This is the true story of how Dale, Burley and I came to have Ginger as a part of our home.
Ginger could technically be classified a "double rescue", but she never went through any official rescue program or center. A good friend of mine, Korey, owns an airplane mechanic shop at a small county airport. A few doors down from his shop is the county dog pound where stray dogs are kept and hopefully adopted. One day in mid-April 1995, Korey was working in his hanger (which is kept open during good weather), and a beautiful red and white Border Collie walked up, looked him straight in the eye, and just stood there. "Hello" Korey says. The dog looked at him for a minute, sizing him up, then just strode on, not much of a second thought. A couple of hours later, he was sitting in his office, which is also left open, when the dog calmly walked in, plopped down next to his desk, and just looked at him. "Well, I guess you're staying" he said. The theory is that Ginger, as he named her, was a drop-off for the dog pound, and she wandered next door to the airport. He took her home and that was that.
A year or so later, Korey's wife took up with a pug dog that they named Pugsley. They now had two dogs, and they seemed to get along fine. They had a pretty big kennel in the back yard for during the day, and went inside with the family at night. Toward the end of 1998, the two dogs decided they didn't like each other anymore, and starting fighting regularly and viciously. They tried to keep the two apart, but occasionally they would get into it and fight for log periods of time. During one particularly nasty fight, his teenage daughter was accidentally bitten while trying to break them up. This was when he decided one of the dogs had to go. He couldn't even think of asking his wife to give up her dog, so it was Ginger that would have to go.
We were talking on the phone one day and he jokingly asked if I wanted another dog. I of course knew both his dogs, and already having an attachment to crazy sheepdogs, I said "You don't mean Ginger do you?" He said yes, and I said "Of course I'll take her! (after I clear it with my Dale, my girlfriend)". He was faced with taking her to the pound, which I couldn't bear to think of. Dale and I had been talking about getting another dog for awhile anyway, but since we are both pretty busy we didn't think we had time to train a puppy. A 5-year old house trained dog fit the bill perfectly! Of course the big question was how Burley would handle it, as she's had me to herself for over 12 years. It took about three weeks, but she adjusted and they are now big buds. They immediately bonded over a common hatred for the vacuum cleaner.
Ginger came to us in January of 1999, and as of this writing it has been a little over three months. I have never before met a more affectionate and loving dog with personality to spare. I've already forgotten what life was like without her! She is a natural with the Frisbee, and runs faster than greased lightening. I'm teaching her to jump into my arms, which at the moment is more like hind-leg hopping. This combined with the fact that she is so soft, and she licks EVERYTHING, is the reason one of her nicknames is "Bunnycat". She has about 10 nicknames, from "Brown Dog" to "D2" (Burley is "D1") to "Poopie" (after a particularly unpleasant diarrhea incident) to "One-half of Two Dogz" (Burley and Ginger are referred to collectively as "Two Dogz" - I know, very original) to "G-Dawg". She is so happy when I get home from work everyday, she has this little spin move that she does out of sheer joy - occasionally she goes around too fast and biffs! Tis quite funny.
As far as I'm concerned, Ginger's rescue days are over - she ain't going nowhere, and we will grow old together.
Update, June 2000:
The above was written in April of 1999. Since then, Dale & I have married, and we bought a house in Livermore. The Grrrls now have their very own backyard and a good-sized house, much better than the cramped 2 BR apartment where we used to live. They are still best of friends, in fact if they spend time apart, they always greet each other with many licks. We take Ginger "the Princess" to a very large park every evening, where we play frisbee for at least a half hour. I'm training her for frisbee competition, where I have no doubt she will dominate. Now, if I could just train her not to be such a bed hog...
Update, May 2001:
Time marches on, and the pack has expanded again. If you would like your entire world turned upside down, raise a Border Collie puppy! See Darby's Page for some really cute pictures of our little Monkey Dog.
Update, Dec 2002:
Time marches on still, and the pack has moved - to a 43 acre ranch. The Grrrls absolutely love it, as they have plenty of room to run, explore, and even a pond to not swim in (not exactly water dogs). We have sheep now, and Ginger thinks eating them would be a great idea.
Update, April 2003:
The pack has grown with the addition of the monster-brusier Lyn Dawg. Lyn is Ginger's new favorite chew toy.
Update, Oct 2003:
The pack has grown more with the addition of Rose. Now we have a matched set - 2 black, 2 red BCs.