A Memorial For The Dog That We'll Love Forever
Ginger Dayson
Friends,
I regret to inform you all that our most beloved
German Shepherd Ginger died in my arms while at home on Wednesday August
1 2001, at approximately 7:00PM. She was twelve and a half years old.
"Can We Go To The Park Now Please?"
This is by far one of the hardest things I've ever had
to deal with. Even when compared to the worst things in my life which are
the passings of my parents a few years back, dealing with this is a different
type of pain. In comparison my parents were at peace with their eminent
passing, and they were able to clearly communicate that fact to me. Additionally
it was the doctors who were making the decisions, so in all actuality I
was just along for the ride so to speak. In Ginger's case however I had
to communicate for her as well as make the final decisions for/with her.
As I'm not qualified to play God the end result feels as if someone has
literally stuck a knife into my heart and ripped it out. The pain of her
loss is unbelievable!
"Me And My Dad At The Beach"
Ginger unfortunately suffered a pulmonary embolism (which
are blood clots in her lung's arteries) early Tuesday July 31 2001, with
the end result being that she couldn't get enough air. She was relatively
comfortable at rest, but if she walked as little as 20 ft she'd then have
to gasp for air and rest for a minute or two. When you factor in her liver
disease, her major arthritis (which had lately become untreatable due to
the liver disease), her Cushing's disease (the major cause of most of this
excepting the arthritis), as well as the blood in her stool and a 8% weight
loss in six days things were bleak. With her Vet and some local specialists
all in agreement that there was no hope for treatment I made the most difficult
decision of my life to ensure that she wouldn't suffer. The good news in
all of this was that she was in reasonably healthy/active shape (she was
going to work with me and enjoying our daily walks together etc.) up until
that last day and a half. She was such a good girl though that even right
up to the end she would painfully haul herself outside to take care of
her business. We do miss her so!
"My Mom And I At The Beach"
A Short Chapter On Her Life
Ginger actually picked us as her pack twelve
and a half years ago (on April 25 1989) when I was a audio engineer at
the Music Annex (now Annex Digital) in East Menlo Park. Behind the studio
was an alley in East Palo Alto where the drug dealers waged their stupid
war every night. Some people who lived near that alley understandably had
a large Doberman and a large German Shepherd for protection. Unfortunately
however they would allow the uncontrolled breeding of these dogs (and any
others in the hood I suppose), and then just throw the pups over the fence
into the studio's backyard (without their puppy shots and weaned way to
early etc.). These idiots repeated this regularly, and just told us to
"take the pups or we'll drown them in the bay" or some such words to that
effect. As much as I wanted to take another course of action with these
people we just continued to report them to the county animal control people
until they finally had their dogs confiscated. In the mean time those of
us at the studio would take care of the pups and try to find them homes.
About the time of our first anniversary
Linda and I decided that we wanted a pup so we went behind the studio to
check out the litter. Half the pups were doby/shepherd looking (black and
tan with a medium coat), while the other half were more black lab/shepherd
(all black with a shorter coat) in appearance. So, while Linda and I were
checking out the litter this one little black and tan female came over
and fell asleep on my shoe, so as they say the rest was history.
We brought the pup that picked us home that
afternoon and named her Ginger in honor of Ginger of Gilligan's Island's
fame (as she sported the classic German Shepherd's beauty mark). Within
a short time she had us both trained to her satisfaction and we were all
getting on famously. We trained hard together during that first year and
Ginger was very good at the heel off leash, as well as being fluent in
both English and German. She was so smart you rarely had to show her things
more than once, and I hope she considered us good pupils too as she taught
us as much or more than we ever taught her.
"Playin' With Da Alpha Dawg"
We were fortunate that Ginger survived as only
two of the stray pups made it. The rest died of distemper shortly after
Ginger came home with us. Some of the pups that didn't make it got their
shots as little as a few hours after Ginger so I think that we probably
rushed her to the Vet just in the nick of time (thank God). The only other
pup that made it was named Samantha. She was an all black pup who belonged
to a Canadian musician who was staying in a bus out behind the studio while
he worked on his album project. Ginger's sister "Sam" disappeared one night
when she was about a year old or so, most likely from being either kidnapped
or killed by some of the drug dealers (as she was constantly chasing them
away from the bus and the studio's backyard area). This sad event left
Ginger as the only survivor of her litter.
Some Of The Many Notable Moments In Ginger's Life With Us (in no
particular order)
Learning About Stairs
My showing her how to climb stairs by taking her
tiny little front paws and putting them on the next step, then her rears
etc. After one step's lesson she ran up them full speed. The same lesson
brought the same results when she wanted to go back down the stairs.
Ginger Training Us
Her training of us included her teaching us to
respect her wishes too. For some reason unknown to us she hated this particular
house plant we had at that time (and Linda loved this plant as she had
saved it and nursed it back to health etc.). For four days in a row she
would rip this plant to shreds on our living room carpet (a five foot tall
plant), and for four days I punished her exceedingly more harshly etc.
