Ginger 13-079

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Profile

March 29, 2013
It is truly our pleasure to introduce you to Ginger 13-079. Ginger is a beautiful 1 year old Golden Retriever/Lab cross who comes to us from Service Dogs for America, an organization that trains dogs for service work. She is being fostered in Mazeppa, Minnesota. Ginger came into RAGOM with her sibling, Dutchess 13-078, after they were dropped from the service dog training program because of hip dysplasia. She came to RAGOM weighing 66 pounds – Ginger is a big girl. She had her wellness visit with the vet this week. She is in perfect health with the exception of those hips. All the staff at the vet’s office were impressed with how beautiful, calm, and well behaved she was. RAGOM will have a top-notch orthopedic vet evaluate her and take whatever steps are needed to help with her hips before she is adopted.

What gem she is! In the first year of training, Ginger has mastered all the basic commands sit, stay, down, heel, etc. – and many more! The first time her Foster Mom put in a down and sit, FM soon realized she needed to figure out the release command – Ginger was going to stay until released! It turns out the command is “release” – imagine that. Not bad for a 1 year old puppy! We received a long list of commands the service dogs are taught and found out she knows several more. Foster Mom took Ginger to the school where she works to show her off – at the front door, FM gave her a “paws up” command and pointed her to the handicap button beside the door. Bingo! Ginger hit the handicap button and opened the door!

Ginger moved right in with our resident pack that includes our four dogs – she was very respectful and had no issues with any of them. Even the resident grouch dog warmed up to her in about 3 days which is a record for the grouch. So, we are happy to report she is good with other dogs! Last night she got the ultimate test when our Daughter, 20 month-old Granddaughter, and their crew of 3 little dogs came over. Ginger survived the snarls and teeth barring insults from the little dogs with great dignity and discretion. She also endured being bonked on the head, poked, and prodded by a toddler – she answered all that with kisses!


Ginger and her foster siblings Riley and Lily

We are finding Ginger to be a very sweet, laid-back lady. She is totally house trained, crate trained, likes car rides. She has no resource guarding issues. She is quiet – haven’t heard her bark once in the first 5 days. And, she absolutely craves human attention! She loves to chew (on appropriate things so far) – just don’t give her any wimpy things to chew on. Cow leg bones with tasty filling work great!


Who is that doggie in the window?

At a Glance #13-079

Mixed Breed Born: March 2012
Female 50 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

March 29, 2013
It is truly our pleasure to introduce you to Ginger 13-079. Ginger is a beautiful 1 year old Golden Retriever/Lab cross who comes to us from Service Dogs for America, an organization that trains dogs for service work. She is being fostered in Mazeppa, Minnesota. Ginger came into RAGOM with her sibling, Dutchess 13-078, after they were dropped from the service dog training program because of hip dysplasia. She came to RAGOM weighing 66 pounds – Ginger is a big girl. She had her wellness visit with the vet this week. She is in perfect health with the exception of those hips. All the staff at the vet’s office were impressed with how beautiful, calm, and well behaved she was. RAGOM will have a top-notch orthopedic vet evaluate her and take whatever steps are needed to help with her hips before she is adopted.

What gem she is! In the first year of training, Ginger has mastered all the basic commands sit, stay, down, heel, etc. – and many more! The first time her Foster Mom put in a down and sit, FM soon realized she needed to figure out the release command – Ginger was going to stay until released! It turns out the command is “release” – imagine that. Not bad for a 1 year old puppy! We received a long list of commands the service dogs are taught and found out she knows several more. Foster Mom took Ginger to the school where she works to show her off – at the front door, FM gave her a “paws up” command and pointed her to the handicap button beside the door. Bingo! Ginger hit the handicap button and opened the door!

Ginger moved right in with our resident pack that includes our four dogs – she was very respectful and had no issues with any of them. Even the resident grouch dog warmed up to her in about 3 days which is a record for the grouch. So, we are happy to report she is good with other dogs! Last night she got the ultimate test when our Daughter, 20 month-old Granddaughter, and their crew of 3 little dogs came over. Ginger survived the snarls and teeth barring insults from the little dogs with great dignity and discretion. She also endured being bonked on the head, poked, and prodded by a toddler – she answered all that with kisses!


