The Fred and Ginger Love-In

Hi, we're Fred and Ginger, and we'd like some love, cuddles, attentions and a few scratches please.

Will you be the one to give it to us?

Fred: Or maybe you? What do you think?

Running out on Fred

We have decided to feed the dogs separately, as we notice Fred seems to eat *super* fast now that Ginger is around, and we think his digestion is struggling.

This morning I made a point of putting Fred on the verandah, and Ginger in the pen. The minute she finished, she managed to find another escape route to join us on the Outside. I think she felt left out and was desperate to be part of the pack.

What am I missing out on?!

I put her back into the pen, and waited, watching. Sure enough, she did it again. Crawled straight under the wire.

This time around, I sent both back in, and then proceeded to see if I could block up the hole. Little success, but wolfieboy woke and I sent him back out there to take another look. He has now screwed the fencing down, and also added some sleepers along the bottom.

I don't know what all the fuss is about. I just want to be part of the pack..

So far, fingers crossed. We went out to meet some friends for lunch, and was gone for about 3 hours. Came home to her still in the pen. Although as wolfieboy points out, the real test will be what she'll do if Fred goes out and leaves her behind.

Test? What test? There's a test?!

We took her off lead tonight for our evening walk, and off she trots, all the way down to the property boundary to the road. Wolfieboy managed to fetch her before anything untoward happened (there was a car passing by!), but it was interesting hanging back and watching Fred.

Oh no, here we go again..

voi.....

 

You'd think she'd learn by now mum...

Fred, my boy...

So what's Fred up to these days?

At the most revered age of 9, he's getting on a bit. He's slowed down a lot, really. And there's a lot more white in his face.

He seems so calm, placid and easy going compared to the shiny young thing that we've brought in.

He happily chills inside or spends his time sleeping away. During walks he wanders but knows enough to simply hang by. And these days with wolfieboy spending the walks disciplining Ginger, Fred has taken to just walking with me and wolfiepup (who manages to drag a walk out something fierce..). Yesterday he spent the return walk behind me.

Perhaps he is feeling like he is still bottom dog? Or that his responsibility is to get the Little Human home safely? Having said that, he's not rounding her up. He just stays close behind/beside me. The same way Els used to. Hrmm..

Here he is with his new collar. I got it a while ago after his old one was so torn up you couldn't see my number on it anymore. I'd have preferred the metal fittings were gold/bronze not silver, and the brown's not as dark as I'd like. But considering the price point, I can't really complain. And it does the job - which is more important than anything else. Not that he's going to disappear any time soon. That will be way more likely with Ginger - who still has Elsie's old collar.

The Escape Artist

So despite my relieved concerns on Friday, Ginger has found another weak spot in the fencing. Haven't figured out where it is yet. She managed to do it so steathily this morning that I only realised when I was in the laundry and heard some scrabbling.

Some quick stern words and she was sent packing into the pen.

This may mean we will need to roll out the electric fencing again. Wolfieboy is obviously not keen, as with wolfiepup around it just makes for one more danger we need to keep an eye on.

Hopefully it's a crawl space she has found rather than her simply jumping over the fencing.

Not really sure what is prompting her to get out either. This morning's escape was random, as far as I could tell, and once I sent her back in, she is now happily just mucking around inside the pen.

Meanwhile, Fred's just sleeping it off. He really isn't doing much these days at all.

Ginger Having a Plastic Fantastic Time

Sometimes there's such a thing as being too smart for your own good.

Ginger's clever enough to figure out her new name in less than a week, in spite of all her ups and downs (goodness knows how many names she's had in the last two years), smart enough to know how to sit on cue, and quick enough to figure out the routine and that jumping up is NOT looked upon kindly in our household.

She's also clever enough to realise that the car isn't scary as you'd think - unless you plan to scramble over the backseat and shove your bottom in the smallest human in the car. NOT cool.

Unfortunately all this cleverness comes with a price tag. It also means that she gets bored relatively quickly and starts to munch on whatever she finds around the place. That, or she has a death wish fascination with plastic.

So far I have managed to catch her trying to take away wolfiepup's barbie (ever so delicately held between her jaws), some of wolfiepup's necklace threading toys (perhaps she just wanted her own necklace?!), as well as electrical tape (she just had some things she needed fixing...), and one of wolfiepup's plastic toy frogs.

On the plus side it means that I have a new reason to get wolfiepup to pack her away her toys.

On the downside it also means waking up to this, when you don't catch her in the act..

It's not half as dramatic - as wolfieboy cleaned up most of it before I woke.

But I'm especially appreciative of the yucky paw print over my brand new dog beds that I'd hand sewed together. You trying to tell me something, Ginger?!

We think she found some of the plastic foam square jigsaw pieces that we lay on the grass under the pool during summer. She'd actually thrown up some of it the night before, but because it was black, we just assumed it was roo poo or something similar. When I picked it up though, it certainly felt light and foamy. Not the consistency you'd expect of something like roo poo (TMI?).

We have done another check of the yard and hopefully it is now clear of all plastic. Interestingly the two bones I gave them two weeks ago - the ends are still just lying in the yard. Perhaps plastic just tastes better than bones?!

Might need to go out and get a kong for her instead.

First month anniversary

Ginger has been with us for a month now.

Her paperwork arrived and got duly signed and sent back out. So she's ours for good now. They'll be transferring her microchip details to us, and I should get a notification from Council to pay for her lifetime registration any day now.

She got to spend the day at home without any humans for the first time on Friday. I was a bit worried about whether our fences would stand up to her scrutiny, and notified all the neighbours in case she went adventuring. I came home early, and was relieved to see her waiting at the gate.

I don't know what you're talking about. All I do is just lie here...

