Name: Ruby (2.5 y/o) & Ginger (2 y/o)
Family Members: Derek & Erin, Gus (1 y/o beagle/mix)
How long have Ruby & Ginger been in the family? Ruby has been in the family a little over 2 years, since August 23rd 2016. Ginger have been with the family for 2 months.
Professions: Erin is a SalesForce Consultant & Derek is a Senior Systems Engineer
Location: Cumming, GA.
Nicknames: Ruby: Rhubarb, Ru-berry, The Ru-dozer, Ruby Dooby
Ginger: Ging, Gin-Gin, Nugget
Ruby
Ginger
5 words/phrases that best describe Ruby & Ginger?
Ruby:
Smart
Affectionate
Maternal
Loving
Silly
Ginger:
Eager
Sweet
Nervous
Shy
Playful
What makes Ruby & Ginger unique? Ruby is just an amazing loving dog. Her journey from the dog she was at the shelter when we adopted her to who she is now just makes her so special. Ginger was terrified when she came to us and seeing how much she has blossomed in just a few short weeks is incredible. She is still growing her personality, but she seems to be turning into quite a silly girl.
Stick Time!
With a little help from her friends!
Rescue Story: 8 months before we adopted Ruby my dog of 13 years, Banjo, died after a battle with cancer. I took it really hard, I had Banjo since I was 16 so I really didn’t know life as an adult without her. I was in a really sad place so I was hesitant to adopt another dog, but Derek fell in love with her picture online and I agreed to go meet her. The second she entered the play area at DCAS (DeKalb County Animal Services) I knew she was mine. She was this skinny little 35lb pit who just wanted to give everyone kisses.
We had a rough start with Ruby, she had kennel cough at the time, which quickly turned into pneumonia and she had to be hospitalized for a few days at GVS (Georgia Veterinary Specialists) . It took 2 months for her to recover and once she did we realized this calm sweet girl was actually a tornado who we were unprepared to handle (our first pit too). It became obvious that Ruby did not have human or other dog interaction as a puppy (her trainer thinks she was just tethered her whole life), she didn’t know how to play and was too bitey. She was reactive to other dogs because she’d get over excited, she chewed everything in our house, got into everything and even managed to scarf down 2 whole rotisserie chicken carcasses and had to be hospitalized again. Thankfully I found out about Frogs to Dogs training and got her into classes ASAP. It took months of obedience, reactive, and socialization classes, and a lot of frustration for both Ruby and myself, but it really made her into the incredible pup she is today. The training gave Ruby the mental stimulation she was lacking and really channeled all that crazy puppy energy. Now she knows about 25 commands, is canine good citizen certified, and, despite originally being told she would probably always need to be an “only dog”, has taken two scared foster pups (both foster fails) under her wing and given them the confidence to be happy dogs.
We were supposed to babysit Ginger for 4 days while her foster Mom was on vacation, but found we couldn’t part with her once that time was up. Ginger was terrified at the shelter and made good progress in the 2 weeks her original foster Mom had her, but it wasn’t until she met my dogs. who were very eager to play with her, did she start to open up even more. Thanks to Ruby and Gus, Ginger is quickly learning how to dog. She now asks for affection and attention from Derek and I, has learned how to wrestle with the other dogs, and is hiding from the big scary noises of the world less.
Skinny Ruby safe in her forever home.
Ginger’s sleep over turns into her forever home.
What is your favorite pastime as a family? Ruby has recently discovered her love for swimming and thankfully I have found a pet store with a doggy pool near me. She just loves being in that water and she is so funny persistently pushing her toys into my hand so she can dive in and go fetch them.
We haven’t had much time with Ginger yet, but seeing her blossom in confidence has been an amazing rewarding experience. We haven’t made anything official, but Derek won’t let me start searching for her forever home yet so I have a feeling she will be another foster-fail. (Erin sent in her questionnaire in July and between then and their photo shoot in Sept, Ginger was made official!!)
What is life like since you rescued Ruby & Ginger? Since Ruby was such a challenge, it really took a lot of my time and energy to work on her training and get her socialized. This not only helped pull me out of my mourning for Banjo but also inspired me to get involved volunteering with Lifeline Animal Project and helping shelter animals across the board, which has brought me so much joy.
With Ginger, things are little more chaotic with 3 dogs now, and a little louder with Ginger’s impressive snoring abilities, but filled with even more joy.
Photographers Notes: First I will start with Ruby, this beautiful happy girl is the life of the party. What I love the most about her story is the time and dedication that Erin & Derek put into her. When you adopt you may not know the true personality of the dog right away depending on where they are coming from. Shelters can be a very scary, stressful place for dogs and it’s only after time, love and security that they can truly blossom. In Ruby’s case she blossomed into a tornado! :) All it takes is more time, dedication and structure to get those tornado like dogs to a more balanced state, in Ruby’s case she went all the way to Canine Good Citizen, very impressive. The key here is this family did not give up on this sweet girl.
Erin told me Ginger was very shy before I arrived and that I needed to give her space. With a lot of treats and her watching how Ruby and Gus interacted with me, she slowly started to realize this lady may not be so bad. I have written before the feeling of having a shy dog show you trust in a short period of time is just amazing and this was no different. At the end I even got to give her a few pets when she would come stand by me as I sat on the ground. What I love best about this progression is that it’s captured in these photos. The family photo we took first and you see she is a little unsure, but the photo of her with her siblings was the end of the shoot, about 45m after the family shot….look at the difference in her face. I have several more shots of just her and a more relaxed expression, but I wanted to use the group shot for her because she truly is gaining her confidence from her two loving and silly siblings. Through these two and her parents, she will become the confident, happy dog she deserves to be….just time, love & dedication is needed; which she has in spades!