My Dog, Ginger is happy to see me all of the time. Her tail raises and moves like a pom pom in the hands of a cheer leader at a state championship game. She can be sound asleep and all I have to do is say her name, and she comes running to me. She loves to be talked to, and to have a good tummy rub, but even when I ignore her, she loves me.
Let me tell you about Ginger. She arrived on my neighbors door steps in the middle of the night about two and a half years ago. My family had been wanting a dog, and I had been fighting them. I didn't really like dogs... they smelled bad, and they slobbered a lot. When my son went out to go to school that morning, this stray dog came up and demanded attention, which my son was happy to give. I told him maybe it wasn't a good idea, we didn't know the dog... you know what moms say to kids about strange dogs. The dog decided I looked nice and needed love from me too. Just one look into her eyes, and I fell in love. I played with her a little bit and then went back inside the house. She stood on my front steps and whined. I opened the door and she came right inside.
I told her it was okay if she stayed right by the door. I didn't want her on my carpet. I loved on her a little more and then sent her back outside. It was November, and cold out. She stayed on my steps all day. I left to run errands, and she was still there when I came home. The kids were delighted to see her when they came home from school.
Nightfall came with frigged temperatures. I couldn't just leave her outside. I put a blanket and some food on the steps inside the garage. She whined, but stayed there. My husband came home from work late, and wanted to know what was going on with the dog. I had told him about her on the phone. I told him that I didn't know what to do with her. It was too cold to leave her outside, and I didn't know if she was house trained or not. He was adamant that we could not leave her in the garage. He grew up with dogs, and had always had them in the house. I never had. Reluctantly, I let her inside. She was very happy.
We went to bed. She wanted to be near us, so I made a bed on the floor for her in our bedroom. That lasted about 5 seconds. She jumped right up on the bed and crawled in between the two of us. My husband thought it was funny and said we should just let her stay. That lasted for a few hours. I told my husband, (who had no problems sleeping,) that between his snoring, the dogs snoring, and the amount of room the two of them took up, either the dog left the bed or I did.
To my surprise, he agreed to make the dog stay on the floor. She slept in our room all night. When he got up for work, he let her out. She went to the bathroom and came quickly back inside. I told the kids not to get too attached. We would need to call the police department to see if anyone was missing a dog, and we would need to put up posters. She was such a nice dog, surely she belonged to someone. I took her to our vet to see if she had an identification chip in her. She did not. The vet said she was about 2 1/2 years old. He didn't know what kind of dog she was.
She is about 35 lbs, is reddish brown with a white stomach and chest, and a white spot on her neck almost like a collie dog. Her tail is fluffy and curls up when she is happy, (almost always,) and she has a double coat. Her nose is short, and she has ears that fold over. We took pictures and printed posters to put around the neighborhood. After a couple of days, and still no call, on a Monday I called the police to see if anyone had reported a missing dog. The animal control officer told me if I had found a dog I needed to let him come pick it up. Animals are considered personal property, and by keeping her, I would be breaking the law. He knew I had her, so it was no use saying otherwise.
This was at 7:30 am, before my son went to school. The officer showed up at my house 5 minutes later. Her shoved the dog in the crate in the back of his truck. She cried and barked. this made my son cry. I tried to keep the tears back, but between my son and the dog, the started to trickle down. The officer said something about us being attached to her. I asked how long she had to stay at the pound before she could be adopted. He assured us that she wouldn't be there long enough for us to adopt her. Of course she had a family who was looking for her! My son cried more, which made me cry more. The officer told us that the dog would need to stay at the shelter for a minimum of 3 full days, we could check back on Friday.
I am not a math wizard, but I did the calculations in my head and counted from Monday to Friday, and didn't think she would need to be there that long. One of my neighbors had just adopted a dog from the shelter and said we should go and visit the dog, and take something in that smelled like us to make her feel more comfortable. After I took my son to school, I went in to see her at the shelter. It was so awful, I just cried. She was in a very small kennel. It was barely big enough for her to stand up and turn around in. There were dozens of barking dogs. She saw me and barked and cried, and looked so sad and pathetic. My neighbor had told me that she was able to take the dog she found out of it's cage and take it for a walk on a leash. When I asked at the shelter I was told it was against the rules. I left the article of clothing with our scent on it in the small cage and walked away. I stopped back at the front desk and asked when I could adopt her. The lady behind the desk told me the same thing the officer had. Friday.
