Anatolian Shepherd Dog

I'm very pleased to announce that Atakan has successfully passed the Canine Good Citizen test with the AKC. We worked hard and there were times that he scared me that he wasn't going to do it but when it came time, he did it and passed! Here are some pictures of him with his new CGC ribbon. I'm very proud of him.

Mystic's Atakan Of Clear Creek, CGC

"Atakan"

Date received: 08-12-09

Age: 9 months

*Published in Choban Chatter ~ Winter 2009 ~ Volume 19, Issue 3*

Atakan has been doing very well with the goats. He's been going to the barn with me during feeding and cleaning time and also other times. He's also been roaming in the bigger area with them at times too. He's doing very well but he does have one problem. Sometimes he thinks that he's a goat! He likes to try to munch on trees and bushes right along side of them and just last weekend he began trying to eat their food. He just stuck his head right in the dish along side of the goats to eat the grain with them and then moved on to join them in eating some fresh hay. I have to tell him from time to time that he's not a goat! Here's some pictures of his antics I caught last weekend.

Raven and Kazara have succeeded in teaching the new puppy, Atakan, to dig! He was only home for a matter of days when I caught this footage on camera. They love to dig so I guess they figured they would teach him how to dig and have some fun too! He's a regular little dirt ball now.

*Published in Choban Chatter ~ Spring, 2009 ~ Volume 19, Issue 1*

Atakan had traveled home along side of a new little doe named Lotus. Both rode side by side in separate crates the whole trip and they even stayed in a hotel room side by side but neither came face to face until we made it home. Once we made it home, Atakan was introduced to all of the dogs and hit it off very well. Lotus was then introduced to her new herd. The time came to introduce Atakan to the goats. It was a big day for everyone just coming to their new home and all meeting. This is what happened when Atakan came face to face with the goats on his first day home!

It's a stare down! Both are wondering what the other funny looking creature is.

"Don't come any closer!"

"Nice to meet you."

"That's a funny looking goat. It doesn't look like us."

"Those are funny looking dogs."

"Ok! Time to play!"

"Oh no you don't! I'll head butt you!" (I caught this picture right as Lotus head butted Atakan and he was falling over on to his back.)

"I think I'll calm down now. They are watching me like hawks."

Everyone has been doing well. All the girls have finished their treatments. Kazara is now back to eating normally. Tayyar has undergone his series of Lyme boosters and is finished. The girls and Atakan still have one more booster and they will be finished. We rechecked Pasa's bloodwork and urine and it is looking good but we are still going to keep tabs on her and recheck her again in 3 months just to make sure she's fine. She will be monitored every now and then to keep up on her. Everyone is doing great and hanging in here. Kazara is back to her old self once again and she's running and playing with the others.  It's been a stressful time here but we are all well. The pup is growing like a weed. I'll be sure to get some pictures of him up soon. Now that things are settling down some, I will be able to start updating this site with some much needed updates. We've also had success in the dog/goat area and I will be getting pictures up of that hopefully shortly too. Keep checking back for updates now that things are calming down. There's a lot to come!

I would like to thank everyone for their advice and support. Thank you very much for thinking of us all and for caring.

Brandi & the gang

Kazara has been doing ok. She has her ups and downs. For the most part she has bounced back completely activity wise and is back to her old self. Her eating is what has me concerned. The Doxycycline is not agreeing with her stomach. She can go a few days without wanting to eat but then she'll eat a full meal once in a while and other times she'll just pick at the food. It's been an ongoing battle trying to get food into her.

I decided I didn't want to wait to get the others tested so this week I took the other 3 into work with me to run their tests. I took Raven on Wednesday only to hear that YES she has Lyme too. I did suspect she had it if Kazara had it. I was surprised but then again not so surprised. It was a very upsetting day. We ran other bloodwork on her a couple weeks back and her kidney levels were fine. We started treatment on her. Thursday I took Pasa in and YES she is also positive. We ran additional bloodwork on her and her kidney level came back a little on the high side. Just to be cautious they wanted a urine sample and we are going to run the Doxy through her too and recheck her levels in a month when her treatment is done. Friday I took in her urine along with Tayyar. The doc was mainly concerned about protein in the urine but that looked all ok. We did find a lot of blood in it though. It didn't show on the test strip but showed under the microscope. He is a bit concerned about that so we are also going to recheck that when we recheck her kidney levels. Tayyar's test came back negative thank goodness. He's the only one out of the 4 that came back negative. All my girls have Lyme.

