Racing Stripes

Ginger has a love-hate relationship with the dogs next door.  Sometimes, she'll go out and commune with Bella, whose cage is right up against our fence, with no drama.  Other times, it's a bark-fest, with Ginger getting the last word in because poor Bella wears an anti-bark collar.

Unfortunately, the chain-link fence is old and Ginger does try to go through it.  This has resulted in some nasty wounds, and what looks like permanent scarring.  I think I should probably suggest that she do ads for the car company or insurance company with similar logos.

It doesn't appear to have any effect on her abilities to smell.  Last night, as we got ready for bed, she got a whiff of something in the air.  It was one of those times when we really wanted her to be able to tell us what was up.  Her nostrils flaired and she did slow arching searches of the air.  I guess she was trying to figure out vectors.  We have no idea what had her on alert, but she finally curled up without explaining it to us.  Since the house didn't burn down around us, we can rule out fire.

Fierce!

The puppies go to war at least once a day. When they get too far out of line, Dexter steps in and drags one of them off by the scruff of the neck.  Riley's on the left and Ginger's on the right.

We've been somewhat concerned about what happens when we bring a tree into the house.  Dexter (Best Dog Ever, below) won't care.  He's been through two Christmases with us and has never touched a thing.  This will be baby's first Christmas for both puppies, though. 

I set up what I affectionately call a Chanukah bush a few weeks ago.  It's a white stick tree that I decorate with cobalt blue ornaments.  Ginger and Riley have both been over to sniff at it, and I've seen Riley poke his nose at a couple of the blue balls, but they've done nothing to worry about--so far.  Riley likes to eat paper, and he chews on boxes, so it may be more problematic when the real tree goes up this week and there are presents underneath it.

Miss Trouble Strikes Again

Little Miss Trouble earned herself a trip to the emergency room last night.  For the second time, she got into something that made her face swell.  The first time, it was just her eye.  This time, eyes, neck, jaw.  She looked more like a pit bull than a golden retriever.  I figured it was better to get her to a vet than to risk a middle of the night crisis, so off we went.

54 pounds of puppy is a lot of strength, and trying to manipulate her while opening and closing doors and filling out paperwork is a trick.  At one point, the vet tech suggested rattle snake--unlikely, but not impossible--but they couldn't find fang marks to match.  I figure it was a spider or one of the bugs she likes to catch got her instead.  Two hours, with steriods and benedryl by IV, later, we headed home.  She looked a bit better, but by this morning she looked herself.

Dexter is a perfect dog, but Ginger is a scamp.

Ginger Update

She's fine, but we had a scare with New Puppy, who turns 5 months old today.  We took her in to be spayed two weeks ago.  The rescue group made us promise to get it done before she turned five months old.  We took her to their vet, because the spay was part of the adoption fee. We were told they nicked her urethra which required the removal of one of her kidneys.  She had a huge incision and looked so helpless when we went in to see her.  Everyone was upset, rightly so.

It has slowed her down almost not at all.  A few days of pain pills, 10 days of antibiotics, and, except for the staples that come out tomorrow, you'd never know anything was wrong.  I've gotten attached to seeing her run around in my tee-shirts (a really good alternative to the Cone of Shame which was suggested by the vet), but I'm sure she'll be happy not to wear it any longer.

We were so happy that there was no change to her delightful personality, and she's happily getting into all kinds of mischief.  I had intended to start her in a puppy obedience class, but that will have to wait until the Fall since the summer session has already started.  She will get to go to the dog park with her big brother, and I'm sure that when my friend Lira house-sits next week, she will get some obedience training. 

Adventures of New Puppy

Friday was Ginger's visit to the vet, who pronounced her perfect in every way.  No kennel cough in evidence.  A weight gain of seven pounds.  Time for an adventure!

On Saturday, I took Ginger up to the barn to meet her really big brother, Ace.  She was appropriately apprehensive, unlike Dexter who thought the horses should respond to barking and play-bows by, well, playing.  Ginger had a rough and tumble time with Gayle's Aussie shepherd, Eli, even though she was on a lead.  After Ace finished his lesson, she got a chance to get a little bit closer.

Willie, a Haflinger, was less intimidating, so she got even closer.

I would call it a successful visit to the barn and she even got a lesson in walking on the leash from Gayle.

On Sunday, she had us in hysterics and reminded us of a poem we once heard Tim Curry read at the L.A. Public Library. The poem is from an anthology called Unleashed: Poems by Writers' Dogs.  This four line poem is called "Birch" and it is by Karen Shepherd.  Every dog owner I know understands this poem.

Are you going to eat that?
Are you going to eat that?
Are you going to eat that?
I'll eat that!

Our friend Lisa, subject of this display of dog cuteness, does volunteer work for a pet adoption charity, so she was not all bothered by having Ginger hover near by looking for a hand-out.

The New Addition

Is there anything as adorable as a Golden Retriever puppy? I doubt it. This cute little face belongs to Ginger, the new baby in our lives. We got her a week ago from the Southern California Golden Retriever Rescue. She was born on February 14, and she's the first puppy we've owned since we got our late, beloved Muffin as a six-week-old back in 1995.
Ginger was an owner turn-in to the organization and all I can say is, their loss, our gain. She's a bouncing bundle of energy and curiosity, is crate-trained, and already knows "sit" and "down," although "stay" is going to be a tough concept. She's a true retriever, constantly bringing sticks, leaves, and clumps of dirt into the house and stealing shoes, potholders, and pretty much anything not nailed down outside. She likes to play in her water bowl, and, given the chance, will turn it over to dump it and then carry it around. But most of all, she likes to rough-house with her new big brother, Dexter.

Dex will be five next week. We got him from SCGRR almost two years ago (in September) and since Muffin died in November of 2009 and Sheba died in our house fire last spring, he's been the only dog in our pack and he just loves to play. Muff and Sheba were 14 when we got him, so they weren't terribly interested in puppy play (although Goldens don't every really grow up), but Sheba let him know who was boss and he complied.

Now he's got a puppy to run and wrestle with, to play tug of war with, and to set a good example for. And, I think he already realizes, the girl is going to rule the roost when she's older. Even now, he lets her hoard the toys--I watched her take something away from him and then sit on it and two other toys so he couldn't have them. Thought I would die laughing.

Last night, after Dex spent some time pinning her down by sitting on her, Ginger started bouncing up onto one of the chairs and leaping into the air to land wrapped around Dexter's neck, then she'd slide off and do it all over again. I suppose I should have been concerned that she'd go flying into the 73" TV screen, but that didn't happen. The two of them go rolling across the floor in a big ball of fur and bear teeth at each other, but Dex is an amazing gentle giant and very good big brother to the little imp.

More than once, we've found them exhausted with their noses a few inches apart. It is absolutely precious. The late Chris Reeve once described something as "almost as much fun as a room full of Golden Retriever puppies." I know exactly what he meant.