We had been wanting a pet for quite some time, but our apartment dosn't allow dogs, which is what Glenn wanted.  I wanted a cat or a bunny, and I showed Glenn some pictures of French Lops, which he automatically fell in love with.  Rather than try to buy one from a breeder, we went down to the SPCA to see who needed a home.  We met Pudge there, and she said 'I'm yours!' The people at the SPCA said she'd been there a long time, because she was a shy sort of bunny who had been a house bunny, so they weren't going to let her go unless she was going into a home, rather than a hutch. We couldn't resist and brought her home that night, even though her cage wasn't finished yet! Pudge is a much happier bunny now that she has two slaves to terrorize and an apartment to roam.  Fortunately, we had her litter-trained before the landlord found out about her, so he nicely classified her as a cat and we can keep her with no problems.  (Did I mention we have a GREAT landlord?)  Eventually, we're hoping for a house where we can have a dog and another bunny, maybe a big French Lop for Pudge the Dominatrix Mini-Lop to bond with.  Although how I'm going to convince Pudge not to terrorize a dog when we get one, I don't know.....

EXCELLENT story, Daryl, THANX!!! =:o)

This is a GOOD thread, hope EVERYONE responds :o) SweetPea was our first bunn. We found her piled deep within her littermates in a small cage in a 100 degree+ feedstore. How we wanted to take them all. SweetPea was the one that clawed her way to the top and begged to be rescued. She was a good litterbox bunn for several months, then maturity set in. I cleaned puddles constantly from everywhere for close to six months, hoping she'd settle down to using one or more of her litterboxes. Not having internet access at that time, our dream of having a house rabbit finally evaporated. SweetPea just LOVED her new home in the garden, a very large covered run in which she quickly began excavating her burrow. She was a VERY big part of our lives for the next 5 or 6 years, helping us landscape our yard and gardening with us. She was NEVER left or forgotten about , she was a member of our family. We lost her to an infection that none of our vets could do anything about. Since we loved her soooo much, we went out just before Easter the next year (after we got SweetPea) and sure enough, there was a bunch more bunns at another feedstore in the same dire straights that we found SweatPea. We ARE going to have a house rabbit!  Home comes Pipkin. Sweeter even than our first love , but just about the same story. Again, she was VERY happy living in the garden, digging her burrow, and helping us garden (we spend a LOT of time gardening). She died suddenly without expectation about a year after we lost our precious SweatPea. Not to give up, shortly after Pipkin found her new home in the garden, we hooked up with a breeder of Mini Rexes. She gave us a lot of information and encouragement on the subject of house rabbits. The most precious little broken castor minirex picked us, and we brought her home. I'm very happy to say, it WORKED this time. I sincerely wish I'd known then (when we first got SweetPea & Pipkin) a fraction of what I know now. Chelsea has been my constant companion for 4 years now, she is the light of my life. (Ok, the 5 y/o little girl we're getting ready to adopt right now shines a LOT brighter, but Chelsea is the bunny who was given life because I loved my Velveteen Rabbit so much when I was a child). Ok, I *think* that my vision is finally clear enough to type some more, lol. We REALLY missed having a garden bunny , so when Olga posted about her beloved Ginger, we *knew* that we had found who would fill the void in our lives. We jumped through a LOT of hoops to get her here, flew her halfway across the world to be with us, traveled hundreds of miles to pick her up, and spent about $500 on her new bunny gazebo. Ginger is the most prestigious rabbit I've ever known. She is right at home shoveling dirt out of her burrow, a happier rabbit I've never seen. Though she doesn't want to be a pick me up & hug me kinda bunny, she often accompanies us on excursions through the yard. She likes being close to us, and isn't afraid or skiddish at all. We got an added blessing with Ginger that we wouldn't have dreamed about hoping for. Her brother Reese made the long journey with her, and we are soooo glad that he did. A more bonded pair no one could hope for. Reese looks (and acts) like a sweet little teddy bear, we just love him to pieces. It's so heartwarming to have two bonded rabbits playing and hopping through the gardens. This last spring, when the weatherman said: Get ready for a week of temperatures over 100 degrees , panic instantly shot through me. There are bunnies out there that will not survive it. I spent the entire next day searching all of the local humane shelters for lost little souls. I really expected to find a bunch of tired, forgotten-about easter bunnies, which I'd GLADLY have given a loving home. It really didn't matter how many I found that day, I'd have taken them all. I was travelling to the last shelter, having not found a single rabbit yet. Thinking There's GOTTA be a bunny out here SOMEWHERE, I just KNOW it!  What I found at that last shelter was NOT what I'd expected. TWO of the sweetest little baby dwarf rabbits that anyone could hope for. Jessica saw me coming , and pulled out all of the stops to win me over (she didn't have to). When they felt the cool breeze from the car's A/C coming through the airholes in the carrier, they knew they had it made. Just a little longer, and they will be old enough to spay. They are both very good when running loose in the house, the poor little souls may never know the joy of digging a burrow deep in the earth.

Awwww geeze, how could I have forgotten? Bandit (Hoppers) was our first. She was a feedstore bunny too. We only had her for a couple of months and lost her to GI problems. We loved her dearly.