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Good things in small packages By Ofri Shoval / Photos by Leah Golda Holterman Tags: israel news When you enter the yard of the Rosenstein home in Rosh Ha'ayin, there is no hint of what's to come. But the moment the doorbell rings, they're jumping all over: A throng of Chihuahuas surrounds you with deafening barks, and discombobulates you to the point that you imagine you're surrounded by a pack of wolves and not miniature creatures, weighing about a kilo and a half each. They certainly don't seem to recognize their physical limitations as they carry on like fearsome watchdogs. In fact, say the Rosensteins, they've already foiled three attempted break-ins. About 20 Chihuahuas, give or take, roam about the house, but Noga and Moshe Rosenstein don't like to count them, lest they tempt fate. Simha, Buba, Cognac, Katzele, Ketem, Madam, Lola, Shugi, Poogy, Ginger, Button, Ometz - and this is just a partial list. The dogs all look quite similar. Can Noga tell them apart? Her expression is partly reproachful and partly insulted. What kind of question is that? These dogs are the love of her life. "When I was a little girl, my mother wouldn't let me have a dog," she explains. "I was just waiting until I was grown up, and I loved the Chihuahua for its small size. It's the smallest and it's easy to keep in an apartment. It gives a lot of love. It's a dog with a lot of energy that's very loyal to its master. Take this one, for example," she points to a little grayish dog sprawled on the sofa like a bored teenager. "He's an international beauty contest champion. He has trophies. Would you like to take a picture of his trophies maybe?" Advertisement The Rosenstein household is very loving toward dogs. Noga is a special-education teacher and she does therapy using animals. "Moshe didn't like the dogs at all at first. He may look very tough, but now he loves the dogs even more than I do." Moshe: "She's crazy about them. It's her mania. Me? I'm fine with it. I love them. This is our life. You think I'm going to argue with her about it? I'm her right-hand man." He never imagined, however, that he'd be sleeping in a bed with six dogs. If someone would have told him that 20 years ago, he would have laughed in their face. A female dynasty - grandmothers, mothers and daughters - all have their regular places on the bed. The males always sleep in cages because they often pee near the females (to mark their territory). "A thousand females can get along. The males can't," says Noga, and with that important message about life, she turns to Ginger: 'Nu, come on, Ginger, go have your picture taken.'" Moshe Rosenstein, a businessman, also plays an official role as Chihuahua "coordinator" in Israel. This means that every purebred Chihuahua must be registered and go through him for an examination by the Israel Kennel Club, which authorizes pedigree certificates on behalf of the World Kennel Club. Each purebred has a five-generation certificate. It must meet the strict criteria of the breed, be capable of participating in competitions, and have a flawless breed profile. "The first time we got one, we were so excited we had the certificate laminated," Moshe recalls. "Now we don't get excited anymore, but someone who gets one of these certificates usually goes around acting like he and [tycoon] Lev Leviev are brothers." Britney has one Israel's National Dog Registry has approximately 740 Chihuahuas on record. Moshe Rosenstein says this figure is wildly inaccurate and that, at most, there are 100 purebred Chihuahuas in the country. The discrepancy derives from the inclusion of mixed breeds in the listing. To Rosenstein, if it's not a purebred, it doesn't count, and it's also not a Chihuahua: "The owner of a mutt comes in and tells the veterinarian that it's a Chihuahua, and what does the vet care? It could be a donkey, for all he cares. So he registers it as a Chihuahua and that's the end of the story." The Chihuahua is the smallest dog in the world. Its weight ranges from a half-kilo to three kilos. In the sixth century, the Mayans in Mexico sacrificed the tiny breed as a peace offering to the gods. In the early 16th century, the Spanish conquistadors wiped out every trace of the local culture, including the Chihuahuas, but 400 years later, in 1895, they were rediscovered. Before long, they became fashionable pets in Mexico City, and later in the United States and Japan. Like pugs and Pekingese, they had weddings and tea parties held for them. From the 1950s onward, they largely disappeared from public view, until late 2005, when they gained renewed glory as sought-after pets, often by celebrities. Anyone with a Chihuahua is ready to tell you that superstars Paris Hilton and Britney Spears also have them as pets. There are 60,000 Chihuahuas registered in Los Angeles, and most of them are named "Princess." Over the years, the breed has been engineered by man via a process involving shrinkage of the growth