I have three doggies, and I love spending time with them. It all started with one stray doggie befriending me, while I was meditating in the garden. I named him George and in time he became mine. He helped me overcome my fear of dogs. Although I always loved them, when I found myself, against gangs of stray doggies barking away, I used to be terrified. Being a former street dog, George chased them away, along with my fear. In time Delilah joined the family, she is a pure breed Kangal. One night she walked into the garden, George fell in love with her. I was puzzled what to do about her, and then my mom took control of the situation and found her owner. He did not mind selling her, as he was a breeder and she ran from him. Delilah never returned George’s affection but they made good friends. It turns out Kangal females, hardly ever mate outside the breed. As she entered our lives with a bit of a seductress attitude, I named her Delilah. Her type is very special and currently under UNESCO protection. They are shepherd dogs known to protect the herd from wolves. Their ability to kill wolves; protects them from human killing methods such as poisoning, which leads to overkill as more than a few wolves are taken out with the poisoning method, which endangers them. Whereas Kangal protection, keeps them away from the herd while letting them live. The Kangal kills only those who attack.
Delilah
Delilah is a typical Kangal she is very possessive, very protective, yet extremely sensitive and proud. She will not disobey, and literally cries if she does not get the attention she wants. Given that she is considered gigantic in size, it is very interesting to see her whine like a baby, when she does not get her way.
George
George is also overprotective he is a mixed breed of Kangal and Golden Retriever. He likes to act in charge and is a bit too loud. People used to beat him a lot when he was alone on the street. It is almost like he is intimidating people as payback. Then again he has the Golden gene which makes him cuddly and loving towards some strangers while totally hostile towards others. He likes his freedom and I respect that, unlike other doggies he will never beg for food and walk away with pride as he has managed to survive on his own, for as long as he had. He will want love and attention but food does not motivate him the least bit.
Naughty Shylo Covered in Mud
My third doggie is Shylo baby; he is a Husky, only ten months old yet. He is sweet, very handsome and very naughty. Unlike the others, he hardly ever barks, but howls sometimes. He is playful and spoiled and I cannot stop spoiling him. He sleeps in my bedroom as I cannot trust to leave him unattended. He has chewed away my high heels and antique books. His joyful attitude and kisses make him very charming. Also he punishes himself by sitting quietly in a corner, with an “I know I am guilty” look on his face, after he has been bad. He likes to bend the rules and I cannot be too mad as I am a rule bender myself, so I cannot help but relate which makes me a bad discipliner, yet a happy dog owner.
Their presence keeps me in the moment and away from complicated human emotions at times. Everything is very simple and joyful for them which cheers me up mostly.
The way I am connected to them helps us communicate very well. Delilah gave birth recently and I helped her. A few years ago no one could convince me, that I had it in me to assist a dog’s birth process. I thought I was one of those people who cannot see blood. Actually I was sure of it. This experience showed me once again that we are not clear on our potential until a situation presents itself where it is tested.
Delilah's Babies
One morning, I was in bed and heard a cry coming from the garden. As I looked out the window I saw something in her mouth, frankly at first I thought she caught a rat or something. Then it hit me she had her first born in her mouth and the baby was crying. She kept dropping it. My natural instinct was to go help her, after all I am her guardian, I ‘m used to taking care of her. So I collected the babies, which she for some reason dropped at different parts of the garden, helped her clean them, and made sure she felt safe about their wellbeing. The birth took a few hours and once she was done I collected them in a basket and brought them inside the house, as she was very uneasy on how to protect them. She was not able to carry them without dropping and did not feel good about leaving the rest while carrying one. Anyhow inside the house she chose my bedside as a good spot, so I placed all the babies there and she started feeding them. This was normally Shylo’s sleeping spot, so I guess being so close to me must make them somehow feel safe.
Every few hours I would collect the babies into the basket, clean the floor and Delilah would go out for a few minutes. This went on for a few days and then she felt comfortable enough to use the crib that is specially designed for the occasion and big enough for her and the babies. I had to hand-feed her mostly, as she would not leave the babies even to feed herself for a few days. Later on she relaxed and started eating properly yet became very thin. Then one night as I was sleeping she came into my bedroom. She is very smart and knows how to open doors even with round door knobs which amazes me. Anyhow, she woke me up and was clearly very sick. I felt terribly worried; she just dropped her large frame on the floor looking awfully weak. I placed some honey on her gums. It is a trick I learned a while back. Sweets are not good for them but when dogs are very sick and spit out anything you give them, a little honey on the gums gives them nutrition and is impossible to spit out.
Then I boiled her some eggs as that is something she loves. She ate some, but still was very weak. The next day the vet gave her antibiotic shots for a few days, and explained that she could not feed the babies anymore. She was feverish and too weak. They had ripped open one of her breasts. While going through this period, a few things amazed me.
One of them was her mother instinct that she tried to feed the babies while they were painfully clutching on the wound. Of course I would not let them and she guided me on how to take care of them through her eyes and her whining. It was astonishing. Here I was attending her bloody wound, cleaning it and applying ointment, which is tricky as she wants to lick the area, better yet let the babies suck on it. Her pain and the situation made me once again, forget that I could not see blood once upon a time. I also tried applying Aloe Vera from the plant in my garden, after cooling it in the fridge. At least this way she was feeling relived while it was perfectly OK if she licked it.
She has recovered after a few days of medicine, love and attention. Because I did not let her near the babies, fearing that they will suck on her wound making it worse, until she was fine, she used to wake me up at around 4 am, to get me to feed her babies. If I went to bed after feeding them, she woke me up again, making sure I clean each one with a baby wipe, as normally she licks them each clean. It has been an interesting experience for me. Thank God she is up and running again and the babies have moved onto dry food.