After lots of debate and discussions with the doctor, we have decided to start everyone on the Lyme vaccince including the ones who are positive. It's not a preventative but the vaccine works in reverse and helps to treat the infection. That's why we decided to use it even though they are positive. It'll help to treat their infections. Tayyar got his first vaccine yesterday and will go back shortly to get his next vaccine. Atakan will be started out as a pup on it and all the girls will be started on it once they are done with their meds.

This has been an upsetting and overwhelming week with all the results. I'm just relieved that everyone has been tested now and we know all the results. I'm glad I didn't wait. We are still taking this day by day and hoping everyone makes a full recovery.

It's been a while since I posted a new blog so I figured I would let you all know what has been happening. This year at Mystic Anatolians, we are expecting a bunch of new arrivals. Some have already arrived! Mystic's Atakan Of Clear Creek (Atakan) and Laurel Haven Lotus Evora (Lotus) made their long journey home in the beginning of the year. We made a road trip from Pennsylvania to Alabama and then to South Carolina and then back home. It was a long and tiring trip but well worth it. We tried to drive straight through but couldn't make it. After being awake for over 24 hours we did have to stop at a hotel for about 3 hours to sleep. We did arrive home safely. We had several close calls during the trip. Georgia was pretty scarey to drive through. It was very heavy traffic in pouring down rain and in what seemed like a bad area. We were approached at a gas station in broad daylight by a couple of men to borrow money for drugs! They were even going around looking in everyone's vehicles. We got out of there quick! I also hit a patch of black ice in Virginia and lost control of the truck but I was able to hold it steady until we made it over the ice. Thankfully we were not the car in front of us that hit the same ice patch and spun out into a bank which smashed up the whole front end of their car. I'm glad we stopped and slept right before that because if it was still the night before, I don't think I would have been alert enough to stay on the road. There were several other accidents along the way too and thankfully we were not involved. All in all it was a good trip but a long and tiring one. Lotus and Atakan settled in nicely and were little angels during the trip.

We had a nice time meeting with Jim and his wife and spending some time with them. They are wonderful people and I really enjoy visiting with them. Seeing all the puppies bouncing around and his beautiful dogs was a bonus! I got to finally meet Tina from Laurel Haven when we picked up Lotus. She is a wonderful person also and I really had a good time talking with her and her daughters and meeting all the goats there at her farm. It was bittersweet leaving Laurel Haven. It was sad on their part to say goodbye to Lotus but also they know she was going to a good home. They almost made me cry too! Don't worry Tina....you'll get plenty of pictures and updates! Both Jim and Fay and Tina and her family are like a part of my family now. We all share a love for these animals and I will always stay in contact with them no matter what.

Now, Atakan is a wonder. He is such an intelligent puppy. When I first put the collar and leash on him for the first time. He pranced right along side of me like he knew exactly what to do. He was so good for his first time. He did well the whole trip when I would get him out on the leash to potty. He was also incredibly laid back. Once he got home, his personality really came out. He's a spunky little guy and so full of energy. I've never had a puppy want to keep going so much at this age.  Normally they want to sleep but NOOO not him! He keeps going and going. He's like the energizer bunny. He's also a little baracuda. He is getting a little better with that since he's beginning to learn. He has a boot fetish and also loves my pant legs. I have holes in my pants from him hanging on! He is starting to calm down on the pant/ankle play. I took him in for a full health exam once he got home and he checked out perfect. I got a microchip for him and the doc thought maybe I would be squimish about him crying while implanting it. I stayed since I knew it wouldn't bother me. This little guy didn't even flinch or cry. It's like he didn't even feel it! He's also taught himself to use the dog door to run in and out. He learned that in a matter of days and now goes outside to potty. Once in a while he'll have an accident in the house but he knows to go outside. If I catch him, he'll go running out that door so fast because he knows he's not allowed to go in the house. He's doing very well on the housebreaking so far.

Everyone is adapting fine to the changes with the new additions. The older dogs are very accepting of the puppy and have taken on their roles with him. Raven and Kazara are like mother's to him while Pasa and Tayyar are like the rambunctious older siblings who like to play and get into trouble. They all watch out for him and make sure he's ok. Lotus is also adapting well to her new herd. The herd is adapting to her too. There was some head butting and shoving around at first like to be expected but all are finally settling in. I still monitor feeding time to make sure she gets her fair amount of food. She's a tough little cookie and is holding her own very well. The dogs have even noticed the new goat arrival. They noticed her immediately after checking out the new puppy. Raven is in awe of her and is so facinated. All of them are very interested in her. Atakan is slowly being introduced to the goats as a puppy. He's doing very well. He's gotten his share of head butts and shoves but he picks himself right back up and shakes it off. They are teaching him to respect their space and he's beginning to listen to them. I take him to the barn with me every time I go out and he runs around at first but then settles in and watches the herd. He's so proud sitting there watching them. I think he will end up being a good guardian of them someday once he's older.