Well, Ginger finally won and we gave up and tossed the plant. What was
strange was the fact that she never chewed anything else (aside from her
chew toys of course), it was just that one plant as all the other house
plants were ok by her too. To this day we don't understand why that particular
plant PO'd her so much?
"Ya Wanna Play With My Toys?"
Thank God She Wasn't Hurt
She did fall out of our car on the Willow Road
overpass one night when we we're going 25 mph or so. I shudder to remember
seeing her tumbling on the pavement in the rear view mirror. I slammed
on the brakes and parked in the fast lane, and then got out as fast as
I could and found her off to the side of the road. Luckily no one was behind
us or she would've been killed, and thankfully she didn't receive any serious
injuries either, just some minor bumps and bruises. To this day I still
see the look of relief in her eyes when I ran up to her and brought her
back to the car, as she was dazed and had no idea where she (or the car)
was (though she did have the presence of mind to get out of the traffic
lanes and head for the shoulder). I felt as if our extra special bond somehow
started that moment as she learned that she could depend on us in an emergency.
Thank You Ginger, You Saved Our Lives
Ginger saved our lives as we saved her's. A few
nights after Christmas she was sleeping with us in our upstairs bedroom
at the cottage we were renting in downtown Palo Alto. About 3:00AM she
starts growling and wakes me up, so I look out of my bedroom window
and see two guys crawling in my downstairs living room window. Even though
I was unfortunately unarmed (I'll never make that mistake again), I hollered
a bluff at them ("I'm gonna blow your brains out" or some such BS), but
they still continued to climb in the house. At this point I told Ginger
to "Get'em Ginger" and to our amazement this incredible roar came out of
her and she took off down the stairs (as a note she was only nine months
old or so and had never even growled in anger before this). Well, suffice
to say that when these burglars heard Ginger's roar coming down the stairs
they started to turn around but they weren't fast enough. She caught one
and he hollered in pain, and the other one crashed into a old fish tank
we had sitting in the front yard as he tried to run away. Both of them
then left blood trails down the driveway as they were leaving the property!
Ginger amazingly enough ended her chase at the window and just stood there
growling, preferring to shepherd us rather than chasing the burglars. I
felt as if our amazing bond was completed at that time as she had most
probably saved our lives. If she hadn't alerted me to the danger who knows
what would've happened, and seeing that the burglars were still coming
into a obviously occupied house even after I started yelling at them means
that they were at minimum pretty brazen. Of note is the fact that she made
that serious roar/growl only that one time in her life, and she never again
needed to be that "serious" with her aggression. What a Dog!
"Ya Talkin' To Me, Punk?"
Dad, Get The Skunk!
Ginger was smart enough to avoid skunks. We did
work on skunk avoidance by my exclaiming "no" and rubbing my nose whenever
we smelled a skunk (either in our yard or on a less fortunate dog at the
park). Case in point, one summer night when the skunks were out mating
she came and got me and brought me to the back door. There on the patio
near the back door was a big ole' skunk. So I open the back door and start
yelling at the skunk to "get out of here" etc., but he calmly turned around
and raised his tail and began to "pucker up". That skunk had us in his
sights so Ginger and I decided that for that night the strategic move was
to "run away", so we closed up the door and decided to let that 'ole skunk
have the backyard to himself for as long as he wanted it.
"Me And Dad In Happier Times"
Cheap Shot
She only had one real dog fight in her life as
she always got along well with other dogs. But on this occasion this other
dog ( a young/unsocialized male shepherd) would not leave her be, so she
quickly pinned him by the throat and I called her off. This dog went for
her again a little later and she whupped him quick and easy for a second
time, and again I called her off. This however proved to be a mistake that
haunted me as she correctly disengaged, but while she was walking away
the other dog got up and bit her on her butt (and then ran away the friggin'
coward). This PO'd me to no end as Ginger had not hurt anything more than
the other dog's pride in the first two dust-ups. She wasn't really hurt
but it took a while for her hair to grow back.
Rabbits, Rabbits, And More Rabbits
Linda's ex brother in law lives out on a 20 acre
apple orchard, so Ginger and his dog Buddy (a black lab) would chase rabbits
all night long when we were out there visiting (though they never caught
any as the rabbits were way too fast for them). I've never seen any more
exhausted but happy dogs as those two after a night of fun chasing rabbits
(they'd sleep all morning).
"Wow, What A Night!"
The Thrill Of The Chase
Four times (that I know of) Ginger actually
caught the critters she was chasing (a raccoon, a squirrel, and two cats),
but she never hurt them. To her it was just the "thrill of the chase".
She would routinely tree raccoons and possums in our backyard and she never
hurt any of them either. She'd tree them and then wait for me to come out
and admire her handy work (even at 3:00AM). We'd then go inside so that
the critters could beat a safe retreat.
"Go Niners!"