gland. Like a Bonsai - just with dogs. A smaller one is a more convenient pet. Thus, it has reached the point where the smallest of females are barely able to give birth; either the mother dies, the pup dies, or both do. A female Chihuahua can give birth only once a year, and some are so small they don't give birth at all. On their certificates it says, "Not for whelping." Noga and Moshe Rosenstein separate small females in heat from the males; Noga says it's a matter of avoiding cruelty to animals. Those that do get pregnant usually undergo Cesarean sections. "If we left it to nature, they would die. The mothers and their pups. We're not out in nature, though." Moshe: "Whelping for Chihuahuas is a disaster. The breed has been artificially made smaller. A female mouse can give birth to 20 offspring at once without a problem. But that's also how she started out, whereas the Chihuahua in nature was originally at least 10 times larger ! Their whole system has gotten messed up, and there's a disproportionate situation where the pup weighs 150 grams and the mother only weighs a kilo and a half. A German shepherd pup also weighs about 150 grams." A fertile Chihuahua has one pup with each birth. Supply is small, and demand and prices are high. And one has to watch out for crooks: There are people who'll try to sell you a Chihuahua with a phony certificate from abroad. Others will mate mothers with their own offspring, or two pups from the same litter, and sell the dogs for NIS 5,000 with mutations, without teeth, and tell you they are that way because they're pups. People who are ready to shell out between $1,000-$2,000 for a dog aren't looking for a mutt. Some go to dog trainer Dorit Dambin, who describes the average owner as follows: "These are very warm people, people who like touch. The population in this country is quite varied, it's not Los Angeles with the celebs, but there are the ladies in [Tel Aviv's upscale] Kikar Hamedina with Chihuahuas. There are people who, for the ego trip, are ready to have their male dog climb on every female, just so they can say - and pardon the expression - 'My dog loves to fuck.'" Together with her husband, Dambin has opened a "hotel" for dogs. Each dog gets its own room with a private yard; each room has wall-to-wall carpet and insulation. The dogs sleep on beds that their owners bring for them, play with toys and receive special hydrotherapy treatment. "We bring them here by car and take them home by car. We wouldn't want the princesses to have a hard time," Dambin explains. "Chihuahua owners serve them fine food. I've never seen anyone give his Chihuahua Bonzo or Dogly." 'Mommy's sweetheart' Mira Lapidot's 12th-floor apartment offers a breathtaking view of Tel Aviv. "Ze'evik, Mommy's sweetheart, look in the camera," she urges her pup. She met his mother, Mika, in the display window of a prestigious dog shop in Manhattan. "Six years ago, I was walking down the street in New York and I saw what looked like a mouse in a cage in this display window. I asked: 'What is this?' I had no idea that there was such a thing, a Chihuahua. The dog looked really ugly to me. I asked if I could hold it and they told me to be careful, not to let her fall. She clung to me, trembling, and communicated with me, really pleading, like she was saying: 'Don't leave me.' I held her tightly. I started crying in the middle of the store, because I couldn't leave her. I didn't know it was possible to bring her to Israel and raise something like that here. She was a pup and weight 250 grams. I finally left the shop, but I couldn't stop thinking about her. I got to my son's house in New York and I couldn't stop talking about the dog. "A few days later we went back to the store. It was before Christmas and the store was packed with people. Suddenly I see her being held by another woman. My heart sank. But the store owner remembered me. He took the dog from the other woman and said to me: 'It's yours.' Then, in the freezing cold in New York, I walked around for two weeks with her inside my bra. She'd been depressed and miserable in the cage and needed to recover. You know when she really came out of it? Only after the first time she gave birth. I was prepared to help her, because it's well known that it's difficult for them, but I couldn't believe how well she did. I was so excited." Lapidot is now raising Mika with her pups Ze'evik and Toto; the three of them sleep with her in bed. They have four other beds their size (one is a "sun bed"), too. She sold the rest of the pups to friends - only friends. Not long ago, one of them was stolen, in Kikar Atarim, and Lapidot is still mourning the loss, praying that the dog somehow ends up in a good home. She dresses Mika in pretty rain coats, and a sweater and shoes that she bought for her in New York. In Japan, she bought her a special pair of cotton socks. "When I'd walk with her in the street, I'd use up a whole package of wet wipes just to keep cleaning her legs. I was so