Sharon and Sansal's Adventures in Istanbul

Dog Breeds for Agility / Border Collies

2011-12-30T16:25:00.014+02:00

Savvy, Dash and I all had a great time at the Zsofi Biro agility seminar yesterday. Thanks to Zsofi for teaching, Ersel for organizing and bringing some jumps/weaves, and Tugba for providing most of the equipment, including great contacts. (Contacts are something I only have the privilege of seeing once a year or so!)

The only bad news is that I noticed a worrying trend. Practically everybody in Turkey that has attended a 1-day agility seminar is running out to get a Border Collie. 6 out of 14 dogs present were Border Collies, with one (a very sweet girl) imported just a day before the seminar. More Border Collies were waiting in Izmir for their turn at the Friday seminar.

Border Collies have the potential to do approximately 10% better in sports than other breeds (not 100% better, which many assume) But ONLY if their trainers have years of competition experience. In the hands of a new competitor, the Border Collie is one of the most difficult and unsuccessful breeds in competition.

As it turns out, much of the Thursday seminar was spent trying to chase after dogs that were running away to visit or attack other dogs. (It is difficult to impress anyone if your dog is the “world’s smartest breed” but won’t stay or come on command!)

Getting a Border Collie as your first agility dog is like buying this tractor to mow this garden:

That’s because BCs are also one of the most hyperactive, aggressive, reactive and obsessive-compulsive breeds. Many are dog-aggressive, people-aggressive, or both. They are often unpredictable in competition (knocking bars, spinning, chasing light beams, etc.) Other breeds get a qualifying agility score 20-40% of the time. Border Collies qualify only 5-10% of the time. (Advanced competitors accept this because when the dog does qualify, it often wins a lot of AKC “MACH points”).

I would like to offer the following suggestions for alternatives to the Border Collie:

Sharon's RECOMMENDED breeds for a first competition dog (that can also win the World Championship):

Most gun-dog breeds (not Labs or Chessies), Border Terriers, Shelties, Mini Poodles, Papillons.

Shelties have won as many FCI world championships as Border Collies! The USA and Canadian agility teams usually have 8 Shelties (S, M) and 4 Border Collies (L).

NOT RECOMMENDED:

Labs, Chessies, most terriers, hounds, herding breeds, guard-dog breeds, brachycephalic breeds.

***********************

This table shows the group at the agility seminar yesterday. Red shows it is from my “not recommended for inexperienced competitors” list, green from my “recommended” list:

Ignoring Savvy & Atom--who have competition-experienced owners-- two-thirds of the remaining dogs were from the not-recommended list.

Another thing to consider is that there are three height classes at the World Championships, and Turkey right now has:

1 - S (Dash)

0 - M

20 - L

Therefore, everybody will be competing together for 4 spots on the Turkish "team large" while we have no small or medium team. Since there are only a few people in Turkey doing agility, isn't it better for us to train 4 small, 4 medium and 4 large dogs... and then we can ALL go to the World Championship someday? Let's see some Paps, Border Terriers and Shelties join Turkey's agility community!

Welcome!

2010-08-08T16:00:00.002+03:00

Türkçe tanıtım için buraya tıklayanız.

Welcome to Savvy's website. Savvy is an 9 year old champion American Border Collie who moved to Istanbul in 2008. Savvy's owner, Sharon Yildiz, uses the positive reinforcement training method known as "clicker training."

Savvy has earned 26 titles and versatility awards in the sports of agility, obedience, sheep herding, conformation, rally and tracking. In 2008, he also became the #2 Frisbee dog competitor in Turkey. Savvy has appeared frequently on live television and has spent years as a professional model for Hallmark Cards. He was a semi-finalist on Season 1 of "Turkey's Got Talent" and is an actor on the Turkish sitcom "Akasya Duragi."

In addition to the video below, don't miss these videos of Savvy doing agility, herding, tricks, and disc dog ! And be sure to check out Savvy's acting website: www.savvykopek.com.

Savvy's official name, with titles, is: VX, CHX, U-CD, U-AgII, Ch. RiverRun's Satellite VCD-2 (CDX, TD, OA, OAJ), HSAs, HIAs, HXAs, HRDI/II/IIIs, HTDIs, HTDIId, AX, RN, CGC

Hoş Geldiniz!

2010-08-07T15:58:00.002+03:00

For English, click here.

Savvy'nin websitesine hoş geldiniz! Savvy 2008'de Amerika'dan İstanbul'a taşınan 9 yaşında bir şampiyon Border Collie. Savvy'nin sahibi Sharon Yıldız ise "clicker training" olarak bilinen pozitif pekiştirme yöntemini kullanan bir köpek eğitmeni.

Savvy'nin çeviklik (agility), itaat (obedience), kuzu gütme (sheep herding), güzellik (conformation), ralli ve iz sürme (ralli and tracking) sporlarında 26 ünvanı ve bu kadar dalda ünvan sahibi olduğu için aldığı özel ödülleri (versatility awards) var. 2008'de de Türkiye'nin ikinci en iyi frizbi köpeği oldu. Canlı yayınlarda çok boy göstermiş olan Savvy yıllardır Hallmark Cards'ın profesyonel modeli.

Aşağıdaki videonun yanında, çeviklik, kuzu gütme, numaralar, ve frizbi videolarını da sakın kaçırmayın!

Savvy'nin ünvanlarıyla beraber resmi ismi: VX, CHX, U-CD, U-AgII, Ch. RiverRun's Satellite VCD-2 (CDX, TD, OA, OAJ), HSAs, HIAs, HXAs, HRDI/II/IIIs, HTDIs, HTDIId, AX, RN, CGC

Sharon's Upcoming Talk in Kadikoy

2010-02-18T22:47:00.003+02:00

Please come to my talk next Saturday in Kadikoy!

Greenhouse Bookstore
Dumlupinar Sok.17, Caferaga Mah, Kadikoy

We would love to invite you to an opportunity to learn about good behavior. Join us in another FREE seminar.

• Is there something about yourself or others that you wish you could change?
• Want to improve your tennis swing?
• Stop your children from whining?
• Encourage your spouse to help with laundry?
• Keep your dog from barking excessively?

NOW you can!
Sharon Yildiz, American animal behavior and training expert, will teach you the
Eight ways to Change Behavior

This illustrated presentation lasts approximately 20 minutes. Afterwards Sharon will put on a trick demonstration with her positively trained dog, kitten and/or parrot.

About Sharon: Sharon is the owner of www.PozitifEnik.com pet supplies and has earned 50 titles in 8 different American dog sports. Her dogs have performed internationally, and worked as professional models for Hallmark and Purina. Sharon and her dog, Savvy, recently appeared on Acun’s TV show Yetenek Sizsiniz (“Turkey’s Got Talent”) and have moved up to the semi-finals. There will be time for questions and answers.

When: Saturday February 2th from 13.30 to 15.00
Make it a family outing! Children age 6 and older are welcome to come.

Reservation required: Send an email to Charlotte at: cmcpherson2@aol.com
Deadline to register: February 22nd

Yetenek Sizsiniz - "Turkey's Got Talent"

2010-01-09T23:02:00.010+02:00

Welcome, everyone who discovered this blog through our performance tonight on Yetenek Sizsiniz ("Turkey's Got Talent"). We hope you enjoy this blog, which has many posts about Savvy (Savy). Also be sure to visit our other sites (ikisi Türkçe/İngilizce):

Pozitif Enik - Information about me and Savvy. Lots of videos and photos of Savvy, too!

Go American English - Private English lessons in Bostanci, Istanbul.

Savvy and I performed a musical freestyle routine to the song "Tequila." The taping was in Izmir three days prior to broadcast, and included these judges:

Acun: famous TV producer and host of Turkish "Deal or No Deal" and "Survivor," and now, "Turkey's Got Talent"

Hulya: beauty queen, star of over 50 movies and 7 music CDs

Ali Taran: TV commercial producer

We passed Round 1 and thanks to your phone votes, we can skip the semi-finals and go straight to the finals!

Here's our first performance with English subtitles.

Here's our performance in the original Turkish.

Thanks for visiting & voting for us!

Sharon & Savvy (or "Savy")

Holiday Parties

2009-12-06T16:02:00.002+02:00

Turks, like most Latin Americans, have a very busy social life that involves visits to friends for dinner, as well as going out to restaurants. Most people host others for dinner at least once every 1-2 weeks.

Here are some of the parties we went to between November 1st and December 5th. This is not a definitive list--just the ones I remembered to bring my camera too! In addition to these, we also have weekly dinner and cake at Sansal's mom's house. Yum!

My great Canadian friend, Natalie, and her room-mates from Berlitz housing had a get together. Casper came along, too, and was a big hit:

The next week was a Thanksgiving party for the organization "Professional American Women of Istanbul." I had just joined two days before this, so didn't know anybody there. It was held at the VERY swanky apartment of one of the members:

Next was a surprise birthday party for Sansal, held at the homes of our friends Sarah (English) and Levent (Turkish). Levent cooked up a ton of wonderful dishes, and everybody else brought something to share:

Then Natalie and I went to the annual Christmas party and bazaar thrown by the International Women of Istanbul. At this, you buy food tickets, and they have an international food court where you can choose different things and pay with the tickets. We also entered a $4 raffle. Natalie won a $50 gift certificate to IKEA and a beautiful silver ring; I got a spa treatment valued at about $75-100.

A few days later, we had my birthday dinner and cake at Sansal's mom's house:

Next was my birthday coffee get-together at Kahve Dunyasi (Coffee World):

The next occasion was our friend Rachel's wedding to her Turkish fiance, Aykut:

Build an Insulated Cat House

2009-11-02T12:15:00.000+02:00

There are about a million street cats in Istanbul, and luckily for them, Istanbul has relatively good weather. Nevertheless, winters can be near-freezing, with daily cold rain. Therefore, I've been researching how to make an insulated, water-proof cat house to use for our local street cats, starting with our former foster kitten, "Happy."

I found instructions online that started with styrofoam coolers, but I couldn't find such a cooler anywhere in Istanbul.

Instead, I made a great house out of sheet styrofoam for just 22 YTL ($14) total. The house I designed and built is suitable for a mother and litter of kittens or 2-3 adult cats. It's insulating ability is far superior to the typical $100-300 plastic dog houses. I would happily sleep in this thing. The house can be made from start to finish in just 90 minutes of hands-on time.

Shopping list (we bought everything at Bauhaus):

3- sheets of thick white styrofoam (each 100 cm x 50 cm x 4 cm)
2- tubes of water-proof glue with NO solvents in it
2- rolls of water-proof sticky shelf paper in a natural wood design (each 50 cm x 2 m)
1- roll of duct tape or similar strong tape

Cutting the styrofoam:

Sheet 1: two 50cm x 40 cm pieces for front and back of house

Sheet 2: 50 cm x 50 cm bottom, and 40 cm x 42 cm side

Sheet 3: 50 cm x 58 cm roof, and 40 cm x 42 cm side

To cut the styrofoam, draw a line where you want to cut. Place a board or other straight, solid surface along the line. Holding the board in place, use an Exacto-knife (razor blade) to cut the line as deeply as possible.

You can faintly see the scored line here:

Turn the board over, place a knee to one side of where you made the cut, and pull up on the other end of the styrofoam. The styrofoam will break crisply and neatly along the line.

The stack of cut pieces:

Cut an 8"-9" hole in the top right sector of the front panel. To do this, I "whittled" out chunks of styrofoam, beginning in the middle of my drawn circle. Be very cautious when doing this, as you don't want to break the narrow edge pieces.

Now take duct tape or similar strong tape and place strips of tape to protect the circle from being scratched by kitty paws. I used red/white "caution" tape.

Allow beneficiaries of the future house to bat around some of the waste styrofoam. :-)

Now, glop lots of glue on the edges of the pieces and assemble like a puzzle. Remember that the entrance hole should be in the top corner (right or left) of the front of the house. The overhang of the roof should be in the front, to protect the entry door. Tape everything in place to hold it steady until the glue dries overnight.

The next day, you can use any remaining glue to patch up cracks where you can see light coming in. When this dries, cover the sides with sticky paper. If you find a roll of paper 50 cm wide, one roll will go all the way around the sides without needing to be cut. Use the other roll to do the roof, making sure to leave an extra 8 cm or so to fold down over the sides (for water-tightness). Use any remaining paper for the floor and interior walls, to prevent scratching by the occupants.

As a last step, I sacrificed an old Polarfleece jacket for a bed. Straw is preferable, but I can't find any in Istanbul. Polarfleece or wool will both insulate when wet. If the only thing you can find is a pillow or cotton blanket, it's better to use nothing at all. These will eventually get wet and suck body heat from the cat.

Here is the finished house, which I think is quite attractive. The flash photo makes it look shiny and fake, but in real life it looks like real wood. I don't think anybody would complain about seeing a house like this in the back yard.

Place the house outside in a sheltered area. Raise it on a few bricks, if possible, and weight it down with a board, light log, etc. to keep it from blowing away. I placed Happy's house on four bricks in an ivy-covered corner of our walled garden. It has brick stairs, and is facing a pile of building materials as a wind-break. I also have an old table next to it, under which I feed Happy when it rains.

Happy didn't want to go inside, so I brought out Casper to show him that it was fun and safe. Happy went in after a minute or two, and slept there all night. It's raining today, and he's still inside, enjoying his comfy and warm house.

If anybody reading this lives in Istanbul and knows a source for coolers, please let me know! I'd like to make a bunch of these for the street cats.

Clover's Vocabulary

2009-11-01T08:42:00.002+02:00

We bought Clover at around 14 months of age. Five months later, she said her first clear word. At that point, I started making a list of words and phrases that she said clearly and "as a group." From 19-25 months of age, Clover learned 27 words and 10 random sounds:

Ah ah ahhh
Apple
Askim ("My love" in Turkish)
C’mere
C’mon
Cik
Clover, poop
Corn
Do you wanna shower?
Gimme a kiss
Good boy
Good Clover
Good Clover-girl
Good girl
Good girl Clover
Hello
Knock it off!
Let’s go
Oooooh
Poop
Pooper
Scritch
Shower
Wanna go to the kitchen?
Wanna go/come out?
Want an apple?
Wow

Oven timer
Dog whining
Dog barking
Outer space sounds
Raspberries
Kissing sound
Monkey sounds
Tongue snicks
Laughter
Big sneeze

From 25-28 months, she learned 28 words and 3 new sounds:

Alright
Clover, gel ("come" in Turkish)
Clover's a poopy girl
Do you wanna go back?
Don't bite
Get on my shoulder
Go on
Hello Miss Clover-girl
Here you go
I love you
I love you, Clover
I love you, Clover-girl
Let's go back
Let's go in the kitchen
Love love love love love
Merhaba
Mmmmmm
Okay
Okay, Clover
Popcorn
Shut up!
Wanna scritch?
Wanna take a shower?
Want yogurt?
Water
What a good good girl
What are you trying to say?
Yogurt

Water gurgling
Yawn/groan
Car auto opener beeps

And from 28-31 months, she learned 38 words, but only 1 sound:

Al ("take" in Turkish)
Alright now…
Casper
Clover giiiirl!
C'mon, get up here
D'ya wanna go on your boing?
Gaga ("beak" in Turkish)
Gel
Get out!
Get over here
Get up
Get up here
Grape
Hel-loooow!
Here you go!
How are you, Clover? (Sansal's voice)
How are you?
I love you boo
It's water
Let's go
Nut
Okay, bye bye!
Poopy girl
Poopy girl Clover
Show-wah (Sansal taught her this funny way to say "shower")
Up
Wanna go outside?
Wanna grape?
Wanna nut?
Want breakfast?
Want popcorn?
Want some water?
What's Casper? Miaow…
What's that?
What's up?
You're a good girl, Clover
Yum yum yum yum yum
Yum yummy!

