits out of otter x otter breedings to those out of otter x tort breedings. I found no correlation between the varieties of the parents and the intensity of rufus of the offspring. However, I did find a correlation between rabbits out of parents with intense rufus (REGARDLESS of their varieties) displaying intense rufus themselves when compared to those from parents lacking intensity of rufus. Pale rabbits made pale offspring, and rufusy rabbits made rufusy offspring. In other words, many varieties can display rufus, all rabbits possess the genes to produce rufus or lack thereof, but the varieties of the parents in question are irrelevant.
Another frequent concern among otter breeders is how to breed for correct otter markings. A common misconception is that lack of eye circles, nostril markings, etc. is a DQ. I have confirmed with multiple judges that this is incorrect; the only breed that disqualifies for lack of eye circles or nostril markings in otters is the Jersey Wooly for the Tan Pattern group. There are no DQs specific to otter Hollands. Therefore, an otter Holland could be entirely devoid of eye circles or nostril markings and still win a BIS.
And yes, correct otter markings are more aesthetically pleasing than mealy and indistinct ones. However, to me a well typed otter with poor markings is vastly more aesthetically pleasing than a correctly marked otter cull. Trust me, if I ever get my herd to a point where their biggest fault is their color, I will be a very happy person!
My parting advice is that if you want to make truly competitive, quality otters, the most efficient way of doing so is to completely ignore color. Keep whatever has the best type, whether it be an otter, self, fox, or tort! Don’t overlook a fox purely because you can’t show it - a quality fox can be an invaluable asset to an otter program. Personally, my priority is always type over color, hence why I use foxes in my program, and will continue to do so for as long as it serves a benefit to my herd.
For in-color pictures and descriptions of the four fox varieties, feel free to check out the following link:
lotsoflops.com/fox-hollands