When Ginger was rescued, she was malnourished, underweight, had tape worm, terrible dandruff, and was terrified of everything.  She was deteriorating in the shelter and did not even want to exit her kennel for a meet & greet. She had puppies way too young and was found on the street with her puppies with a torn ear and some cuts on her body. She was the most shut down dog in the shelter at that time.  I rescued her from the shelter to get her out of that environment before she got worse and was possibly put down.

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Ginger is now at a healthy weight according to the veterinarian, definitely healthy all around, cleared of the worms and dandruff.  She still struggles with some fears, but has improved dramatically from when she was first rescued. Ginger has learned a few basic commands such as sit, stay, lay down, spin, & wait.  But sometimes although she knows these commands, she will not do them when asked (example would be when she’s distracted with something more interesting).  I’ve worked with her recall a lot, but have not had the best of luck with that.  She will not always come when called, but sometimes she will.

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Ginger currently lives with a smaller male dog that is about 24 lbs, but she was introduced with a very slow and proper introduction following the instructions given by the shelter.  She has been to controlled dog play groups with dogs of all sizes with trainers to watch, but never in an environment like a dog park yet, because that would be too overwhelming for her at this time.  When she is in the play groups she enters very timid and afraid and slowly over a 30 minute period she begins to feel more and more comfortable and did play with one dog a few times.  Ginger is a timid & fearful dog, but she is very sweet natured. She has always chosen to growl to warn or flee, but has never bitten anyone and with positive reinforcement using treats, she usually recovers quickly from her growling or fear. 

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Ginger would do best in a household with adults or respectful teenagers only.  She currently lives with a 16 year old boy who is respectful of her boundaries.  I don’t recommend young children due to her timid and fearful behaviors.  I feel that young children would be too overwhelming for her.  I feel that with proper introductions, she would be fine in a multi dog home (as she is currently living with one smaller male dog) and once comfortable would benefit from having another dog to play with.  Ginger has never met a cat since being with me, so I’m unsure how she would be with a cat.  She does chase back yard squirrels, so my guess is she would also chase a cat or other small animals.  But with proper introductions and training, perhaps she could co-exist with cats or other small animals. 

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Ginger is crate trained - in her case this means, she stays quietly in her crate and does not potty inside it or destroy anything while in it other than the toys I give her to avoid boredom inside her crate.  When in her crate, I always give her a few toys and some of her toys have treats inside them that are challenging for her to get to, other toys are some nylon bones, etc.  Ginger is house trained - in her case this means, she has scheduled potty times and stays out for 15 minute increments (usually first thing when I wake up in the morning *times vary*, 11:30am or 1pm *depending what time she went out that morning*, 4:30pm, and then again at 8:30pm.  She does not potty inside the house when this schedule is followed.  Ginger destroys blankets in her kennel or on the ground as a bed, so she does not have any and I do not recommend them for her unless you have the training skills/ knowledge to break her of this (I tried everything I knew and was unsuccessful).  She is allowed on my bed and has never destroyed my actual bed blankets or sheets, though.

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Ginger loves the outside and she loves to run and play.  I would say she has medium energy, because she will get all her energy out with toys & running in the backyard, but then she is happy to take naps.  I’m hoping GInger can find a home with someone who has more knowledge and skills to helping her to overcome her fears of the world around her and get her to be the dog she so deserves to be.  Posted 5/6/26