Kitty "miaow"

I don't know if this is typical progression for a Grey, or if we have a literary genius on our hands. If you have a parrot, please leave a comment to let me know what you think...

Savvy and the Kitties

2009-10-29T22:24:00.001+02:00

Savvy loves "kitten season," when we take care of orphaned and injured street kittens.

Here is Savvy the first day our most recent rescue, Casper, spent with us. Savvy held him down and licked him until he was soaking wet, repeating it in future days. Casper complained a little bit, but eventually learned to accept being slathered with dog spit. After the third day, Savvy never did it again. In retrospect, he may have been attracted to the snot and runny eyes from Casper's upper respiratory infection--ugh!

Here is a more typical game between Savvy and Casper.

And here is Savvy watching Casper and Happy play together. When the kittens play, Savvy doesn't participate at all. I think he's a bit afraid of Happy, who is big enough to hiss now. :-)

Clover and Casper

2009-10-28T17:03:00.001+02:00

It seems we may have to keep our "foster" kitten, Casper. Clover likes Casper, calls him frequently, and says "Good boy, Casper!" So far, Casper is too young to be a threat, but we supervise constantly, just in case.

Piper RIP

2009-10-26T17:07:00.001+02:00

I regret to say that my former dog, Piper, passed away today in Arizona. Piper will be greatly missed by all those whose lives were brightened by his cheerful presence.

I got Piper as a puppy in 1995 (breeder: Lynn Bourgois in Michigan, highly recommended). After bringing him home, Piper swallowed a pair of pantyhose from the laundry room at our apartment building, and spent most of his first year sickly and vomiting. X-rays and other tests failed to find the cause, but he luckily threw up the wad of pantyhose at the age of eight months.

After getting up to normal weight, Piper went on to become #1 conformation JRT, #1 weight pull JRT and #2 obedience JRT in America. He won the Terrier Group at the UKC Centennial show, and successfully pulled 240 pounds in competition.

Piper earned more titles in more sports than any Jack Russell Terrier in the world. He was also a professional model for Purina dog food and Hallmark cards.

Piper spent 1999-2001 in England, where he once beat 27 Border Collies at an obedience trial, winning a 3-way runoff. He competed in or gave demos in 9 sports: obedience, agility, conformation, tracking, carting, weight pull, earthdog, sheep herding and UK working trials (police dog trials). He was the first JRT in the UK to qualify at an Open Working Trial.

But most of all, he was a once-in-a-lifetime sweet, cuddly little cutie. Piper visited up to eight hospitals and nursing homes a month, and represented the UK "Pets as Therapy" organization at Crufts dog show.

Piper retired from sports at the age of 12, and went to live with Rebecca and Tyson. Piper served as "best dog" at their wedding. He had a fabulous retirement, with lots of walks on the rails-to-trails, and vacations with his new family. In fact, in honor of Piper's retirement, they even moved with him to Arizona!

Unfortunately, at the age of 14 years and 8 months, a mass was discovered on his kidneys, and he only lived a few weeks after his diagnosis. Thanks to Rebecca and Tyson for providing Piper such a wonderful retirement home. We are all missing him like crazy...

I hope you will watch the video I made in honor of Piper's 14th Birthday in February.

Piper (2/18/95-10/26/09) RIP

U-CDX, U-AgII, U-WP, U-Gr. Ch. Gemstone Paydirt
CDX, HIC, GTG (Earthdog), Brit/Amer CGC

First Riding Lesson in Turkey

2009-10-11T12:31:00.000+03:00

Yesterday, we met Sansal's college friends, Necat and Omer, at a riding stable. All of us except Sansal had a riding lesson. The facility seemed comparable to a good facility in the U.S., with indoor and outdoor arenas, jumps, trophy room, member restaurant, etc. However, the instruction was non-existent. "Instructors" had total newbies Necat and Omer get on their horses, and immediately lunged them in small circles at a trot. The riders were not given any direction what to do at all, and had to struggle to hang on.

When it was my turn, Sansal explained in Turkish that--unlike the others--I had taken private lessons on and off for years, and am a former horse owner. I was assigned a 17 hand Hannoverian ex-show jumper. Guess what: Just as for Necat and Omer, my "instructor" just told me to hang on and lunged the horse in small circles at a trot. The horse was obviously lame, and I told the instructor, thinking he'd get a different horse. He appeared not to understand and wouldn't stop lunging, so I asked if I could take the horse to the outdoor arena. There, I rode around a few laps at a super slow walk. After each lap, I told him the horse was lame and shouldn't be ridden, but the guy just waved his hands and told me not to leave the arena. I ended the lesson after less than 20 minutes, and won't be going back to that place.

After I got off, I went back into the stables to look at the horses. They were being fed nothing but fresh GRASS CLIPPINGS from a lawn mower. Several horses had a number of white scars, some from ill-fitting tack and one from what appeared to be a whip.

We're still hoping to find a reputable place to take riding lessons next spring. My sister, Dana, will be sending my boots, breeches and helmet so I don't have to do any more lessons in jeans and tennis shoes. Ugh!

Clover's Kinali Island Adventure

2009-08-15T12:42:00.000+03:00

Today we took Clover to Kinali Island, one of the Princes Islands off the coast of Istanbul. It's a car-free island in the Marmara Sea, and a popular place for Istanbulites to escape the traffic and lie on the beach. We had been to three of the other islands, but this was the first time on Kinali island for all of us.

On the trip, Clover rode on a crowded ferry, met a kitten and a sparrow hawk, Sansal held the hawk, we circumnavigated the whole island, and had many other adventures. Please click here to see captioned photos of our Kinali Island Adventure.

Third Sheep Herding Practice

2009-08-14T23:53:00.001+03:00

Today, 7 of us from the Border Collie Dernegi went sheep herding. This was only the third sheep herding practice in Turkish history. This time, we went to the farm next door to the farm we had used in April. The new farm had unbroke sheep and NO fences, but it was faaaaar from any roads, and it was hot enough the sheep wouldn't run far.

I worked Savvy with the sheep, and they were very well behaved and docile. It helped that we worked the whole flock of 24 sheep, as sheep prefer big groups. Savvy did a super job and really listened to his commands.

I also worked Tag, the 2008 #3 Nursery dog in Wales. Tag also did a nice job, though I couldn't get him to stop for me. I knew he didn't "down," so I kept yelling "stand" at him. As it turns out, he stops on a "stay" command! Oops... No wonder he was ignoring me. :-)

Here are Savvy and Tag herding sheep as a brace.

I also took this photo of one of the three Border Collie / Kangal puppies at the farm. They look exactly like Border Collies, and are the same size, though they're only about 5-6 months old right now. Here is Haldun--owner of the Border Collie sire--with one of the puppies.

They are super friendly, but the owner says they have started killing chickens and taking chicken eggs. No wonder, as I found out that he only feeds his dozen or so dogs STALE BREAD in milk. That's their only food. No wonder they're desparate for protein.

After a successful morning of sheep herding, Haldun treated to a great lunch at a local road stop.

Visit to Gözde's Summer House

2009-07-12T12:19:00.001+03:00

Sansal and I took Clover to our friend Gozde's parents' summer house. Their house is a villa in Sile, about 45 minutes from our apartment in Istanbul.

Sansal and I took along Clover, who was on her best behavior. She enjoyed being outdoors, and did all her tricks many times for our hosts and their neighbors.

During the day, we danced salsa, picked blackberries, walked to the local lake with Clover, and had a huge feast of Turkish food.

Click here to see captioned photos of our fun day.

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4th of July Orange

2009-07-04T12:20:00.002+03:00

Here is a photo of Clover chewing up and spitting out an orange half. She can fling pieces of orange pulp so they hit every wall and the ceiling, too. I don't usually give her a big piece like this, but it was her Fourth of July treat. Feed oranges to parrots only if you have a mop ready!

Clover in the Shower

2009-07-02T12:24:00.002+03:00

Clover loves to take showers, and two of her favorite words are "shower" and "water." Only about a week after we got her, she was letting me put her on the floor of the shower to spray her down. After a few months of daily floor-showers, I started letting her sit on the soap holder when I took my own shower.

Here is Sansal having a weekend shower with his "Clover daughter."

Clover's Natural Mash Diet

2009-07-02T00:35:00.001+03:00

I mentioned in our January posts that Clover had been switched to a new diet. Several people have asked me what is in the mash that I now feed her twice a day. "Shauna's Mash" instructions can be found in the Files of the Feeding Feathers Yahoo group.

The mash consists of 10% raw fruit, 45% raw vegetables, 30% cooked grain, and 15% cooked legumes. In each category, I try to maximize the number of different components. For instance, in the cooked grains category, I use brown rice, oatmeal, barley, and buckwheat. For legumes, I use peas, chickpeas and lentils.

The grain & legumes can be soaked overnight, cooked and frozen in ice-cube trays. Here is this mix getting ready to be soaked.

The veggies and fruits are supposed to be chopped fresh each day. However, having only one parrot means that 90% of my purchased veggies would go to waste that way. So I grate the veggies and freeze those too. Here is enough grated veggie mix for about 2 months.

Parrots need a lot of vitamin A, so you'll notice "high vitamin A" foods like red peppers, carrots, and orange squash in the mix.

I freeze all components in ice cube trays, then put the cubes in a Ziplock. I thaw one veggie cube and one grain/legume cube per meal. Only the fruit is added fresh.

The mash has a total of about 20 different ingredients. It costs the same as a good parrot food (Harrison's Organic), but it does take about 3 hours to prepare and freeze a 1-2 months batch. In addition, I have to remember to thaw it in advance, or I have to heat up two meals a day if I forget.

Clover took to the new mash diet very quickly. The key is that everything is grated and mixed really well. She still tries to pick through it, but I think she manages to eat at least a small amount of each item.

After Clover has eaten most of her mash, I then give her 1-2 nuts from several types: walnuts, hazlenuts, almonds. I hide her nuts in a variety of foraging toys like this Locked Up Loot toy.

Despite unsprouted seeds being unhealthy, I also use regular sunflower seeds for training. I tried sprouting them, but the sprouts got moldy after only 24 hours. Here's Clover taking a seed from my mouth.

Some say this practice is unhealthy, but we haven't had any issues with it. We also share ice cream cones, cups of yogurt, and table food.)

I sometimes add more than the 10% fruit. I figure that fruit in Africa must be seasonal, so there are some seasons when a parrot would eat more than usual. Here is a typical summer meal with a fresh plum from our apartment parking lot. We have a total of 7 different fruit and nut trees outside our apartment, all organic and unsprayed.

Great Turkish Tourism Video

2009-07-01T12:24:00.000+03:00

I found this wonderful video showing the sites of Turkey. The music is from one of my favorite singers, Sertab Erener. I think the video is a medley of several Turkish tourism ads.

Wow--I watch CNN International tourism ads all day, but no country advertises as well as Turkey. Just watch it! We've seen only a fraction of the things in the video, but hope to see them all someday.

By the way, the original video I downloaded from Facebook had music throughout the video. But when posted to Blogger or Youtube, the music stops midway through the video. Sorry for that!

Crow Baby RIP

2009-06-30T00:33:00.001+03:00

After a month of caring for the fledgling crow, I was getting concerned about several things. He had all his mature feathers, but showed no interest in flying. He couldn't orient towards food in my hand. He didn't appear to see food or water on the ground, and never even attempted to feed himself. He'd readily swallow food, but only if I placed it in his mouth. And he never seemed concerned about my dog or the stray cats approaching him.

I started to suspect that he could be blind. A trip to the vet confirmed this. I can't believe it took me so long to figure this out. I had been excusing all the problems by thinking he was "young," or "unmotivated," or had bad "eye-mouth coordination."

We thought about caring for a blind crow. He would never be able fly, eat from a dish, or escape stray cats on his own. I had spent a month feeding him 6-8 times a day, putting him back in a tree every time he fell out, and chasing off the cats. I had to constantly look out our 4th floor apartment window and take the elevator down if there was a problem. But it couldn't continue like that for 15 years. Sadly, we decided that euthanasia was the only option.

We buried the baby crow in the corner of our apartment's garden. The next day, some Kurdish Muslim workmen who were paving our driveway found out about the grave. They made a cross for a marker, which is shown in the photo.

Camping with a Parrot

2009-06-29T12:58:00.000+03:00

Clover went on her first camping trip last weekend. We went to Yedi Goller (Seven Lakes) National Park. This park is a wilderness park in the mountains of Turkey's Black Sea region. Besides our tent, there was only one other tent set up at the park.

Clover has spent the whole first year of her captivity in the big city of Istanbul (pop. 16 million). When I took her out of her cat carrier and set her on the picnic table, she looked all around in a happy way, saying "ooooooooooh!" She loved being in the forest, and we loved not having to clean up each poop as it hit the ground. :-) Also, she seemed a lot quieter when her voice was drowned out by the frogs and songbirds.

Speaking of songbirds, Clover started imitating the local bird calls from almost the minute she got out of her crate.

With no hawks, eagles or other diurnal carnivores in the park, the temperatures were our only worry. While Istanbul was really hot--about 85 degrees--the mountains were cold at night, with temps of about 50 degrees. We had brought blankets for Clover's cage, but we decided this wouldn't be enough. Instead, we put Clover in her plastic cat carrier, bundled it in a blanket, then put the whole thing in our sleeping bag. We left a corner of the crate open for ventilation. This worked well, and Clover slept great and woke up ready to go out into her big cage for breakfast.

