All Four Paws off the Ground

Boy, did I work hard on our trip to Haifa and Tel Aviv this time. We did the usual route on Monday going to Haifa to see Emma, whom Bracha placed on the floor so that she could see me through the glass of the doors to the terrace. I looked at her quietly and she looked at me. She has definite potential, but I hope she learns not to pull my fur like the little boy did at Sarid. That hurt and I had to get up and walk away. I think Emma will be nicer to me because she knows that Bracha cares for me.

Anyway, the next day we set out on a route that I had never seen before, and it was horrible. There were big trucks on the sidewalk and people were unloading things, cars were parked all over the place, and we had to go down into the street to get around them. But the worst was that a man threw down a large piece of metal that he was working with, and it made such a loud crash that I jumped high in the air. Bracha bent over to steady me and my heart was pounding because I was so scared. I had barely gotten myself oriented again ant started walking, when he dropped another one and I jumped again! I thought all my fur was gonna fly off, and I think all four of my paws were off the ground! At last Bracha and Yael and Danit sat down at a nice coffee house, where I could drink water from the pretty purple bowl they gave me and go to sleep. How are dogs supposed to contend with such terrible loud noises? Even the train going by in the station is not as scary as that. I don't care what Ami told Bracha on the course about not putsy-mutsying me when we see another dog or something scary, and teaching me to deal with it. I think that noise was loud enough to startle even people. I am, after all, only a dog.

Then Bracha took Rotem swimming in the pretty pool with the colored lights in it, and it was full of toys and rubber mattresses and looked like a whale of fun, But nope, I was not allowed in and had to be tied up on the side near the door. Why don't they have pools for dogs? I barked once or twice, but that didn't convince anyone either. But Bracha comforted me afterwards and told me that next week we are going to the Key-neret and then I'll be able to go swimming and run on the beach! I can hardly wait! And there will be music, too! I bet Bracha's gonna spend hours with that bouzouki she likes to hold in her lap and play with, and then I can be free to relax and chew a bone and sleep on the lawn all weekend! Hooray! A vacation!