Gorgeous Ginny finally finds her happy place for Christmas thanks to Dogs Trust
An affectionate crossbreed dog who started 2024 in Dogs Trust care will celebrate Christmas in her happy place surrounded by love with owners who “can’t imagine life without their special girl.”
Ginny first came into the care of Dogs Trust Ballymena in February 2021 as a tiny puppy along with her five siblings. All the pups were soon adopted but sadly in January 2024 Ginny was returned to Ballymena rehoming centre after her owners felt they could no longer care for her.
Partly due to being rehomed during a pandemic, three-year-old Ginny wasn’t the most socialised dog so had worries around meeting strangers and other dogs. She was very nervous during her first vet check and took time to settle into life in kennels.
The training team at Dogs Trust Ballymena were gentle and kind as they implemented a training plan for Ginny which included allowing her time to slowly build relationships with her carers, taking her walks offsite to build her confidence, introducing Ginny to other dogs, helping her learn vet visits where nothing to fear and muzzle training so she was happy walking wearing a muzzle.
The Dogs Trust Ballymena team soon began to witness big changes with Ginny as she quickly built bonds with her carers, made friends easily and progressed well with all areas of her training as her confidence grew.
As Ginny’s loving, affectionate and comical character blossomed it didn’t take long for her to catch the eye quite literally of her forever family. After losing their much-loved dog in 2023, Mr and Mrs Stott from Lisburn were ready to welcome another doggy friend into their life so visited Dogs Trust Ballymena and spotted Ginny relaxing in bed. Ginny turned her head to give her admirers the side eye and that was all it took for love to blossom.
They applied to adopt Ginny that day, before joining her for their first walk together. Then followed multiple meets at the rehoming centre as they got to know each other. In August, after seven months in Dogs Trust care, staff bid an emotional farewell to a more confident Ginny who had stolen their hearts, as she went to her forever home.
Speaking about Ginny, Mrs Stott said: “I think Ginny chose us as much as we chose her. We visited ten times before she came home and on the fourth visit, when she saw us, she wanted us to come and play with her which was a really special moment.
She continued: “We have bought Ginny a dog friendly advent calendar and she will be getting new toys and lots of long walks this Christmas. I would recommend adopting from Dogs Trust to anyone as the help and support they provide is so good and without Dogs Trust we wouldn’t be sharing our life with our very special girl.”
Conor O’Kane, Manager at Dogs Trust Ballymena said: “While in our care for the second time, staff spent a lot of time with Ginny to help build her confidence and we slowly witnessed her change in front of our eyes. It is what our job is all about, helping every dog in our care find the right home for them and we can’t imagine a better match for Ginny. We are thrilled she has well and truly landed on her paws, is content and loved in her happy place this Christmas and we wish the same for all our current residents.”
There’s no place happier than a warm, comfortable home, surrounded by your loved ones.
Sadly, not every dog will be in such a happy place this Christmas.
To see all the dogs currently waiting to be adopted at Dogs Trust Ballymena visit www.dogstrust.org.uk/ballymena
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