I had neglected to bring any food with us, assuming that any national park would have a nearby grocery store. Oops! Our first day was occupied with a 3 hour round-trip drive to the nearest village with a store of any kind. Village kids swarmed the car, amazed to find a dog and a parrot inside. Clover came out to meet the kids and was a big hit.

Back at the park, we found our wilderness had been invaded by bus-loads of day-trippers. When they spotted Clover, they all came running up. So Clover put on a trick show (as did our dog, Savvy). Afterwards, I allowed some of the older kids and teens to invite Clover onto their hands for a sunflower seed and a photo.

The rest of the weekend, Clover took many walks on her Easy-Ride Shoulder Perch, wearing her Aviator Harness. She had a great time, and I'm sure she's looking forward to future camping trips this summer.

Read more about our trip on our Sharon & Sansal's Adventures in Istanbul blog.

Click here to see photos of our camping trip, including great photos of Turkish villagers and children with Clover.

Camping Trip to Yedi Goller

2009-06-29T12:28:00.000+03:00

We just came back from a weekend at Yedi Goller (7 Lakes) National Park. This was our first camping trip together, and it was super fun! We left Friday night and got back on Sunday night.

The park is located about 3 hours east of Istanbul, in the mountains near the Black Sea coast. The first part of the drive was on U.S.-style highways. However, we then had to turn off onto a rutted, dirt, single-lane road that goes up and down the mountains with no guard rails. We were often only a couple of feet from a thousand-foot drop-off. And Sansal had to drive it in the dark after just having driven for 3 hours. Whew! Here's a photo of the roads on our way out:

We got to the campground at midnight to find it almost deserted. There was only one other tent visible. We set up our tent in a random flat spot by a picnic table. There were no sites marked, and we hoped we wouldn't find out we'd set up on a road.

On Saturday, we woke to realize that our only food was some cereal and milk that I'd packed. I'd packed lots of cutlery, but had assumed we could buy food near the park. Oops! This was a wilderness park. So we packed up Savvy and Clover, and took another exit to go looking for a village grocery store. In the first hour, we passed two villages that had no stores. The third village, half an hour later, had a tiny shop that we closed, but they opened it for us. Village children swarmed the car, peering in at Savvy and Clover.

We got out and shopped, but all they had was frozen chicken, bread, cookies and chips. We also asked the store owner to give each of the kids a lollipop "on us." Afterwards, we went back to the car and I got Clover out so the kids could see her. They posed for photos, then followed us out of the village, waving.

We returned to camp after a 3-hour round-trip to get the groceries. Lacking refrigeration, we put the chicken into one of the spring-fed troughs at the park. The springs have really cold water, so this worked well.

We made friends with an expert camper, Rahmi, who comes every weekend. He kept the grill going all the time. We also met a guy named Bulent and his girlfriend, also friends of Rahmi's. We all pooled our food and pooled cleanup duty, and ate together at Rahmi's place. So we really lucked out. We had fresh veggies, salads, apples, meat, wine, Coke, and all kinds of other stuff.

On Sunday, we awoke to the sounds of a live drum and clarinet. About 100 yards away, picnickers had arrived by bus, bringing their own dance band. I took some pictures just before the ranger shut them down.

All day, more and more tour buses arrived. We had no idea so many people would come up those roads. There were about 200 people there for lunch. As they arrived, they saw Clover and Savvy, and ran down to look at them. We put on an impromptu trick show, which was very popular. In the photo, I'm in the center wearing a white hat.

It started raining during lunch, and we decided we'd better take down the tent. Around 4:30, a huge thunderclap announced the beginning of a huge storm, and we decided to go back to Istanbul.

We had a great time and plan to go back one weekend each month this summer.

Click here to see photos of our camping trip, including great photos of villagers, Turkish children, Savvy doing tricks, etc.

Savvy's Raw Diet

2009-06-27T00:22:00.003+03:00

Please be sure to read the postscript below this article!

After years of postponing, I finally decided to switch Savvy from kibble to "raw" back in late April. Raw is a "prey model" diet in which you feed the dog raw meat, fish, eggs and dairy products. You don't feed veggies, fruits, or carbs. You try to balance the diet by feeding as many animal parts as possible. Each month, I'm buying about 7 different types of meat, including:

Chicken: chicken backs, legs, gizzards, livers, breast

Lamb: back, ribs, liver

Beef: lungs, tripe, ground beef

Fish: whole raw fish

I mix and match the parts on a scale until I've weighed out 170 grams for each meal. Then I freeze them up. To feed, I either give Savvy the frozen chunk, or leave it to thaw in the fridge overnight. Savvy made the switch without any dietary upset, and is handling the bones just fine. I feed him outdoors in the parking lot to avoid any mess in the house.

Although meat is expensive in Turkey, kibble is even more so--about $100/bag for ProPlan. Amazingly, this diet of packaged-for-humans meat is actually about 2/3 the price of feeding kibble.

P.S. I'm adding this postscript two years after I wrote this post (2011). We ended up feeding pure raw for only a few months. Then we went to one raw, one kibble meal a day. Finally, we went back to just kibble (with human-food leftovers). I started researching raw, and became totally unconvinced now that it is a healthy diet. Most of the few studies that have been done have shown research animals FAIL to THRIVE on a raw meat diet. In one study cited on Wikipedia in the raw feeding article, they had to stop the research early because all of the raw-fed dogs had either died or were going into organ failure.

Reading "Catching Fire" by Prof. Richard Wrangham (my own former primatology professor, now at Harvard) about why cooked food is superior to raw, clinched it.

In an ideal world, I would consider feeding an omnivorous cooked diet containing a high concentration of meat, plus possibly something like a weekly raw turkey neck to scrape off tartar. However, I can neither use nor recommend a pure raw diet.

Tiny Tigers

2009-06-05T12:19:00.000+03:00

Sansal has been hard at work getting in some new crops. He keeps about 25 containers planted, most in our bedroom windows. For his birthday last year, I ordered some heirloom seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. The ones he was most looking forward to growing were the minature "Tiny Tiger" variety of tomatoes. Today, his first crop of Tiny Tigers was ready for harvest. Delicious! They were really sweet, and great on salad.

Caring for a Fledgling Crow

2009-06-03T15:22:00.001+03:00

As I mentioned in the last post, I have now taken care of two baby crows here in Istanbul. The first baby was deformed, and died after three days. The other baby is the baby being referred to in this post. He is doing very well, and will likely fly away in a few days.

While I'm definitely NOT a crow expert, I've now done a lot of research on the topic. Since there are a lot of crows in Istanbul, I wanted to post what I've found out in case others need to help crows in similar situations. These instructions are specifically for fledgling crows that can be co-parented with their own parents outdoors. Co-parenting an injured/sick baby outdoors will allow him to stay with his parents, imprint on them, and grow up to be a successful wild crow.

Crow Information

Crows live for 10-15 years, not 100 years as is commonly believed in Turkey.

Young crows are fed by their parents for the first 6 months. They often stay with their parents for several years, and some even help raise future siblings.

Baby crows always fall out of the nest before they are ready to fly. This is part of "nature's plan." It is actually dangerous for baby birds to stay in the nest for too long, as this attracts both predators and disease. It is safer for the babies to disperse under bushes on the ground.

Baby crows generally stay on the ground from 1-3 weeks. The crow babies' mother and father (and sometimes older siblings) protect and feed the babies on the ground.

Nestlings

Very small babies are called "nestlings." Nestlings either have no feathers, or have only fluffy, downy feathers.

What to do if you find a nestling:

Caring for a nestling at home is very difficult, and babies have very little chance of surviving. Nestlings are too young to be on the ground. If you find a nestling, try to locate the nest and put it back. If you can't reach the nest, attach some kind of "nest" to the side of a tree. You can use a small box lined with old socks, etc. The parents may come to this nest to continue caring for the nestling. (The parents will NOT reject the baby because you touched it).

Fledglings

Older babies--the ones that are "supposed" to fall from the nest--are called "fledglings." Fledglings have adult-style feathers. The feathers initially appear with white "wrappers" at their bases. A bird whose feathers are still in their "wrappers" is not yet ready to fly, even if it appears to be adult sized. After a couple of weeks, the wrappers will fall off, and the baby can begin learning to fly. Looking at the amount of "wrappers" still on the feathers will give some idea of the age of the bird. A bird whose feathers are still all in wrappers may need 3-4 more weeks of care on the ground. A baby with only the tail feathers still in wrappers will need 2-3 weeks. A baby with only the remnants of wrappers may be ready to fly in under a week.

What to do if you find a fledgling:

In most cases, leave it alone! If the baby is in the street or a parking lot, pick him up and place him under the nearest bush.

Even if you can't see the parents, they are probably just hiding or looking for food. They will be back to take care of the baby. A good test is to watch from a distance for about an hour. Particularly note what happens if a cat is approaching the area where the fledgling is. If the parents are around, they will swoop at the cat and chase it away from the baby.

There are three times when you may need to help a fallen fledgling:

1) Injured fledglings: broken leg, broken wing, ruptured air sac (will appear as a "bubble" of skin), or wounds from cat/dog attacks. Take the bird to a veterinarian. Information about fixing these problems can be found online.

2) Fledglings with a twisted leg: A severely twisted and useless leg is a common crow birth defect. The parents will reject babies with this defect and push them out of the nest. Babies with this defect do not typically gape for food, and may have some type of internal defects. An adult bird can survive with one leg, but a baby with a crippled leg will not be able to walk or fly, and will spend its life sitting as if paralyzed. This type of baby should be humanely euthanized. You can also read about my experience with the twisted-legged crow shown in the photo below.

3) Sick or fly-covered fledglings: If the fledgling is unable to sit (toppling over on its side) or is attracting flies, take it to the vet. After administering food and water (see below), you'll need to remove the fly eggs and any maggots. This can be done by wiping the bird down with hydrogen peroxide. Do not use peroxide near the eyes. Look in the bird's nose to see if there are any maggots. These may not appear for a few days. If they appear, pull them out with tweezers. Carefully place 2-3 drops of peroxide in each nare (nostril) to kill off ones that you can't reach. After this, give the bird a bath in warm, soapy water. Then rinse the bird and wrap in a towel, keeping in a warm place until it is dry. At this point, it can be returned to the same general location where it was found. The parents will likely resume care once the baby has been revived. In the photo below, I'm putting the crow back where I found him, after having revived him at the vet:

Regarding the maggots, we were unable to get all the maggots out of the crow's nares. At the two week mark, the crow woke up one morning, and appeared to have a neurological problem. His head kept slowly turning to the left, then snapping back to center. His eyes were unfocused, and he had problems taking food. This kept up for at least four hours. I figured a maggot had gotten into his brain. But by noon, he was back to normal and has had no further problems.

Long-Term Care:

If the parents are in the area, let them care for the baby! Baby crows need to bond with their parents, as they'll be living together for several years.

Feeding a Fledgling

If you need to do total care of the baby, or if the parents are not feeding the baby, you'll need to provide food. Do NOT give milk to any kind of bird--milk is fatal to baby birds!

Fledglings cannot eat from a bowl. You must drop the food into his mouth by hand.

Crows cannot live on things like bread, as they need a diet that is about 50% protein. The best food for crows is high-protein dry dog food soaked in water. Soak it for at least 30 minutes, to insure that the food slides down the throat easily and contains enough moisture. Wet dog or cat food can be used short-term, but contains too little protein for longer use. Vary the diet by feeding hard-boiled egg mashed WITH its own shell, finely chopped meat, and a bit of fruit.

Feed a fledgling at least 5-6 times a day. Between feedings, keep him in a shady place to prevent dehydration. If he can perch, place him on the branch of a shady shrub 1m or so off the ground.

To feed a fledgling, approach with the soaked kibble in a bowl. The fledgling will probably caw and gape. The first time he does this, he is not asking for food. He is trying to defend himself! Baby crows use gaping and cawing to scare away predators. When the baby gapes, drop the wet food in the back of his open mouth, and he'll swallow it. Once he realizes you have food, he will learn to gape out of hunger rather than fear. If he is gaping toward you, he's hungry; gaping away from you, he's trying to scare you away. In either case, he will only continue to gape until he's full. If he doesn't gape at all, you may need to gently open his mouth and push the food down his throat with your smallest finger. Here is a photo of the baby crow gaping for food:

I normally feed the baby while it's sitting on the ground or in a bush. I handle it as little as possible. For the purposes of taking a photo, however, here is the baby being fed while sitting on my hand:

Providing Water

Fledglings cannot drink water from a bowl. If the baby is dehydrated, you can give water from an eye dropper or small cup. You may have to gently pry the beak open to do this. Only give a small amount each time. Watch the baby for any signs of choking. If the baby has his mouth partially open and is moving his tongue around, he may be choking. Pick him up and turn him so his head is down. You will see the water drain out of his mouth. This happened to us once, and the crow came very close to drowning. Luckily, I had read about the inversion method on the Internet, and it worked.

Protection from Predators

If the parents are still in the area, they will likely provide good security by day. Cats will quickly learn to avoid going near a fledgling.

At night, you may wish to protect the baby by putting him in a cat/dog carrier lined with newspaper. I put the baby in a carrier every night when it gets dark, and let him out at 8:00 a.m. each morning.

Protection for YOU (i.e. Placating the Crow's Parents!)

You may be afraid to get involved with an injured/sick baby crow. Will the baby bite you? Will the parents attack? How much damage can they do? Can you get sick from handling a crow? Here are some answers to these questions:

Baby crows cannot bite or peck. (They can't even eat on their own, much less use their beaks as defensive weapons). You can pick up a baby crow with confidence. The best way to pick up a young crow is by wrapping your hands around it from behind. Keep the crow's wings pressed against his body to prevent feather breakage. Never hold a bird by putting pressure on its chest, as it can easily suffocate.

Parent crows are only a slightly bigger concern. They are experts at sounding scary, but they are NOT a danger! They swoop, caw, flap their wings, and even peck aggressively at branches in an attempt to scare you away. When I first hand-carried the baby to the nearby vet (100 m away), I got a lot of experience with being harrassed by the baby's parents. But in three weeks, they only made physically contact with me twice. Both times, they swooped past and gave me a tap with their beak on my back. It was NOT at all painful, just a tiny tap. After two days of feeding the baby, the parents learned to ignore me completely. I always brought food for them, too, which probably helped.

Regarding disease, this is the only serious concern. Wild birds can carry parasites and diseases such as Avian Chlamydia. Because of this, be very careful to wash after all contact with crows. When I first started caring for the crow, I would re-enter my house, strip off all my clothes and put them in the washing machine, and jump into the shower. Later, I decided that a very good hand washing was enough. If the crow touches my clothes, they go right into the laundry. I am extra careful as I have a pet parrot that could get a disease from the crow.

