Ginger - Ina/Piano 2013

Hello Rhonda and the Snitker family-
Happy new year!  I hope this email finds you doing well.  I saw you have another young adult up for adoption, and that made me think that you might appreciate receiving an update on Ginger.  In short, she's doing great!  Just before Christmas she finished up her first obedience class, which she passed with flying colors.  The trainer kept commenting on how calm and trainable English Goldens are. Thankfully, Ginger lived up to the reputation.  Now that the holidays are over, we plan to move on to the next level of obedience training with the same trainer. 

After receiving my vet's okay, I began taking Ginger on very short runs in October.  We started with just running about 1 mile at a time, then worked up in half-mile increments every few weeks over the next couple of months.  On Saturday she ran 5 miles of my 10 mile run with me (we met Mike at the halfway point so he could give her a ride home), and she did great. She notices when I put on my running gear and sits by me anxiously and knows for sure what is coming.  One day my oldest son and I were going to go 6 miles (him on his bike), and I knew that was too long for her, and boy, was she said when we walked out the door without her. I used to run with my other dogs all the time but haven't since they started slowing down as they became senior dogs, and it has been so nice to have somebody to run with again.  Plus, she keeps me motivated on the cold days to get out there even for a little while!

Ginger has impacted our family in only good ways.  Our boys just adore her, often asking if she can sleep in their rooms until Mike and I head to bed. They love to play with her, snuggle her, and pet her. And on a busy day when I can't walk or run with Ginger, Zach, our oldest, can take her on a quick walk before or after school and the two of them get some extra bonding in. Even Maggie, our almost 15 year-old Springer Spaniel, has seemed to have new life breathed into her since Ginger came along.  Occasionally the two of them will do a little tug-of-war with a toy, and Ginger always concedes. I know Ginger would like Maggie to play more, but unfortunately Maggie just isn't stable enough on her feet to handle that. 

One of my favorite things about Ginger is her curiosity.  There are a few things that just really catch her attention.  She does NOT appreciate very high-flying airplanes that leave a white trail in the sky.  She always barks at those, yet low-flying airplanes coming in for a landing don't phase her. The other night we were upstairs getting our boys ready for bed and heard Ginger barking and growling (something we hadn't heard yet in the 3+ months she's been with us) downstairs, so we came down to investigate. It turned out that our TV had gone into sleep mode while on pause, and the DirecTV logo started bouncing around the black screen. Ginger wanted to let that logo know she was here to protect her family! We were all so cracked up by that. Tonight, as we finally have a few inches of snow, we have enjoyed watching her go outside and stick her whole head in the snow as well as eating bunches of it. She is just a joy to have around. 

The two comments we hear most often from friends and strangers about Ginger are, "She's so beautiful," and "She's so calm," or a variation of that, "Is she always this calm?" My parents, who have an American Golden that is just 2 months older than Ginger were here for the holidays.  Their dog is a good dog, and very sweet, but even they were impressed by Ginger's calm nature. Sure, she has her playful, excitable moments, and that is fine with us because she is young and we want that. She's definitely not a boring dog! 

Mike and I tell everyone who mentions wanting a dog about Snitker Goldens. We know it's thanks to your imprinting that Ginger is such an amazing girl. We are so thankful that Mike stumbled upon your website back in August when we were grieving our other Springer. Although I still miss my dog every single day, Ginger has been so good for me in helping me deal with that sadness.  At this point I know that Ginger will be the dog our boys most remember from their childhood (as opposed to the Springers we had/have had since before the boys were born), and I look forward to all of us continuing to make many happy memories with her. Even though she's just been with us a little over 3 months, I think I speak for all of us when I say we couldn't even imagine life without her. 

I'm attaching a few of my favorite more recent pictures of Ginger for you to see. We sure do love her!

Take care,
Sarah Zinn-Burggraaf