Every year a small town just north of me has a very traditional Festival called Trenton Down Home Days. There are about a hundred booths with all kinds of homemade crafts, candies and sweets, and lots of homemade canned foods. Some of the quilts and wood crafts are just amazing, showing the quality that has been passed down from generation to generation.

Since I don't have any children, I make sure my dogs go to a lot of arts and craft festivals and the different fairs that are available in my area (there are about a dozen each year), but to be fair, I have to rotate who gets to go. This time I decided it was Daisy's turn to go and get her "kid fix".

Daisy loves crowds and adores all the children she meets during her wanderings, but the thing she likes most is meeting and greeting little dogs. She always gets very excited when she sees a small dog prancing along with its owners. The first thing she does is go down into a "play bow" to let the little dog know she just wants to say "hi". She has not met a small dog yet that didn't like her, although some are a little intimidated by her size at first. Their owners think it is wonderful that Daisy is so very gentle with their little guys.

During our wanderings, we must have been stopped every few feet with questions like "what kind of dog is that?", "wow! that is a big dog, what is it?" "do you have a saddle for that thing?", and, of course, the annoying questions like "is that a St Bernard?", "is that a greyhound?", or "what cross is that?" I have even had people wanting to know if Daisy is an Akita or a "Burmese" Mountain Dog! I just give everyone the "spiel" ... you know ... "This is a Turkish Livestock Guardian dog called an Anatolian. They come from the Anatolian plateau in Turkey and have been around for thousands of years. They are probably one of the earliest breeds of dogs. And, NO, they are NOT a Saint Bernard cross, or a dane cross, or any other cross, since those dogs did not even exist back then". I'm sure any of you who have been in the breed for a while, and have taken your dogs out and about, have given the "spiel".

I actually had one man tell me that I had been sold a "bill of goods" and he knew a mix when he saw one. I very politely informed him that, if that were true, then he needed to let AKC know since they had recognized this "mix" as a breed in 1996 and have confirmed many Anatolian Champions since then, and he also needed to inform the Turkish people that they had been producing a "mix" for thousands of years. I then went on to tell him the reason I knew she was not a mix was because I had bred her AND her mother, and owned her grandmother who came from a dog that I knew came from a Turkish import. I guess I got carried away because, when I finished talking, the man walked off with a kind of dazed look on his face. I don't think he will ever again try to tell anyone that no matter what they think, he knows their dog is a mix!! Daisy just looked at me as if to say "Well done Mom!!".

We spent nearly three hours wandering around the festival with its many interesting booths, lots of food vendors, and live music to listen to. It was a wonderfully productive day. I came away with some unique stocking stuffers for my family and Daisy got her "kid fix" for the next couple of months!! All of the vendors were really nice folks who constantly offered Daisy treats and buckets of water. One vendor who did snow cones gave Daisy a big cup of crushed ice, and Daisy thanked her with a big slurpy kiss.

We met a nice couple who had just rescued a Pyr that had been badly abused. Daisy seemed to know she was a little shy, so she didn't try to push her, but she let her know that, if she felt like playing, Daisy was up for it!!

All in all, we had a nice day with good folks and came away with a good feeling, if just a little tired. Daisy can't wait until next time!!