Petting a Baby Crow

Avoid touching the baby as much as possible. A human-imprinted crow in Istanbul is a big danger. As adults, they may swoop onto strangers begging for food. They may try to walk into shops and offices. Feed the baby if you must, but do not try to make a releaseable bird into a pet. It needs to join other crows as quickly as possible. If possible, care for the crow outdoors in a natural setting, and have contact only to feed it.

Baby Crow by Our Apartment

2009-06-02T15:08:00.001+03:00

I've been caring for a fledgling Hooded Crow for the past three weeks. Hooded Crows are the standard species in Europe, including Turkey. They are black and grey, and are quite large. Here in Istanbul, Hooded Crows, seagulls, pigeons and sparrows are very common species.

Last year, I took care of a rejected baby crow with a deformed leg. That crow was found on a busy road and was seriously ill. It never gaped for food (opened its mouth to beg), and died after three days of feeding and veterinary care.

This year's fledgling crow was found three weeks ago in our parking lot by some building residents. It had apparently hit a concrete wall while falling, and had a ruptured air sac. The parents guarded it, but never fed it. As a result, it became dehydrated and covered with flies. The fly eggs hatched into hundreds of tiny yellow fly maggots all over his body and in his nares (nostrils). All this happened within 24 hours of the baby's fall.

That's where I stepped in, rushing the baby to the vet. Since then, I have co-parented with the real parents. I feed the baby (outdoors) and put him in an outdoor cage at night to protect him from the many street cats. The parents guarded him by day for the first two weeks, but have left him on his own now that our parking lot is filled with workmen on a paving project. The crow is thriving, and shows signs that he'll be able to fly within a week.

I joined a Crow group on Yahoo, and also did a lot of reading about crow care. I'm going to put my "How To" advice in the next post.

Fearless Clover

2009-05-23T01:37:00.001+03:00

African Greys are famous for being phobic, but Clover isn't afraid of anything except the "dreaded towel," and "harness putting-on time." Once her harness is on, she's fearless.

I took this photo across the street from our apartment, where they're digging the foundation for a new building. Clover goes with me daily to check out the progress. Here she is sitting on a parked bulldozer as crews noisily drive heavy equipment nearby. That is one unflappable parrot, especially considering that she has been tame for less than a year!

Clover in the Media

2009-05-20T01:20:00.001+03:00

Thanks to our new Easy-Ride Shoulder Perch, Clover has been in a major Turkish newspaper and on a national TV channel this month.

The Easy-Ride, which we ordered from the U.S., has a grippy leather surface for Clover to ride on, and a poop bag to discretely catch the poops. We go all over Istanbul with our Easy-Ride. We've gone on the ferry to the Princes Islands, and have walked for many miles in the busy shopping districts. Clover has become a neighborhood fixture, and both kids and adults come up and ask if they can give her a treat as we pass.

A couple of weeks ago, Clover got photographed for SABAH, a major Turkish newspaper, while strolling around the neighborhood.

A few days later, we accidentally strolled into the filming of a TV reality show about dog training. (Istanbul is like L.A., in that you run into film crews on a weekly basis). Once they saw that there was a parrot on my shoulder, they asked me to sign a release form so she could stay in the clip. Who can resist a cute parrot?

Visit to the Water Exhibit

2009-05-15T12:49:00.000+03:00

Today Nur & Bozkurt and I went to the UN/WHO-sponsored traveling Water Exhibit at a university museum on the European side of Istanbul. Nur is Bozkurt's mom, and both of them take English lessons with me.

The water exhibit was really interesting, with a lot of hands-on stuff. Our favorite was a model dam that you could operate with levers. You could watch the silt build up in the lake, then open the dam to release the silt. They also had a cool display where you could remotely operate microscopes to view slides of disease-causing microbes in the water.

They also had a small permanent exhibit of dinosaur fossils. This was Bozkurt's favorite.

After our museum visit, I took the bus to Taksim (shopping district), then went to Bagdad Cd. (another shopping district) to meet Sansal and his friends at a restaurant. Busy day!

Bagheera's Surprise Visit

2009-05-04T12:47:00.000+03:00

This evening, I went to take Jimmy and Savvy outside, and Sansal stood in the doorway to see me safely onto the elevator. Then he went back into our apartment.

While outside, Jimmy's "daddy" arrived for a visit. When we all took the elevator back up to the apartment, the dogs seemed very interested in something. It turns out that one of the street cats that lives in our garden had sneaked into our apartment!

Bagheera is a super friendly 1-year old tomcat who is looked after by some guys with a shopfront on our ground floor. Somehow, he sneaked through the locked lobby door, climbed up the spiral stairs to our 4th floor apartment and walked right in when Sansal was standing in the door! Luckily, Bagheera is friends with both Savvy and Jimmy. After a short group visit, I took Bagheera back outside.

Bagheera's sister, Tux, is the cat that we had spayed to celebrate our 1-year anniversary. :-) They are both super friendly, well-fed, and get vet care from the residents here.

Jimmy the Border Collie Puppy

2009-05-03T12:36:00.000+03:00

Our friend Ozlem's puppy, Jimmy, came to visit us for a couple of weeks. Ozlem had to go across Turkey for an emergency. So Jimmy got to hang out with Savvy, learn crate training, and learn to be quiet when left alone for a short time. Here's a photo of Jimmy with our resident garden cat, Tux.

Bike Ride to Fenerbahce Park

2009-05-03T12:22:00.000+03:00

Today I went on a bike trip along the coast of the Marmara with my friend, Gozde. Gozde just came back from doing a law master's in the UK, so her English is great! We rode from her house in Suadiye to Fenerbahce Park, a distance of about 2-3 miles each way. At the park, we had breakfast at one of the many outdoor cafes catering to holiday makers.

Visit to Halit's House

2009-05-01T15:00:00.001+03:00

Today, Savvy and Jimmy went to visit my English student, Halit, and his wife. Halit is a member of the Tacir family, which owns a large holding here in Istanbul. His wife is a Ph.D. candidate in law. They have a beautiful house and garden just one neighborhood over from where we live. Halit invited the dogs over so his wife could see them do tricks and play Frisbee. We had a great time and enjoyed being able to stretch out in their huge backyard.

Savvy and Jimmy

2009-04-30T00:20:00.001+03:00

We babysat this Border Collie puppy, Jimmy (now "Mika"), for our friend Ozlem for 2 weeks. Ozlem is a fellow clicker trainer and member of the APDT. Soon after picking Jimmy up from the breeder, Ozlem's mom became suddenly ill, and she had to go stay with her in Antalya. Jimmy was a great houseguest, and he and Savvy enjoyed playing fetch together in the backyard.

Clover and Her Daddy

2009-04-29T01:07:00.001+03:00

Here are Clover and Sansal together. Many people complain that their African Greys hate their spouses. We were aware of this possibility prior to getting Clover. Though I am Clover's primary caretaker, Sansal spends a few minutes each day giving her treats and talking to her.

Though she's definitely a "mommy's girl," she will step up for him and even do tricks. The way to a parrot's heart is definitely through her stomach!

Curly Feathers

2009-04-06T01:04:00.001+03:00

Clover's wing feathers have started to come back. However, her flight feathers are coming in a bit "curly." I thought I'd post a photo to show what they look like.

Visit to Haldun's House

2009-04-04T12:45:00.000+03:00

Today Sansal and I spent the day at the home of our friend Haldun, the president of the Turkish Border Collie Association. He lives on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, about half an hour from our house. Unlike most of Istanbul, which is made up of high rise apartments, Haldun's neighborhood consists solely of 3-story, single-family homes with landscaped yards and swimming pools.

Haldun's house was beautiful, and even featured a cool glass elevator. He has an excellent kennel setup for his dogs, too. There are three kennels for the five dogs and some current puppies. The dogs have a caretaker who takes them for an off-leash run in a local forest twice a day. What a nice life!

Guests included a fellow dog trainer, Ozlem, and her husband. They enjoyed visiting with Sans, the puppy that they'll be taking home next week. Sans will not only be their first Border Collie, but their first dog of any kind. Sans seems like a super puppy with a great temperament.

Other guests were a neighbor, Turkish pop star Tezhan Tezcan, and his girlfriend. Tezhan's mother is a famous singer named Musseref Akay, similar in fame to Barbara Streisand in America. Tezhan played drums for us, which we really enjoyed. I asked him to go get his Rottweiler puppy (8 months old), which he did. He's been taking training classes, and his pup turned out to be very well trained and well-mannered.

I temperament tested a few of Haldun's Border Collie puppies, and we spent the day chatting and touring the house. We stayed for a delicious dinner, prepared by the cook, and finally went home after an enjoyable seven hour stay. We look forward to future visits.

As an added note, we found out later that Haldun is the former Turkish table tennis champion. There was no sign of a table at his house. I'm glad, or I might have been foolish enough to try playing against him!

Dog Food Commercial Audition

2009-04-03T22:37:00.001+03:00

I got an e-mail last week from a film company that wanted to meet Savvy. The film company, Anima, has created dozens of well-known Turkish commercials. An ad agency hired them to make a live action + animation commercial for a major international dog food company.

They immediately needed a dog that could bark and also cover its nose with a paw. I taught Savvy the paw trick day that they called. The following day, a crew of three came from the European side and met at the park near the ferry station. I took Savvy through his paces while they filmed his tricks, including the new trick of "cover your nose." However, I couldn't get Savvy to bark at all. I thought that bouncing a soccer ball might agitate him and get him to bark, but he was the perfect gentleman.

They asked Savvy to come to the studio for another audition two days later. But he'd have to bark! So I spent the next day and a half working on this trick. This was a very difficult one, as Savvy has been reinforced for years for not barking at anything. He doesn't bark at door-bells, knocks, other dogs, cats, or anything else. I wrote to Australian TV-commercial dog trainer, Pat Robards, to ask for ideas. She quickly wrote back, and gave me an idea for getting Savvy to bark. Sansal came outside with me in the parking lot at night, and we kicked a ball around until Savvy whined. I then clicked the whining, and gradually shaped a full-blown bark the next morning. By the afternoon, I had barking on a hand signal, and Savvy would do it anywhere in Istanbul, indoors or out. Thanks to both of you! I couldn't have done it without your help!

Back to our adventure... On studio audition day, I drove Savvy to the European side to the Anima studio building. Savvy barked and covered his nose with a paw while the director filmed him from different angles for about an hour. (The above photo shows the director with Savvy). Anima then e-mailed to set up a final shoot time for the following week.

Unfortunatly, the ad agency had originally requested a small, white dog for the role. Anima couldn't find a trained dog like that, which is why they wanted to use Savvy. But as it turned out, the ad agency they were working for was firm on the point of wanting a little white dog. In the end, Anima had to film a little, untrained white dog and animate all of the action parts manually. Well, it was a fun experience, and I hope that Savvy has the chance to work with Anima again in the future.

Election Day in Turkey

2009-03-29T12:38:00.000+03:00

Today was the municiple election day for all of Turkey. They only have municiple elections every 4 or 5 years. The vote is for the district mayor and something like a registrar in America. Mayors here are very powerful (think of the mayor of Chicago or NYC), and the ten or so parties are very active in promoting their candidates. I took this photo about two weeks before the elections, when election posters are everywhere.

On election day, Sansal and I went sheepherding (see Savvy's blog). Then we came back into Istanbul so he could vote. We went to a school near his mom's house to vote. Voting in Turkey is very similar to voting in America. Everybody is pre-registered, and gets a computerized slip in the mail a few weeks before voting day. You show up at your polling place, and go to a room based on your last initial (A-K, R-Z, etc.) There, you show your slip of paper and your I.D., and some volunteers give you your ballot. There are privacy dividers on desks, so you can cast your ballot.

The difference is that they vote only for officials. There are no issue votes as in American elections (e.g. gay marriage, property taxes, etc.). There are also a lot more parties vying for these two official jobs. So the ballots are these really long pieces of paper with the logos of all ten parties/candidates on them. You are given a rubber stamp, and simply stamp the party you like. Then you put your ballot in an envelope, and drop it into a sealed wooden box. The ballots are all counted by hand, though it goes as fast as it does in America.

Our district is a liberal municipality, as are the surrounding ones. So the equivalent of a "Democrat" won in all of them. Unfortunately, the rest of Istanbul voted mainly "Republican," which here, is the ruling conservative (i.e. Islamic) party.

First Herding Practice in Istanbul

2009-03-22T17:00:00.001+02:00

Haldun Mergen, president of the Turkish Border Collie Association (on the right), had been looking for a place for us to practice herding for a year. He finally found a practice field and sheep on the outskirts of Istanbul, about 30 miles down the highway from our house. Very convenient!

Today was our first practice. Haldun and his two friends brought his brand new European import dog, Tag (almost 2, Welsh nursery competitor) and his UK import dog, Jess (age 1, newbie). I brought Savvy (age 6, HXA title), who had only seen sheep twice in the past two years. So this was quite a motley crew to work with completely unbroke sheep.

I worked the sheep for about 15 min. with Savvy. I knew he'd be hyped up after 16 months in our urban apartment, so at first, I had him drag a long line to slow him down. I also brandished a plastic bag on the end of the stock stick to widen Savvy out and to get him to slow down around these unbroke sheep. I hadn't used one of these since Savvy was a puppy, but the bag worked great. Savvy was super well behaved and took all his down commands. The sheep were a dream to work with, and they became stock broke very quickly.

Next, I tried Tag, who had just arrived from Europe two days ago. Tag did a super job and is very stylish. He has a nice big outrun and plenty of eye. It took him a few minutes to figure out my accent, but then he did everything perfectly. Well, except "that'll do." As any young dog who has just gone on a long plane trip, he was eager to keep on working. :-) Later in the day, Haldun also handled Tag: his first time ever handling a stockdog. He was also very happy with how Tag worked.

Little Jess also had a chance to "work" the sheep by following them along the fenceline on a long line. She was very interested the entire session, and has lots of potential. We have since had a second practice at the same place.

Click here to see photos.

And here is a video of Savvy working the sheep (sounds is bad--too much wind):

Savvy's Trick Demo Video

2009-03-19T23:29:00.001+02:00

SHKD Animal Shelter invited Savvy to perform another trick show, this time at Nihat Erim Elementary School in Maltepe, Istanbul.

SHKD visits schools and teaches children the importance of spay/neuter, and also how to treat street dogs kindly. Bilge, a former professor, and Murat, a veterinarian, put on a great presentation. At the end of the talk, Savvy does a trick show, and Bilge and Murat hand out free books about Turkish street dogs.

Here's a video of the end of Savvy's trick performance. Bilge is holding up a card with the trick name printed in Turkish. The kids read out the command, and Savvy does the command up on stage.

