That's right, we decided to adopt! Our beautiful baby is only 16-pounds, with crazy cream fur, floppy brown ears, and a quirky personality. This lovely little girl is named Ginger, and she's the newest addition to our ranch home!
Let me just say that I have wanted a dog of my own for a very long time. So much so that I have petfinder.com saved in my bookmarked websites so I can check to see if there are any little four-legged friends who need me to give them a good home (I can't help myself!) But so far I've held off on owning any pets because I travel quite a bit for work, and with Matt in school our schedules don't equate to us making very good pet owners. But that didn't stop me from searching...
Then one day a few weeks ago, Matt came home from work (he works as a vet tech at CARE animal hospital in Santa Barbara) and told me about this little dog he'd treated at work that day. He said that he first met her the week before when he was working the overnight shift...she had been brought in for surgery to mend the broken bones in her right front leg. He tended to her and she instantly bonded with him. Although he noticed she had been brought in by a representative from an animal shelter, he decided not to ask about her living situation.
A week after that, Matt happened to be on call again when Ginger was brought back in to have her stitches removed from her surgery wounds. This time, Matt decided to ask the representative about Ginger's story.
This piece on the Ventura news tells her story and shows Ginger in action (or lack thereof because of her leg...)
Basically, Ginger had been owned by a homeless gentleman living in Ventura, who had found her as a puppy in Arizona. They eventually made their way to California and had been out for a bike ride one day when a car swerved and almost hit the man, who in turn swerved to avoid the car. In the commotion Ginger's leg was caught in the bicycle spokes and broke. The man didn't have the money to pay for the surgery necessary to take care of her leg, and a representative from C.A.R.L (Canine Adoption Rescue League) in Ventura, saw the man at farmer's market asking for money to pay for the surgery for Ginger's leg. The woman told the gentleman that she could get Ginger's surgery taken care of, but he would have to sign her over to the shelter; which he did.
The woman told Matt that Ginger's current foster family was no longer able to house her, meaning she'd have to go back to staying at the shelter, but with her leg in its current state of healing, it would be best if she could remain in a foster home. Matt offered to have us be her foster parents, then came home and told me.
I was ecstatic! Normally Matt never tells me about any of the shelter animals he tends to, because he knows I would offer to adopt all of them; so I knew this one had to be something special.
Two weeks ago, my parents were in Santa Barbara helping my younger brother Ryan move into his new hose in Isla Vista for his senior year at UCSB. So after all the moving was finished, Matt, my parents and I drove down to Ventura to pick up Ginger at C.A.R.L, and it was adorable to see Ginger's excited grandparents (aka my parents) help purchase her first beg, collar, food and water bowls and squeaky toy!
Technically Matt and I are still her foster parents, but we'll be finalizing the paperwork this week to become her official owners!
Over these past two weeks, Ginger's presence has magnified my happiness ten-fold. Her whole body wiggles and she practically dances when Matt or I come home from work. She happily accompanies me to work at the tasting room, and instantly greets each customer who walks through our doors. And at night she sleeps in her bed on the floor next to ours, but somehow each morning she manages to sneak up onto our bed and cuddle between us. Needless to say we're quite the happy parents!
So enough blabber...here are some more pictures. I promise there will be many more!
Ginger's first day at Transition Ranch...in the days to come she met and befriended all the horses, their owners, the ponies, the bunnies, the ranch cats and dogs, and even our newly acquired chickens!
Hard at work: Ginger and her buddy Lily (my co-worker Meme's dog) take a break from greeting customers at Carina Cellars tasting room. I love how they've switched beds
Such a daddy's girl :)
One happy family!
