I Rescued A Dog From Kazakhstan Today

I had been planning to temporarily adopt a puppy. Saltanat's dog had a litter of seven puppies two months ago and she asked if I'd like to keep one of them at my house until I moved back to America. This sounded great for a number of reasons, the main one being that I get bored and puppies are cute! I had planned to pick the puppy up from Saltanat's after my trip to Sweden. However, when I made my way over there the puppy was much less excited about me than I was about her. She was the last of the litter left and she had seen all of her brothers and sisters shipped off. When Saltanat even tried to approach her she ran screaming and crying into the garden. We spent 20 minutes trying to catch the puppy and everytime we got close she sounded as though someone had stepped on her - yelping and squealing.

After 20 minutes, I was feeling pretty unwanted and Saltanat was pretty tired. She told me she would try and catch the dog and bring it to my house whenever she caught it. Well, a week passed and no dog showed up at my front door. I had resigned myself to the fact that the puppy and I were not meant to be, but made jokes about how the puppy had no idea how good she would have had it if she had simply wanted to be loved by me.

(Enter Fate)

After a trip to the "white house" (the toilets at our school), Saltanat, Dinara (the other amazing new and young English teacher) and I came across an adorable little puppy on the school grounds. I crouched down and called him to me and he came galloping across the path up to my legs. He wasn't afraid of me at all. Saltanat eyed me (knowing full well what I was thinking). I asked her if the puppy was a stray and she asked the groundskeeper (who was standing nearby). Sure enough, he had no home. Saltanat and Dinara encouraged me to adopt him and I decided that when my lessons were finished I would think about taking this dog home with me.

I spent one entire lesson just looking out the window for the puppy. I was terrified he was going to run off and I wouldn't be able to take him home. After the lesson, I told Saltanat that I must go look for 'my' puppy. I had already claimed him, apparantly. When I got outside a bunch of 7th or 8th grade boys were working in the yard (something they have to do in Kazakhstan). The puppy was just wandering around them, trying to be one of the boys. I walked excitedly over to him and pet him furiously. The boys got very excited about the puppy and started asking me to translate things about him in Russian. He's black. He's a boy. etc. Then they started picking on him, as Kazakh boys like to do. I was discussing with the groundskeeper that I wanted to take the puppy home after classes. The boys literally began tossing the puppy around and kicking him when I wasn't looking. I scolded them and decided right then and there that the puppy was coming home with me.

And so, I have provided a home for this adorable homeless puppy. It took me a day (and an hour-long Skype conversation with Sarah) but I finally named him. Kairu (kai-roo). It means "little black one" in Kenyan and while it may be a little peculiar, I just couldn't escape the name. He's going to be one cultured little puppy, let me tell you. He's already learning both English and Russian ('come' in English, and the equivalent of 'no, stop that!' in Russian) and he has a Kenyan name and could one day visit America? :)

I'll try not to let this blog turn into the Kairu Chronicles, but he IS providing me with much entertainment and a lot more chores around the house. I no longer come home and spend hours watching movies or reading books. Now, I've got to feed the dog, make sure he doesn't have any fleas, potty-train and (when I get my hands on a collar/leash) take him for walks. If only he were a little older, I could start training him to run with me. :) Kairu is a very welcome addition to The Farm - at least until the Hubers come back and we have to worry about allergies...

Isn't he adorable?

After his first bath, which he did NOT like very much.

Debbie and Paul sent dog treats for Norbert, but since he ran away... the new puppy says Thank You!

And then, off to play...