Sunday, July 24, 2005

No Ginger Snap She


Ginger is an intimidating looking dog. Ginger is a good natured slob. By far, the largest dog we have ever had, she is even larger than a standard poodle we had once, but also she is the biggest baby we've ever had.

What she is exactly, no one seems to know. Her brown markings on a black background are exactly the same as those of Rottweilers and Doberman Pincers. Her size is that of a Great Dane. She's too long and lean in body to be part-Rottweiler it seems. She's too large and muscular to be part-Doberman. Her snout and jowls are two long to be part-Great Dane. The only other breeds that possibly could come into play are Mutt and Mongrel.

My window sills come to my upper thigh. Our Lab mix, profiled in Lucky Lady Bug (No.252) has to put her front paws on the sill to see out of the window. Along comes Ginger to have a look see, she just rests her chin on the sill to see what's going on outside. Another clue as to her size, would be for us to buy a saddle and rent her out for pony rides to kids five and under.

Like Oliveah, Ginger also has an interesting story. When she younger, my daughter would have brought home this dog and asked, "Can we keep her, please?" My grown up daughter however, said, "We are going to keep her to keep Liv company." Now when I set my foot down, I have to be careful where I put it!
Yes, that's how Ginger showed up here and remains to this day.

She was at work one day when the security guard called her on the walkie-talkie. He told her of a dog tied to a utility pole. A rope was tied around her neck in a hangman's noose. She ran out to the parking lot where the guard and dog were located. They led the very nervous and skiddish dog into her office. While she was giving the dog a bowl of water, she sent the security guard to McDonalds for a couple of plain hamburgers.

Right from the start, rather than acting traumatized, the dog, sans the noose, was happy-go-lucky. When she got up from her desk the dog tried to follow her. When she was seated at her desk, the dog laid on the floor by her feet. It wagged its tail and playfully greeted anyone who came into the office. If a person's face was positioned anywhere near its face, that face was promptly washed. If anybody had any fears of bodily harm from this dog, they discovered that it would be a slobber drowning.

We had a new Veterinarian by this time, and when she finished checking out Ginger, as we had named her, it was determined that she was between nine months and a year-old! A dog that big was just a puppy? The examination over, shots given and a follow up appointment made we had officially increased our animal population by one moose. As it turns out, this Vet happened to sell special puppy food. I kindly declined saying that because of the size of the dog, we had no room for that much dog food.

No.254

1 comment:

the many Bs said...

I love your dog stories. I can tell you have a tender heart for animals. They are wonderful. And I love your dogs. Ginger's background sounds like quite an enigma. I think her coloring looks rottweiller, but the size sounds like great dane. She must weigh over 100 lbs, right? What a sweetie though. Your daughter is a wonderful person for rescuing her! Give Ginger a big lick for me!