It was in 2006 when we founded KIF, Köpek Irkları ve Kinoloji Federasyonu, in other
words, the Turkish canine organisation. Our aim has always been to develop the welfare
of dogs in Turkey and create a reliable stud book system and let our local breeds
to be recognised by the FCI. We are well aware that we have been behind the dog
world, but we also know that we will catch this world soon.
KIF became a contract partner of the FCI in October, 2010 and associate member in
June, 2015, which has accelerated the development of the dog world in Turkey. Since
the beginning, KIF has been very active in all dog events and we have tried to attend
almost all organisations of the FCI-related countries.
During the FCI General Assembly meeting in Milan, Italy, in June 2015, we were given
a questionnaire about the activities of FCI Youth; suddenly I got the idea of making
something for the children and young people in Turkey. As soon as I came back home,
I shared my opinion to my board members and asked what we could do all together.
After some time spent in our brainstorming session, we decided to create and publish
a book for children, first to let them know about dogs and how to behave with them.
Secondly, we also agreed to provide a special space for children at each dog show,
guided by youngsters with different activities, such as drawing pictures on dog-human
friendship, singing songs on dogs and sharing memories about dogs, which we have
been handling successfully at our shows since then.
After deciding on the book, we have had several sessions to conclude on the context
of the book. Since it is aimed at children, it should be simple and full of images,
not too long and full of extra information. We put a deadline and decided to go
on our studies via the internet to exchange our ideas and did so with a title “My
Best Friend, the Dog”.
After several revisions, we finished the context and applied for sponsorship since,
as a small club, we cannot afford the expenses related to it. One of our members,
Nuri Önel, who is a hunter and Epagneul Breton breeder, has accepted to be our sponsor
and I called one of my former students, who is a graphic designer, to ask whether
she can prepare it for publication, which she accepted with a minimum wage.
So far, so good and it was time to find a publisher and again a doggy person, Hamdi
Alp Doğ, a GSD breeder and fan, accepted to do it for free and published 5,000 books
for us! At first, we thought that 5,000 would be enough, but when we started to
promote the books we came to conclude that children and even adults were very hungry
for this type of activity and information in Turkey and 5,000 books was nothing,
in fact.
In order to promote and deliver the books, which are totally free for everybody,
our board members, including and started by me, contacted schools to give them short
lectures about our book and then give each pupil a book for free. You cannot imagine
the demand by schools almost all over Turkey after the first presentation I delivered
with the help of my English Setter, Lea.
Nowadays, we are getting many invitations from important private or state schools
to present the book in their schools and trying to reply them positively, as long
as we have time. We also are in contact with the Ministry of Education to deliver
the books everywhere in Turkey, with the approval of the Ministry, and everything
seems good about this process. We have already contacted our publisher to publish
15,000 more books to meet the demand and we believe that we have to publish much
more than initially planned.
Are you curious about what other things we are doing these days? We are working
on a new book with more information on dogs and dog welfare for adults. KIF, only
ten years old, is really trying to do its best for the welfare of dogs in Turkey
and we are very happy to be part of the world’s leading organisation, the FCI.
Ümit Özkanal
President of KIF, the Turkish canine organisation