Clover's Trick Demo Video

2009-03-19T22:51:00.002+02:00

Here are some videos of Clover doing her tricks at the school performance today. She wouldn't take any treats, but still performed most tricks as asked. Good girl, Clover!

School Performance in Maltepe

2009-03-19T20:58:00.001+02:00

SHKD Animal Shelter invited Savvy and Clover to perform another trick show, this time at Nihat Erim Elementary School in Maltepe, Istanbul.

This time we performed at the beginning of the talk. Because of that, Clover hadn't had much time to get used to the crowd of about 200 kids. Nevertheless, she did all of her tricks except for playing soccer and bowling. And again, she refused to accept any treats. She worked for free. Good girl!

After the performance, she started talking a lot while on stage. I was surprised at that, because she's usually a bit shy of talking in front of strangers.

When we came home, she talked in context for the first time. I had put her in her cage to eat. After eating, she said "wanna come out," so I opened the door and offered my hand to step up. Then she bent her head down and said "scritch," so I scritched her first. After a scritch, she again said "wanna come out," and stepped on my hand. I put her on her cage top. Then she walked to the other side of the top and said "Clover do a poop." She then proceeded to poop, saying "poop!" at the same time. Then she said "good girl Clover." How cute is that?!

Some New Feathers

2009-03-07T14:59:00.009+02:00

Here's a Clover update. Since our last post, we began feeding her an organic homemade mash diet with about 20 ingredients. We learned about this diet on the Yahoo Feeding Feathers group. After just a few days on the diet, we were able to remove her collar. She had the collar on a total of about 10 days. We think it was a good short term solution while we tried humidifiers, a diet change, etc. We know that feather picking can become a permanent habit if it is not stopped pretty quickly.

She also finally fell in love with pellets, and will eat both conversion formula (fruity) and Harrison's Organic. After a few weeks on the mash and pellet diet, Clover has reduced her barbering to only one or two feathers each day. At the same time, she is also molting, so a few other feathers are falling out on their own and being replaced by new feathers. (Unfortunately, the new ones are her favorite ones to barber--they're probably itchy). Her beak is also greatly improved. It had been scaley and grey, and is now smooth and black.

Clover has started talking up a storm, continuing non-stop for many hours each day. She says: wow!, Clover, poop, good Clover-girl, wanna shower, c'mere, ooooh, askim ("darling" in Turkish), c'mon, scritch, good girl, and good boy. She also imitates the oven timer, our dog whining, outer space sounds, raspberries, kisses, monkey noises, tongue snicks, laughter, and many other sounds. We are really excited that she is already talking this much after just 8 months in captivity. She also makes long sentences that we can't understand at all.

She especially likes words that end in "er," like "Clover and "shower." As I write this, she is repeating her newly invented word "pooper!" over and over again, though we've never said that word. She has also begun dancing a little bit when she's excited. She is really thriving on this new diet.

Above is a photo I took today of Clover with my English student, Bozkurt. Bozkurt loves animals, and enjoys giving Clover treats and filling up her "locked up loot" foraging toys.

An Overpopulation Parable

2009-03-07T00:35:00.000+02:00

I read this in the Tico Times (Costa Rica) while living there in 1992.

I clipped it, and found it again today, 18 years later. I think it has a valuable lesson, and I hope you'll read it:

One day, a microbiologist put a single bacterium in a test tube full of food. This bacterium had a doubling rate of one minute. After 55 minutes, it had used only three and one-eight percent of its available resources and space.
At this point, one of the bacteria suggested that it was about time that they consider a population-control strategy. The rest of the bacteria thought this was crazy, saying, “we’ve been growing for 55 minutes, and we still have almost 97 percent of our resources left.”

At 56 minutes, the bacteria had used six and one-quarter percent. Again, they ignored this rebel voice because they still had almost 94 percent of their resources left. At 57 minutes, the bacteria had used 12 and one-half percent. At 58 minutes, they had used 25 percent, and finally, at 59 minutes, the test tube was half full.

At this point, the bacteria realized that though they had been multiplying for almost an hour, almost half of their resources had been used in the last five minutes, and that they only had one minute to go. They also realized that no population control program could, this late in the game, have any real effect. So they prayed to God (in this case, God is the microbiologist). Being a kind God, the scientist gave them three more test tubes to fill, thus increasing their resource base by 300 percent.

At 60 minutes, the first test tube was full. At 61 minutes, the next one was full also. Finally, at 62 minutes, all four were full.

Thus, a 300 percent increase in resources, something not likely to happen on Earth, gave the bacteria less than 3 percent more time to live.

Piper's 14th Birthday!

2009-02-19T03:46:00.001+02:00

Piper was my Jack Russell Terrier for almost 13 years, and had a very exciting life. Piper competed in ten different sports in the USA and UK. He was the #1 JRT in America for conformation and weight pull, #2 for obedience, and worked as a model for both Purina and Hallmark. At the time of his Purina ads, their research showed that Piper had more titles in more sports than any other JRT in the world.

Piper was also a licensed therapy dog who visited 8 hospitals and nursing homes each month. He represented the UK "Pets As Therapy" organization at Crufts, the biggest dog show in the world.

When I moved to Istanbul, Piper stayed in America with his terrific new family, Rebecca & Tyson. I made this video to celebrate Piper's 14th birthday today. The post after this one has some fun news from Piper's new family.

Piper's B-day Celebration

2009-02-18T09:00:00.001+02:00

Becca sent me a note today from Piper. Piper writes:

"I can hardly wait to blow out the candle on my piping hot broiled beef liver and drink my ice cold Bud for my 14th birthday dinner! I hope Becca stops taking pictures soon. I'm starving. Miss you Mom, Love Piper"

Becca adds:

"I will be sure to give Piper your birthday wishes and an extra hug and snuggle. He has slept most of his birthday so far and is now resting comfortably on the love seat (he just gave a big stretch). The weather has turned cold and it is supposed to snow this evening, so unfortunately I don't think Piper will get a walk on his birthday. Piper had a salmon patty for lunch that I made the other night as his special treat, but I am sure he will have a hot dog later today as well.

Piper has been doing well. He is still just as spry as ever. About 2 weeks ago, Piper chased an outdoor neighborhood cat underneath the lower patio deck. Kim, our tenant who lives downstairs, was outside with Piper when this happened. Kim tried to get Piper and the cat out from under the patio deck, but couldn't, so the chase took on its own course with Piper chasing the cat up into the tree in the backyard. Kim's daughter ended up having to climb the tree to get the cat down. Piper was exhausted for the rest of the day after all that excitement, but still managed to go on a walk with me on the Bear Creek Trail. Piper was fine, had a couple of scratches on his ears, and eyebrows, but besides that seemed to be unscathed by the cat chase."

Thanks for the news, Becca. Go, Piper!!! Love the birthday hat!

Savvy: Professional Model

2009-02-10T17:43:00.001+02:00

Savvy worked as a model for Hallmark Cards for four years, until moving to Istanbul in 2008. He worked on day-long shoots at various locations, including a mansion, the Hallmark studio, a farm, a busy urban street, and a suburban backyard. New cards featuring Savvy are still being produced and sold all over America.

Savvy: Television Performer

2009-02-10T17:40:00.001+02:00

Savvy has performed live many times on the American NBC television network.

In addition to the following tricks, Savvy can also follow all commands used in advanced obedience, agility, rally, tracking and livestock herding.

Misc. Photos of Savvy

2009-02-10T17:38:00.001+02:00

Savvy: #2 Frisbee Dog in Turkey

2009-02-10T17:34:00.002+02:00

Savvy competed in the 2008 Istanbul Open Frisbee Championships and earned second place trophies in both events: Advanced Freestyle and Advanced Toss & Fetch. As the first and (so far) only disc dog event in Turkey, this was effectively a national championship.

Savvy: Conformation Champion

2009-02-10T17:32:00.001+02:00

Savvy is an American Kennel Club (AKC) conformation champion. As a puppy, he placed second in the 2002 Border Collie National Specialty Sweepstakes and first in the 2003 Louisville Border Collie Specialty Sweepstakes. Savvy finished his championship at 16 months, owner-handled, with three majors and several Best of Breeds.

Savvy: Agility Competitor

2009-02-10T16:29:00.002+02:00

Savvy has earned seven UKC and AKC agility titles (U-AgI, U-AgII, NA, NAJ, OA, OAJ, AX). He earned placements in 22 of 24 qualifying runs, and placed first in his first MX run (Agility Masters Excellent). Savvy knows directional commands (right, left, straight ahead), and has a maximum speed of 5.4 yps.

Savvy: Obedience Competitor

2009-02-10T16:24:00.001+02:00

Savvy has three UKC and AKC obedience titles (U-CD, CD, CDX) and has an average score of 195/200. At the age of 1 1/2, he earned a score of 198.5 and a "High In Trial" at his very first obedience competition! He earned trophies in eight of his ten competitions, and finished 2004 as the #6 Border Collie in UKC Novice, and #12 Border Collie in AKC Novice.

Prior to moving to Istanbul, Savvy had just begun competing in the most advanced level of obedience, Utility, and hoped to achieve an Obedience Trial Championship (OTCH). Though there are no obedience competitions in Turkey--and no hope of finishing either title--Savvy still enjoys showing off the Utility exercises in public demos.

Savvy: Herding Competitor

2009-02-10T16:21:00.002+02:00

Savvy's favorite activity is herding, and he can herd sheep, cattle and ducks. He has eight titles in AKC and AHBA (HSAs, HIAs, HXAs, HTDIs, HTDIId, HRDIs, HRDIIs, and HRDIIIs), and has won two Reserve High in Trials. Savvy also competed successfully in USBCHA Pro-Novice sheep and Novice cattle earning a "Top 10" ranking in Missouri. Click the play button, below, to see a video of Savvy herding.

Savvy: Tracking Competitor

2009-02-08T17:07:00.001+02:00

Savvy has an AKC TD title in tracking. This title is earned after following a trail walked by a stranger for 400 meters (with several turns), and then aged for about two hours. The dog must also find the glove dropped by the stranger at the end of the trail.

Savvy: Rally Competitor

2009-02-07T17:48:00.001+02:00

Rally is an obedience competition in which the dog and handler move around the arena and perform activities listed on cards. For example, the dog may have to stay while handler walks around him, or the dog and handler might have to perform a slalom. Savvy has an AKC RN title and is one qualifier short of his RA title. His average rally score is 99/100.

London to Tibet Cyclists, Krista & Dan

2009-01-31T12:43:00.000+02:00

We first ran into Krista and Dan when we saw their bicycles on the Kadikoy ferry dock. They are a British couple who is bicycling from England to Tibet. They were just beginning a six-month stay in Istanbul to avoid having to bike in the winter.

Krista is an experienced cyclist who did an earlier 15,000 km solo ride. Her book about that trip will soon be published.

I thought it would be fun to hear about their trip, so I e-mailed them to invite them to dinner. They came tonight, and we had a Mexican-themed dinner. Afterward, we drove to the European side and met an Australian couple they know for drinks and conversation. Here is a photo of all of us trying on each other's hats.

We had an excellent visit, and Krista and Dan were amazing to talk with. To read more about Krista and Dan, visit their website.

Clover Tries Some New Foods

2009-01-25T19:48:00.004+02:00

The cold-turkey stopping of sunflower seeds finally paid off. After about 3-4 days without seeds, I finally caught Clover eating some of her junk-food conversion pellets. She's not eating the organic Harrison's yet, but it's a big step.

Furthermore, she is now tasting the foods that Sansal and I are eating. Just in the past two days she has tried: chicken, noodles, fruit juice, rice, ice cream, milk, yogurt, butter, soup broth and purple lettuce. She's also eaten some sprouted sunflower seeds. She hadn't touched any of this for the whole time we'd had her.

Here is a photo of her tonight tasting some of Sansal's "head and trotter" soup. Ugh. But Clover and Sansal loved it.

Clover's Feather "Barbering"

2009-01-21T16:08:00.020+02:00

As you may recall, we got Clover as a 14 month old bird. From that time, she has been noisy, but she has never showed any sign of phobias, OCD, feather picking, or other problems commonly seen in African Greys. However, about a year later, Clover suddenly began "barbering," which is when a parrot chews on, mutilates, and bites off pieces of its feathers.

Here is a picture of Clover a few days after her barbering began. At first, she concentrated only on the top of her left wing:

Why did she start biting off her wing feathers? There are numerous causes for feather picking: thyroid disease, hormonal changes, molting discomfort, giardia, malnutrition, allergies, parasites, heavy-metal poisoning, separation anxiety, boredom, dry skin, etc.

If it had a medical cause, I realized it would be impossible to ever diagnose. Vets here only have 4-year degrees, and there isn't a single avian vet in Istanbul (pop. 16 million). Most Turkish vets don't even have an x-ray machine, and of course they can't do heavy metal testing, hormone testing, etc. In fact, I can't find a vet here who has ever treated a bird for any reason in their entire lives. I guess sick parrots here are similar to sick guppies in America. They die, and you get another one...

Therefore, I decided to investigate possible causes myself. Here are the changes that happened in the month preceding the feather barbering:

- Clover got a new cage, 4 times bigger than the old one.
- We covered the cage with a Get-a-Grip net.
- She got a lot of new, parrot-safe toys from America.
- I wrapped two of her perches in Vet Wrap.
- I wrapped Saran Wrap around the lowest quarter of her cage to reduce the mess on the floor.
- We relocated her cage right in front of a doorway.
- My work hours went changed from 3 to 7 hours a day. (I teach one room away from Clover and visit between students).
- Winter arrived, meaning less sun, no outdoor walks, and drier air.

Here are the changes that we implemented as soon as Clover began pulling feathers off her wing:

- Removed Saran Wrap from around the base of her cage.
- Removed Vet Wrap from perches.
- Stopped using chemical cleaners, and now clean only with water.
- Bought a (room temp.) humidifier and point it at her cage 24/7.
- Increased the number of foraging toys and shreddables.
- Leave office door open while I teach so she can see/hear us.
- Bring her into the kitchen for some of my lessons.
- Bathe daily in the shower and mist daily with aloe vera.
- Give only chamomile tea instead of water—she loves it!

Some of these things appeared to work for a day or so, but the barbering always returned worse than ever. It also spread to every part of her body. On many days, I found 40-50 new feathers or pieces on the floor of the cage.

Here is a photo showing the condition of Clover's wings "before" and "after" 2 weeks of barbering:

BEFORE:

AFTER (2 photos):

I had been reading a lot about feather plucking and barbering, and knew that the longer the habit continues, the harder it is to eradicate. The act of chewing the feathers actually releases endorphins and is addictive to the parrot.

