training
Good Kharma Devene Godau shares the very special tale of Kharma, the retired greyhound she adopted over 20 years ago who, despite being the most difficult dog she had ever had, was also her greatest teacher This article is the Pet Professional Guild’s winning entry in our Geek Week 2020 Writers’ Competition
I
thought I knew everything there was to know about dogs. As a child I read everything I could and in my teens I spent my spare time work ing in a boarding kennel. All I dreamed of was being a dog trainer. When I graduated from col lege, I moved back home when my mom got a cairn terrier puppy. I was excited to start the training process with her and signed up for a local obedience club’s basic training class.
Choke Chain When I showed up with my little dog, they instructed me to put a choke chain on her. As we walked in a circle they would cue me to yank the chain. She would bark at the other dogs, and because I didn’t want to yank her chain, throwing my timing off, they started throwing “scare cans” at her. After three weeks, I couldn’t do it anymore. I thought I was just not cut out to be a dog trainer. We dropped the class. Five years later I got married. My husband and I were getting ready to buy our first house. I was excited to get our first dog. He had never had a dog before. So I took him to a local dog show so he could pick out our first breed.
Greyhound Rescue Coincidentally, I ran into a coworker at the dog show. She was manning the greyhound rescue booth, as she had two adopted retired racing dogs. I stopped by to chat with her. What I didn’t realize is that while I was yapping away with her, he was mesmerized by her dogs. After, as we walked up and down the rows of cages, all he wanted to do was go back to see the greyhounds. He told me that he wanted one. I’ll be honest, I had never thought about adopting a greyhound before. I had always thought they looked funny! But a promise was a promise, so if that was what he wanted, I guess we would look into it.
Kharma Arrives Six months later, we met Kharma. She was a beautiful greyhound that was mostly white, with a brindle patch on her left eye, and a brindle spot on her back. The first time we met her she wouldn’t even approach us. Then when we got up to leave, she threw herself between us and the door. That meant she liked us, right? All conventional wisdom told me I shouldn’t adopt this dog. So natu rally we adopted the dog. As we left the adoption, with the dog in tow,
All conventional wisdom told me I shouldn’t adopt this dog. So naturally we adopted the dog. As we left the adoption, with the dog in tow, her foster mother said, “I really thought she was staying here for good. I thought she was unadoptable.”
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BARKS from the Guild/January 2021
© Devene Godau
Greyhound Kharma had difficulty with learning to sit and it took her several weeks to perfect the behavior
her foster mother said, “I really thought she was staying here for good. I thought she was unadoptable.” We brought her home and she still didn’t want anything to do with us. But we figured we would just give her some time.
Separation Anxiety And then it was Monday. We both had to go to work, so into her crate she went. She was not happy about it. She wouldn’t eat, the neighbors reported that she howled all day. And she would urinate and defecate in her crate. This became a daily occurrence. Then one day she figured out how to wedge open the crate. She cut herself up and tracked blood and feces everywhere. We rushed her to my vet who told us she was pretty sure she had separation anxiety be cause she didn’t want to be away from us. What???? She didn’t even come near us. I was so confused. And frustrated. My husband told me I had to fix her or we had to get rid of her. Well, I don’t get rid of anything once it is in my house (the same rule my husband has benefitted from!) so I decided to seek training. As part of our adoption contract we promised not to put a choke chain on the hounds, as their necks are so slender. I didn’t know any other way, but I