Ginger and her foster siblings Riley and Lily

We are finding Ginger to be a very sweet, laid-back lady. She is totally house trained, crate trained, likes car rides. She has no resource guarding issues. She is quiet – haven’t heard her bark once in the first 5 days. And, she absolutely craves human attention! She loves to chew (on appropriate things so far) – just don’t give her any wimpy things to chew on. Cow leg bones with tasty filling work great!


Who is that doggie in the window?

Updates

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the delay in submitting this update. It's been such a busy summer!

I want to say what a sweetheart Ginger is. She is such a happy girl! It didn't take long for all of us to fall in love with her. She loves people.

Ginger went to the vet on Monday, July, 1st. Her surrendering family mentioned a concern regarding hair loss and an increase in water consumption. The vet noted a bit of hair loss with a couple of little sore spots on her underside, and so did a skin scraping that came back normal. Ginger had a blood and urine workup that also came back normal. She was found to have an ear infection. The vet thinks signs are pointing toward Ginger having allergies. It's too soon to tell if they may be environmental or food allergies. Ginger is taking an antibiotic called Cephalexin for the sores on her skin and Otomax for her ears. It is, and always will be, important that Ginger take Dasuquin tablets (a Glucosamine and Condroitin supplement) along with omega 3 fatty acids for her joint health. Remember, Ginger has hip displasia. She will need to be kept on the thin side for life. Ginger weighed in at 70.9 pounds. She's a long and lean beauty.

We still need to work through the training commands she knows. I have not tested her on most of them yet.  I can tell you she will "sit", "down", "shake", and "stay" without having to tell her twice.  Her on-leash skills are rusty. She needs to re-learn "heel".  We're working on that during daily walks. She will retrieve all day long and she just loves tennis balls.  One must be careful not to let her be too physical and therefore cause her hips to hurt.

She is left alone with free roam in the house while we are away from home during the work day.  She does not harm anything, is completely trustworthy and housebroken.  She gets along with our dogs splendidly.  She has a good amount of energy but calms down nicely.  She sleeps next to our bed quietly all night.  Ginger is a loving companion and follows me all through the house.  She appears to love children although we do  not have any children in our home. She does not guard anything.  She rides quietly in the car, alternating between laying down and sitting up.  She's attentive and curious. 

I am so happy to have had the pleasure of caring for this girl.  She is special indeed. 

Sunday, April 14, 2013

It’s time for Ginger’s final update. Yesterday Ginger went to her forever home! We are going to miss her but she went to a nice new home with a family committed to giving her the Golden Life she deserves! This family lost their beloved old Golden last year and they were thrilled have the chance to accept Ginger into their family. Good bye Ginger – enjoy your new family!


Ginger and her new family.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

It’s time for an update on Ginger. We thought we would add a little more information on the organization that released Ginger to RAGOM and the training she received during her first year. Ginger came from Service Dogs for America (SDA) in Jud, ND, a non-profit organization that trains service dogs for physically challenged individuals. As part of Ginger’s first year she was enrolled in the Inmate Canine Assistance Program (ICAP) at the James River Correctional Center in Jamestown, ND. While at ICAP for three months, a carefully selected inmates team is assigned to a dog 24/7 to give them intensive work on the basic Big 5: sit, stay, down, come, and heel. Following ICAP, they return to SDA to continue their service dog training. The level of training Ginger received in her first year is evident! While her service dog career has ended because of her hips, Ginger has the potential to be many other things - a therapy dog, a companion dog for a challenged child, a Reading Education Assistance Dog (R.E.A.D), or, of course, some lucky family's pet!

A very nice person from SDA has sent us some pictures of Ginger growing up that we just had to share!


Ginger, her mom, and siblings – tough to figure just which one is Ginger.


A Toddler picture of Ginger – look at those feet!


And, a teenage snapshot.

The latest news is that Ginger will be seeing the orthopedic surgeon next Monday to decide what needs to be done with her hips. We will post an update as soon as that is done.