Hi, my name is Christa. I would like to introduce to you two of the greatest dogs in the world! First let me tell you a bit about Gipper. He is originally from Hawaii. I lived there for 7 years from 2001 - 2008. He was born and adopted in 2004. He is a long haired, black and tan dachshund. He's about 20 lb and is working on losing 4-5 lb to be at a healthier weight. He has a great, outgoing, playful personality. He barks loudly when a vehicle he doesn't know pulls into the driveway and he is always ready to go when I am either going for a car ride or a walk outside. When I am at my computer, he lays directly to the left of me, with his body against the base of the chair. If I get up, he's instantly on his feet ready to go where ever I am going. He sleeps through each night and will stay in bed as long as I do! He's a great companion, walking partner, lap warmer while I watch tv and I when I want to go for a drive, he's always ready to go at a moments notice and he allows me to buckle him in with his dog harness to keep him safe.
In October 2010, I watched a Nova special on dogs called Dogs Decoded, PBS is coming out with a tv series of the same title in November 2011. I am really looking forward to that! They talk about how when a human sees a dog, their brain has the same chemical reaction of seeing a baby! It's available on netflix streaming as well.
Back to the point, seeing that PBS special was a reminder to me of how much joy Gipper has brought to my life. It also made me think of the joy in his life and with me working 8-10 hours 5 days a week, that leaves a lot of alone time for him. It was then that I hopped online and searched for my local human society and they had a link to PetFinder.com. It was there after just a few minutes of searching, I found a long haired, 4 1/2 year old, gingerbread colored dachshund by the name of "Ginger". She was termed as 'Special needs', requiring 2 medications each day. One for hypothyroid and the other for seizures. One look at her, I knew she was perfect for me and I was perfect for her! It was a Saturday night, around 7pm - the shelter was closed until 12 noon the next day.
That Sunday I arrived at the humane society right when it opened. I walked up to the counter with a printed page from their site and said "I would like to adopt Ginger!". The friendly gal looked at me disappointed and said that someone had put a $20 deposit down on her the day before and they were in the process of getting their house prepaired for her. She then went on to say that I was welcome to put down a 2nd deposit on her and if by chance the first deposit is cancelled, then I would have the option to adopt her. Tears filled my eyes as I asked if I could meet Ginger to see if there is a connection. I felt such a let down, knowing that I wasn't able to adopt her.
I was then led down a long hall, with the sound of dogs barking from every direction. Into a small room with crates stacked up two entire walls. There she was, sitting in the back of a wire crate, quietly staring out into no where. The other little dogs were barking, whining and playing. She sat quietly as people shuffled by. I walked up to her crate and quietly said her name. She immediately perked up and looked into my eyes. She came to the front of the cage and started licking my fingers while holding eye contact. It was at that moment, I knew she was meant for me.
I went back to the front counter, pulled out my checkbook and said "I would like to put a 2nd deposit on Ginger. Can you give me an idea of what my chances are to adopt her?" The kind gal looked at me and said "I'll be honest, about 70% of the deposits put down are followed through with people adopting the pet. Only 30% don't follow through." At that point I said, "Yes, I want Ginger. What do you need from me?" I filled out 2 full page questionaires and right as I was handing over the non-refundable 2nd deposit, another volunteer working there walked over and said "Is this for Ginger?", the woman helping me said "Yes." The volunteer looked up at me and said, the 1st deposit just called and cancelled. They changed their mind. Do you want to adopt Ginger?" As tears streamed down my face, I said "YES, ABSOLUTELY!" That was one of the happiest moments of my life!
A little more about Ginger - she is sweet, sensitive, quiet and tiny (about 12 lb). She follows me where ever I go. She is always right behind me, never under foot. If I get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, I need to tell her to stay or she'll get out of bed to follow me! She uses stairs to easily get up onto my bed at night. Unlike any other dog I have ever had, she likes to sleep under the covers! When I am at my computer, she is in her cozy cave which is right in front of my feet, under my desk! In the winter she likes to wear sweaters because she tends to get chilled easily. Likely from the hypothyroid condition. She has a quiet bark, that is unlike any dachshund that I've ever heard. She doesn't bark often and sometimes gets scared when Gipper starts to bark. She'll run to me as though to ask me, what's he doing? why is he being so noisy? lol
It's great fun to see them play together. I live right by a high school and a middle school. The football practice field and baseball fields are directly behind my yard so there is lots of room for them to run and play when the weather is nice, I walk them there and let them run freely. My yard is an acre so there is lots of room there too. I keep them safe with an underground dog fence that I actually put level with the ground using staples! If you want an inexpensive, less time consuming way to keep your dog safe in your yard, I recommend installing an underground fence above ground. It took less than 2 hours to install it, that is how simple it is!
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