I had been waiting for this day for a long time. I had wanted to make this easy for the little girl (she had
not yet been born) so I was in touch with Myrna about this particular litter and was also in touch with
various airlines about how I could bring her into the US as a passenger, in a crate under my seat or on
the seat next to me ( I wanted her arrival to be as un‐traumatic as possible). But after investigating all
options, and realizing she would not fit under the seat, I knew other arrangements had to be made.
Well, the litter was born and there was not a little girl for me (previous commitments) unless I wanted a
little boy. So I decided to wait for another litter.
Then I got an email from Myrna. The people who had committed to take a girl could not do it, so would
I take the female puppy and she could be shipped within a week.
Well, I had not even prepared the baby room nor had I prepared my Shepherd or my other Canaani, Mr.
Ze’ev, (or my staff or my family or anyone else). But I said yes! This was not happening the way I had
planned (fly to Israel, pick her up and fly her back in the seat next to me, hold her throughout the flight
and have all the passengers wanting to cuddle with her, bring her home and have Kitra, the shepherd,
and Mr. Ze’ev, fall in love with her, and my staff and family go crazy over her and life is good!). Well, it
didn’t quite go that way!
Myrna made excellent arrangements for Rena, my new baby girl, to get to the US. She had an excellent
agent meet the Al El flight in LA, get her through customs and rest in his home (she even got to sleep in
his bed that night). He called me, moment by moment, to keep me informed . The next morning he put
her on a plane to Albuquerque. I was so excited!
When I arrived at the Albuquerque airport I drove everyone crazy trying to figure out where to pick her
up. Finally, I found her! When I picked her up she cuddled and just tried to hide in my arms. I knew life
was going to be good! Not!
Myrna had told me that this litter had lots of desert blood. I thought that was really cool, but obviously
did not understand what this meant. When Rena met Kitra, who is a really mellow dog, it went fine.
Rena was not threatened and Kitra just wanted to play. Mr. Ze’ev was a different story‐‐‐he wanted to
kill her! She did not help matters because when he came near her she went crazy barking, which made
matters worse. The more she screamed at him the crazier he got‐‐‐‐‐oh my gosh‐‐‐‐my household was in
turmoil! Add to that I had just lost (2 days earlier) my older Shepherd, Oso, to cancer. I could not
believe how this perfectly planned new addition/family affair had gone so wrong! Needless to say, I was
in contact with Myrna constantly asking, “what do I do??”.
Well, I knew I had to do something soon (it had been 3 weeks and things had not improved and I was
playing doggy musical chairs, trying to keep the Cannani’s separate, yet trying to get Ze’ev to accept her
into the pack. Well, what can I say. I am an amateur.
I did get in touch with our local “dog whisperer”, and she was very excited to work with the Canaani’s.
So we began a program of slowly introducing them and calming Rena down so she did not excite Ze’ev
so he wanted to kill her! I probably made this more complicated than it had to be‐‐‐but I am learning!
All that to say, now 2 years later, I should have just done what Myrna said, “let them figure it out‐‐‐Rena
is a “cheeky girl”, and Ze’ev needed to let her know who was boss‐‐‐‐“, so he thought!
Today, Rena controls everything that goes on in this household, including the kitties! She is a
benevolent dictator!
Well, my dream of harmony‐‐‐‐a good shepherd, two wonderful Canaani’s, has finally happened (I do
need to occasionally intervene!).
The Hebrew name Rena means, “Joy, Joyous song”. She truly is a joy in our family, ask Mr. Ze’ev, he
loves her! And being a part of trying to preserve this incredible ancient dog is a privilege.
I love my Canaani’s—even though they may have a wild side‐‐‐‐they are very sweet and loving
companions. How awesome that we have an opportunity to help save this ancient Israeli dog!
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