People tell me that things change quickly in our family, and I suppose that’s true. I seem like I make decisions fast and act on them quickly. And that’s true! However, what people can’t know if that I spend a lot of time thinking about things and researching prior to taking action.

Months ago when we talked to our kids about moving to northern Israel, one son was very unhappy about the idea. He asked if he could get a dog if we moved, and to ‘sweeten the deal’ for him, I said I would seriously consider it. Time went on and he realized that he’ll be too busy with school to be around much, so he retracted his request.

But I had already begun exploring the idea and saw the different ways that having a dog could be valuable for our family, particularly our youngest two. The more I thought about it, the better an idea it seemed to be. I’m a believer in integrating beneficial activities rather than turning them into stand alone therapy, and some positive benefits of pet therapy are a natural part of pet ownership. Responsibility is great, but my kids can learn that without a pet – but the calm and connection of a pet are wonderful!

For months I’ve been reading descriptions of dogs needing adoptive homes on various Facebook groups, but I didn’t speak to my husband until the week we ended up bringing our dog home. When I presented the idea, he agreed it sounded interesting – once we moved to our bigger house with a bigger yard.

One of the ideas I considered was fostering a dog for a few months as a trial for pet ownership. Another idea was buying a trained service dog that didn’t pass the test (available to those with special needs at a very, very reduced price). I liked that idea a lot, but the waiting list was six months long and closed when I called.

Then I thought about our needs, and realized that I really didn’t need a service dog. What I wanted was a friendly, calm, quiet and intelligent dog that could be trained to track our younger two children if necessary. (I haven’t really shared here about the challenges involved when a child loves to explore on his own and escapes every chance he has…this is a very common issue for kids with T21 and I am SO grateful that when Yirmi turned 7 this finally stopped being the serious ongoing concern it was for years.)

Though I think puppies are incredibly adorable, I had no interest in training a puppy (toilet training my kids is my least favorite parenting activity), which is a significant time investment. I wanted an adult dog that was already housebroken and whose basic personality was already known.

I had just left for a two day women’s trip away when I saw a particular dog listed whose description caught my eye. However, I didn’t contact them because I had no time to take the kids to meet a dog. And anyway, I had just brought up the idea with my husband a couple of days before.

However, when I saw the same dog posted on the morning after I returned, I noticed there was a good bit of interest in this particular dog, and thought I should at least call. So I did. At 1 pm Friday afternoon she called back.

After our conversation, I strongly felt he was potentially a great match for us, so at 1:30 on Friday afternoon, I spontaneously announced a family trip to Tel Aviv! This was a bit of a surprise to them all since I had only a few days earlier in the week casually mentioned the idea of getting a dog. By going at this time, I was able to take my husband and the five youngest boys (who are rarely all available at once), and off we went.

Within less than a minute of meeting the dog, everyone was clear – this was the right dog for our family! Even the kids who were lukewarm to begin were enthusiastic after meeting him. Shabbos began that week at 4:15, Tel Aviv was an hour drive away and it was a very rainy day, leading to a longer trip than usual. We got back home just 15 minutes before Shabbos but all agreed the spontaneous trip was very valuable. It’s one thing to theoretically discuss something; it’s completely a different discussion when everyone knows the specifics.

Shabbos was filled with lots of talk about how excited they were to get Sheleg (translation: Snowy, because it was snowing when he was born). We bypassed the time constraints of my busy week to come by returning to Tel Aviv on Saturday night to pick him up.

Just like that, we are now a dog family! It’s funny how things can happen so quickly but just feel right. Everyone agrees, he fits our family perfectly.

After seeing so many dogs listed, what appealed to me particularly about this dog? First of all, the breed. I was specifically looking for a labrador or golden retriever, because of their friendly, calm temperament and intelligence. Sheleg is a golden retriever (according to his paperwork from the vet, but I think he must be a mix because he’s smaller than the typical golden retriever). A huge plus for me was that he had been raised with a family who had previously run a home daycare. They were wonderfully responsible and loving owners, and he is a very calm dog who is used to being around kids.

I was open to adopting a dog from a shelter, but preferred a dog from a private home. Often dogs have experienced abandonment, abuse and trauma, and it takes time and patience to help them feel safe and secure. A stable dog from a loving home was a definite advantage.

People keep asking why anyone would have given away such a great dog! The answer is, the couple who had him had gotten older and as their physical abilities became more limited, were unable to give him the life they felt he deserved. Neighborhood kids came by to take him out for walks (since the owners couldn’t do it); as much as they wanted to keep him, they felt it wasn’t fair to him to stay in a home with no porch or yard and very limited access to the outdoors.

However, they were very, very attached to him and despite a lot of calls expressing interest, didn’t feel good about any of the people who contacted them. They didn’t want money for him; their priority was that he go to a very good home.

When they met us, they had that same instantaneous feeling of us being a perfect match for what they were looking for, that we felt when we met them. She said a few times, she never dreamed she would find a family like us that was so exactly what they wanted for him, and as hard as it is for them, it gives them a lot of comfort that he will have a wonderful life. Every couple of weeks I send them photos. 🙂

So Sheleg is now a member of the family and has slid into our lives seamlessly. He loves being with us and we’re all enjoying him, too. There’s something very comforting about having such a nice dog around.

As far as additional training to track runaway kiddos, Yirmi is thankfully finally at the stage that it’s no longer a concern, and Rafael isn’t yet at that stage. So right now training isn’t something we’re actively pursuing. Especially since we’ll be moving somewhere with a lot more outdoor freedom, we like knowing we potentially have additional help keeping the littlest one from straying too far should we need it. 🙂

Avivah