When I was 9 years old, my parents brought home a little beautiful Westie.  She was full of life and enjoyed playing with my brother, sister and myself…but I was always her favorite. It wasn’t long until she became “My Dog” and I took responsibility to take care of her, feed her, bathe her, water, and play with her.


Ginger was part of the family. It amazed me how she had emotions like we have. She would know how to respond to different situations. She knew when to comfort and when to play. She would bring much joy to the happy times and she would comfort me during any hardships during my childhood.


Wow, did Ginger know how to play!  Her favorite games were tug of war and fetch. Tug of War with a rope dog toy was great fun. She would pull as hard as she could and when she got it from me; she would violently shake it, just as she instinctively would if it were her prey.  The JW Dogs In Action Tug Toy was another of her favorite toys.  It withstood many months of rough play.


Companionship is important to Westies…or any dog. If I would go to a friend’s house overnight, my parents would say that Ginger would go to my bedroom at night and cry. She missed my companionship when I was gone.


Dogs are a great part of childhood. Many great memories were made with Ginger. I would like to share some with you.


One of my favorite memories is taking my mom’s Tupperware containers and attaching them to my bike via bungee cords and taking her for bike rides. She loved it. It got to the point that I just needed to say “Do you want to go on a bike ride?” and she would jump up and run to the garage to my bike!  Just to be clear…Bungee Cording a container to a bicycle is not a secure or safe way to transport a dog. We do not recommend it. J 


When I was a child, my family would go camping often & Ginger would come with us. After everything was set up, I would take Ginger for a walk. She loved walking through the woods together. Just by looking at her, you could see that she was in heaven. There were plenty of wild animals to look at, especially squirrels that needed to be chased. It’s amazing to me, that you can domesticate a dog for years and years, but their natural hunting instincts never seem to dim. She would chase after any and every animal if we would let her.


These are great memories.  I hope many children can build memories like I have with their dogs and family. Ginger will always be remembered as a friend and great companion to me.


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