Ken’s Comments: My heart will always be in animal rescue. I have had the privilage over the years to work closely with many of the rescue organizations across the province helping their dogs become adoptable. Last winter I was contacted by the SPCA on the West Coast about a boxer pitty cross named Karma. She had been through half a dozen homes already, and bounced around a couple of shelters but there was little success in finding her a forever home. She always was returned with owners reporting she was too aggressive with their dogs, could not be controlled, too rambunctious, could not be walked….The SPCA asked for my help.
Arrangements were made to bring her to St. John’s where she stayed at Topsailstar Pet Center while myself and a few of my team volunteers worked with her. We quickly discovered that her only real issue was that she was young, full of energy, untrained and had little manners. We went to work.
Karma began attending classes, was a regular on the group walk and slowly but surely she improved. She wanted to please, she just needed the time and the patience to be shown how.
It was during this time that previous clients of mine took an interest in her. I had met Mike and Angie the year before on a one on one with their pug, Bella. Bella was spoiled rotten and had learned to push things in her home. Mike and Angie worked through the behavior modification plan I had left for them, brought Bella on the walks, graduated from class and made great progress with her. When they expressed interest in Karma, I was pleased. It meant that if successful, Karma could remain in this area, continue with her training and attend the group walks which were so crutial in her continued success. It also meant I was there to help if issues arose.
Mike and Angie went through a trial adoption period and it was not without issue. There were times they reconsidered if they had made the right decision however slowly Karma wormed her way into their hearts until she became a permanent member in their home.
Karma is now set to graduate the advanced obedience course. She has met and exceeded every challenge thrown at her, going from an “uncontrollable dog” to pulling off long stays in very high distracting environments. Karma still goobles whenever she sees me and her ears are so very expressive. She is an amazing dog with a real success story to share.
Here is her story:
What can I say about Karma??? My husband, Mike and I always talked about having a bigger breed dog. Mike would always say that if we were to get another dog he would like a Boxer or a Pit Bull. Well one day we saw Ken post a picture of this beautiful dog who just came from the Corner Brook SPCA. She was a cross between a Boxer and a Pit Bull. So it was like it was ‘meant to be’. Not to mention the fact that her name ended with an ‘a’ just like the rest of our pets (Kiara, Bella, Mya – completely coincidental). Anyways, we just had to meet this dog, and when we did, of course she stole our hearts.
We decided to bring her home one day to see how she would make out with our 5 year old pug, Bella. If we were even going to think about adopting her, the first rule is that she would HAVE to get along with princess Bella who is the Queen of the house and shows it. To our surprise, with the proper introduction and a little walk outside together, they got along quite fine! Well…..Bella tolerated her at least!
So in no time we had Karma at our house as a foster. I remember first bringing her into my house. Sit meant jumping at my sofa table and lie down meant jumping on me. Oh boy, I thought, this should be fun.
She had already started some training classes at TopsailStar so we continued with those. She did really well from week to week and in no time there was no jumping at the sofa table/counters/furniture and sit meant sit and lie down meant lie down. She graduated Basic Training and is now in Advanced Training.
Karma is doing things today that I never ever thought such a high energy/hyper/excited dog like her was even capable of doing. One of which being the ‘long stay’. Long stays in places where there are a great deal of distraction. This was her challenge the past week for her training class and she nailed it. She did a long stay at the Vet, Pet Planet, Bowering Park, Canadian Tire parking lot and inside of Canadian Tire. So proud of her!
I will not lie and say that any of this was easy work because there were days that I was ready to give up on her. Oh yes!!! I had ‘free dog’ ads online and actually got a lot of interest but just couldn’t find anyone ‘good enough’ for her. I guess the reality was that I just couldn’t give her up because I knew that she had such a hard life before me. From kennels to foster homes to even being neglected, abused and abandoned. I could see how happy she was in our home with us and I just couldn’t let her go, not knowing where she would end up. Now when I think about it, I am so glad that we kept this dog because her companionship, loyalty and unconditional love cannot be replaced by anyone or anything.
Too many people take the easy way out and give up on their dogs these days. If I could give any advice to anyone it would be to have a little more patience for your pets and don’t just give up on them because they all deserve a chance and with hard work and dedication the sky is the limit!