Two

Want to know a secret? The first half of last week was kind of rough. I found myself tearing up almost every day; it was like this weird relapse of mourning, and I just missed Kai a lot. I had weird moments where I would be putting away laundry in the closet where Kai frequently hid, and would suddenly feel tears welling up. I was vacuuming on Thursday and literally thought to myself, what I would give to have a couch full of fur again.

Before we lost Kai - way before - we had made the decision that this summer we were going to get her a sister. She was pretty bored, always howling at me when I tried to get work done, and was the most happy when she was at the dog park.

Fast forward to this spring, when we were suddenly dog-less and devastated. We pretty much immediately knew we wanted two together this time -  siblings - when the time was right. Yet we also knew we needed time to grieve Kai, and get through a busy spring.

So for the past month I started scouring husky Facebook groups and classified ads for two siblings, either two females or male/female pair, we didn't care as long as they got along and were located somewhere in Israel.

Side note: The amount of Huskies (and dogs in general) that we've seen living in Tel Aviv has possibly been more than I've seen in my entire life. Being well aware of this, I quickly became panicky that we would never find two together who needed a home. I saw plenty of single Huskies who needed homes and they would almost immediately get scooped up by a willing party.

This past Friday night, I received a message from a man I had contacted awhile ago. He was active in a Husky Israel Facebook group I belonged to, always posting pictures of his 8 huskies - three adults, and five puppies. I had messaged him simply asking where he had gotten his dogs, that they were beautiful and I was struggling to find Huskies who needed homes in Israel. He told me how he had rescued the three adults separately, and the male and female had mated and had puppies. I told him they were all beautiful and we left it at that.

His message read: How is the search for two huskies together going?

Me: Not great, I look every day though...

Him: Well, after a lot of discussion with my wife, we've come to the conclusion that we can't afford to take care of/raise all of the puppies - it's just too much. If you and your husband are willing to raise them together and give them the care they need, you can take a brother and sister home...

Me: Yes.

Coming home!

The next morning, we drove the two hours south into the desert, near the Dead Sea, and met the pack of 8 - and brought home the brother and sister - Kira and Dakota. They weren't too sure about us at first, but after a few trips to the dog park and some treats this past weekend, I think they're warming up.

They're six months old, born in November (just like Kai was). Dakota currently weighs 3 kilos less than Kira; she kind of acts like an alpha and is my shadow. We kept the names they came with as they both already know them, but we abbreviate Dakota to Koda.

They were trained in Hebrew (sit = shev) so we are working on training them in both English and Hebrew - bilingual doggos. All of my time at the dog park with Kai has taught me most of the basic commands.

Is three months after losing our first pup too soon to get two more? Really I don't think there is a right answer. I don't think you ever fully get over losing your best friend way too young, and I also don't think you are ever ready to take on raising and training two Husky puppies together in a foreign country. I do know that Kai loved all other dogs and this is what she would have wanted for us; to grow our pack and love them well.

Stay tuned, they're already a furry handful and we love it.

Cheers-

Kait