In the meantime since being back from the trip, I did an all day rescue transport for the ASDRL. It was a wonderful experience and I love to be able to help out when needed. It's been non stop going for us. It's been very hectic around here. One of these days this site will get updated with all the updates and pictures that I have ready to put on here. As you may have noticed, there are some other goat kids that are on the site that I have not mentioned. They will be arriving home later this year, maybe in the early summer sometime. We are thinking May maybe. I did get to see and hold Maverick and Apache while at Laurel Haven Farm and they were both adorable. I wish I could have brought them home too but I know they had to stay there with their mom's until they are old enough. Another new little girl was also born yesterday. I have not had time to put her picture or information up yet so keep watching for that to appear. Her name is Laurel Haven Eden. She's a beautiful, flashy buckskin pattern doe. She's not the last one coming either! Keep an eye out for more updates!  This is just the beginning of the year!

Now on a more serious note. For the last several days Kazara has been acting a bit out of sorts. At first I thought maybe she was just becoming moody realizing the pup was here to stay. Saturday night she refused to eat any of her food. She ate on Sunday. Monday night she got really picky over her food but did eat some of it. She never finished it which was odd. She also got really moody around the pup and had all of her hackles raised. I did not trust her or her body language so it was bed time for the pup. Tuesday morning she refused to get out of bed which was odd. She laid in bed with me and just left me hold her which was also really odd. She's not one that wants to be cuddled for long periods. She'll pull away rather quickly. I just thought she was craving attention so I just held her. She finished her food Tuesday morning from the night before. Tuesday evening after work, her and Raven went outside and Raven got all happy and wanted to play like normal. Kazara just walked around with her head down and not getting all playful like normal. Kazara left out a loud cry which didn't seem right. She then refused to eat her food once again. This time she just laid down and barely moved. She wouldn't even pick her head up to try to eat. We tried to pick her head up and she'd cry some more. Eventually she did eat but only by being hand fed since she did not want to do anything except lay there. I tried feeling all over her to see what was wrong and every time I was by her head or neck she'd cry out. This definately wasn't Kazara at all. Something was wrong.

I took her to work with me today thinking maybe it was a tooth problem since it seemed more like her mouth bothering her than her neck but I wasn't sure. The docs examined her first thing this morning. They immediately came to the conclusion that it was not her mouth and it was pain in her neck. We ran a full blood panel on her and also tested for Lyme/Heartworm. We wanted to cover all bases before sedating her for neck xrays. The blood work came back and I got a devistating answer. Kazara was diagnosed with Lyme disease. I was surprised but then again not so surprised. Pennsylvania is one of the top states of Lyme cases. I never vaccinated them due to not knowing if the vaccine really helped. I've always heard about them still getting Lyme even if vaccinated. I did not want them to be over vaccinated and only wanted them have the neccesary vaccines. Some people ask why not use a flea/tick repellant? It's very, very rare for me to have flea problems. The last flea problem I had was many years ago when I brought in a rescued dog that was covered in them. In all the years of me ever owning dogs, I've been very fortunate to never really have flea issues. As for the ticks, we've never had any problems with ticks either up until the last 2 summers. For some reason the past 2 summers have been bad around here. I've tried using a topical medication before to repell them but with the way these dogs rough house, they all grab each others neck areas and backs while playing, that it made all of them sick enough to vomit. I said no more! I've been thinking lately with seeing the increase of Lyme cases coming in at work to get them tested and possibly vaccinate against it but then again I wasn't sure whether to fully trust the vaccine. I was one that thought it was a slim chance of it happening. What are the chances of 1 tick out of hundreds actually carrying Lyme to bite one of the dogs? I feel like a bad owner. I love these dogs so much that I'd lay my life down for them but I was stupid and didn't do something to help somehow protect them. I feel so horrible that my girl is sick now. I feel so guilty and have so many what ifs running through my head. What if I would have done this? What if I would have done that? Why her? Why us? Would it have helped? Would this have happened? I can't answer these questions and I don't know if anyone can. All I can do is hope and pray that she will be ok.

We are now treating her for her pain and for the Lyme. It'll be about a 3 week treatment for the Lyme. The pain seems to be going away a little. She's more perky this evening and is now holding her head up unlike before and actually getting up and walking around wiggling her wheel of a tail. We're hoping this treats this disease and she can live a normal and happy life. She could have been infected months before showing any signs. We'll never know when it happened. Some dogs bounce back and do great and then others have problems and can relapse again. I just really hope and pray that this does not happen to her and that she won't be in anymore pain or have any more complications from it or anything more serious going on from the disease. I hope she can make a full recovery and be back to herself again with no ongoing problems. We are following through with this treatment to see how she does and if she's not back to normal, maybe something more serious is going on. Only time will tell.

