Karam
The street where my mom lives in Dikili, Izmir is home to the most loving, cuddly pack of dogs. Minik (“Tiny” in English) was the long time resident at almost 14 years old but unfortunately she passed away from old age recently. Alpha and Karam (“Blackie” in English) are the two who lead the pack and they are almost always up for belly rubs.
After a while a new pup with striking red eyes joined the crew. I named him Alagöz which means “Red eyes” in English. Karam was not thrilled at first , but as long as Alpha approved, he didn’t make a fuss and learned to live with him. Alagöz, being young, didn’t quite get the unspoken rules of the street, especially the “don’t interrupt Karam’s petting sessions” rule so he got into trouble a few times. (Update: unfortunately Alagöz also became an angel recently)
Alagöz
Then there is Bonnie. She is not a street dog anymore because she was saved and adopted from the streets of Georgia (the country) by our downstairs neighbors and now lives the life of her dreams in this Dikili street.
Bonnie
Bonnie always greets my mom when she walks out and loves getting pets. One day while she was walking by my mom, another neighbor from the area made a comment saying she looks pregnant. Turns out she was not spayed because she was young but of course eventually got pregnant by a non-neutered street dog. Guess who? Alagöz of course, and the babies very much looked like him. She had 7 babies but they only kept 2 of them and named them Kartal (“Eagle” in English") and Mike.
They were the cutest things that ever happened to this neighborhood.
Kartal
Mike as a puppy
Kartal was adopted by one of the neighbors’ friend and they kept Mike, and Mike grew up to be the most handsome pup.
Mike, when he was about 8 months old