Cynder of Tamoora
To start this story, we bought an Anatolian puppy (our first) as a pet/companion dog for us and our border collie mix. She arrived to us all the way from California sight unseen. It was love at first sight, as soon as she came out of her crate we knew she was going to be our baby girl forever! We named her "Cynder" short for our "little Cynderella".
She went through the awkward gangly puppy stages and we learned what the Anatolian Shepherd Dog was all about. Sure we made our mistakes with raising her, but in spite of them our Cynder grew into a very beautiful, intelligent, loving, sweet, gentle, protective, and most of all a dog with lots of personality. She endlessly amazed us with her antics and playfulness. One of the reasons we bought an Anatolian (after a lot of research) was because of the long life span. We wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.
We had Cynder spayed and showed her in miscellaneous classes occasionally. We did this for her, because she loved to be around people, dogs and especially children.
Showing her was our way of telling Cynder we loved her and wanted to spend quality time with her. In eight (8) shows at WWKC she took seven (7) Best in Shows! We were so proud of her! She got her Certificate of Merit and was well into getting her Certificate of Excellence. She was by far not a perfect dog, but in our eyes she was!
We lost our Cynder just recently at 2 1/2 years old to anaphylactic shock. We were devastated by her death. She was a much loved member of our family and my best friend and companion (as she bonded with me).
The day of her death, was a typical day, she was given her bi-weekly bath around 3:30 pm, kept in the house until she dried, let out to greet me when I came home from work at 5:30, with leaps, bounds, licks, kisses and off she went doing her Cynder things. She was herself in all aspects showing no signs of distress or sickness. About 6:30 pm she came in to see what we were eating in the kitchen, was given a snack and out again to run the fence-line checking for intruders (she took her job seriously)! By 7:00 pm we found her under her favorite tree by the house, DEAD.
At this point, we were totally shocked and we cried because we knew she had been dead for at least 15 minutes and there was nothing we could do for her now. What could have killed our beautiful, vibrant heathly dog so fast?? We had no idea and wanted very much to know, so arrangements were made to take her to the University of Florida and have an autopsy performed on her. It was then discovered, she died of a severe allergic reaction (also known as anaphylactic shock) to something, most likely a bee sting, as she loved to chase and catch bees or a bug bite. Not enough is known about this sort of thing to be certain as to what it was exactly. Poisoning was ruled out.
How does a person know if their dog is allergic to something if no signs are showed? Cynder never showed any unusual swellings or any other signs to make us believe she had a MAJOR allergy to something. Many of us probably didn't know that this sort of thing can be a serious threat to a dog, just like a person who is allergic to bee stings or penicillin. You can fence your property to keep your dog safe from problems occurring from wandering; keep up on shots, medications, feed properly, train them, love them, protect them from danger, etc, but how do you protect them from INSECT BITES? Never let them out of the house???
 "Cynder and Ugur - Best of Friends" |
"Football Anyone" |
We would like
to remember our Cynder as she was--with her smiling face and happy-go-lucky personality
and we ask why her? I guess death is very unjust--when dogs are taken that are
not ready to go and their owners are not ready to let them go. We loved her so much
that her loss in 
our life is like part of us died and went
with her. Why does a dog that was so cherished have to be taken like that?? We
were expecting at least 16 happy years with her. She died very quickly and it
appeared she did not suffer much. We take great solace in knowing that anyway.
Every so often their happens a perfect match of dog and owner such as the one we had with Cynder. From the day we got her a special love and bond was formed. She fit so perfectly into our family (without even trying). We could go on and on about all the special moments and time we had with her but we will keep them in our hearts forever.
One special moment I must share with you all, is the night before her death she was laying on her back on the couch with her head on my lap and I was rubbing her belly. All I could see in her eyes was pure adoring love. We had friends over that night and they were amazed at how such a large dog could be so gentle and kind.
We would like to thank Cindy Krek of Growlsburg Kennels and her "Growlsburg Nipper" and Bob and Betty Hayward's "Maranda's Baskin" for making us such a wonderful girl. We were very happy with her and could not fault her in anyway. The time we had with her (though brief) will cherish forever and left us to believe that the Anatolian Shepherd is one of the most loving and gentle breeds in the world. We are looking forward to adding more Anatolians to our family.
If we learned anything from all this, it is love them and be good to them everyday, because it may be their last day with you! We love you Cynder and you will always be with us.
SEE YOU AT RAINBOW BRIDGE!!!
"your beloved family you left behind"
Tamoora Anatolians
