CP #3 Dog-O-Ween + Turkish people -- Stephanie

I took Serher and Sevim to Dog-O-Ween at Tom Brown Park.  Neither of them had ever heard of this and they were really quite surprised that Americans actually did this.  I mean, from their point of view, dressing up dogs and putting them on stage in a competition was both bizarre and weirdly fantastic.  Serher didn't fully believe that this was a real event until Sevim explained to her how different American pets and American pet culture were compared to the Turkey.  I explained to Seher that here, pets really are considered to be four-legged members of the family.  Sevim chimed in with "they (the dogs) are like children here, treated as children here.  Really!"

Eager to experience this strange American culture, both of my Turkish friends set out on different paths, cell phone cameras at the ready.  They went all over Dog-O-Ween and took as many pictures as possible to be able to share with their friends and family back home.

The actual competition started about 15 minutes after we arrived.  Serher and I moved to find a place in the grass near the stage.  She was still having a hard time believing this was all real.  She kept looking around her with an odd expression.  Finally, she remarked at all the different varieties of dogs we had in America and how clever many of the costumes were.  A pair of dogs dressed with angel wings were her initial favorites.  However, as the contest wore on, they were soon replaced by a large Great Dane dressed as a knight's charger (jousting horse).  His two owners --only barely taller than he was-- were the princess and the knight.  I quickly agreed that I hoped this trio won an award. Another memorable entry was a tiny blonde girl, not much more that 4 years old.  She was dressed as Princess Jasmine and her Golden Retriever was sporting painted 'tiger stripes'.  This 'tiger' even did tricks, such as rolling over on command. 

And then it happened, Serher's new (and final) favorite appeared: a dog/owner combo dressed as Jack and Skully (?) from The Nightmare Before Christmas.  The dog was dressed as Jack and the owner was dressed as Skully.  Not only was Seher impressed with the costume, but also with the story behind the dog.  Known as One-Eyed-Jack, the dog was a former rescue and had been competing in the contest for the past 13 years.  Though he needed a bit of help, Jack was still able to stand straight up on his hind feet with his front feet balanced on his owners shoulders.  In this position, Jack was slightly taller that Skully and the costumes really did look straight off the movie set.  Everyone in the audience was whipping out their cameras and snapping pictures. 

Eventually we learned that Jack and Skully won the contest.  Serher was so happy, she couldn't wait to tell her Turkish friends about this wonderfully weird American custom.  And of course, the icing on the cake what that her favorite entry was also the winner.  :)