Ginger
At five months old, Ginger was surrendered by her family due to housebreaking issues, coupled with suspected food allergies. She weighed roughly 17 lbs. and she was a very frightened little girl. We doubt that she was walked outside very often; she was extremely nervous about being outdoors and had a general fear of cars and everyday outside noises. Holly Craig picked her up from Rhode Island, and then we picked her up from Holly in Connecticut and drove her to her foster home in Jersey City, NJ.
When she arrived at our house, her foster brother Bailey greeted her enthusiastically. Here was a live toy for him to play with! They spent endless hours romping together, chasing each other around the dining room table, and then when it was quiet time, resting outside on the balcony. She greeted food like she hadn’t ever see it before, and we soon discovered that there was no food allergy. Over the course of her three months with us, she gained weight steadily and even grew a few inches taller.
We worked on housebreaking, conquered crate training, plus practiced some basic obedience.
She slowly transformed into a very sociable puppy, which loved to sit on your lap or stop by for a quick kiss and a scratch behind the ears. She still needed some work on the obedience, but we felt that it was finally time to find her a forever home with a patient owner who would be willing to work with her. Based on her past experiences we believed that she would do best in a home without young children and where she was the only dog, so she could bond with her new owner and focus on training.
We went through quite a few applications and finally came upon Jaime, who drove five hours from Pennsylvania just to meet Ginger. Jaime had never met a Wheaten before visiting our house and when she got there and met the dogs, I could tell she was hooked. She bonded with Ginger right away and we made arraignments for the adoption.
A few weeks later, we drove Ginger to PA and met Jaime, who was so excited about taking home her new best friend. There were plenty of tears and after a long good bye, Ginger was off to her new home. Jaime renamed her Shiloh and both new Wheaten Mom and puppy are getting along wonderfully.
We still miss our little girl and her boundless energy and excitement. She was our first foster and will always hold a special place in our hearts.
Kelly Sinnott & Mike Rolley