Ginger 14-310

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Profile

In addition to LOVE this dog has the following requirements:
Entered Foster Care Fence Kid Friendly Another Dog Cat Friendly
 10/12/2014 Physical fence or leash/tie-out Ages 10+ Optional Dog-savvy cats
This is the most recent information available; however, it may change as we learn more about the dog.

Ginger 14-310 is about the sweetest little girl you could ever hope to meet. Our best guess on her breed is Golden Retriever/Beagle mix because she definitely has the nose to be a Beagle. When we take her on walks, she is nose to the ground the whole time. We have to watch her to make sure she doesn’t follow her nose into danger.... The best part of Ginger’s appearance is her curly tail! It is the cutest thing. Not sure what breed that came from, but it is adorable regardless.

I believe that Ginger was not well socialized as a young pup as she is nervous of pretty much everything. For the most part, she does fine once she is exposed to it regularly, but there are a few things she is still scared of. The most important of these is running water or getting wet. We are rewarding her profusely every time we turn the water on and she seems to be doing better. No more shaking and whining, but she definitely doesn’t hang out by the tap. She is nervous of strangers, but if they feed her treats and pet her nicely, then she changes her mind fairly quickly. We have not yet convinced her that snuggles are a good thing, but she does love to nap next to us on the sofa. She is a whiz kid at destroying sticks and loves to play soccer, though she hasn’t worked out that soccer is more fun if you have someone else to play with. Right now when we take the ball to play with her, she just looks at us sadly... I can almost hear her saying, “Why did you take my ball? I was playing with that.”

She is a pretty classic 6-month-old pup otherwise. She loves to lean against you and get pets and wants to be where we are. She plays hard and then naps hard. Sometimes we have to carry her to bed because she refuses to wake up to walk to bed... Ginger is still working on potty training, but she is pretty good. I think she would be fully trained by now except that she has a UTI and that is causing a few problems for her. She has started a round of antibiotics and should been getting some relief soon.

At a Glance #14-310

Mixed Breed Born: March 2014
Female 30 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

In addition to LOVE this dog has the following requirements:
Entered Foster Care Fence Kid Friendly Another Dog Cat Friendly
 10/12/2014 Physical fence or leash/tie-out Ages 10+ Optional Dog-savvy cats
This is the most recent information available; however, it may change as we learn more about the dog.

Ginger 14-310 is about the sweetest little girl you could ever hope to meet. Our best guess on her breed is Golden Retriever/Beagle mix because she definitely has the nose to be a Beagle. When we take her on walks, she is nose to the ground the whole time. We have to watch her to make sure she doesn’t follow her nose into danger.... The best part of Ginger’s appearance is her curly tail! It is the cutest thing. Not sure what breed that came from, but it is adorable regardless.

I believe that Ginger was not well socialized as a young pup as she is nervous of pretty much everything. For the most part, she does fine once she is exposed to it regularly, but there are a few things she is still scared of. The most important of these is running water or getting wet. We are rewarding her profusely every time we turn the water on and she seems to be doing better. No more shaking and whining, but she definitely doesn’t hang out by the tap. She is nervous of strangers, but if they feed her treats and pet her nicely, then she changes her mind fairly quickly. We have not yet convinced her that snuggles are a good thing, but she does love to nap next to us on the sofa. She is a whiz kid at destroying sticks and loves to play soccer, though she hasn’t worked out that soccer is more fun if you have someone else to play with. Right now when we take the ball to play with her, she just looks at us sadly... I can almost hear her saying, “Why did you take my ball? I was playing with that.”

She is a pretty classic 6-month-old pup otherwise. She loves to lean against you and get pets and wants to be where we are. She plays hard and then naps hard. Sometimes we have to carry her to bed because she refuses to wake up to walk to bed... Ginger is still working on potty training, but she is pretty good. I think she would be fully trained by now except that she has a UTI and that is causing a few problems for her. She has started a round of antibiotics and should been getting some relief soon.

Updates

Monday, January 12, 2015

Ginger has had an exciting couple of weeks.  She had to go to the vet a few times because she was scratching a lot.  We were worried for a bit that she might have some allergies and she is fairly young to have bad allergies.  Fortunately, it appears that it was not allergies but, in fact, sarcoptic mange.  Which sounds bad but it is readily treatable and now that she has gotten two of her three shots she is a lot less itchy and a much happier pup.  (Though she is generally a pretty happy pup anyway)  

Along with the mange treatments Ginger has also spent several days away from home and had some great adventures.  We brought her with us to Wisconsin for Christmas and she got to spend Christmas with us in a new house with a bunch of new people.  She is always nervous around new people but she warms up when she finds out that new people give lots of treats too!  Ginger is really responsive to treats and being told that she is a good girl.  She loves human approval and it makes her really happy, so meeting new people wasn’t too hard.  She made a great impression and made everyone fall in love with her. Not surprising because she is just that sweet of a dog. They were all very impressed with how well behaved she was. She then spent New Year’s with a sitter who has two great dogs.  Ginger loves spending time with other dogs so even though they didn't play with her as much as she would like it was super fun just hanging out.  I got an excellent report back that she did wonderful while there. If the dogs didn’t feel like playing she would leave them alone and she was very well behaved and adjusted very well to a new person. She learned the new rules of the house quickly and even did well around the Christmas tree. She also got a new toy out of the deal and that is always exciting.  Ginger likes to have a selection of toys around so that she can hoard them all or switch randomly between them.  I have attached some pictures of her playing over New Year's enjoying a fenced in yard and the woods that were out back.  

