Puppies...

Caglar: "my love?"
Me:"yes, my love?"
Caglar:"I am going to go get the dog."
Me:"what??? What dog?"
Caglar:"No problem, it's for my mother."
Me: "Really?"
Caglar:"Yes, a family dog"
Me: "A family dog, Huh?"


Biting, licking, biting, running, playing, falling, leaping, eating, smelling, did I mention biting puppy. We just got a German sheperd and named her Tequila. Her name stems from his mother's love for agave plant adult beverage, although lately has not been the time for indulgence. The first day we got Tequila she was so scared, only 3 months old. She rode 7 hours in the car down to Didim. We brought her to the family and they were surprised at how big she already was. Now it has been about three weeks. She has grown stronger and is a good dog. She gets us up every morning to walk and keeps us walking throughout the day. She follows us with out a leash but she is getting smart. She is going to need to start training soon! She is venturing of a little more on her own and man does she bite!!!! Her little mouth has all these new pearly whites coming in. It must hurt her but ouch it really hurts us too! She is the human equivalent of age 3 or 4 so she is young and we can't hold it against her. She will learn but we must teach her. Puppies are alot of work but training will help everyone not be afraid.

It is interesting how many people in Turkey are REALLY scared of dogs! I think it is because there are so many street dogs. A lot of the street dogs are decedents of the big sheep herding dogs that are meant to fight the wolves off of the sheep. Also dogs are also still kept for "protection" of property, so people want them to be isolated, mean and barkers. Many of these wild dogs have been abused by humans before and can be fierce. It is a cycle... dog abused, becomes mean to people, other people become scared of all other dogs etc. I was also was told dogs smell fear! But most of these dogs are just trying to live, eat, just survive. Here is an article addressing this stray dog issue There needs to be a better spay and nueter system for dogs, and the many, many kitties!


When my husband and I first met he was so impressed(I found out later) by my lack of fear towards animals. I was raised around animals and there aren't very many wild ones in Wayzata(uh-none?). Sometimes when we are walking at night around Didim Caglar will pick up a rock and carry it with him. I wonder what it is for? For protection from crazy street dogs. I thought it was silly until one day we went to a farm and this crazy huge sheep dog with a spiked collar started running after us...I'll admit...I was scared! I was happy Caglar had his rock!

As far as our little puppy out of respect for her, and for our own sanity we need to train her. Puppies are alot of work!

P.S. My husband finally admitted to me that the puppy was pretty much for him. He is funny and I knew it! He loves her and I admit it...so do I.

P.P.S. We are training her in Turkish