All of the others have appointments and check ups coming up and they will all be tested for Lyme also. As long as they come back negative, I will most likely start the vaccine on them to hopefully prevent this from happening again. I'm still leary of it but if it may possibly help somehow then I will do it. Atakan will be started out as a pup on it but the older ones all need tested. After discussions with the doc we are holding off right now on testing the others and not jumping the gun. They will all be tested within the next month or so. I should have results for all of them by March and we'll know if Kazara is the only one or not. I'm really hoping that none of the others have this either. If they do, they have not shown any signs yet but like I said before, it could be quite a while until they do show any signs of it. We are hoping that everyone is ok and that Kazara makes a full recovery. I will keep you all updated on how everyone is doing.

Please take a word of advice. Don't think that this won't ever happen to you. If you have a way to help prevent it, then please do it. Some may live in higher risk areas than others. I don't think it really matters where you live. If you have ticks in your area, then it's a possibility. I didn't think this immediate area that I live in was a high risk area either but now Kazara has it and I know it's here so I will take all precautions so that it will not happen again. I have been a mess all day blaming myself. It rips me apart inside knowing that one of my beloved dogs is sick like this. This has been a blow to our family and all we can do is hope for the best.

I will keep updating on how everyone is doing. Keep checking back for other updates also on the new additions. I'm ending this by saying, go hug your dogs. They give you so much love and devotion and you mean the world to them. Give them the same kind of love back. Lots of Anatolian leans and hugs to all of you. Take care and watch over them as they watch over you.

We would like to wish everyone a safe and Happy Halloween.

Raven "Queen"

Kazara "Witch"

Pasa "Princess"

Tayyar "Pirate"

I had posted this elsewhere on Tuesday, September 12th. I felt I needed to make a blog and share this on my website as well.

I had something happen tonight that showed me that Anatolians don't forget and do remember things. For the last couple of weeks I've been digging out a lot of things from the attic and moving things around the house. This past week I dug into the dog toys. There are two 50 gallon containers of toys for them. Well, one container was getting down towards the bottom and I wanted to use it for something else so I took the remainder of the toys out of it and put them in the living room for them to play with. I have a tin in the living room that I fill from time to time when it gets low and all the dogs know to look for them there. My 2 younger ASDs have been having a blast with these toys and digging them out of the tin and they have them scattered all over the place, ripping them apart. They have never seen these before and they are new to them. They are in toy and stuffing heaven. Well, tonight Raven wondered over the tin and looked inside it. She began whining and crying and it's something she never does. She just stood and looked while crying. She then looked under the stand beside the container to where Angie used to lay all the time like she was looking for her. It hit me suddenly when she looked at me and then looked back and cried some more. My eyes filled with tears because I realized what she was doing. Angie and Harley both died last year within 2 months of each other in January and March. The last time she saw these toys was when Harley and Angie were here and still alive. The toys still had their scent all over them and Raven remembered them. She could smell them and was looking for them. I could tell she was upset. Right now, as I write this, she is laying in the living room next to the stand with her head under the stand and looking at where Angie laid all the time. She grew up with them and misses them. It's heartbreaking but at the same time it proves that dogs never forget. Special people or companions in their lives are always there in their memories and in their hearts.

*Published in Anatolian Shepherd Dog 2008 Yearbook*

My group has found a new treat to love. They love animal crackers! I was having a photo shoot with Raven and Kazara up close with my little doeling kid Gypsy for my job when I decided to have some fun with Pasa and Tayyar. I wanted to get some shots of them standing up to me to show their height. They don't tend to like to get up and won't do it on their own without some coaxing so I decided to grab the animal crackers and this is what happened.

I was a bit shocked when I saw this picture after it was taken. Tayyar always looks so small when I look at him and so puppy like still. I was surprised of how big he looked to me. He's not done growing yet either!

He loves his animal crackers! Notice his ears back. He was savoring it.

He was so happy and we had some good laughs.

Now it's Pasa's turn. She was standing up but beginning to slink back down. I was trying to hold her up! She is not standing up completely but this will give you an idea of her height.

I want more!

Pasa taking a cookie from my mouth very gently. Notice how wide her eyes are. She was very cautious about it and not wanting to bite me while taking the cookie.

We have our special moments and I love getting some of them captured in pictures. They bring so much joy every day and not a day goes by where I ever regret the decision to bring this amazing breed into my life.