The dog collectors

Yesterday evening we went to a mall in Haifa to get a hard-case for Yoram's 12-string guitar, so it can fly to Sweden. The kids were with us, and we bought some pizza for them. I took some sushi takeaway and we headed home. I was munching on the sushi as we drove through the industrial zone of Haifa bay area, as we suddenly saw a Doberman male running in the middle of the street. Yoram halted the car in the middle of a roundabout, and went out. The young wretch was first a bit cautious, but soon approached Yoram. I munched a bit more sushi, and then went out too. The dog had a collar on, but was very dirty and smelly, and considering that you could see every bone in his body, he had not eaten properly for weeks.

We made him a bit more comfortable with us, and then lifted him into the car. He was not protesting much, most likely because he was too weak to do so. However, it is not a dominant or aggressive dog. Only a bit anxious, but he soon started to trust us. I was sitting with him in the back to keep him calm all the way home, and we brought him to the children's mother's house, since she has an enclosed garden. He got one can of wet dog food and one cup of dry food and he ate it all. He was barking a bit during the night, but he poohed several times, which shows that his tummy is working fine. I will go there during the day and see if he allows me to give him a bath, and then in the evening we will bring him to our vet Pini to scan him for a chip and check his health status. Then we take it from there.

They say that you are doomed to keep the animal if you give it a name. Yoram already named him Pepito. Yoram is a bit prejudice against Dobermans. He thinks that they are unreliable and unpredictable. I claim that Yoram is wrong, and that he is just affected by a false stereotype. Maybe Yoram sees Pepito as his Doberman therapy, and already yesterday we noticed how fast he got attached to us. However, we leave to Sweden in three days, and have nowhere to house the dog. It was difficult enough with Goshen and Barak. During 10 days they will stay with Pini, but his pension costs a lot of money, so the kids mother will help us during the rest of the time. Anyway, I cannot see how we would be able to have three large dogs in our present flat, but maybe it is just wishful thinking that we will keep him. To be continued...