One cause of feather picking can be poor nutrition. When we got Clover, she was on a 100% sunflower seed diet, eating about 200 seeds a day. Everything I read said to gradually wean them off the seeds, but not to starve them into trying something new. So I gradually reduced her to 30 seeds a day, and instead offered a huge variety Harrison's organic pellets, "birdie bread," sprouts, veggies, yogurt, fruits, nuts, grains, pasta and tons of other things--at least 12 things a day. However, over the six months we had her, she only ever ate nuts, seeds, grapes, and green beans.

I was sure there was a physical reason for Clover's feather picking, and thought poor nutrition could be to blame. So I decided the time had come to force Clover to eat a balanced diet. However, I knew that the added stress would increase the rate of her barbering even more.

So, though some people recommend against it, I decided to put some type of collar or vest on her to stop the barbering. I discovered that some people use socks as a sort of parrot sweater, so I ordered the plans from The Sock Buddy. (Highly recommended!) The Sock Buddy is mainly for parrots that chew chest and back feathers, which is the most common pattern.

However, Clover's chewing started with her wings, and 90% of her barbering is there. So I searched online and found a vet's website suggesting a piece of pipe insulation as an "e-collar." So I took Clover to our local vet and he helped me put on the collar. One suggestion I saw online was to leave a tab of tape free for the bird to chew on. So we did this.

Clover has worn the collar for about 24 hours, and can eat, drink, forage and move around normally. Her balance is not affected, and she is still talking, stepping up, doing tricks, etc. It is definitely driving her nuts, however, and she spends almost every waking moment chewing the tab, the collar itself, and plucking out any of the down feathers that she CAN reach. However, she has not barbered or plucked out a single contour feather since we put the collar on. I'm hoping that she gets used to the collar in a couple of days.

One cause of itchiness and plucking can be the parasite "giardia." So we also started her on Flagyl mixed with pomegranate juice, and used to replace her normal bowl of water for the next five days. I never see her drink water, so I don't know if she's drinking it or not. She normally likes juice, so I'm hoping this masks the taste of the Flagyl. I tried a bit myself, and it tastes pretty much like any juice.

The good news is that she is apparently eating some of the pellets for the first time in 6 months. I haven't seen her eat them, but I'm weighing her daily, and she is maintaining her weight on one nut a day and whatever pellets she IS eating. She also agreed to try a few sprouts today for the first time, as they are the only sunflower seeds she is now getting. As an addict, she'll take sunflower seeds now any way she can get them!

I have also contacted Avian Biotech, and will be sending them samples to test for Aspergillosis and Giardia.

Updates to come...

Beykoz Shelter Cleanup

2009-01-11T12:51:00.000+02:00

Today, I spent the entire day helping clean up the Beykoz Municiple Dog Shelter. The shelter is in the middle of nowhere on the outskirts of Istanbul. It houses about 400 dogs and puppies, virtually none of which will ever be adopted. Another group consisting of a mother street dog (broken leg) and her dozen large-breed puppies arrived while we were there.

There were a dozen of us volunteers, including 10 Turks, a Greek grad student, and me. All of the Turks smoked, and the worst part of the clean-up was trying to stay out of the clouds of smoke. Ugh!

Another difficulty was that about ten minutes into the cleanup, the water supply to the shelter stopped. Finally, a municiple truck brought water and we filled up plastic barrels with water. So it was a lot less convenient not being able to use hoses. Also, the water was very cold, and we were working outside in January.

We cleaned up about 50 or so of the dog kennels, many of which house multiple dogs. We scrubbed down the entire interior (wall, ceilings, floors, windows) of the shelter's indoor facility too. Everybody worked really hard, and the shelter ended up looking spotless. It was interesting to see the conditions at the public shelters in Istanbul. Despite the crowding, I thought the shelter was pretty decent considering the lack of funding. I just wish Turks would go there to adopt a puppy instead of supporting puppy mills by buying a puppy at the pet store...

Danny & Repo

2008-12-30T01:00:00.001+02:00

My Border Collie, Repo, is now with Danny Shilling in southern Missouri. They have been having a stellar year in both USBCHA sheep and cattle trials.

I recently received this photo from a trial organizer showing them at the post. In their first three trials of 2008, they beat the #8 and #10 dogs in America. At one trial, they got only 3 points less (out of 100) than the 2007 National Cattledog Champion team they were competing against.

Danny and Repo ended 2008 as the #1 team in Arkansas, and #2 team in Missouri (both on cattle). I'm looking forward to hearing about many future wins.

Kaplancik (Kitten) Update

2008-12-21T12:40:00.000+02:00

Today we went to visit Kaplancik and his family. We took care of Kaplancik for a couple of weeks after rescuing him from the streets in Sept. 2007, and were happy when his adoptive parents, Tugba and Onur, invited us to see him all grown up.

Onur & Tugba also have a young Chow named Modjo, and had been looking for a dog-friendly kitten to adopt. Modjo and Kaplancik--now renamed "Mini Me"--are great friends, and love playing together. Mini Me is a lot bigger than when he lived with us, but just as beautiful as he was then. He is a bit mischievous, but we all love him.

Thanks Tugba and Onur for being such wonderful adoptive parents for Mini Me!

Clover's New Cage Setup

2008-12-16T12:07:00.002+02:00

As mentioned in an earlier post, African Greys here are kept in very small cages. Clover's cage was 1/7th the recommended MINIMUM size for a Grey in America. So to compensate, I built a series of ever larger "foraging trees" for her to hang out on in the daytime. She also has a perch in the kitchen for when we're eating.

However, this system was proving to be very unwieldy. I spread papers everywhere, but half of the poop and food would wind up across the room. I didn't have enough places to hang her toys. Also, while her tree was large, she didn't really have much walking-around room. Sansal suggested that we instead invest in a larger cage in which she could utilize all six sides for climbing, as well as hanging out on top.

After a lot of online and local shopping, we determined that the only suitable cages, size-wise, had serious design flaws. They didn't have a big-enough pan, or were on a vertical axis, or had tiny doors, etc. Plus, they were all over $300, and had no storage space at all. (We live in a 500 ft2 apartment without a single closet). So we decided to go with the suggestion of our Internet friend, Julia Shattuck, and utilize an epoxy-coated dog crate. We couldn't fit the biggest model in our office, so had to settle for a smaller size (24" x 36" x 27"), which was still four times the size of her old cage. I set it up with three wood perches, a pedicure perch, a hand-braided organic cotton rope perch (thanks, Allison!), a sleep-sack, two bowls, six foraging toys, and two chew toys. Everything in the cage is totally parrot safe: plastic, acrylic, stainless steel, and fig tree branches.

Beneath the cage, we put a huge IKEA cupboard we bought for half price for holding all of the parrot and dog items. I bought a bunch of covered plastic storage containers and organized all the gear. The total cost in U.S. dollars for the cage, cupboard, and containers was just $220. In fact, I spent more than that during my American trip just buying toys and toy parts to put IN the cage! Clover now has enough gear that I think she is truly set for life in the toy and training equipment department. The only remaining thing we plan to do is to buy some plexiglas panels to put between the cage and my oak rolltop desk, and between the cage and the wall. Also, we have to plastic wrap the living room door so we can hang our Get-A-Grip net (thanks Patricia!) over it.

By the way, Clover (in captivity for 6 months) loved the new cage immediately, and did not have any fear of the cage or toys. She hasn't gone into the Snuggle Sack yet, but will root around in there for sunflower seeds. I've taken her out a few times, but she doesn't protest about going back in and never screams to get out, the way she did with her small cage. Thanks, Julia, for the crate recommendation. It is so convenient, parrot-friendly, and very easy to clean.

Bozkurt and Nur

2008-12-14T12:46:00.000+02:00

Two of my Go American English students are Bozkurt and his mother, Nur. Nur contacted me a couple months ago to ask about English lessons for her 8 year old son. She said that Bozkurt had never taken an English class, but had learned the language by watching BBC television, using the Internet, and studying with her at home. Nur had to quickly learn English, herself, so she could stay a step ahead of Bozkurt. (She had studied German as her foreign language in school).

Bozkurt is basically fluent in English, so none of the standard children's EFL books were suitable. He also has versatile interests, incuding art, music, history, astronomy, and paleontology. So instead of doing grammar exercises, we spend an hour and a half every Saturday morning doing different activities in English. We have done paper mache and origami, baked zuchinni bread, played games, and gone on treasure hunts. On this particular day, we learned about Pacific Coast Indians and made a totem pole out of a cardboard tube and paper.

Bozkurt even has an English-language website. Check out his great article on nebulae: Bozkurt's Site.

Nur has decided to also begin classes, and begins later this week. I'm sure she will be a terrific student, just like Bozkurt.

Dinner with Aysegul and Erdem

2008-12-01T12:39:00.000+02:00

Tonight, Aysegul and Erdem invited both sides of the family for a house-warming dinenr. None of us had seen their new apartment, which was a gift from Erdem's parents, both retired teachers.

They are living in northwestern Anatolian Istanbul, about 30 minutes from us. Their apartment is very nicely decorated, and everything in it--from dishes to furniture to appliances to decorations--is brand new. When people marry here, they are always coming straight from their childhood homes, so bring nothing to the new home but their own personal clothes and books. Everything else is bought for them by the couple's parents in the days before the wedding.

Turkish Van Cats

2008-11-30T12:34:00.000+02:00

I'm pleased to announce that I'm now a member of Vantastixs, the American (CFA) club for the Turkish Van cat. Vantastixs is a very small club of dedicated CFA show competitors around the U.S. Their cats all live indoors as part of the family.

I assisted some of their club members last year by transporting five homeless Turkish Vans from Turkey to show homes in the USA. These cats now live in luxury with lots of toys, friends, socialization, and comfy places to nap. The photo above shows three of the cats (a mom and her two kittens) in our bedroom last fall, prior to moving to America.

If you're interested in reading about the Turkish Van breed, please click the link below:

Vantastix Turkish Van Club

Thanksgiving Turkey in Turkey

2008-11-29T12:27:00.000+02:00

Tonight we had a Thanksgiving dinner at the home of Sarah (UK) and Levent, her Turkish husband. All of the guests were either employees or ex-employees of Berlitz-Kozyatagi, and their spouses. We all brought a dish, and ended up with a very traditional Thanksgiving feast. Yummy!

Click here for photos.

Building a Bunny Cage

2008-11-28T12:38:00.000+02:00

Today I built a new rabbit cage for our apartment neighbor, Meriyem. Meriyem is a wonderful neighbor who brings us some tasty treat several times a week, and always invites me over for snacks and tea. She has a pet rabbit, Kar ("Snow") that she adores. In the summer, Kar goes down to the Marmara Sea boardwalk or our apartment front yard and runs around under supervision for hours. She is friends with all the stray cats and with Savvy. Upstairs, she hangs out on the balcony, where she is trained to use a litterbox. At night, however, her only cage was a tiny bird-cage that she could barely turn around in.

Meriyem took Savvy for walks every day that I was in America. So in exchange, I decided to build her a bigger night cage for Kar. I got the tools I needed in America, and got the hardware cloth here in Istanbul. It took me just one afternoon to plan and build. I was able to use all the leftover materials from the cage I made for our baby crow, too. (The crow died before he could ever use the cage).

The completed cage was 4' x 2' x 3' high, with three levels, three access doors, and two ramps. I also included a litterbox. Meriyem later added some carpeting and blankets on the "balconies." Kar used the litterbox immediately, and loves the new cage. Meryem is happy that Kar will now have a big place to stay if she has to go away for a couple of days and can't let her out on the balcony.

Visit to See Piper

2008-11-18T01:00:00.000+02:00

Before coming to Turkey, I rehomed then 12 year old Piper with a graduate student, Rebecca, and her boyfriend, Tyson. Of course I couldn't visit Missouri without stopping to see Piper, now nearly 14.

Rebecca and Tyson had eloped just a couple of weeks before my visit. The only wedding guest besides the witnesses was... Piper! He also went on a bunch of out-of-state trips with them, as well as with their tenant, a vet school employee. So Piper is having a wonderful time with his new owners.

He is fit, healthy, and still very active. He can still do every trick, such as sitting up, jumping through my arms, saying his prayers, rolling over, etc., and is still a fetch fanatic.

Piper was happy to see me, but I could see that he was even happier living with Rebecca and Tyson. For one thing, they don't have a pesky Border Collie to put up with! Thanks to Piper's new family for giving him such a wonderful home.

Two Visits to the Harrisons

2008-11-17T01:00:00.000+02:00

My next stop on the Missouri tour was to Millersburg, near Columbia, to visit the Harrison family. Kim and her daughters and her parents made up my first obedience class that I ever taught in Columbia. We are also related through our dogs, as they have both Savvy's brother and Repo's brother.

I stayed at Kim's both before and after my trip to visit the Shillings. While staying at Kim's, we took care of the farm chores, babysat a friend's sheep farm, and did a clicker training session with Kim's two new "wild" mustangs. We also went neon bowling as chaperones for a church youth group, visited the Churchill monument at Westminster College, and went out for dinner at a pizza place.

Click here to see photos.

Visit to the Shilling's Farm

2008-11-16T01:00:00.000+02:00

My next stop was to spend a few days in Bois D'Arc, MO, at the home of Danny & Velda Shilling. They are full-time cattle and sheep farmers, and also go around the Midwest and Brazil doing clinics, demos, and judging herding trials. They are also the people that adopted my Border Collie, Repo.

Repo recently sired his first litter of puppies (with an outside bitch), and the Shillings had gotten a male and a female from the litter. The pups were 8 weeks old when I visited. In addition, their own working dog, Hannah, gave birth to a litter of puppies my first night there.

During my visit, we did lots of fun "farm chores," worked Repo on sheep and cattle, took him to do tricks at a garage, and checked the coyote traps in the sheep pasture.

Click here to see photos from the visit.

Visit to Taryn and the Columbia Canine Sports Center

2008-11-14T01:00:00.000+02:00

I then spent a day with Taryn and her 17 year old son, Matt, at their new, custom-designed accessible house in Holts Summit, MO. I enjoyed playing with their three dogs. One is Freeman, a Border Collie rescued from the same breeder that Repo (my ex-dog, now the Shilling's dog) and Balou (the Harrison's dog), came from. Freeman has just started competing in agility, with much success.

We had pizza dinner, and also went to the Columbia Canine Sports Center in Columbia, MO. We did agility with Freeman, though I'm definitely out of practice to be running such a speed demon! It was great to see Taryn, Matt, and all the dogs again.

Click to see photos of the visit.

