Otto of Rancho Leon
Our first account is from Claudia Leon and her Kangal Dog Otto, from Rancho Leon in the Hill Country of Texas.
We live on a ranch, but instead of livestock, our Kangal Dog 'Otto' (Turkmen Ottoturk of RanchoLeon; CH SVF Kaptan of Turkmen X CH Turkmen Tasi's Mystique) is surrounded by untamed ungulates.
He had to learn to tolerate the migratory lifestyle of our deer and antelopes with their unexpected appearances and disappearances. They in turn habituated, just a little, to that big, blond thing. But once I saw a white-tailed doe actually attack Otto. We were walking peacefully along our fence line, when I noticed that we were stalked by a doe. She kept following us, peeking around juniper bushes and stomping her front hoof. Deer can be quite pushy and this one was telling us, to get the heck out of Dodge. Apparently we weren't disappearing fast enough, since she suddenly mounted a rear charge against Otto. He was completely surprised by this doe flying out of nowhere, jumping on his back, flipping him over in an elegant summersault, standing over him and kicking his belly a couple of times, before running off into the sunset, well, back into the woods. During her blitz attack he just looked over to me, as if to say, hey, I didn't do a thing, honest. Which I knew to be entirely true. He also did not attempt to defend himself, even though he could have ripped her throat out in a heart beat. And he's not shy about using his teeth, when a predator is involved. As far as the doe is concerned, some time later I realized that Ms. Green Beret had twin fawns stashed not too far from that site.
In lieu of guarding livestock, Otto adopts all and every living being he perceives as helpless. Including, unfortunately, baby porcupines, which he carries home very, very gently. They are just fine, while he bleeds freely all the way to the vet. One entirely quill-less being he adopted when he was still a pup, was my visiting mother. She is very unsteady on her feet, her spinal stenosis making leg movement a hit-or-miss affair, requiring a walker for support. Otto somehow assessed her difficulties right away and did not leave her side for the entire time she stayed with us, even sleeping alongside her bed. He would put himself between her and everyone who might bump into her, when she was standing up. Especially his best buddy, our very energetic Beauceron, was not allowed near her. However, while mother was safely seated, he would relax his vigilance. How did he know? He just did.