We've started putting her on the lead during walks to make sure she doesn't wander too far. She's good on recall, but sometimes she wanders a touch too far, and has chased a few roos. She always come back, but I'd like to save myself the stress of calling after her in the first place, if I can..

I'm on lead! Little does he know, the minute he thinks I'm good, I'm gonna find those fun hoppity hops again..

 Fred's doing ok. Sticks to himself, but does play with her every once in a while.



I got them some bones a while ago, and most of the day is peppered with Ginger barking at Fred.

If I don't see you, then I can't hear you. All you young whippersnappers wanting a piece of the action. I deserve the bones in my old age...

C'mon dude! Give us a little bit, please?!

After the bed debacle, I've been looking online for more dog beds. But most of them are quite expensive. It's non pay week, so I decided to look around the house and came across some old cushions I had and some extra material that I hadn't yet decided on the use for.

Managed to whip these up one afternoon. 

One is slightly bigger than the other (it turns out I can't quite cut in straight lines..), so I need to unpick the smaller one one day when I have the motivation. Ginger still manages to somehow squeeze herself onto it though.

Happy Ginger goes on a Big Walk

 A big walk today. Took both pups out for a round the world trip of the property.

It was also a test to see how Ginger would do off lead. To be honest, we haven't really put her back on lead. As long as her recall is good, there's no need for her to be on lead at home.



She's only been with us a week and her recall is pretty good.



She responds well to her name, and interspersed with a few 'come! come! come!s' she comes back relatively quick. She roams pretty far ahead with Fred, but if all else fails, I call Fred, and she comes with.

I think it's a case of her wanting to be with him. Perhaps she's a little smitten.

It's only to be expected, Mummy. After all,  I am a handsome boy..

The other test was her interest in water.... the minute she spotted the dam, she went straight in. *sigh*
 




Looks like I have another water dog on my hands. To be fair, she did eventually get out when I asked her to. Although she did try to dabble back in when she thought I wasn't looking. Sneaky girl.

Fred on the other hand, only went down to have a drink. Good boy.

Once we got home though, I gave Ginger a wash down and was amazed to see her stand patiently and quietly as I wet her up, sudsed her down and rinsed her off. That's the easiest wash I've ever done in my life. Fred will fight it until he realises it's a lost cause. And then he'll suffer it until I let him go.

Rosie used to fight for her life.

And Elsie... actually, I don't remember what Elsie did, but I don't remember ever feeling like it was easy...

Ginger just... stood there. I was completely and utterly amazed. Suffice to say, she got a few chicken necks for that.

Overall it was interesting watching her on her walk. I really do like how her fur stands out in the bush. It makes it easier to keep track of her. She was soooo excited at the beginning, sniffing here, there, and everywhere. Not surprisingly, really, I guess.

 

She definitely seemed to relax into the walk, which was lovely to see. Her sits have gotten a LOT better too. She still jumps up a little bit, but not half as much as she used to. It's only been a week with us, but I think she's settling in well, and hopefully she's enjoying staying with us as much as we're enjoying her. She's certainly given us a few surprises, that's for sure, vomits and poos in cars notwithstanding.

I know that face. Elsie used to have a similar one on her walks.

Yes! Let's! Let's go for another walk!!

Ginger the Vomit Girl

The good news is that we've managed to convince her that getting into the carboot isn't a bad thing, and she willingly goes in there. When we got her on Sunday, and tried to get her in on Thursday she point blank refused, and we had to carry her in. After going to the Vet's, the Vet managed to convince her to go in voluntarily, and it seems like that lesson has stuck at least...

The bad news is that she is still throwing up in the car.  At least it explains the look that Fred gave me through the rearview mirror on the last 1/2 hour home. I had assumed perhaps that he was just happy to see me and was showing me Looks of Love. But it turns out that it was more a reprieve from the smell on his lead and in the confined space that is the back of the car, and perhaps a Look of Distress, that Muuuuum.. Ginger had done it again.

I thought perhaps the first time she did it, was because I'd grabbed her around her tummy in the wrong spot when I put her in. But she managed fairly well on the drive home yesterday, and yet when I opened the car door, this is what I was met with..




So that's the end of the fancy dog beds for good. I'd brought them home anyway, thinking the stuffing may be torn up, but they still have half a life left in them.

On the plus side it meant that the mess was on the beds and not in the car. No to say it didn't spill over and I still had to wash it. But at least it's not as bad as it could be. After this incident though, I just gave up and put them in a bin bag. Bye bye expensive fancy beds. Sorry Fred.

They are now sleeping on an old wool blanket folded in 4. Sorry pups. I tried, I really did.

Next time I might try her in my car rather than wolfieboy's and see if that will make a difference, as I find his car a little too sensitive on the steering (perhaps another reason why Ginger got carsick).

Ginger the Homewrecker

We're up in Sydney for the last few days, which means the wolfies get to stay with my mum. On the plus side, it's completely enclosed in 6 foot colourbond steel, so it's safe. On the negative, mum's not a big dog person, so they have to spend the night outside, not inside with the Humans, and they have a nicer yard to wreck.

And true to form, within 12 hours of leaving them there, I was getting text messages telling me, "my backyard is a war zone."

Ginger....



No, don't make those sappy brown puppy eyes at me... I know what you did..





Ack, ok, looks like we're going to have to go to the evidence instead...

See Exhibit A:



Brand new bed, barely a month old. It's stuffing pulled out.

Exhibit B:



And Exhibit C, D, E, F and G!!!!

 




And tell me... do I really want to know what you were doing with this?! Drains to unblock? I repeat.. do I want to know?!

No, no, no, don't tell me.

Arrrrgh!!!!