Netherland dwarf skull myth

The Netherland dwarf rabbit breed has long had this prevalent myth, of their round heads creating malocclusions in their teeth and other skull shortening symptoms. This is false.

The Netherland dwarf breed carries a dwarf gene, this shrinks the entire body of the animal proportionately. A rabbit kit *baby rabbit* has a round face as well, because of their small size. The physical structures of a dwarf rabbit are identical to their regular size rabbit counterparts, just reduced in size. Dwarf rabbits have large cheek muscles that create the rounded shape.

This myth began in the late 1990s when people became aware of the skull anatomy changes in flat face dog and cat breeds and their associated health problems. An incorrect correlation was made between flat faced dogs and cats and dwarf rabbit breeds.

Anatomically, a dwarf rabbit skull is identical to it's regular size counterparts. There is no foreshortening of the nasal bones. There is no rise of the frontal bones of the skull. Therefore the health concerns in flat faced dogs/cats do not apply to dwarf rabbit breeds.

Dwarf rabbits, specifically the Netherland Dwarf descend from wild rabbits with a dwarfing gene. It exists in the wild and there are still several species of wild rabbit that carry this dwarfing gene.

There are zero anatomical differences in these wild dwarf rabbits and domesticated dwarf rabbits. The only difference is overall size, but all landmarks on the skull are proportionate.