To Go or Gehen Sie
"Go" (or "gehen Sie") was one of Ginger's favorite
words (along with food, hungry, treat, love, etc.). We always had a routine
to perform when it was getting time to "go" somewhere. Ginger would first
jump on my socks and shoes before I could put them on, and then pummel
her leash while I was getting my "pads" on. This was her way of saying
that it's time for playtime or travel to commence. She always wanted to
go with either of us as she loved to ride in the car or take a walk. I've
always believed that "going" is very important to dogs. They measure their
status in some ways by their accompanying their pack members (their people)
on the trip/hunt. With wolves, the highest ranking pack members head out
on the hunt while the lower ranking ones stay with the pups and guard the
den. I truly believe that dogs that get to routinely accompany their people
on trips etc. (no matter how short) have a better sense of self-esteem.
And just to be sure Ginger always went everywhere with us.
"Are We There Yet?"
Trust Is Earned With Love
One time I was working on a friend's album at
their local studio when Ginger cut her front leg fairly bad on some barbed
wire. I'll always remember the look on her face when she came up in front
of me and offered me her bleeding paw. I believe that cleaning and disinfecting
her bumps and scrapes from the previous car incident had instilled in her
mind a trust that I would help her in times of need. I cleaned it well
and bandaged it, and the next day she got a few stitches. Thankfully she
accepted the stitches and never licked them or tore at them. She had an
uncanny understanding of human medicine right up to the end.
"Thanks For Fixing My Paw!"
I Remember You
Ginger had a good memory too. One time while playing
at the dog park she was accidentally run over by three speeding Greyhounds.
She was hit hard while her attention was focused on chasing a ball I had
thrown for her. For almost a year her hackles would go up and she'd growl
at any Greyhounds that came near her. Eventually she got over it though
and became friendly to them again.
Sorry, Didn't Mean It
Ginger learned the hard way about a Buck Deer's
resolve to protect it's brood one night. We were just parking in front
of our house when Ginger thought she would chase some Deer in the forest
across the street (now a housing development I'm sad to say). Usually when
she chased the Deer they'd run, but not this time. The big Buck (with his
rack) eyed Ginger running towards his brood and lowered his head, stomped
his front feet, and charged! Wow, I've never seen a German Shepherd running
full speed change direction 180 degrees as fast as Ginger did. And with
that Buck in full pursuit Ginger made it to safety underneath our truck
just in time. Linda and I seeing all this develop also quickly decided
that "inside" the truck was the prudent place to be!
"Wow, That Deer Thing Was Big!"
Help Me Mom
When Ginger was small she used to use the bathroom
at our cottage as her den. When she was frightened or nervous as a pup
she would go into this place as it was the smallest darkest room in the
cottage. One time when Linda returned home she found that poor Ginger had
somehow locked herself in the bathroom, and also somehow turned the water
faucet on. Linda had to climb in through the bathroom's window to rescue
our poor frightened pup.
"My Mom Sure Is Cute Huh?"
Our Family Shepherd
Ginger might have very well saved my Mother's
life a couple of times too. After my Father had passed away Linda and I
had moved into the basement apartment at my Mother's house to take care
of her. One late night when we were sleeping Ginger woke us up and alerted
us that Mom was having a problem breathing. That allowed us to get her
out into the fresh air and summon an ambulance. Ginger also repeated this
feat at least one other time when my Mom had suffered a stroke. She was
our family Shepherd!
"I Love And Cherish All My Family!"
When The Walls Came Tumbling Down
I remember that afternoon before the 1989 earthquake
because I was working on a song titled "When The Walls Come Tumbling Down",
and Ginger was laying at my feet as she often did when I was working on
music at the keyboard. We first heard the low frequency rumble, followed
shortly by the ground moving, so at that point I grabbed Ginger and we
both went into the front yard (as the old cottage we lived in was about
ready to fall over earthquake or no earthquake). As we watched in amazement
everything in our field of vision was moving (structures, telephone poles,
the ground etc.).
We were doing ok until Ginger decided to run back inside to her bathroom
den which meant that I had to run back inside during the earthquake to
get her. After I got her outside again and the earthquake was over, we
heard an elderly neighbor crying for help in the building next door. Ginger
then led me through the darkened hallways (the power was out) until we
found the lady who's door was jammed. After kicking in her door to
free her we found her standing there with a bottle of bourbon offering
us a drink. I had the drink and Ginger received a piece of lunch meat for
her bravery.
On The Belmont Dog Park Board Of Directors
Ginger was and always will be a charter member
of Belmont's Dog Park. She assisted with the construction of it's light
standards and water faucets, as well as it's permanent seating and entry
steps. I'm proud to know that her name and paw print(s) will always be
on display in the cement work there.
"Say T-Bone!"
God Bless
Well, I guess that's enough for now. If any of
you haven't experienced the pure unconditional love that can exist between
man and dog then I strongly urge you to do so. It is one of the purest
and most fulfilling relationships that can be had on this Earth, and that's
how it has been since the dawn of human history.
"Thanks for listening, and God Bless You All!"
Ginger Dayson
1989 - 2001