Finally... dogs!

I finally came to a conclusion... this blog will be about dogs. Simple as that.

Let me get this straight. I am not a professional. I am not a trainer nor a dog behaviorist. I dont even know if I am allowed to write about dogs. But, I will share my experiences, the way I see things and hopefully looking back on everything that has been written, I will learn a little more about myself and dogs. 

This blog will not get into anything that has to do with dog food. Raw, BARF, kibble, canned... I refuse to start a debate about dog food because I just believe people should work with what they want and what they see fit for their dogs. I, myself, feed kibble... I have found a decent brand of food that suits my dogs and to tell you the truth... I dont really care about what I eat so I am not going to bust my head about what my dogs eat as long as it doesnt make them sick, at least for now. If down the road something is wrong, I will deal with it then. I will, for now, stick to what I know. They get their treats from time to time, some of my own food so I think we are ok.

Now, I dont know how much this all will be about the normal training... positive reinforcement, R+, R- and so on. Of course, I do not believe in harsh methods and some things I refer to might not even be accepted. I dont really teach my dogs to do tricks or to be guard dogs... yes, they know all the basics but that is not my goal. Its more of living with my dogs in peace in order to not cause me any trouble or burden and to not annoy others. That is my base of everything that revolves around dogs.

My knowledge for dogs is, lets say, ok. I am still learning and I am sure I will never stop learning. Nor do I want to. Every minute I spend with my dogs is something new, something exciting and amazing... I have the priviledge to pet sit for friends and aquaintances to gain more experience and thus, meeting different dogs and observing them. Seeing if they are a reflection of their owners or their surroundings and enviroment. 

So, that is it for now. On a final note, let me say that I am not an eloquent speaker nor writer (if I may use that term). So if any mistakes during my writing, cut me a little slack. I am an every day person and have no intention of becoming anything more than that.

Still contemplating

I have been busting my head about this blog... the more blogs I read, the more useless I think it is to make one. What is the proper blog-etiquette? Start one and make it about one, maybe two subjects? Start rambling and see where it takes you? Sheesh... whats a mess!

Anyway... so what to do? Lets see... I have 3 loves in my life. I have said before, the first is dogs. Its not nuclear science, its simple to me, its natural. Like breathing. 

The second is food. Eating, cooking, serving, playing around... but food. Not pastry, not desserts. For some reason, sugar and I dont get along very well. I will eat them but I will not make them. Yea ok I can make a few easy ones, like a cake or muffins, or a cheesecake, our greek halva (made of semolina) and a mean crumble apple pie that my Scottish friend Jofi gave me. But pastry is science and I am not that smart. But food... hell yea. With food, you can play around... and if you make a mistake, there is always a way to correct it (unless you burn it, that is). And no flashy, modern kind of cooking... the simple grandmother way and the type of cooking that you just have to put all your love into. Cook to create. Not only to eat. 

And the third... ah! Music. Rhythm... beat, passion. I am not one of those people who can listen to anything. I am not a big fan of classical music... I dont get crazy about opera... I am a 90's child and my mother introduced me to Motown, Rock N' Roll and Pop when I was very very young. So its just easier on my ears. And I get obssessed with a good voice. Not all those trash that think they can sing nowadays (I will not mention who). But a good, clear, steady, powerful voice. Music to me is... how can I put this? Freedom. Life. When I was young, I wanted to become a singer. Never had any training, dont come from a music family... I just liked singing. For my closest friends, mostly. I dont know if I am any good, I dont care anymore since I will never find out but you will always hear me humming... something, anything that has stuck in my head and I find soothing, comforting, liberating. I am picky about what I listen to. I cannot play any instruments, I never was able to figure out how to hold a guitar but hey... we cant have it all! And I am a simple person... I like keeping it simple.

So... where to go from here??? Who knows... time will only tell.

Siba... a lesson learned.

Needless to say, I love dogs. I have loved dogs all my life so when I had the opportunity to have a dog, I couldn't have been happier.

