In My Arms

Seventeen years ago, I brought a little puppy home in my arms.
Today, he can no longer walk. Again, I will take him in my arms, to the next place.

Today, I do so with tears in my eyes, and more love than I ever could have imagined on that day that I brought him home in my arms.

Poofy has been an incredible friend, and I will miss him more than I can express.

I am so lucky to have had him for all these years.

While he will no longer be in my arms after today, he will forever be in my memories and those of my children.

Thank you Poofy, for being a friend, for being a companion, for being everything a dog can be.

Almost 13

I can't believe that Poofy's almost thirteen years old. Since I found him on a warmish December day, I've married, had two children, developed a chronic disease, made friends, had several jobs. Poofy's been the constant through all of it.

Sometimes, he really bugs me. He needs more walks these days. Sometimes, I end up walking him five or even six times in the same day. He insists on being petted. Sometimes, he's in my lap when I really want to hold one of the children.

Sometimes, though, I think back to when he was a puppy and it was just me and Poofy against the world, and I think, it's been a great run, Poof. I'm so glad you've been with me all this time. I hope you have a few more good years left in you! 

Doggy Meme

I was tagged by triLcat (a.k.a. Mommy) for this meme.

8 passions in my life:

1. Keeping bad guys away from my family
2. Barking at Sven (the neighbors' Golden Retriever)
3. Snuggling
4. Chewing my bone
5. Trying to eat Mishmish (the hamster)
6. Going for walks
7. Chicken
8. Cheese

8 Things to do Before I Die

1. Finish one of those real bone bones.
2. Learn how to roll over
3. Mark every tree, bush, and lamppost in Modiin
4. Learn to Blow Shofar
   
5. Learn to bensch (say grace after meals) instead of just sitting on someone's lap for it.
6. Show that Amstaff who's boss!
   
7. "Reunite" with Barbie
   
8. Catch a cat
   

8 Things I often say:

1. Woof
2. Hav Hav (Hebrew for woof woof)
   
3. Howwwwl
4. Ruff
5. Arf
6. Bow-Wow
7. Ah-Choo!
   
8. *yaaawwwn*

8 Books I Read Recently:

1. Cujo - Stephen King
   
2. Wolves of the Calla - Stephen King
   
3. The Bone Collector - Jeffery Deaver
   
4. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
   
5. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
6. My New Boy - Joan Phillips
   
7. Harry Potter and the Yummy Biscuit
8. The Bible - Jack Russell Edition

8 Songs that Mean Something to Me:

1. How Much is that Doggie in the Window?
2. Poof the Magic Dragon
3. Get Along Little Doggies
4. Has Anybody Seen My Dog?
5. You are the Little Dog - by Yaakov
6. Is Das Nischt a Poofy Dog? - by Saba
7. Poof Poofon (similar to Pil Pilon)
8. Hard Day's Night

8 Qualities I look for in a friend:

1. Loyal
2. Friendly
3. Kind
4. Energetic
5. Likes napping
6. Doesn't pull my tail
7. Isn't scared of me
8. Has a good smelling rear end

8 people I am tagging:
How about 8 reasons my tail is WAGGING:

1. triLcat pets me
2. I get to eat cheese, eggs, and margarine
3. Kinneret looks at me and she likes me!
4. I'm allowed on the couch and the bed
5. Since they put in curtains, it's easy to look out the window and keep track of the neighborhood
6. I think the new squeaky toy is really for me, even if they think it's for the baby.
7. It's nice and cool out
8. I might be going for a walk soon!
   

Just a Quick Post

I just wanted to ask you all to welcome my new human, Kinneret Esther, pictured below on the left. The big girl on the right is my Aunt Rachel's youngest daughter Nomi.
Other than that, I have a picture of another canine relative of mine from Copenhagen, Denmark. Photo courtesy of my uncle Sam.
It's important to note that this canine got a much skinnier mom. I hope that doesn't mean that he's not being fed well...

A Family Outing!

I've spoken before about my lovely wife, Barbie. I've mentioned that we have five children, too. Until a very short time ago, I hadn't met these children though. About two weeks ago, I finally had the opportunity to see four of my five children and to see Barbie again. Her humans aren't so keen on us spending time together, since they ended up cleaning up after our numerous progeny for a while.

