Goodbye, my dearest Lola

Yesterday morning, my beloved dog Lola died tragically. We went out for a routine early morning birding walk in some agricultural fields near home. I watched pipits and wagtails and chats, she sniffed around in the bushes. On the way home she developed first signs of distress. By the time we got back home few minutes later, her condition started to deteriorate quickly. By her symptoms it was clear to me that she had been poisoned. With the help of a friend we got her to a vet quickly, but she couldn't be saved and died. Such a horrible, cruel and unnecessary end for the loveliest of dogs.

Lola arrived to our family shortly after October 7th, two years ago. She came from a village close to the Gaza border that was attacked by Hamas. When I picked her up, in the car, the radio played 'Lola' by The Kinks, and I decided to name her Lola. 

When she arrived at our house, she made us smile for the first time after October 7th. She brought so much happiness and comfort to our traumatized family. Very quickly she fit into our family, and developed a deep relationship with each one of us. The kids loved her so much. Here she is with my daughter Libby.

Lola learned her role as my birding companion instantly, and enjoyed our birding sessions together very much. She was perfect in the field. She adjusted her behavior to mine when I was birding and was very attentive to me, she stopped when I stopped, walked on when I did. She was so patient and quiet. Since eBird added the option to upload habitat photos, she appeared in my eBird checklists too.

Because she was so perfect in the field, I always took her with me when I was out birding, also with other people. Because of her friendly and calm nature, she was loved by so many people. She enjoyed going with me to my regular birding locations such as the Jerusalem Bird Observatory. Thanks Amir for these photos from Friday, a day before she died. Here she is positioned at her regular spot by the ringing table:

It was the annual ringers meeting, that included food - she was on the lookout for a quick bite:

She loved Piki very much and he loved her back. Thanks Piki for these photos:

With birding friends:

She had a special BFF, Leila. They loved each other so much and spent lots of time together.

Goodbye my dear, beloved dog. I miss you so much. My birding will not be the same without you.

Those ears