It always came natural to me... I love all animals but I am scared of cats. Yup cats. Well, ok not terrified of them but when you cant "read" an animals body language, cant really tell what they are thinking or how the react or why they do the things they do, you kind of stay away from them. Not that I am an expert with dogs but it just seems a better fit for me. 

Before the 2 I have now, I spent most of my life with Siba. I can never seem to talk about him enough. He was my first dog. A poodle mix. When I came to the island, I was very high strung and very reactive because of my parents divorce. So what better way to occupy myself than a dog? My father had the great idea of getting me a puppy. I wasnt ready and he came into my life for all the wrong reasons. But remained in my life for all the right ones. He became the love of my life and the lesson of a lifetime... unconditional love.

Siba as a puppy

He was a tough dog and I had no idea at the time as to how to raise him. He was housebroken fairly quickly but other than that... I didnt know what I was doing. I was a teenager and my fathers advice didnt help. Siba learned how to go for a walk with a choke chain. Yup... a choke chain. Fathers advice because Siba pulled. When he did something wrong, I had to slap him. Yup... slap him. Fathers advice because Siba was feisty. And I did. This dog got slapped... a lot. I once kicked him too... I used to scream at him to stop nipping, jumping up on me... you know all the things people did to dogs 30 years ago so that a dog would obey. He really didnt though. 

He was very strong minded for a small dog and I sometimes thought (I do until this day too) that he did things just to piss me off! (I am of course humanising his behavior, which wasnt the case). One thing that says who he really is, is this incident : we were out for a walk one day and I had him off leash in an empty lot (note: if your dogs recall isnt perfect DON'T have them off leash) and he was going about, sniffing, peeing the whole universe by lifting his leg as far as it could go and just being a dog. A motorbike came around and Siba thought it would be funny to chase it. Driver got a bit worried and panicked, leading to him running over my dog! I freaked out, of course and thought that my beloved brat was dead. By the time I could think or react, Siba jumped up and attacked poor mans leg... didnt bite him but the guy left as fast as he could. Thats what kind of dog he was... he wasnt hurt, thankfully but comes to show how fierce he was! 

When I moved out at the age of 18 due to problems I had with my father (better yet, he moved out and left and I continued living in the house we rented) Siba stayed with me. He was my dog and no way was my father taking him (not that he wanted him). Here we are, just the 2 of us, me being a complete mess as to where life is taking me and how crappy my life seemed at the time. I finished school, got a job, had my friends and got my life back on track after a year of going out every single night (my father never let me go out so I was doing mostly everything I didnt do while I lived with him, I was a good girl though, promise) and just enjoying my freedom of not having anyone telling me what to do. Down the road, friends disappeared, job got more serious, I was growing up fast... and Siba? He was always there. Waiting patiently, never wanting more than his food, a walk and to cuddle with me while I was home. He matured and I matured with him. 

He turned out to be my perfect dog. He understood everything and I found myself having long conversations with him... we would go for walks and he would always be off leash, he would come the minute I whistled. I left him alone for hours due to work, especially when I had 2 jobs and he never ever complained. He was just always happy to see me home. Then he slowed down... he was getting older. He went deaf and he had kidney issues. I promised him I would take care of him like he took care of me. And I really hope I did. I even promised him that I would build my house as quickly as possible so he could enjoy it too. I never took one single decision without keeping him in mind. When I found Mimika, he didnt want her though. She was a puppy and he was a senior dog so he didnt really want anything to do with her... but he tolerated her and they got along fine. 

So we move into our new house and he had a property now large enough away from busy streets and he could pee his heart out! He loved it... and I loved seeing him happy. But he slowed down even more... he would sleep most of the day and just wait for me to come home from work. He went blind from one eye, his trachea had collapsed and made him cough like an old man but his heart was still strong. We managed... on the 10th of April, 2012 I had to let him go on a rainy night. I still dont know what happened that night ... I still wonder if I could have done something to keep him with me. But he wasnt getting any younger and he was already 16. 

