Today is Ginger’s 9^th birthday, which means that she is an Irish Setter in her late 60s. When I was a fair-haired lad after graduate school, I got my first job and then got my first Irish Setter; her name was Ginger. Ginger #1 lived a long life and was never sick. The only medical issue was when a bee stung Ginger on her nose. Within a couple of minutes, her face swelled up, making her look like a football.

Ginger #2 came into my life just before Christmas 2016. Ginger looks like she had been celebrating Christmas and had drunk a bit too much eggnog with rum.

Ginger was beginning life, and I was nearing the other end of mine. Talk about the juxtaposition that I felt. The first half of Ginger’s life contained no major issues. She was hyperactive and was willing to do anything involving having fun together.

In her second half, she has had two dances with death. I have no idea how many trips we have taken to Purdue’s Veterinary Hospital in the last handful of years. Her first trip was spent in the ICU, where she was being fed intravenously. Dr. Derrè took care of Ginger starting on day one and for the next several years.

Ginger’s major health issue is inflammatory bowel disease. Her situation is stable due to the medicine she takes and her prescription wet and dry dog food.

I’m fascinated by Ginger and my relationship. She shows her part of our relationship by needing to be with me all the time. If I move to another room, Ginger will follow. Every morning, we leave our home and circumnavigate the lake on which we live. Our three-mile trek takes about an hour. In our subdivision, dogs have to be on a leash; however, there is probably a half-mile that hasn’t been developed. There is a small path where a road will be someday. Ginger knows where to stop and have me set her free.

When Ginger was young, she would run and explore the wooded area with tall grass. Several times, she saw a deer and would chase them as they ran in the tall grass. There were times when I thought Ginger would get lost after chasing the deer due to the tall grass.

Nowadays, Ginger is content with smelling everything along the path during our walk. When we return home, Ginger knows the routine. She will run to the backyard and go to where we sit next to the water, and she will go to our dock.

Our morning trek is followed by brushing Ginger’s long hair, followed by her morning meds and breakfast. Then, we would go to my office. She is given what I call her chewy, which is a piece of cowhide coated with a tasty covering. Essentially, it is a means to brush her teeth.

Ginger has two large beds where she will rest in my office. Ginger has routinized this activity each day. She will start lying down next to me at my desk. Before she dozes off, she will raise one leg so that it will touch my leg. She must be touching me. After her nap, she will go to one of her beds for another nap or merely watch me writing on my computer. Then she will get up and go to the other bed three feet away.

The touching issue follows when I go to bed. It will take me 15 minutes to get ready to go to bed. Ginger will lie with her head on my pillow, merely watching me. When I am ready to get into bed, I have to tell her to move over. She reluctantly slides not much more than a foot. I get into bed and tell her again to move over. Ginger will get up and go in a circle, which provides me a few seconds to acquire more room. Then she will plop down so that she is touching my shoulders. When Ginger thinks that I’m asleep, she will get up and go to the foot of the bed. She is facing the door in case a burglar breaks into the house. However, she will touch my feet until the next morning.

Today is Ginger’s 9^th birthday. The following are several videos of Giner’s birthday party. This is her Asiago bagel birthday cake. I ate the cake after the party, since bagels are not recommended for dogs.

This is of Ginger opening her present. She has around 50 stuffed animals, in addition to other items like bones and other toys.

What Ginger enjoys is trying to reclaim the gift that I have taken from her. She does that with all her toys.

A week from now, I’ll be up around 4:30 am, get dressed, and drive to Aurora, IL, with Ginger for an appointment at the Veterinary Dental Center at 7:00 am. Ginger and millions of Americans use cyclosporine for inflammatory bowel disease. However, it has several side effects for both humans and dogs. In her case, she has swollen and inflamed gums. Ginger will be anesthetized for the procedure, which will take several hours.

We will leave the clinic mid-afternoon to return home. It will be interesting to see how Ginger responds when she wakes up. The gums will begin the process of receding to what is normal. Surely she understands that we go to places where she gets help, even though initially she didn’t want to be there. Ginger wants to be physically in contact with me all the time. She will want to be my lap dog as we drive home.