Hazel II

Sponsor Announcement

I am honored to be sponsored by Mark and Cindy Crowl. They graciously donated toward a sponsorship, which provided them the opportunity to give me my wonderful name! I want to thank Mark and Cindy from the bottom of my heart for their generosity toward my training. I hope to make them proud!!

Hazel's Journey

Stage 1 Introduction

Hi! I'm Hazel. I am proud to have been selected to enter into the Retrieving Freedom training program, where I journeyed to from Kerrybrook Labradors. During this stage of training I will be spending approximately 8 months with my new volunteer fosters, Jake and Jill.

Throughout Stage 1, I will learn the basics obedience, public behavior, and a lot of socialization. I understand that it takes a very special dog to complete the program as there is a high standard to become a Service Dog. I am aware that I may be one of the dogs whose purpose is outside of service work so I will be updating my profile on a monthly basis for all that would like to follow my journey through the program. 

February 2021 - 2 months old

Welcome to my journey! I just transitioned from my wonderful breeder to my new foster home with Jake and Jill. First, I will work on learning my name, how to walk on a leash, where to go potty, and that sleeping in my crate is relaxing.

March 2021 - 3 months old

I have been introduced to the "place" command, where I stay on this doggy bed until I'm released. At first I only sit still for a couple of seconds, but eventually I'll be able to stay here as long as is necessary! A fun enrichment activity that Jill introduced to me is a Gatorade bottle with the lid removed, with a little bit of my kibble inside. I have to use my mind to figure out how to get the kibble out in order to enjoy it. I love this activity! Jill says I'm incredibly easy to train because I maintain eye contact. She has introduced the commands "sit," "heel," "down," "here," and "touch." I know to wait for the "free" command before I break to eat or exit my kennel. I'm so smart!

April 2021 - 4 months old

This month I was granted public access from the professional training staff at Retrieving Freedom! This means I've received all of my necessary vaccinations to keep me safe while training in public, and my training is at a point that I'll be able to appropriately behave while out. My very first public outing was at the local school where I had a cameo as a stray pup in the musical "Annie." I experienced a greenhouse for the first time, along with an auto mechanic, hair salon, and an empty high school football stadium!

May 2021 - 5 months old

I had my first weekend at Scout Camp! I also enjoy relaxing at baseball games. I lay on my board performing the "place" command for long periods of time. This is great for my training! I will go to my place board with a command from about 5 feet away. This is great! I'm also doing puppy sit-ups and increasing the duration of my "sit" command.

June 2021 - 6 months old

Jill says my eye contact is still my best quality! It makes it easy for her to train with me and teach me new tasks when 100% of my attention is on her, and ignoring distractions in my ever-changing environments.

July 2021 - 7 months old

Jill and I like to take advantage of beautiful days for nice, long walks! I went to my first Kansas City Royals baseball game!

August 2021 - 8 months old