Picking Up the Pieces

Every week we get closer to putting our lives back together after Aliyah. It's a slow process, but every day we get just a little bit more organized, a little bit more comfortable, a little bit more settled. And for us, you know what that means.


Today we picked out our new dog.


Those of you who know us, know that when we moved to Israel 6 months ago, one of the hardest parts of the move was giving up our 2 dogs.


Lots of you have told me you just don't understand having a dog in the house; the mess, the smell, the noise, the work. And I'll agree with you on all of those. It's messy, it can be smelly, it's noisy and it's a lot of work. There have been times I've lost it with my previous dogs; think chewed up brand new cell phone, or pulling all the phone/internet cables out of the wall and chewing on them until they were destroyed, or running away the night I gave birth to N. While Eli ran through the streets of R trying to track down Dog #2, I was in the hospital waiting up all night bawling like a baby. The nurses thought I was another crazy lady who just had her 6th kid and was breaking under the pressure (hmm...maybe I was).


I can't really explain why I like dogs and most pet owners hate to have to defend their position on animals.  I don't really need to tell you why I love the companionship, or the clicking sound of nails on the floor, or the rush of a greeting every time you come home. I even like dog smell. Ok, not wet dog smell, but clean dog smell.


I spent waaay too many times to count this week and the last ferrying different kids back and forth to the pound in Rechovot. It's 30 min. door to door, but it was a lot of driving to go and come back, only to have to go again the next day. And let me tell you, the pound (like everything here) is organized chaos to the hilt. We're talking hundreds of dogs running, barking, jumping. Mud, dirt, and worse everywhere. Now to give the staff credit, they are very on top of things. The dogs are very much loved and cared for, but I don't care if they lived in a palace, 250 dogs would be chaos.


So, how to pick, how to pick? By now we are dog experts. This will be the 6th dog we've had (not counting others we've dog-sat here and there). I knew pretty much exactly what I was looking for at this point.


1. Medium size (we just don't have the room for the German Shepherd I had to tear B off of, and we just are not a "little dog" family)
2. Short haired (we have some extended family with allergies)
3. Great with kids (Obv)
4. Not a big barker, but maybe enough of a barker to scare away the collectors, thieves.
5. And after much deliberation...yes, a puppy. I know, I know...it's a lot of work. YES it is! But there is something to be said when the dog grows with the family. I originally was considering several dogs that were between a year and two years, but it was clear that they already had their personalities. When you get a puppy, you can shape a lot of who they become. But I digress...these were my criteria.


So after many trips out there, we finally settled on one. She needs shots and a check up, so we'll have to go again to get her in a week or two. The funniest part of all is that she looks just like Dog #1 that we had to leave behind. That we got 7 years ago. From the pound. In Rechovot.....