I came back with the kids when they got home from school. They cried as they watched the dog whine and bark. I cried again. I decided it would be hard, but I would come back every day until I could take her home. They wrote my name down as a person who wanted to adopt her if she was unclaimed at the end of her three required days. They had a shortage of space, and were putting dogs down to make room for the new ones that were brought in.
Then next day I went back and a different person was in the office. She let us take the dog out of her kennel and walk her. Of course we were all heart broken when we had to put her back. The toy and piece of clothing with our scent on it were no longer in the kennel. It was very difficult, but I decided I would go back again the next day to make sure she hadn't been claimed.
I did this once a day until Thursday. On Thursday, I went in first thing in the morning. A different person was behind the desk again. I asked her when I could take her home. She said after three days. I told her it had been three days. She said that if the dog had been brought in first thing on Monday, I could pick her up in the afternoon on Thursday. I asked what time. She said anytime after noon. I went in at 12:01 and pick her up. When I signed the adoption papers, I agreed to have her spayed and get her vaccinated, and paid the adaption fee. I called Petsmart and asked if I could get her groomed as soon as I could get there. (She smelled very bad after living in the small cage for 3 days.) They told me they could see her if she had her rabies shot. I called the vet and made arrangements to take her straight from the shelter to get her shots. We went from there to Petsmart for the grooming. They told me to come pick her up in about 3 hours.
I went home and picked up the kids from school. I didn't tell them I had already picked up the dog. I told them we should go to Petsmart and get some toys for her so we were ready for her when we could get her the next day. They thought that sounded fun. We started off to the pet store and my son told me that his friend, who we had brought along with us, had to be back in time for his Basket ball practice. I gave in and told them what I had done, and that it was likely we wouldn't make it back in time for the practice. I took the boy home and we headed back with new excitement to get the dog.
She saw us though the glass in the grooming room and got very excited. They finally released her to us and she jumped all over all of us. She was as happy to see us as we were to see her. My son had already picked out the name Ginger, because he was reading the book, Ginger Pye, in school. We had a tag made for her , picked up a bone and some toys and were off. She smelled so much better, and she was very soft.
She was instantly a part of our family, and loved by us all.
Check back for more of the story in the next couple of days.
Let me tell you about Ginger. She arrived on my neighbors door steps in the middle of the night about two and a half years ago. My family had been wanting a dog, and I had been fighting them. I didn't really like dogs... they smelled bad, and they slobbered a lot. When my son went out to go to school that morning, this stray dog came up and demanded attention, which my son was happy to give. I told him maybe it wasn't a good idea, we didn't know the dog... you know what moms say to kids about strange dogs. The dog decided I looked nice and needed love from me too. Just one look into her eyes, and I fell in love. I played with her a little bit and then went back inside the house. She stood on my front steps and whined. I opened the door and she came right inside.
I told her it was okay if she stayed right by the door. I didn't want her on my carpet. I loved on her a little more and then sent her back outside. It was November, and cold out. She stayed on my steps all day. I left to run errands, and she was still there when I came home. The kids were delighted to see her when they came home from school.
Nightfall came with frigged temperatures. I couldn't just leave her outside. I put a blanket and some food on the steps inside the garage. She whined, but stayed there. My husband came home from work late, and wanted to know what was going on with the dog. I had told him about her on the phone. I told him that I didn't know what to do with her. It was too cold to leave her outside, and I didn't know if she was house trained or not. He was adamant that we could not leave her in the garage. He grew up with dogs, and had always had them in the house. I never had. Reluctantly, I let her inside. She was very happy.
We went to bed. She wanted to be near us, so I made a bed on the floor for her in our bedroom. That lasted about 5 seconds. She jumped right up on the bed and crawled in between the two of us. My husband thought it was funny and said we should just let her stay. That lasted for a few hours. I told my husband, (who had no problems sleeping,) that between his snoring, the dogs snoring, and the amount of room the two of them took up, either the dog left the bed or I did.
To my surprise, he agreed to make the dog stay on the floor. She slept in our room all night. When he got up for work, he let her out. She went to the bathroom and came quickly back inside. I told the kids not to get too attached. We would need to call the police department to see if anyone was missing a dog, and we would need to put up posters. She was such a nice dog, surely she belonged to someone. I took her to our vet to see if she had an identification chip in her. She did not. The vet said she was about 2 1/2 years old. He didn't know what kind of dog she was.
