Hey, Pam… nice to hear from you.

I’ll start at the end: Ginger is doing great, and we’re so glad she chose us. We go for two or three walks a day through our little patch of woods. After dark, she wears a little red lighted collar (she’s very proud of it) so I can see her when she’s off-leash. She listens like a champ, and knows that “heel” means come back and sit by my feet and she’ll get a little treat. Our little dog Bear (6 pound Morkie) was a bit slow to accept at first, and remains a little bit territorial. But we have caught them spooning on a couple occasions, and Bear follows Ginger’s footsteps on walks (it’s good to have a big sister to clear a path through the snow).

We did not change Ginger’s name. We had planned on it, but ended up deciding that she had been through enough change. She was a bit sickly for the first several weeks she was with us; probably because of the change in food (we don’t know what she was fed before being surrendered), and because she went through a couple weeks of dramatic change. Also, our wonderful vet (Dr. Tom in Webster) diagnosed a couple bacterial issues in her gut. He prescribed a treatment, and assured us there was nothing more serious going on; a few weeks later, she was perfectly fine. We wondered whether it’s conceivable that she may have had a litter of pups before she was given up, as well, due to the appearance of her underside, and because of the way she carries her “babies” around the house (stuffed animals). We’ll ask about that when we get her spayed in January. One can only wonder what kind of life she had before she joined ours.

I’ll share one more very peculiar thing. Each morning, she gets up, finds one of her favorite babies (toys), and walks around the house with it, vocalizing with happiness. It would sound like crying to someone that does not know her, but she is wagging her tail and wiggling her butt so hard, and rubbing up against my wife and I as if to say, “Oh, gosh, it’s going to be another wonderful day and I’m so happy.”  I wish I could explain it better, but trust me, it’s heartwarming to see.

She joins Bear at the window every day at “Deer o’clock” to see which animals are wandering through our yard. (Our daughter refers to this as “Dog TV.”)  And she “helps” me carry in the fireplace wood. Gotta earn that kibble, you know.

Anything else you’d like to know?

We’re just so happy she is here.  And we think she’s happy, too.