As I write these thoughts about Ginger on May 22, 2017, we are remembering our first golden, Lucy, who we lost two years ago today. I was “that” person….I never wanted to get another dog, thought I could never love with the intense love…”soul dog” I had for her. BUT, almost immediately I found myself drawn to every golden I saw. After about 6 months, I decided to apply to rescue from GRRMF thinking it might take some time to find the right one. We requested a 4-6 year old pure golden. I was told that this was the most popular age group requested for adoption and could take some time as the waiting list was long.
In January of 2016, we received a call asking if we’d be interested in Ginger, a 9 year old golden lab mix. We decided to go visit and see if she was a good fit. As we arrived in the town and were looking for the house number, we saw Elaine and Richard walking down the street with two dogs. I jumped out of the car and met Ginger, walking her down the street with them back to their home. She was mellow and not as playful as the other golden they were fostering…Annie, but who had health issues (I saw she has recently crossed the Rainbow Bridge😥). Ginger wasn’t interested in playing ball, just “chilled” while we talked, but she immediately had my heart! Driving home, as she laid her head in my lap all the way home, I knew I was in love and wanted to give her a fabulous life as long as she remains on this earth.
We gave her all of Lucy’s toys, bought nylabones, but only old, raggedy Mr, Duck interested her. As a pianist and 
piano teacher, someone is always playing. Ginger would grab Mr. Duck and leap around with him, making us laugh. She has never been interested in the balls or other toys and is no longer into Mr. Duck. Her favorite activity is her walks and SQUIRRELS! It is so fun to watch her stalk them, always with one of us in the other end of the leash, and then look bewildered when they climb the tree and mock her. They remain her biggest fascination. She loves her walks, sometimes running a bit, loves sniffing. She loves to be on the lookout from the sliding glass doors and see other dogs walk by. She doesn’t seem to know what to do with other dogs, so we watch to see how she reacts to those we pass on walks. Most often, if we venture into a “meet and greet”, she’ll leap at the other dog. We think she wants to play but we aren’t sure so don’t take a chance.
Ginger is at my side constantly when I’m home. As I work mostly from home, we are best friends. I pet her constantly and tell her she has filled “big shoes”. She “purrs” when we pet her….part kitty? She vocalizes often when we come home, again such a funny little girl. She runs to the door when daddy comes home and we know she is happy. She totally fits with the saying “Who Rescued Who”.
We are so grateful for those who have fostered her and also to her original “parents” who had to give her up to go into a nursing home. My heart breaks for them. They obviously trained her well. She knows her commands and is just an amazing sweetheart. She turned 10 in October and we celebrated big time as we will do for many more years we hope. Her health is good….she had a little lump removed from the skin near her tail which was cancerous but the vet said she got it all. We had another scare with her 2 days before Christmas and took her to the ER clinic where they scared us with a diagnosis of a “bladder tumor.” We took her to our regular vet the next day and ran extensive tests. 
She had a bad UTI, no evidence of tumor! THAT was our Christmas present!
Many thanks to all who were involved in her rescue, care, and fostering. She is a precious treasure and hopefully is as happy with us as we are with her. There are no guarantees of the lifespan of any dog, and we are blessed to have found this beautiful senior dog! I highly recommend rescuing seniors and experiencing the mutual and intense love!
