Another family member?

No, I am not pregnant.  This seems to have shocked many people that we have NOT had another baby yet.  It has almost been a year that we have not had a dog in our house.  When Joel and I  moved in together, Chili was 2 and Decaf was 7.  11 years later, Joel has decided it is time for another dog.  I will admit, the first few weeks were just plain depressing.  When Decaf passed, it was expected but still left an empty spot in our house.  Chili was a big surprise and left our house extremely quiet. Chili was our alarm system.  He barked at everything and I felt safe with his loud bark.  I think it took moving to not be emotional every time the doorbell rang and there was no bark.

But, I have grow used to it.  Living in an apartment, there are more sounds and people around.  So its nice not having to keep a dog quiet.  Chili would have a field day with the barking.  No middle of the night trips outside in the freezing weather.  Very little hair to vacuum.  The kids are finally messier than the animals!  So when Joel mentioned a dog for Christmas, I was not feeling ready.  Joel asked around about finding a dog and we found some breeders.  Dogs are really expensive here!  And you have to pay in Euro!  Also, with being gone for Christmas, put a hold on the dog thing.

I'm not really sure how it came up, but we started talking about maybe going the rescue route.  All of our pets have been rescues.  Chili and Romi came from the KY Humane Society and Decaf and Skinny just wandered into yards.  At home, I'm all for it.  But here in Istanbul is a different story.  Stray dogs roam the streets, dog fights are very big here, dogs aren't treated like they are in the US.  So finding a stray that I would feel safe enough to bring home to my kids,  was a huge concern.  But I was going to be open minded and we started our search.

Saturday, gymnastics was cancelled, so we decided to check out a shelter and a pet store.  We went to the pet store first.  It was in one of the malls we hadn't been too. Drivnen by it a bunch, but never had a reason to go.  It was your typical pet store. Some cute dogs (and cats) but I really didn't want to spend 3000 Euros.  I would go to a breeder!  At least they have a 10 year guaranteed and handled all the international paperwork!  Next we tried to find our local shelter.  OMG...was that fun.  There was quite a bit of snow on the roads and we up on a hill on these windy roads looking straight down at the Bosphorus.  I thought we were going over the cliff a few times.  But Joel rocked it.  We never found the place.  So after an hour we headed to grab lunch and then back home for our first Turkish lesson.

On Sunday, we got a babysitter to watch the kids. We had decided to go to the main (and largest) shelter in the city.  We didn't want to risk taking the kids or having to constantly watch them. We really didn't know what to expect.  We used out driver for the trip, so he could be our translator if needed.   When we finally found the place, I was in shock.  It was behind a bus graveyard, and there were just dogs wandering everywhere. I had read some really bad stuff about shelters around Istanbul, but that was years ago.  We parked and went in to talk.  The place was well kept and the workers petted the dogs every time they walked by them. It is an outdoor shelter but all the dogs had dog houses.  The sheer number of dogs was absolutely depressing.  It is probably one of the saddest things I have ever seen.  There were so many beautiful dogs!! I was so overwhelmed.  We only when thru the main section and got the tour.  I think I loved on at least 50 dogs!  We found out that it is mostly run on donations.  There are very few paid employees and the city provides the land and pays water and electricity.  I wished we had brought more!!

We weren't going to be able to adopt that day.  Because of something that happened a few years ago, they follow the same adoption process as if you were adopting a kid!!   We did see a few that we are interested in.  One was the sweetest girl.  I'm not a fan of female dogs, but she rocked.  She had the same coloring as Decaf and quite a few of his mannerisms.  She really took to Joel.    There were also quite a lot of German Shepherds.  I saw three that were absolutely gorgeous!  Good hips and all.

I should have taken some pictures, because I can not even start to explain the vast amount of dogs that need homes.  But it truly was an overwhelming experience.  We will definitely become regular donors and I'm looking forward to giving a dog a happy and loving home.  I wish we could take more.

So, if anyone reading this is in the market for a dog in Istanbul, GO to a shelter!