Entered: 01/20/2007
Status: Adopted
Age: 6
Color: Liver/White
Weight:
Gender: Altered Female
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Health: UTD, HW-, receiving antibiotics for Lyme disease
Temperament: Good with people as young as 5 years, good with other dogs, ambivalent to cats
Original: When Kharma was pulled from a central Pennsylvania shelter, she was extremely shy and undernourished. She cried a good deal and squatted and shook when approached. After a week in her foster home, Kharma has made great strides! Now, she just loves to be loved and follows her foster mom everywhere. She’s truly a Velcro dog.
Kharma was an angel at the vet’s office and never flinched for her shots. She was good with the groomer, too. At home she eats well and shows no food aggression, even when the resident cat raids her bowl. She’s even gained a bit of weight on her slight, 30 pound frame. Kharma walks like a pro on a leash and loves every minute of her nightly jaunts. She rides well in the car and was never bored or disruptive when she accompanied her foster mom on site visits in the car for six hours one day!
When her foster mom leaves for work, Kharma cries a bit; however, she has the run of the house and is well behaved. Her foster mom comes home at lunch to let her out just to be sure. Her favorite spot is perched on the back of the leather chair looking out the window, a behavior she probably learned from the cat. She doesn’t get on any of the other furniture or beds. Kharma is totally housebroken and goes out in the fenced yard alone in the morning and is leash walked at night. She is not at all distracted by squirrels, ducks, or geese. This little springer proved early on that she doesn’t care to be contained or crated. She compromised a baby gate on her first day in foster care but has been a perfect lady since she’s now free to roam the house. Kharma sleeps on a dog bed next to her foster mom’s bed or under the bed sometimes!
Kharma’s foster mom has been giving her an obedience refresher course and she has been a star pupil. “Sit” and “stay” are well-imprinted in her springer memory and “down” is the current lesson. Besides showing her academic side, Kharma has been advancing her play activities, also. Initially, she showed no interest in toys, balls or chewies; however, she has begun to fetch her purple fuzzy toy. She likes to catch it in mid-air and then play tug with any obliging human.
Kharma has a very odd whine that has been described by some as a “yodel.” When she first came to her foster home, she cried for attention a great deal. This vocalization for attention has almost stopped entirely and now she just yodels when she’s happy or wants to go out. It is very rewarding to see the health and social progress this little girl is making in such a short time.