The More the Merrier

Well, we finally did it.  I have been hoping to put it off for as long as possible.  But Joel was determined to get another dog.  I loved having the boys.  We had so much fun with them over the years.  But the last few were really rough.  With three kids, they weren’t the center of attention anymore.  The kids wanted to play fetch and chase them around.  But the dogs were just getting too old.  They would rather sleep and get snuggled.  Chili still got bursts of energy and for small amounts of time acted like a puppy.  But poor Decaf was an old man.  He was 17 years old when he passed away.   That’s pretty darn old for a big dog.


After a trip to one of the shelters, I was convinced we were ready for a dog.  Maybe it was I wanted to save one of these 1000s of dogs.  And I’m not exaggerating!  Yedikule Hayvan Barinagi is the shelters website if you want to check it out.  They try really hard to give these animals a chance.  Its mostly run on donations and by volunteers.  But with that vast amount of dogs, I think they can just do the best they can.
So, we went this past Sunday ( Feb. 5).  We had filled out the application and were approved right away.  We agreed we would come out at noon.  When we got there, the place was pretty busy.  It was one of the nicest days we had in weeks.   We looked for the little girl that we had seen the week before but she wasn’t there.  Finally we got to meet with the lady in charge.  She only spoke Turkish so our driver was there for us again!  We said we didn’t want a small dog and were looking for puppies under 3 years old.  With having young kids and not knowing what these dogs had been thru, we really weren’t looking for an older dog that would take more work and could put the kids at risk.


The first group of puppies they brought out, we had been told about the weekend before. They were 4 weeks old; 3 boys and 1 girl.  The little girl was cute and had just been featured on the news.  The litter had been dumped and left to freeze to death.  Thankfully, someone found them and called the shelter.  They were nursed back to health and this was the first weekend they were allowed to be seen.  The boys were quite frightened but one little boy had the sweetest face and gave me kisses.  Loved his white socks on his front paws.


Then they brought out a few other puppies that we would never consider.  Joel asked if they had any puppies with short hair since the first puppy I liked was a fur ball!  We had almost decide on the little boy when they came out with this almost white puppy.  She is 4 months old but we didn’t get any history about here.  She was very scared and was basically in a ball in the corner.  We couldn’t even tell if she could walk.  After a little while, she started to warm up to us.  I’m sure the treats had something to do with it.  Sigh…. hard decision.  We could only get one dog, since Ford only pays to transport two animals. I'm pretty sure Skinny will still be around in 2 1/2 years.  Hmm… are we willing to pay for the third?  Even if its in the couple $1000 range.  The lady told us that the little girl would probably never leave the shelter.  She was considered old and because she was so timid she would never catch someone’s eye. 
So you guessed it, we are proud doggie parents to two dogs. 

Welcome to our two newest family members…… names TBD. 

Yes still.  LOL.  We really want to give them Turkish names.  I think we have one for the girl but the name Joel is pushing I am having issues pronouncing!  I don’t think it fits either. But we’ll see.  He won out with Skinny…. I thought it was a dumb name. LOL.  But it stuck.  So we shall see.


Enjoy all the cuteness!!!  Love our new puppies!

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!