People come and go, they will hurt you, they will make you happy, they will teach you, they will use you, they will forget about you... but a dog wont. A dog will wag his tail for you, after a crappy day. And Siba was that kind of dog and I miss him terribly. He wasnt trained... he wasnt perfect... but he was MY perfect dog. He was my friend, my buddy, my pal. He taught me more than I taught him... I wish there was a way for dogs to be with us forever... but they come into our lives for one reason only : to teach us the meaning of unconditional love. Nothing more precious than that.

Why???... oh, I dont know!

Well, dont know why exactly I started a blog in the first place... My Netherland friend, Marieke, started one about her dogs and crochet (Mammadoggie), Growing Pack has had his own for quite some time regarding his dogs (you should really check it out Life with 2 powerbreeds, and Chico) and Mishka, the majestic Black Russian Terrier, owned by my French pal, Laura tells us all kinds of stories of raising of his sidekick Pasha (The apprenticeship of Pasha)... hope you guys dont mind me mentioning your blogs! 

So, here I am, having no clue as what to write about... I just thought of the "Underground Valley" and since I am a somewhat dark and mysterious human being, hey! I shall give it a try. Now... I dont do anything exciting. I am a pretty boring gal and most of my spare time is spent with my dogs. 

Oh yea, dogs! I have 2 beautiful (I think) dogs... Both found as puppies and as strays. 

Today

First and foremost, my diva: Mimika. Husky/golden something something mix, 3 years old. She was found when she was about 2 months old at our islands cemetary, sleeping on a grave. I assume the person who left her there thought that it was a good place for a dog to be found and adopted. I wasnt going to keep her... but blondie stole my heart ( as my good friend Jo says "blonds do have that effect!") and so here she is with me and taught me patience... lots of it! I couldnt stand her high energy when she was younger. Sad to say at times, when walking, I wanted to just set her free and be done with it... after causing me a dislocated shoulder, lots of bumps and bruises, she finally matured into a loving, gentle, medium energy dog... I must have done something right and she helped me understand what its all about.

About a month after I found her

Day 1

This day

Now Vakis... O-M-G! Vakis is a whole different story. I am not sure he is 1 years old yet but he is a feisty little bugger! Found him last year while coming home from work... mid July I think it was. Have no idea how old he was... 3-4-5 months... have no clue and not even vet could quite figure it out. But he was a puppy... timid, scared of his own shadow and hungry. I had to chase him with my motorbike in the heat because he was so scared he jumped into the busy street and started running to "save" his life. After 10 minutes, he was so tired and hot, he just went into a construction site and sat in the shade. I grabbed him and so our life together begins. He was pathetic, poor thing... under weight, hungry, thirsty, dirty, full of fleas and ticks that were kind enough to bite the hell out of him... he has been with me since then and I thought he would never get through his shyness and fears. Mimika helped and he has turned out to be a little rascal!

He is a guard dog... or at least thats what he thinks. Now dont know if he will protect my house or me but he will bark his head off if he sees someone he doesnt know apporaching the house... testing his boudaries lately a lot but you know, I got this. He likes walking around all "I own the world" style, tail up, swagging like he is about to bust a move... but all in all he is a lovely dog, listens and loves to sleep... so I am not complaing... now breed? Hell, I dont know!!! Canis mutatis, I think is what my dear friend, Lenke from South Africa calls it... Adrienne on the other hand (CASA US sanctuary for dogs) says he might be some doberman mix... I dont care really... they are DOGS to me. You know those creatures who are concidered to be mans best friend?

Yea, yea... I prefer their company. Of course, they cant play board games, cant have a conversation with you (but you can with them, they always listen), they wont give you gifts on your b-day, hey they dont even know when it is! They cant do human things... ok, ok... I know. But really, honestly, who can truly say that a dog doesnt make you smile after a crappy day? I like silence... I dont like people yapping in my ear when I get home from work... I need peace and quiet and that is exactly what they have to offer. Balance, quiet and an energy that just makes you happy. They dont need much either. A stroke against their shedding furs, a word of love, a plate of food and a walk... Now why would I need more than that? I might be crazy for saying all this but you know, I dont care. If caring for my dogs and liking their company is crazy, yup... I am totally insane!!!