Anyway, we all met in the park, and we had a great time, barking and sniffing and all that good stuff.

The two up in the air are L: Hercules (male) and R: Lollipop (female). They were adopted by the same family and are growing up together. Standing on their hind paws, supported by humans are L: Chiquita (female) and R: Banda (male). Down in front, standing on all fours are L: me and R: my sweet beloved Barbie.

Unfortunately, Shoko, the fifth child was unable to make it.

And Banda, I'm sorry I tried to fight with you. Sometimes being a dog makes it hard to curb your instincts. Now that Leah explained that fathers aren't supposed to fight with their sons, I feel somewhat embarrassed about the whole situation...

- Poofy

A Week of Unleavenedness.

This week, in addition to containing a holiday where rabbits lay eggs, was also the week of Passover. Someone will have to explain the whole concept of rabbits laying eggs to me, but in the meantime, I'll tell y'all a little bit about Passover.

About 3000 years ago (That's a LONG time, so I might not have it exactly right, but I know it was more than 2000, b/c 2000 years ago is when rabbits started laying eggs, and this was way before that.) the Jews were building pyramids in Egypt, and they were very sad, because pyramid building is hard work. So G-d said that the Egyptians should let them go. And Pharoah thought that was a lousy idea, b/c let's face it, good workers are hard to come by. So then there were all these plagues: blood, frogs, lice, wild beasts, you name it, it was BAD times in Cairo...

Anyway, in the end, the Jews were allowed to leave, so G-d told them to grab their gear and go. This meant that they had to bake their bread fast without giving it time to rise... so each year, for one week, all these Jews don't let anything rise.

You'd think this whole story doesn't have much to do with a dog like me, but it does...

Passover is totally the doggiest Jewish holiday. First, when the Jews left Egypt in the middle of the night, all the dogs kept quiet so they wouldn't wake the Egyptians. In the Torah (Bible), it says about certain parts of the meat that people aren't supposed to eat them, rather dogs are, and the rabbis say it's because of us keeping quiet that night.

Second, the rabbis have the funkiest way of deciding if something counts as food or not... Let's say you have a deodorant which contains wheat germ. Well, it might count as food, so maybe you shouldn't have it in the house on Passover... But it might not be food either... so who do you call? ME! That's who. I'll give it a sniff. If it's food, I'll try to eat it. If it isn't food, I won't bother. If it isn't food, it's not a problem to have it in your house on Passover.

So, all in all, it's a pretty doggie holiday, but here's the thing - my food has to be wheat, spelt, barley, rye, and oat-free for Passover, because Leah's not allowed to have any of the above (except when it's baked into Matza) in the house. So my Savta (Leah's mom) went to buy me special food, and it actually tasted pretty good. In addition, I've been munching on Matza and Gefilte Fish (think meatballs, only made of fish and kinda sweet). It's been a nice week.

Now would someone please explain to me about rabbits laying eggs?! Aren't they mammals like me?

Some Doggy Thoughts

You know, it's kinda hard being a canine blogger. Sometimes, I just feel like I don't have what to say. I mean, there's only so much you can write about the merits of a good bone or chunks of margarine.

On the other hand, I know my loyal readers are waiting for my next dose of brilliance, and I hate to disappoint. The big change going on in my life is that Leah's pregnant. This mainly means that she whines more about taking me out and that she sleeps more during the day. She also periodically talks to the little guy (or girl - I know but I'm not telling anyone, not even Leah. Us dogs just know these things.) and calls it Poogle.

Of course, whenever she starts saying "Poo...." then I think she's going to talk to me, but noooo...she wants to talk to Poogle. Hello, it's not like 'Poogle' even understands what she says. I mean, me... sure I'm not much of a talker, but I can understand stuff.

But that's life. Since I don't talk, I don't get a say in anything. It's hard being a Poofy dog!

Anyway, here's a picture of some dogs Leah met in Philadelphia. The big one is a Golden Doodle - a Golden Retriever mixed with Standard Poodle. She really liked it.

Have a great day, folks!
Poofy Dog