Bob & Kathy and the Amazing Parrot Supply Store

2008-11-13T01:00:00.002+02:00

During my recent trip to America, I visited friends in Missouri. My first stop after arriving in St. Louis was to nearby Foristell, MO, to visit my friends Bob & Kathy. We are related through our dogs, as their dog Valor (recently deceased) was Savvy's uncle.

We have known each other for six years, and have a lot in common: horseback riding, African Grey parrots, clicker training, keeping herding ducks, and competing in a huge variety of Border Collie sports.

During my short visit, we hung out with the animals, went to an AMAZINGLY huge and cool parrot supply store, and had a delicious lunch at a nice Italian restaurant.

Click here for photos, including the parrot superstore.

Trip to America

2008-11-09T18:34:00.000+02:00

Today I'm leaving for America to visit friends in Missouri, and family in Indiana/Michigan. I'll write individual posts about each place.

Aysegul Topcu's Visit

2008-11-02T16:46:00.002+02:00

In 1998-99, I hosted a Turkish AFS exchange student at my apartment in Madison, WI. Aysegul was an exceptional host daughter, and graduated from high school with excellent grades and an award from the art department. She went on to earn her B.S. and M.S. engineering degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

After that, she moved to Boston, where she will soon finish her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering at Northeastern University. Her brother (also a UW grad) and parents ended up immigrating to Atlanta, GA. However, before leaving Turkey, they treated me to wonderful 3-weeks with them at their beach condo in Mersin, including a trip together to Istanbul.

The last time I saw Aysegul was in Atlanta, right after Sansal and I first met online. This week, Aysegul finally came to Istanbul to visit her friends and relatives. She spent an evening visiting with us, and it was great to see her again! We look forward to seeing her again on her next trip to Istanbul.

Melek's New Home

2008-10-21T01:00:00.000+03:00

Melek went to her new home today.

Now that she is at the proper weight, I posted ads with "Let's Adopt!" and on My Merhaba.com. An American family living in Istanbul read my post on the latter, and gave me a call. After the adults came and met Melek, they went home to talk it over with their three sons. They decided to adopt her!

So Becky came today with the boys to pick her up. Melek loved the kids, and it was apparent that they were all dog lovers who'll really enjoy having a huge new friend to play with. Melek will be living on the European side in a 3-story home with a fenced yard, quite luxurious accomodations for a former starving street dog. Thanks to Becky and her family for adopting this terrific dog, and I hope you all enjoy her as much as we have!

Aysegul & Erdem's Wedding

2008-10-19T01:00:00.000+03:00

Today was Aysegul and Erdem's wedding. Aysegul is Sansal's sister, and is studying for her Ph.D. in molecular biology at Istanbul Technical University (like MIT). Erdem is an accountant.

Erdem and his family came over to Sansal's mom's house, where the bride and her side of the family was all waiting. Then we drove in many cars to the wedding building. This was one of the public wedding ceremony places that belong to the municipality. It is already pre-decorated, they provide the seating, and hold a wedding every 15-30 minutes. After the short civil ceremony, there was the usual standing in line while hundreds of people file past the newly married couple, giving presents like money, gold coins, or jewelry. After giving the gift, photos are taken of the giver with the married couple, and the photos can be purchased at the spot. There is a little table set up with a computer for this.

The reception was held at a nice restaurant on the Bosphorus, right next to an Ottoman castle. Each large room at the restaurant was hosting one or more receptions. Aysegul and Erdem's was "small" (about 100-150 guests), so they put us in a room with two more bridal parties. Each group of tables had a different menu and a different wedding cake, but they shared a live musician who sang and played keyboards. At Turkish weddings, the bride dances in the middle of a circle, and everybody else dances around her. Aysegul studied dancing for years, and was an excellent dancer. The food was delicious, too, with several courses. Congratulations to Aysegul & Erdem!

Savvy & Clover's Trick Demo at a School

2008-10-16T01:00:00.002+03:00

Just a couple of days after arriving back in Istanbul, I drove Savvy and Clover to the European side to Nisantasi, the wealthiest suburb in the city. We were invited by the SHKD animal shelter to participate in one of their weekly school presentations. They go to schools to discuss the neuter and release law, and to tell the kids to give food and water to the street animals. The presenter, Murat, is a veterinarian who is really friendly and great with kids.

This school was a very exclusive private school. Because of the rush hour traffic, it took me 3 1/2 hours to drive the 20 miles to Nisantasi, so we missed the first show. But Savvy and Clover were a big hit at the second show. Savvy did about twenty tricks, as kids shouted the commands held up on cue cards. Clover was a bit frightened of the new environment, and refused to take any treats. But she still did her trick routine, including a new trick she just learned two days ago.

When the program finished, kids thronged the stage wanting to pet Savvy. While I was fending them off, I looked over to see about 15 kids each offering Clover sunflower seeds. She was eating the seeds like crazy, without any apparent fear. I'm amazed at her composure, seeing as how she has only spent 14 weeks in captivity.

I had prepared everything in Turkish, but it turned out that all the kids (12-16 years old) were fluent in English. They wanted me to do the presentation in English, so I did. It is waaaay too easy to live her without learning any Turkish...

Visit to Ephesus

2008-10-03T01:27:00.002+03:00

On our way home from dad's house, we spent a day at Ephesus, one of the best preserved cities of the ancient world. Only 10% of the city has been excavated, but there is a mile or more of buildings to see already.

Ephesus is frequently mentioned in the Bible. "Ephesians," and both "Timothy" books are letters from Paul to people at the church in Ephesus.

We had Savvy and Clover with us. We had to leave Savvy in the car with the windows all open, but were able to sneak Clover in with us. We started by taking a horse and carriage ride to the opposite side of Ephesus, so we could walk back and end up at our car.

Once in the park, Clover became a huge hit. Lots of people wanted their photos taken with her. I thought this was funny, given that there were so many other great scenes to photograph. :-)

We spent the night in the nearby city of Selcuk. While out looking for a restaurant, a group of Aussies saw us and pointed: "Look! The parrot lady!" They had chatted with us earlier in the day at Ephesus.

Click here to see beautiful photos of Ephesus.

Day in Marmaris

2008-10-01T00:46:00.000+03:00

We spent one day of the trip in Marmaris, a 30 minute drive from the villa. Marmaris is a famous resort town on the coast of the Mediterranean. It is hugely popular with British tourists--similar to Cancun for Americans.

While there, we walked around, had a very expensive Chinese meal, and went parasailing.

Click here to see photos of our trip to Marmaris.

Seker Bayram (Sugar Festival)

2008-09-30T23:55:00.000+03:00

While at Sansal's dad's house, I got to experience my first Seker Bayram. This is a 3 1/2 day festival at the end of the Muslim month of fasting (Ramazan). It is a sort of combination of Halloween and Christmas.

Beginning early in the morning of the first day, young kids (under 12) knock on the doors of neighbors. They kiss the back of the hand of the adult who answers the door, then press the hand to their own forehead. This is a mark of respect shown to elders. (Modern Turks only do it during Seker Bayram). In exchange, the home-owner gives them money and candy.

The rest of the day is spent traveling around town visiting friends and relatives. We went to visit Sansal's dad's best friend, the mayor of neighboring Gokhova town.

Click here to see photos of the Seker Bayram.

Trip to Sansal's Dad's Villa

2008-09-29T23:26:00.000+03:00

This week is the end of Ramazan, which ends with the "Sugar Festival." Sansal and I hadn't had a vacation since October 2007, so we decided to drive to visit his father in Mugla, near Marmaris.

We packed up Savvy and Clover and drove about 600 miles to the Mediterranean coast. Sansal's father recently built a villa overlooking the sea, mountains, and beautiful farmland. Sansal hadn't been to visit since the villa was completed.

Marmaris is a famous resort town in Turkey, and his father's villa is in Akyaka, just 30 minutes' drive away. The house and views are gorgeous. The lifestyle is similar to that in places like Provence, France. There are many British and German retirees who have built villas in the same town. Between the foreign residents and the tourists, all the local shops and restaurants have their signs and menus in German/English/Turkish.

Our adventures in Akyaka included a visit to a cistern built in the Middle Ages, a mountain climbing adventure, a visit to see mausoleums carved into the side of a mountain, and a sighting of a wild boar.

Click to see photos of our trip to Akyaka.

Kaplancik

2008-09-27T23:17:00.000+03:00

Kaplancik ("Little Tiger") is a 4 week old kitten that showed up in front of our apartment. He was living in a hole under the front steps. I fed him for about a week, but his tummy was getting bloated with cow's milk and canned dog food. This diet was making him pretty sick, but I didn't know better at the time.

Sansal moved him into the house. I took him to a vet and put him on a kitten diet. He learned to use a litterbox and to play with the dogs. He slept in the bed, where he sucked on our hair like a pacifier, purring the whole time.

When he was healthy again, a friend from Let's Adopt! posted his bio online. Within just hours, he found a new family. His new mommy and daddy have a Chow dog that Kaplancik enjoys playing with.

We both miss Kaplancik a lot. He was only with us for a few weeks, but was tons of fun.

www.GoAmericanEnglish.com

2008-09-17T22:23:00.000+03:00

Before leaving Berlitz, I made plans for the future... Three friends and I have gotten together and have started our own teaching collective. We'll be teaching from our homes from now on.

Our friend, Mustafa, designed our wonderful website for us at no charge. Thanks, Mustafa--it looks great! And thanks to Sansal for translating the entire site into Turkish. Please come visit our site in Turkish and/or English by clicking the links below:

İngilizce Kurs

English Course

The only bad news is about our fliers. I spent a day designing a professional-looking flyer. Then I went to a commercial print shop and had 250 color copies printed. Me and another teacher spent the entire day taping these to telephone poles in our neighborhood.

And after 2-3 months of drought in Istanbul... it started POURING today... and will continue raining for the next eight days. Bye bye fliers!

The Final Paycheck Adventure

2008-09-16T22:43:00.000+03:00

I successfully got my final paycheck from Berlitz today—but it wasn’t easy!

Berlitz sets things up so that any teachers that leave will be out 2-6 weeks of pay. How? They pay on the 15th of the month for the previous month's work. If I were to quit on Sept. 14th, for instance, I would be denied payment for those 14 days, plus the entire August paycheck.

When I first started, I met a wonderful guy from the Midwest who had taught at Berlitz Istanbul for his entire 1-year contract. (A huge rarity!) Berlitz begged him to stay another two months, which he did. In the meantime, he lined up another contract that would be starting in Europe. Berlitz Istanbul then asked him to ditch that contract and stay another 6 months. When he refused, they denied him the pay for those two months he had stayed at their request!

I didn't want to be taken to the cleaners. So I worked the entire month of August, as normal. I had been asking for the $400 I was docked for July. When they hadn't paid it by September 1st, I used this as an excuse to take a leave of absence "until they rectified the July problem."

Yesterday was payday for work done in August. I was pretty sure Solmaz knew I was quitting, and would try to block me from getting my August paycheck.

At about 6:30, I called the Berlitz office and asked if my pay was ready to pick up. I was told it was ready, but that the payroll clerk would be leaving in 30 minutes. I told them I’d be there in 5 minutes.

I drove to Berlitz immediately. “Surprisingly,” the payroll clerk had just left… she had been told she could leave early. Hmmmmm… I asked the receptionist to phone her and ask her to come back to Berlitz. He did so. Just then, Solmaz walked in. A moment later, the payroll clerk arrived and went to the back room to get my pay. She brought it to the front desk and I counted it and signed the paper. Just then, Solmaz looked up and realized I was there to pick up my pay envelope. He shouted something to the payroll clerk and ran towards us. It must have been something like “don’t let Sharon have that money!” because Gulsah made a grab to take back the envelope.

I ran out the door with the envelope, with Solmaz in pursuit. I raced down the stairs, and heard footsteps chasing behind me for a couple of floors. I ran down to the car and raced straight to the bank to deposit the money.

At the bank, there was a line. The guy ahead of me finished and drove away. Just then, the ATM spit out his money… which he had forgotten. About 1000 or more in 100 YTL bills. So I grabbed the money and chased his car down the road. I finally caught him when he stopped in traffic, and handed him the money. So in a 10 minute period, I first had to run with money I EARNED… to prevent that nut Solmaz from stealing it. Then I had to chase some other guy to give him HIS money!

The Decision to Leave Berlitz

2008-09-16T06:00:00.000+03:00

Well, I finally quit Berlitz. It was a miracle I stayed there for an entire 8 months. The average teacher probably stays about 2-3 months of their 1-year contracts.

What's wrong with Berlitz? Everything!

It is completely unorganized, and the staff completely turns over every month or two. It is impossible to find anybody who knows where anything is. Binders stuffed with old tests are bursting open all over the office.

Twice, I was paid a measly $120 for a month of full-time teaching. It took weeks for Berlitz to correct the error. In July, I was shorted over $400 because I refused to take an additional weekend class. I was already working 7 days a week, which already violated their contract. And I worked 86 units (80/month is full time). Yet, by refusing to take an additional weekend class, they said that I only qualified as a "part time" teacher for July!

The Berlitz operation is 100% illegal. They have over 100 foreign employees and refuse to get any of them work permits. They pay in cash. They don't pay any taxes or social security or mandatory government health insurance payments.

Worst of all? I found out what my students were paying to take classes from me. What do the teachers get? Fifty percent? Try EIGHT PERCENT! Solmaz Arslen, the pathological liar that runs the Berlitz Istanbul franchise, pockets 92%.

The next post will tell about my final payday at Berlitz...

Trip to the Archaeology Museum

2008-09-14T23:12:00.000+03:00

Today Sansal and I went to the Archaeology Museum on the European side of Istanbul. We only covered about 10% of the museum, so there's a lot to go back for later. Here is a photo of the Alexander Sarcophogus, discovered in Lebanon by a Turkish archaeologist. It was used to bury another king, but is named after Alexander because it has scenes of Alexander the Great on the sides.

Melek's Progress

2008-09-11T10:30:00.000+03:00

Melek did survive the night, and is now thriving. When she arrived, she weighed just 49 pounds (22 kg). After just five days of good eating, she weighs 57 pounds (26 kg). Her target weight is about 80 pounds.

I decided to call her Melek, which is the Turkish word for "angel." It is used as a girl's name here, and is appropriate, because Melek has an angelic temperament.

I found her Friday night. She went to an expensive Bagdad Ave. vet on Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday for tests. All of her blood tests came back normal, showing no organ damage. One test showed slightly positive for an enlarged heart, but it is likely a false reading due to her starved condition. We'll check this again when she is up to weight. She is anemic, so I'm giving her liver with her food. I guessed her age at 2-3, and the vet independently guessed 3-4. So I think 3 is a safe guess.