Shylo is back in his sleeping spot. George is annoyed with all the crowd and likes to spend time in the garden away from the others. He never ganged up with other doggies when he lived on the street, so he still is the same. He enjoys the company very much but likes his privacy too. Shylo likes to run from me, making me chase after him. He let’s me be when I am working on something but somehow knows when I am done and drags me to the garden to play with him. If he feels sick, he runs into the house finds me. It is a bit annoying that he comes inside to throw up, but I understand it, he runs to me when he is sick and that I cannot be mad about.
This might seem like a long introduction to another story that I am about to tell, but it is relevant. My doggies mean a lot to me, they are my friends and I feel very protective over them. We have fun together and they are very jolly always jiggling their tails.
A few days ago, I took all three of them for a small walk by the Bosphorus. We passed through a small park, reached the seaside and had some fun. I usually do not put George on a leash as it is too much to keep all three on a leash. They are young, strong and all together weigh a lot more than me. On the way back home, as we entered the park, I stopped to catch my breath for a moment. This was an area that cannot be seen from anywhere and no one was around. Two men came and George barked at them. I told him to stop and told the guys to just keep walking. One of the guys picked a small pebble to throw at George, which did not bother me so much; I know what it is like to fear a barking dog. The guy wants to feel safe I thought. Instead of walking away he picked up a large beer bottle.
I told him “Don’t throw it!”
He said “I will throw it he should not bark.”
I said “He has a right to exists, just walk away, I am alone here, he barks to protect me, he is just a dog, let him be.”
He said “He can exist but he barks, so I will throw it.”
As he moved his hand up, to throw the bottle at George, I said”If you throw that bottle I will release her, showing Delilah.” (Most people know Kangal’s, reputation for killing wolves)
He threw it while saying, “Release her, what can she do?”
I did release her, as Shylo’s leash was attached to hers they both went, cornered the second guy. My baby Shylo is sweet but looks scary to some, as he resembles a wolf with his white coat and colored eyes.
George had moved to the side to escape the bottle, and cornered the guy who threw it barking at him like hell.
The guy Delilah and Shylo were barking at was literally shaking in his spot. He could not function. Like I said I used to fear dogs, I can relate to that panicky feeling, so when I saw him shaking I grabbed her leash, and said “If you are so scared, why did you not say so?” we walked away.
In the park I saw some men who are regulars and like to drink some beer there. They know George and pet him usually; they were surprised with his ongoing hostile attitude. I told them, that two guys had just disturbed us and that he was still in his protective mood, not letting anyone much talk to me.
So as we kept walking the two guys came after us, they found some rocks to throw at Delilah. They were yelling “I will kill your dog.”
I could not believe it!
They threw one of the rocks at her, which was not good idea. I saw a side of my baby that I could not possible imagine. She did not move or shake the least bit, and was braking in the most intimidating way. So as I held on tight to her leash, I pepper-sprayed the guy’s face. He had come close enough for me to do so.
The wind diffused the spray and protected his eyes, but the fact that I attacked him for attacking my dog shocked him. The men from the park came to pull him away, saying “What are you doing, that is a lady.” He kept yelling” What kind of lady is this, a lady should know her place.” Repeating “What kind of lady is this?”
Anyhow I walked away, with my doggies. Since Delilah’s breed is famous for their killing abilities in order to protect, throwing rocks at her was a bad idea. The first story above, probably makes it clear how much I care about all of them, the fact that some guys would dare attack them in front of me, still enrages me. If the doggies harmed those guys in defense, they would be guilty, how to explain that these idiots kept attacking us with rocks.
After the whole thing was over, I realized that the guys had a problem not only with my dogs, but with my self confidence. Their strong accent suggests that they were from the South-East of Turkey where honor killings and women oppression is a great problem. So they could not accept that a woman disabled them with her dogs and then walked away from them.
They had to make me suffer; remind me that I am a woman.
I had to be the one trembling and shaking not them!
The fact that I collected Delilah and with an attitude that says “Oh you are scared…” almost like “It’s Ok don’t be..” and walked away, must have been the greatest insult of their life.
This is why they had come back for revenge. Hoping to disable my dog, taking away my power, so when I pepper sprayed them without hesitation while confidently saying “You cannot do this, I won’t let you.” They were shocked.
Probably happy to allow the men who pull them away to do so, as their pride dictates to be pulled away. They cannot walk away from the situation. I am sure that they oppress the women in their life so terribly, that a come back from a woman is beyond their imagination.
This is a sad fact of my country, and is getting worse by the year. The Mild Islam program that many find so appealing, does encourage these womanizers to push females around, while expecting the rest of the society to side with them. I’ve had pepper spray since college. I’ve lived seven years in America, while attending college. I’ve been to India, Asia, Africa, and Europe on my own, many times. When people who see the pepper spray-can asked me “Does it even work?” My response used to be “I don’t know, thank God I never had to use it.”
Yet this is the second occasion in one year that I had to pepper spray a man, for attacking me. I am the kind of person, who would do anything to avoid such situations, but if I am already in the situation, surely I will fight like hell. Still the above mentioned affair occurred mid-day, in one of the best neighborhoods of Istanbul.
How to avoid that? Not walk my dog without a man? Is that what they hope to achieve?
Literally, everyday I see another woman on the news who has been killed by her boyfriend/husband or ex-husband. These violent men live among us and believe that it is OK to pick on ladies. I have no idea how things will get better for women, but I know that the problem is more serious than many realize. I believe that these guys will think twice before they mess with another woman, but the big picture is so distressing that this does not give me much relief…
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http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/06/09/turkey-backward-step-women-s-rights
