Jahzara was one of our Greyhounds. She was born in April 2002. We fostered her starting in October 2003 and officially adopted her two months later. We lost her in May 2012.

She taught me a lot. And I like to sometimes reflect on the things I have learned from my dogs.

The It's Hard to Be a Bunny Story has a few lessons to go along with it.

Jahzara originally lived with us when we were in the suburbs, in Aurora, Colorado. She moved with us to Sedalia on our 13.5 acres. She LOVED it.

Jahzara loved being able to walk off leash with me at our place and NOT have to see other people and dogs. It was her Utopia. Not only did we not see other people or dogs on our walks, but we also saw plenty of bunnies.

Jahzara was originally retired from racing early (she never actually raced) because they said they could not get her to chase anything. I thought that was hilarious, because she most certainly DID like to chase things!

Once she got to be off leash at our place, she had opportunities to chase bunnies. However, I really did not want her getting in the habit of chasing all the bunnies.

I had taught her Leave It. That meant whatever you are focused on right now, you need to remove your focus from and not pursue or even continue to look at it. And she was very very good at Leave It.

So when she would spot a bunny and want to chase, I could say Leave It and she would. Even if she was off leash.

There were times when I did not see the bunny first and she started after it. I recall her being in a full on sprint after a bunny. I could still say Leave It, and she would turn right around and come back to me. She could stop her full out sprint after a bunny with just my saying Leave It to her.

As I have said before, she was super smart. Such a good girl.

One day, Jahzara and Romeo were in the back yard. Although we are on 13.5 acres, we have a fenced-in back yard area behind the house for dogs to safely go out to potty and play and hang out without needing close supervision.

So on this particular day, there was a bunny in the yard. I had not seen it before I let the dogs out. But normally, if a bunny spotted the dogs coming out, they would race to the fence and hop out of the yard.

This particular bunny had clearly not learned what to do when dogs entered the back yard. Romeo saw him and started after him. The bunny ran. But around the yard, not out of the fence.

Well, this bunny got a bit turned around in his fright and ended up racing straight to Jahzara.

Jahzara picked him up. What else do you do when a bunny runs straight to you?!

But once she had him in her mouth, she was not sure what to do with him.

I said, Drop It. She knew Leave It, but that's for things you do not already have in your mouth. Drop It means, whatever is in your mouth, spit it out now!

And she did drop it. She actually set it down very gently.

And the bunny finally decided to exit the fenced yard and get to safety.

What were the lessons we learned that day?

Lesson #1. A reliable Drop It can save a life! That bunny lived to tell the tale to his other bunny friends because Jahzara had an excellent drop it. Even with fuzzy little bunnies.

Lesson #2. Good things come to those who wait. Jahzara was pretty sure all of her good karma was paying off that day! How lucky do you have to be for a bunny to run right to you?

Lesson #3. Use good manners, eat your veggies, be nice to your little brother, and one day you will be richly rewarded! Well, if Momma had not made you drop it, that is.

Lesson #4. Little brothers are good for something after all! It was Romeo who chased the bunny right to his big sister. And boy you should have seen his face when he saw that she had the bunny in her mouth! He put in the work, and she reaped the reward.

It is hard to be a bunny. It's a rough life and a dangerous world. Fortunately, for that bunny, on that day, luck was on his side. And so was Jahzara.

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