Amazingly, Melek didn't have any intestinal parasites. She was treated for fleas, had a bath and a nail trim, and had her ears thoroughly cleaned. She is wearing a municipality "street dog" ear tag showing she has been spayed and vaccinated. The vet double-checked, and she definitely has a spay scar.

Melek has now been here for six days. We are looking for a family to adopt her... a VERY difficult proposition in Istanbul. I'm guessing that fewer than one family in 300 has a pet. And for most Turks, a pet is a status symbol, and they want a purebred from a pet shop. Goldens, Siberians, and Pit Bulls are the flavor of the month right now, as is anything small.

Melek has the world's best temperament and would make an ideal family pet for anyone. She walks in perfect heel position, and NEVER pulls. She loves men, women, and children, but is respectful and gentle. She respects dogs, cats, rabbits and parrots, and doesn't bother them.

She is beautifully behaved in the house, just sleeping in a corner and keeping out of the way. She has never had an accident since coming in the house. This naturally tendency to be housebroken is common with adult dogs that are used to going potty outdoors. She is open to new things, and easily learned to jump in the car, lie quietly on the backseat, and ride in our tiny apartment elevator.

She has a very calm and laid back personality, though she's happy to go for a walk when you want to take her.

Click to see photos of Melek's transformation.

Starving Street Dog

2008-09-11T10:21:00.000+03:00

After Turkish class today, I left Berlitz to walk home. Across the street from Berlitz, I saw a tall street dog staggering down the sidewalk, about to collapse. The dog was in the last stages of starvation, and was probably dehydrated as well. Nobody in the 90 degree heat stopped to offer food or water. This was a major business and shopping district, with hundreds of people walking past.

I petted the dog and looked around for somewhere to buy her some meat and water, but I knew all the restaurants on the street were sit-down restaurants. So I asked a local security guard to find me some rope so I could walk her home. He found some twine, and I realized it would be impossible to take a Great Dane-sized dog that had never worn a collar/leash... and was starving... on a 1.5 mile walk to our apartment on a piece of twine. So I instead tied her to a fence and ran home to get the car.

I came back to get her, and was able to lift her with just one arm to put into the car. When we got home, I set up a place for her in a shady, grassy back corner of the garden. I gave her a big bowl of canned dog food and chicken, and another bowl of water. She ignored everything and collapsed onto the gravel driveway, not even able to take a step onto the grassy area.

It is too late to see a vet, so I hope she can hang on until tomorrow. I am checking on her hourly, and she finally started eating and drinking around 11 p.m.

Ramazan Basket

2008-09-03T10:08:00.000+03:00

Ramadan (called Ramazan in Turkish) falls this month on Sept. 1-29. This is Sansal's first Ramazan working at SANTEK. He was happily surprised to receive the annual Ramazan food basket that SANTEK gives to all employees.

As soon as he got home from work, we opened it up. We couldn't believe how many great staple foods were in this box. It contained:

4 bags of pasta
5 lbs. of rice
1 bag of beans
1 bag of chickpeas
2 bags of red lentils
1 bag of vermicelli
1 bag of sugar
1 bag of flour
1 bag of black tea
2 gallons of sunflower oil
1 liter of olive oil
black olives
dried dates
2 large cans of tomato sauce
5 packs of soup mix
2 packs of chocolate pudding

How did they stuff all this into one box about 1.5x the size of a Xerox box???

Clover's First Day in Harness

2008-08-31T23:27:00.003+03:00

As soon as we brought Clover home, I bought a harness. Knowing that African Greys are famous for unsociability and phobias, I wanted to prevent this by giving Clover lots of varied experiences from an early age. So she needed to go outdoors.

Of course, no bird likes a harness. So I had two choices: 1) gradually acclimate her to the harness over a period of months or years until I could put it on; 2) grab her with gloves on and let her bite the gloves while I wrangled her into the harness.

Since summer is coming to an end, I knew that we'd only have a few more weeks of good weather in which to go outside. After that, we'd have to wait another year. So I decided to go with option 2. Clover was not a happy camper, biting my gloved hands numerous times... grabbing the harness with her beak and both feet...shrieking and growling...and generally making life difficult. But we got it on, and she got to go out. She had a great time and enjoyed sitting on some trees in the garden. We will be doing this every day now unti the weather gets cold.

Zoo on Our Front Porch

2008-08-30T22:23:00.000+03:00

Ou apartment building has proven to house several pet owners and animal lovers. Besides Savvy and Clover, our building has another dog, a rabbit, and about five resident outdoor cats that the tenants feed.

A black kitten showed up about 6 weeks ago, and we named her Oyuncu ("Player"). Everybody fed her, petted her, and played with her all day. She was the most outgoing kitten I've ever seen in my life. I fed her everyday, and she would try to follow me and Savvy on long walks or on trips to the grocery store. Somebody had to hold her to keep her from following me when I left the grounds.

Oyuncu was also Savvy's first cat friend. She was never afraid of him. Whenever Oyuncu saw Savvy, she'd immediately run over to play with him.

In this photo, you can see me, Savvy, Oyuncu, and our neighbor's rabbit, Kar ("Snow").

Unfortunately, a few days after this photo, some kids walking past our apartment carried Oyuncu off with them. The residents that saw it happen didn't try to stop the kids or ask who they were. Oyuncu never came back, and I miss her every day. She was a very special kitten, and I hope that wherever she is, there are other residents that are giving her food and water...

SHKD Dog Shelter

2008-08-29T22:41:00.000+03:00

Today I spent the day with retired economist, Bilge Okay, a volunteer at SHKD Dog Shelter. This shelter took me 3.5 hours to get to, as it required a walk, a minibus, a ferry, and a long car ride out of the city.

It was well worth the trip. The shelter is a private one, and is likely the nicest shelter in Istanbul. It houses 400 former street dogs, all in a very clean and healthy environment. It is funded mainly by British enterprenuer, Robert Smith, along with a small group of dedicated volunteers.

It is next door to a municipal shelter. In Istanbul, the law says that the municipalities must collect stray dogs, spay/neuter/vaccinate/ear-tag and release them. Some don't do this, but instead poison the dogs by leaving poisoned meat at parks. Some do neuter/release but later round up even the ear-tagged dogs and dump them in dry forests with no food or water. One municipality has dumped 2000 strays this way this summer. They even dug pits to bury some alive... while others (including puppies) were shot...and others roamed the forests slowly dying of starvation and thirst.

SHKD shelter cannot possibly rescue all the dogs that are brought to the municipal shelter. However, they go there and bring back the dogs that are least likely to survive being dumped in the forest: dogs with injuries, dogs that are already skeletally thin, etc. Their vet then fixes up these dogs and they move into SHKD group housing, usually for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, almost nobody in Turkey will adopt a former street dog. The good news is that their lives at SHKD are very nice ones.

Click here to see photos of the beautiful SHKD Dog Shelter.

Turkish Street Dog Links

2008-08-21T16:51:00.003+03:00

This entry has been updated as of July 9, 2009, and moved to my Pozitif Enik website. Please click here to visit my complete list of links about Turkish street dogs and cats, and the organizations that help them.

Türkiye’deki sokak köpekleri linkleri için buraya tıklayınız.

Street Dogs in Turkey

2008-08-21T15:00:00.000+03:00

Upon first moving here, I noticed many stray dogs and cats, a typical situation in developing countries. The majority of Turks are afraid of dogs, and mild abuse of strays is common. Parents smile while their toddlers throw pebbles at strays, kids chase dogs down the street or tease them, adults lightly kick dogs that wander too close to their produce stands. However, Turks assured me that the street animals are well cared for. They pointed out eartags showing that certain dogs had been captured, neutered, vaccinated and released. And in our neighborhood, many tenants do put out food and water for the strays.

However, I recently found that all is not as it seems. Here in Istanbul, and in the beach resorts stray dogs are regularly rounded up, beaten, shot or poisoned. Bodies are dumped in secret graves outside villages. Neuter and release is mandatory in Turkey, but lazy municipality workers simply warehouse most of the dogs and then kill them en masse. A couple of weeks ago, over 500 dogs from a supposed "shelter" in Istanbul were shot to death and dumped in mass graves. Just a few weeks before, in the same township of Istanbul, my dog and I were competing in the Istanbul Frisbee championships, surrounded by other well-pampered pooches, media, and corporate sponsors.

I've spent the past week surfing the Internet and trying to find out more about the situation. I found a lot of Turkish street dog charities and political groups, but often had to search through 30-40 pages of Google links to find them. I decided to put all of them in one centralized spot on my next post. If anybody has other links they wish to share, please send me an e-mail or comment.

Clover's New Tree and Trick Props

2008-08-02T10:23:00.003+03:00

Clover has now been with us for 7 weeks. She loves to do tricks, and will do anything to get more of her favorites, sunflower seeds. She has gone lots of places in her crate, including our car, the minibus, the ferry, the office, and to my adult English classes. At classes and at Sansal's office, she gets to come out of the crate, walk around and meet new people.

Clover has a small cage, and I wanted her to be out of it most of the day. So I decided to make her a foraging tree. A foraging tree provides mental and physical enrichment to caged birds.

Parrots eat their perches and trees, so you have to be careful about toxicity when selecting branches. I decided fig would be the easiest to recognize here in Turkey. I couldn't cut limbs from trees at the local apartment buildings in Bostanci, so I decided to get my branches from the islands. On two separate trips (one with Clover in a crate), I walked around Heybeliada and Buyukada islands looking for a wild fig in the forest. The only problem was that the forests were a monoculture of pine. All the figs were in people's fenced back yards! So I ended up sawing some "bad" limbs (crossed limbs and watersprouts) from figs in the yards of unattended "summer houses."

I built the the tree structure by sawing limbs by hand and screwing them together. I made the base by using "marble" Contac paper to cover a piece of pine. I put wheels on the base, and attached the tree using angle brackets. Then I screwed in a bunch of stainless steel eyebolts to attach toys and ladders to.

After my DVD "Captive Foraging" arrived in the mail last week, I added feeding stations made out of old water bottles and bottle caps. At this point, we also received a "Get A Grip" net as a gift from an African Grey forum member in America. (I'm not letting Clover climb on it yet until she has a clean bill of health. She's on antibiotics for a symptomless bout of Chlamydiosis.) I later converted the feeding stations to the PVC caps recommended in the DVD. They are more parrot-proof than water bottles. But I use the water bottle bottoms as covers that Clover has to lift to access her food.

Since last week, Clover doesn't get her food in a dish anymore. I take 0-3 sunflower seeds and wrap them in a ball of paper. I put the paper in the dish and cover it with more paper taped down with masking tape. Or I cover it with the bottom of a plastic water bottle. I do this for all of the food dishes. So she has to work a bit to find and eat her sunflower seeds. Her fruit is in a vitamin bottle with a few small holes drilled in it, and she can pull it through a bit at a time. She can have organic Harrison's parrot pellets any time out of the dish, but she won't eat these much yet.

I also spent the last two weeks making a bunch of props to use for future clicker-trained tricks. These include a short perch, training T-stand with basketball hoop, soccer field, bowling alley, and color ring/peg matching game.

Click to see photos of the foraging tree and props.

Aysegul & Erdem's Engagement Party

2008-07-21T01:00:00.000+03:00

Today was Sansal's sister, Aysegul's, engagement party. Aysegul is doing a Ph.D. in molecular biology. Her fiance, Erdem, is an accountant. They had only been dating for a few months, and nobody had met Erdem until about a week before the engagement. So it was a big surprise for everybody that they were getting engaged, and planned to marry in October.

Sansal explained how these engagement parties work, and everything was just as he described. First the girl's family arrives and gets everything set up. The girl then goes and waits out of sight for her "grand appearance." Then the boy's family arrives with presents (a huge tray of chocolates, flowers, and the cake) and everybody has a seat. The girl makes her entrance, kisses everybody's cheeks, and sits apart from the older family members. All the men sit on one side of the room, and all the women sit on the other side.

First, the fathers just make small talk about the weather. The girl then serves Turkish coffee to everybody. This is the "big test" of how she will be as a wife. :-) (Just tradition, everybody!) Then the boy's father asks the girl's father for permission for them to marry. Of course, the girl's father always says "yes."

Then they have the ring ceremony. For this, the girl's best friend (Shirin) holds a tray with the two engagement rings tied with a ribbon. A male family member from the girl's family (Sansal), cuts the ribbon. These rings are worn on the right hand, and then moved to the left after the wedding. The boy's father gives a cash gift to the best friend that holds the tray.

Then the engaged couple cuts the cake and serves some to each other. The girl and her best friend then serve tea to everybody. Everybody takes a million pictures.

After the engagement party, me and all of the under-30 guests drove to a neighboring part of Istanbul and had dinner on the beach. This was Shirin's treat using the money earned for being the "holder of the ring tray."

It was really fun to be part of a tradition like this.

Click here to see photos of the engagement party.

Best wishes to Aysegul and Erdem on a very happy marriage!

Trip to Burgazada (Princes Islands)

2008-07-13T01:00:00.000+03:00

Today, Sansal and I went to one of the Princes Islands that we hadn't visited before. This is the third largest island, and is called Burgazada (Burgaz Island). We took the ferry there, walked around, and had dinner by the beach. It was a very scenic island, with lots of flowers and horse carriages. We really enjoyed the trip.

Click here to see photos of our trip.

Istanbul Open Disc Dog Championships

2008-07-07T01:00:00.000+03:00

Today, the Turkish Border Collie Association held its first ever disc dog event in northern Anatolian Istanbul. This was effectively a national championship. It is the only disc dog event in Turkey for 2008, and competitors came from Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.

Savvy and I had never tried disc dog. I was worried about vaulting injuries, and I was not good at throwing. However, as this was the only dog sport in Turkey, I decided to train for the event. Starting about two months ago, I got some dog frisbees (www.hyperflite.com) and a how-to-throw DVD. We practiced daily in the parking lot until I became a reasonable thrower. Then we moved on to the park, and developed a Freestyle routine.

The event was extremely well run. Purina ProPlan sponsored the event and provided tents and fencing. There were a total of 5 Open teams and 6 Started teams at the event. There was a Toss & Fetch competition, which is scored based on how many times and how far away your dog catches a single frisbee. Everybody got two tries for that, 90 seconds each. The Open competitors also competed in Freestyle, which is a routine to music.

The winner of both Open events was Tarkan of www.ankaracaninecollege.com. He's a pro trainer who frequently goes to Europe to compete in disc dog, ring sport and schutzhund.

Savvy and I came in second in both Open events, winning two trophies and a $100 bag of Purina ProPlan. We were just 1 point lower than Tarkan in Toss & Fetch. He got 20, and we got 19. So I'm very happy with how well we did considering that Savvy had never caught a frisbee in his life until eight weeks ago.

Click here to see photos of the event.