Turkish Dogs - particularly Anatolian Shepherd Dogs

Above, Ruya (L) with our foster Molly (R) after checking out the corral. They coming up to see if I have cookies and rubs for them. Molly is available to the right home.

Speaking of rescues...
National Anatolian Shepherd Rescue Network (NASRN) now has its own MySpace page. Go visit and if you have a myspace page, sign up as a friend! Kudos to Tammy for her NASRN rescue and networking efforts!

Tammy is working with a foster that needs a home. Meet Tramp, below!

Contact Tammy for more information about "Tramp" and other rescues.

Labels: Molly, Rescue, Ruya

Past couple of weeks have been rough ones with a most gawd awful flu, worse than any I've ever had in my life. Still out of breath a lot and coughing - symptoms that are unusual for me, but I'm slowing coming back to life and don't feel so much like I've been hit by a truck or as though I've just had another aortic dissection! :(

Molly is doing very well and fitting in with our girls. She and Coco are good playmates.

We made great progress on food. Molly didn't like Kirkland or Costco, nor Diamond's Chicken and Rice at all (these are all probably essentially the same formula by the same maker), but she snarfs up Pedigree Mealtime without any show of pickiness. So she's put on weight and looks really nice.

She's very bouncy and playful, sometimes more than I'd like! When she's excited, she'll dash at me and bounce her front paws playfully off my chest. Now I can't handle that since I have to lean on a walker to stay upright, but her joy is contagious and I don't scold. She is learning more self control and when she remembers herself, she's very gentle indeed. :)

She spends the nights in the Magnum kennel and is allowed out during the day. She is often so excited to be let out, she bounces around with her paws up against the kennel, standing on her hind feet and dancing around. oi! So to start getting a handle on that, I would just turn and look away from her until she put paws back on the ground, then I unlatch the kennel door and let her out. She quickly realized that waiting with feet on the ground gets her the freedom she wants. Then I upped the ante... she would have to sit with her butt on the ground for a few seconds befor she got her freedom. She's a quick study and has this figured out now. I'm pleased. :)

The moment she gets out, she politely sniffs Ruya and Coco, then sprints out to go pee and make a poop. At some point, her body language invites Coco to chase and play. And then they are off! LOL. Ruya sometimes joins them but Ruya tends to stick near me if I seem to need her help. What a sweetie she is.

Now, take a look at the clipper cut pattern on Molly's back.
Isn't that odd? Clipper tracks are still fairly visible right along the spine.

Anyway, as you can see, she is filling out and looks quite nice. :)
My Anatolians are usually kept about this trim so there is a distinct waistline right behind the rib cage.

While being sick has been no fun, I am so glad that the dogs are always such good company. I sometimes would get outside for just a short bit before the chills would knock me down again, and Ruya would sit on the glider with me and snuggle up good and close. :)

On other miscellanea, just say no to the Chinese menu of cooked dog paws and no to their hackers too. Better news is that the mass killing of dogs that was scheduled for dogs of Kashmir, India has been "suspended". I'm skeptical about how they would know which dogs are rabid as rabies usually has to be tested in a lab, using the decapitated head of the animal in question. We have rescue groups in the USA that import pets to be sold from shelters, and occasionally these imported animals are vectors for disease untypical in the American stray dog population, including some dogs that are actually rabid - so obviously it is not so easy to tell. :(

Labels: Molly

Meet Molly :D

A few days ago, Lynn Howe of New Hope Animal Foundation sent an email to let me know there was a possible Anatolian in a Placer County Shelter.
James and I went to look at the dog and decided to foster her.

I decided to call her "Molly" the first night we had her for no particular reason but it is pleasant enough and she responds to it. I have another page right here, with other details and photos specific to Molly. Even if you're not looking for a rescue, be sure to check out 2- Feb 15, scroll down the page and see Molly's haircut!

I'm not certain what breed she is. She is around 26-27 inches high. Definitely appears to be purebred LGD and her character and behavior is right on the money.

Her first day or so after arrival, was spent in the Magnum kennel, getting handled and getting to meet my Anatolians. After that, we let her start mingling and free ranging in the yard. She seemed happy to be cagefree after being in the shelter for what I understand was two weeks. She was walking around, eating grass, checkout scents, curling up and snoozing in the grass. She picked out spots where she could watch activities going on around her; places where she would snooze throughout the day. She hasn't done anything hyper yet and I have yet to see her run to check anything out. This could also be due to social respect to the two Anatolians she is with. LGDs don't usually like strange dogs tearing around their property. So maybe in time she will feel comfortable in that respect.

She has however taken quite happily to the evening routine of sleeping in the Magnum kennel. She beds down for the night in the straw of the big doghouse at around dusk.

Here are some pics I got of her on Friday with Anatolians, Ruya and Coco.

Molly - left front.
Headless sisters- Coco, right. Ruya, behind Molly's tail.

Trio responding to noise by suddenly sprouting heads.

Molly watching minihorses come into the corral next to the red slatted fence.

Her first day of freedom was also Molly's first chance to meet the miniature horses through the fencing. They were down in the other field but when the horses heard me talking to Molly, they came into the corral. That's when Molly raised her head - picture above.

The stallion is bold and came up to the fence to peer into the yard. I like that Molly didn't over stimulate upon seeing minihorses (and a chicken that followed them). Another transient dog we had here sometimes went berserko upon seeing horses. :o

Molly watching the mini-stallion at the gate.

Coco and Ruya both dropped what they were doing by the house, and came over to monitor how Molly reacted to meeting the stallion through the gate. Coco, above pic, is closer to Molly. Molly seems to be more comfortable with Coco at close range, than she is with Ruya. Not sure why, although Ruya is quite a bit bigger. Ruya is the alpha of my pack as well, but she rules with the benevolent firmness that her great granddam always had, never throwing her weight around.

The Anatolians are a couple inches taller at the shoulders.
Molly is full grown.
Here, Ruya and Coco watch carefully.

Closeup - Almost nose-to-nose with Mr. Stud Muffin.

This stallion, btw, has a perverse sense of humor sometimes. He occasionally tries to get a rise out of the dogs by jiggling the gate with his nose, scratching his butt on the fence, or by laying down with his back against the fencing, just inches from the dogs and facing the other way. If you ask me... that is truly evil behavior from a warped and capable mind! If dogs react, he tends to stand just the other side of the fence and stoically studies the dogs as if he were watching TV. You've probably seen it! It's the same way some cats will sit just inches from a fence and watch dogs go ballistic. ;)

Since my crew have gotten a lecture or two about indulging and entertaining this evil horse in this manner over the past year, Ruya and Coco are wise to this now and usually ignore him. (once in a while, they just can't stand it any more, I can hardly blame them)

So it was interesting to watch Molly try to figure him out. I think Molly got her cues from the Anatolians.

Other pics.....
Rear to front- Ruya, Coco & Molly.
You can kinda see it, but Molly's coat has a really bad haircut along the topline and on this side of her body.

Trio

Molly

Coco- 16 months.

Coco - she went through another collar. This one is chewed up but still serviceable.

Ruya - 5 years old. She's wearing Sabah's collar. Sabah was her great granddam.

I need to get another batch of martingale collars eventually!


Anyway, if you have contacts that might be interested in Molly. Let me know. Be sure to read all of Molly's pages before inquiring.

Labels: Coco, Molly, Rehome, Rescue, Ruya