Anatolian Shepherd Dog

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 wandered 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*