We have noticed that Ginger has a hard time with these sub-zero temperatures and her feet get really cold.  We walk her with little fleece booties to keep her feet warm so that she has an easier time out in the cold.  She doesn't tend to get long walks when it is this cold but she seems okay with that.  As long as we play with her inside...  She is a pup after all and needs to do some running.  Attached is a picture of Ginger in her booties.  She doesn't like having them put on but once they are on she is fine with them.  It makes her nervous having her legs handled a lot and she shakes a little but is otherwise very well behaved. 

I am on semester break right now so Ginger is loving having me around all the time because I do a lot of cooking and interesting things like cleaning and moving furniture which are super exciting for her. I have also included a pic of Ginger and one of my cats helping me cook dinner.  They are very attentive helpers.  Especially as that day as I was making seafood, a particular favorite for them both. 

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Well it is official.  Ginger does well with other dogs and loves their company.  She gets very nervous at meet and greets and has problems meeting dogs in that situation but when she meets dogs at home or can meet them in a quieter setting she does well.  We have noticed that she tends to guard us and does not like sharing our attention with other dogs but if we keep ourselves a little bit distance and don't let her entrench next to us she is fine.   Over Thanksgiving Ginger spent a few days at another volunteers house and she did great.  She had fun and played with the other dogs but the word is she was willing to give them space when they wanted it.  We also took her to meet the dogs that she may be spending New Years with and she had fun with them as well.  Though they weren't quite as interested in playing but Ginger was okay with that.  

We also found out over Thanksgiving that Ginger would be fine with free roam.  She was free roam over Thanksgiving and did not cause any problems or have any fear.  She especially liked that she did not have to go into the crate at night and she could choose where to sleep.    We found out a few of her quirks also.  It turns out that she has webbed feet!  It is just too bad that she doesn't like water.  Perhaps someday she will warm up to water and take a chance; she might even find out that she likes it.  

Ginger is a confirmed low shedder as well. She has been shedding a bit more right now but that is because she is having some sort of skin problem which is making her really itchy. We are working with a vet to see what is going on with that but for now she is scratching a lot. However, in general Ginger does not shed much.

Ginger still likes to try to get the cats to play with her and since they are not big fans of this she is crated at night with us and is definitely crate trained. She would prefer to not be crated but she goes into the crate willing when we tell her "it is time for bed" and will lay down and rest quietly until we let her out.   I have noticed that even if we have to crate her when we are home she behaves quite well. Part of this change is because we bought her a new bed and she loves how soft and squashy it is. If the crate door is left open and we are upstairs she will sometimes just go in and lay on her bed.

Ginger actually had a big moment this week.  She got over another of her biggest fears.  Today for the first time she went downstairs into the dark scary basement all by herself.  On top of that she found out that she likes it down there.  It has all sorts of interesting smells and the cats like to hang out down there also.  She still has some hesitation going down the stairs but they are kind of scary stairs and I am careful going down them also so I can’t really blame her. Unfortunately for the cats she seems inclined to spend more time down there now and they will have to find a new place to go when they want to avoid her.    We are super proud of her!  She is such a good girl and really likes to be told what a good girl she is. She is so easy to train with lots of positive reinforcement and tons of praise and patience!

One new thing that we working on with training that a potential adopter should know is that Ginger likes to chew on plastic.  Especially if she is going to be free roam all plastic bottles, caps, squeakers etc have to be kept away from her as she will eat them.  We are trying to train her to sniff plastic and then leave it but this is going to require that she be trained with new objects as well. An example of this is when we bought her a treat puzzle to entertain her and she was more interested in eating the pieces then the treats underneath such a silly girl.

Ginger is still her sweet love bug self and every day is new and exciting for her.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

I have a lot of things to add to about sweet Ginger 14-310. The most important, I think, is that she is really coming out of her shell at home. She is an adorable, sweet, mostly obedient girl. She listens to us really well, especially considering we have only had her for about a month and a half and she is only 7 months old now. She is really smart and picks up on training really well. She would probably do really well with agility training if someone wanted to spend the time on it. She also loves to play and loves to cuddle. She is doing really well with our cats and could really use a friend to play with, I think. She likes to play tug, but is willing to give the toy to you if stop pulling and tell her to give. She is good at retrieving, but hasn’t really learned the whole catching concept yet. Mostly, she is just happy when she can hang out with people and is a wonderful companion.