She is about 35 lbs, is reddish brown with a white stomach and chest, and a white spot on her neck almost like a collie dog. Her tail is fluffy and curls up when she is happy, (almost always,) and she has a double coat. Her nose is short, and she has ears that fold over. We took pictures and printed posters to put around the neighborhood. After a couple of days, and still no call, on a Monday I called the police to see if anyone had reported a missing dog. The animal control officer told me if I had found a dog I needed to let him come pick it up. Animals are considered personal property, and by keeping her, I would be breaking the law. He knew I had her, so it was no use saying otherwise.
This was at 7:30 am, before my son went to school. The officer showed up at my house 5 minutes later. Her shoved the dog in the crate in the back of his truck. She cried and barked. this made my son cry. I tried to keep the tears back, but between my son and the dog, the started to trickle down. The officer said something about us being attached to her. I asked how long she had to stay at the pound before she could be adopted. He assured us that she wouldn't be there long enough for us to adopt her. Of course she had a family who was looking for her! My son cried more, which made me cry more. The officer told us that the dog would need to stay at the shelter for a minimum of 3 full days, we could check back on Friday.
I am not a math wizard, but I did the calculations in my head and counted from Monday to Friday, and didn't think she would need to be there that long. One of my neighbors had just adopted a dog from the shelter and said we should go and visit the dog, and take something in that smelled like us to make her feel more comfortable. After I took my son to school, I went in to see her at the shelter. It was so awful, I just cried. She was in a very small kennel. It was barely big enough for her to stand up and turn around in. There were dozens of barking dogs. She saw me and barked and cried, and looked so sad and pathetic. My neighbor had told me that she was able to take the dog she found out of it's cage and take it for a walk on a leash. When I asked at the shelter I was told it was against the rules. I left the article of clothing with our scent on it in the small cage and walked away. I stopped back at the front desk and asked when I could adopt her. The lady behind the desk told me the same thing the officer had. Friday.
I came back with the kids when they got home from school. They cried as they watched the dog whine and bark. I cried again. I decided it would be hard, but I would come back every day until I could take her home. They wrote my name down as a person who wanted to adopt her if she was unclaimed at the end of her three required days. They had a shortage of space, and were putting dogs down to make room for the new ones that were brought in.
Then next day I went back and a different person was in the office. She let us take the dog out of her kennel and walk her. Of course we were all heart broken when we had to put her back. The toy and piece of clothing with our scent on it were no longer in the kennel. It was very difficult, but I decided I would go back again the next day to make sure she hadn't been claimed.
I did this once a day until Thursday. On Thursday, I went in first thing in the morning. A different person was behind the desk again. I asked her when I could take her home. She said after three days. I told her it had been three days. She said that if the dog had been brought in first thing on Monday, I could pick her up in the afternoon on Thursday. I asked what time. She said anytime after noon. I went in at 12:01 and pick her up. When I signed the adoption papers, I agreed to have her spayed and get her vaccinated, and paid the adaption fee. I called Petsmart and asked if I could get her groomed as soon as I could get there. (She smelled very bad after living in the small cage for 3 days.) They told me they could see her if she had her rabies shot. I called the vet and made arrangements to take her straight from the shelter to get her shots. We went from there to Petsmart for the grooming. They told me to come pick her up in about 3 hours.
I went home and picked up the kids from school. I didn't tell them I had already picked up the dog. I told them we should go to Petsmart and get some toys for her so we were ready for her when we could get her the next day. They thought that sounded fun. We started off to the pet store and my son told me that his friend, who we had brought along with us, had to be back in time for his Basket ball practice. I gave in and told them what I had done, and that it was likely we wouldn't make it back in time for the practice. I took the boy home and we headed back with new excitement to get the dog.
She saw us though the glass in the grooming room and got very excited. They finally released her to us and she jumped all over all of us. She was as happy to see us as we were to see her. My son had already picked out the name Ginger, because he was reading the book, Ginger Pye, in school. We had a tag made for her , picked up a bone and some toys and were off. She smelled so much better, and she was very soft.
She was instantly a part of our family, and loved by us all.
Check back for more of the story in the next couple of days.
2 comments:
What a sweet and compelling story! I love how much you obviously cared for her. A perfect match.
Thank you, Check back. I am going to post the next part now.... The dedication grows :-) We love her so much! How do you develop a love for you dog as deep as a love for your child?
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