Kibbutz Puppy

January 4, 2010

One of the lifestyle changes we made when we moved to Kibbutz Hannaton was getting a dog. We got her from Tzaar Baalei Chayim (Israel’s equivalent of the pound) when she was just over a month old–an adorable puppy who spent most of her first few weeks with us curled up on a bean bag in my 11-year-old daughter’s room.

Our kids had been asking for a dog for years, and our answer was always an ardent “NO!” The thought of having a dog in the city—keeping it cooped up except for a daily walk around the block–was not very inspiring. But when we announced our decision to move to Kibbutz Hannaton, we no longer had our city location as an excuse. We also heeded the advice of a friend whose diplomat parents had moved her to Africa when she was an adolescent—she told us to give the kids something in their new home that they couldn’t have in their old home. And so, we got Tiffy.

Tiffyis a mutt with some Belgian Shepard–and some wolf. As soon as Tiffy outgrew her adorable puppy stage, we were not certain we could keep her. She would escape our hold when we were out on a walk and end up in someone’s garden, eating their vegetables, stealing their shoes–or worse yet, attacking their chickens! And her wolf side was significantly more pronounced back then, so that she showed her teeth and growled when she felt threatened by another dog. The trainer we hired thought she must have been abused around food before she ended up at Tzaar Baalei Chayim.

Proxy

King, a Shepherd-wolf mix owned by “Proxy”

Tiffy is also a barker. In our first few months at Hannaton, she barked uncontrollably through the night, keeping us and the neighbors up. It was summer, so everyone’s windows were open; and Tiffy—with no job to go to or kids to take care of–stayed up all night when it was cool and slept all afternoon when it was hot. We were at our wit’s end.

But just when we were ready to try to find Tiffy a new home, she proved her worth. One night soon after our move, while Tiffy and I were out on a night-time stroll, I let her pull me towards the garbage bin at the end of the block.She dove straight into the garbage bin and came out with a cardboard roll that I immediately identified as the megillah that a soferet friend had hand-written for my daughter Michal’s bat mitzvah. If not for Tiffy, that precious megillah would have ended up at the bottom of a garbage heap!

Since then, Tiffy has become my morning walk companion. After the kids are off to school and gan, I head out with Tiffy through the kibbutz wheat fields and grapefruit orchards. She seems in her element running through the fields, and she is good company when I want to be alone yet feel protected.

I did not grow up with a dog, and I never felt my life was lacking by not having one. I still don’t understand people who treat their dogs as their “children.” However, I now have a new richness to my life, and I admit that I see the world a bit differently.

Becoming a dog owner has helped me understand that human beings are not alone on this earth. We are part of a system of animal and plant life that is easily ignored when it does not get in your way—especially when living in the city. But one thing both having a dog and living in the country have taught me is that the non-human world is worth opening up to. I’m not suggesting that everyone must open their home to an animal. But all of us can open our eyes to flowers in bloom, our minds to the fact that human beings are just one part of a larger animal kingdom, and our hearts to life no matter what form it takes.

Kibbutz Puppy

Rabbi Haviva Ner-David

Life and Action