Sweet Pea was adopted by Jamie Sharp on 2/17/11, after being with Sarge's for over a year:
"I am attaching a few pictures of Sweet Pea. We love her to pieces. We have changed her name to Hazel. Jill named her after her favorite fictional character, Hazel Rah, from "Watership Down." She doesn't have many rabbit characteristics but Hazel was a splendid little guy and we think our Hazel is too.
Hazel has made her bed between our bed and the wall. She spends a lot of time there and we just let her. She feels safe there so that's fine. We don't want to rush her. She is doing fine in the backyard. I took her out on the leash at first but she has made no attempt at all to escape. I now let her out on her own but stay in the yard with her. She has met a couple of the neighbor's dogs. I don't think she is crazy about them but none of them are mean so they may eventually become friends. One neighbor has a St. Bernard puppy he is training to be a therapy dog to work with troubled children. The puppy is HUGE but very laid back. Hazel went over to the fence to meet him but didn't hang around long. Today has been an exciting day for Hazel. She is worn out and I don't blame her. Everything is so new! She got a bath today and she looks and smells beautiful. We took her with us when we walked to the post office and everyone had to stop and pet her. She didn't mind but she didn't flop over on her back either.
All in all, I think she is doing well. She doesn't trust us completely. That is something we will have to earn. I was thinking about my youngest granddaughter, Faith. Faith is adopted. When my daughter and her husband went to Viet Nam to bring her home she was absolutely terrified of them. There was one time a few days after they got her that Faith ran away from them, screaming and crying. People standing around thought that she was being kidnapped. She is now perfectly happy and well adjusted. It took awhile but it was certainly worth the effort. I know the same is true with Hazel. She has been rejected so often that she won't trust easily. When she finally does, she will be an amazing pet. I will certainly keep you updated and will send pictures too.
The pictures I attached are of Hazel lying in our hallway and Hazel and Doug hanging out. Hazel really likes my husband and he thinks she is swell.
"
Update: "Hazel is getting better every day. Yesterday she finally ate an entire bowl of food. She has been nibbling now and then but yesterday she ate a meal instead of a kibble here and there. That was very encouraging. I have walked her two mornings in a row and she does great. Mornings are best because all the neighborhood dogs are still sleeping. There is not as much out there to scare her. Walking with her is good for me too. Sometimes walking alone at 5 a.m. can be kind of scary. It's amazing how many guys are hanging around at that time of the morning. I'm sure they are harmless but having Hazel with me is still nice.
I hope you have a lovely Tuesday. I will keep you updated on Hazel's progress. Oh! She has figured out that her name has changed. She looks our direction when we say, "Hazel."
Update 2/25:
Today is our first week anniversary. WOW! Hazel is a totally different dog than the one we brought home last Thursday night. We are sure that she was always meant to be our dog. I'm so glad that you took such splendid care of her. I'm convinced that's the reason she is settling in so quickly. No, you can't have her back.
Hazel has walked with me every morning, even this morning in the rain. She is now comfortable enough to do her business while we are walking so I have to carry little bags with me. I don't mind. This means that camping with her will be a lot easier. I don't know what we would have done if she had decided she could only poop in the privacy of her own yard.
Hazel loves stuffed animals. She "borrowed" one from Jill's collection, a stuffed sting ray Jill got at Sea World Indonesia. Jill told her she couldn't have it but we did go out to PetSmart and get a stuffed lamb for her. She carried that thing around in her mouth, shaking it occasionally but never doing any real damage. She seems to like the stuffed toy better than her chew toy. She is not much of a chewer.
Meals are now a breeze. I started adding warm water to her Purina One and I guess that makes it taste divine. She gobbles it up! Hooray!
When we leave her during the day she must just lie in her place by the bed. When we get home she has to get used to us again but, within a few minutes, she remembers that we are her family. I'm so glad that she is hanging around with us more and more everyday. She doesn't come into the kitchen but lies in the dining room when I am cooking. She even ventured into the TV room and watched NCIS with us on Tuesday. It helped that we put her bed in there with us.
She is a really good walker. She needs to get in shape a bit but so do I. We will get fit together! This morning we walked for almost an hour. We even walked up one of the steeper roads in Black Mountain. We both huffed and puffed but I think Hazel had a fine time. She still runs when I get out the leash, maybe thinking that I am going to take her someplace she doesn't want to go, but she doesn't need as much coaxing to come and let me hook her up. That is getting better everyday too. I know it won't be long before she actually gets excited about the leash.
Hazel knows her name! She is so smart. It would take me a long time to get used to a new name. She learns very quickly. If I tell her, "No" one time she will make every effort not to do whatever it was she did ever again. She is very easy to train.
That's the latest. Once again, thank you so much for caring for her for so long. It makes me sad to think that if she hadn't been fostered she may have been euthanized. She is such a good dog. The vet at the Nature Center said that she could be, "The dog of a lifetime." I think he is right.
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