A couple of updates on the things we have been working on. She is doing a little better with water. She is still nervous when being bathed and will try to escape, but she did allow us to bathe her. We give her sponge baths and have tried using a showerhead or other running water, but I think we will get there.

She is still not a fan of the car. She is fine getting in and out with treats as long as the car isn’t running, but she gets nervous when the car is running. She doesn’t whine or howl, but she paces and pants a lot. It is clear she is nervous.

Ginger will willingly go into the crate for bed and lay down and stay in the crate quietly all night. She is not as good about the crate during the day, but she is better. She is still doing fine when we are gone, but she does not like it when she has to be in the crate when we are home and she will whine. I don’t think that she would need to be crated all the time necessarily either. We crate her because she likes to chase the cats. She is just trying to engage them in play, but they don’t think it is particularly fun and my older cat gets pretty stressed out. If we didn’t have the cats, I would be fine leaving her out on her own during the day.

Potty training is going great! No accidents again. We have taken her to new places and she didn’t have accidents there either. I would say that she is now potty trained for sure. I think her biggest problem was the UTI. She may have actually been potty trained when we got her and she was just having problems because of her infection.

A couple of new things… Now that it has snowed, we have tried to take her in and out of the house through the basement and she is absolutely not a fan. She is very nervous of the basement. We have an unfinished basement and it is kind of dark and creepy, so that could be the problem. There are also a lot of strange noises that come from there (like the old furnace turning on), so we are working on getting her used to that.

She does appear to have some allergies. We are not sure what she is allergic to yet, but we are investigating. She seems to be itchy and is licking a few spots excessively. Right now, the vet recommended that we put her on Benadryl and that seems to help some.

Ginger has had a few adventures since my last update and I think you will enjoy hearing about them.

We took Ginger up to Grand Marais for a weekend trip and she had a blast. Her favorite part was the two beds in the hotel room and the fact that she didn’t have to be crated. She liked to jump back and forth between the beds and would throw her toys across the room so that she would have to jump across the beds to retrieve them. She saw the big lake for the first time and was definitely uncertain about it. There were large waves while we were there and they were a bit intimidating. She also really enjoyed the porch attached to our room. We left the door open a bit for her during the day and she would run in and out as she saw fit. She loved being able to watch the birds from outside.

We took her to the last meet-and-greet in Duluth and she did really well! Especially for such a nervous girl. She got pretty overwhelmed, but for the most part, she sat or laid next to us and watched the action happen. She met a few really nice, gentle people who gave her pets and treats and she would follow them as much as her leash allowed. She definitely likes people; she just needs them to go slow and take their time.

Ginger has now seen snow for the first time and we weren’t sure how she would feel about it, but she loves it! One of her favorite things is to go out in the afternoon and race around in the snow. It is even better when it is actually snowing or if there is fresh snow outside. Ginger definitely thinks we need more of that cool fluffy white stuff to play in.

Friday, October 31, 2014

Ginger is opening up and blossoming every day. She has become comfortable with us and has turned into an adorable, sassy puppy just like she should be. She has finished her round of antibiotics for her UTI and has been doing much better with potty training. No accidents since my last update! Her health in general is much better and she has more energy as well, which is great. It was sad to see a pup like her spend so much time sleeping and being lethargic, though even now, she is a pretty low-key pup. She mostly just wants to hang out and cuddle or play with her toys on the couch. About every hour or so, she will get a spurt of puppy energy that she just can’t contain and will go on a bit of a rampage through her toys for about 15 min. Any cats in the area quickly scatter and humans have to be on high alert as she has been known to jump on tables and counters during these times, especially if she feels that the cat toys that have been placed out of her reach are more interesting than her boring dog toys. Apparently, having the toys be off-limits makes them that much more appealing. Her fear of water has lessened with training, which is great; we are going to continue with this, as bathing is still really scary for her. We are beginning her training to teach her to like the car next. Hopefully, she will take to it quickly, as right now, she finds car rides rather terrifying. She is pretty smart and takes to training really well, but will need consistent training for a while to get her used to the world around her.

A few additional things we have learned about Ginger since the last update.

  1. She is more agile than at least one of my cats.
  2. She likes to chew on wood... even if it is attached to a house. You can see her pictured with a stick, but if she gets bored while left alone, then the molding on your house may be on the menu also.
  3. She does not accept being crated if she knows you are in the house. It is too unfair. Though this may get better with time as we continue crate training.
  4. Ginger is very good at entertaining herself as long as a person is around in case one is needed.
  5. If you ever need a dog to hunt leaves for you, then Ginger is your gal. See picture for photogenic proof! If only we could eat leaves I wouldn’t have to buy groceries.

  

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