confused and excited when I bought Mika that I bought her a collar made from real crocodile leather, but it's already too small for her. Now she has one with a few stones instead of that collar; it's very elegant. It's a matter of fashion. I have an Italian neighbor who bought a whole wardrobe for Mika in Italy for me, with a scarf and shawl, and people have also brought me pretty things from London. In Israel, you don't find that kind of good taste." Fashion designer Mika Bashan, owner of a boutique in Kikar Hamedina, has photographed Lapidot's dogs for her new collection. The owner had originally named the pups Hanukkah and Sufganiya (jelly doughnut), but her husband vetoed those monikers. Says Lapidot: "He said: 'I'm a grown man, and you expect me to keep a cockroach like this?' The first time he went out with the Chihuahua in his bag, he ran into some friends who said to him, 'Lapidot, what's become of you?'" Clever children Meanwhile, back in the Rosensteins' living room in Rosh Ha'ayin, the barking has not subsided. I try my best to be unobtrusive, but the Chihuahuas are unimpressed. "They're barking now because they're protecting me," says Noga. "The conquistadors have arrived, as far as they're concerned. These dogs are not pushovers, but they're little and unaware of their relative size. One day I went out for a walk with Amigo. He's a special dog for which we waited a long time. We made three trips to Belgium to see him right after he was born. When we were out, Amigo heard a dog barking behind a fence. He got so worked up that he jumped so high he ended up falling and landing on his head and dying. Just like that. Don't ask what it did to me. Total grief. It was a complete shock, for a young dog to die like that, and not from an illness. I paced around the house asking everyone, 'Why aren't you crying?'" Like any proud mother, she also likes to tell stories about her children's cleverness. "Ginger was on the second floor and saw something very interesting down below - so she just jumped. She landed on all fours and stood up. Like a cat. We were terrified, we were afraid to touch her. But guess what? She was completely fine." "Mommy!!!" her daughter Shai interrupts, pointing at one of the dogs that's gobbling cookies from a plate on the table. Noga pushes the plate away, but the gesture is solely for the visitor's benefit. She certainly wouldn't mind eating off the same plate as her dogs. Every Friday, they have a family dinner that includes two large plates in the center of the table with food for the dogs. They take the dogs with them to restaurants, too. The Rosensteins also have a Pekingese, but Noga doesn't have anything positive to say about him. "Look at my Pekingese, he's like a sack of potatoes. But the Chihuahua's not like that. No. He won't let a stranger take him. Not long ago I came home and I couldn't find Peanut. I panicked. I thought maybe he slipped into the washing machine. The neighbor told me that someone came in and wanted to take him, but he, clever dog that he is, went to the neighbor and not to the strange man. She watched him until I came back, even though she doesn't even like dogs." Anat Karp, a 66-year-old retiree, is raising her dog Whiskey at her home in Nesher. She stresses that her love for "the little hooligan" is the most important thing, and not all the accessories, which are "just outward trappings and not the main thing." Still, there are some things you can't do without. "First of all, the protected security room in my house is Whiskey's villa," she explains. He has a down blanket and sheets there that Karp changes every two weeks. She knits sweaters for him, and orders clothes for him on the Internet. Whiskey also has pajamas and shoes from America and even diapers, in case she flies somewhere with him. When they go out for a walk, she pulls him along in a trolley, because it's tiring for her to carry him, "even though he only weighs two and a half kilos, my little penguin." Karp wanted an even smaller Chihuahua, but Noga Rosenstein explained to her that they don't live long. What does she think about the Chihuahua becoming such a fashionable item? Says Karp: "I've heard about these girls who go around with their Chihuahuas on the red carpet, but for me, the Chihuahua is well-suited for my age and my physical condition. It's not heavy, it doesn't shed, it's very smart and it fits my lifestyle." Once a month she takes her dog to a lecture at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, and it behaves like a quiet and diligent student. Karp has also thought of matchmaking, but Whiskey doesn't know how to act like a real man. "My friend brought her Chihuahua over who showed him her posterior, and he just didn't know what to do so he ran to me. I'm his whole world. Just from the trauma of it, he won't try anything." Oren Bayfus-Gabay, 28, a visual content designer, bought Elvis, now the two-year-old Israeli Chihuahua champ, in Italy. "Elvis and Cheetah sleep with us in bed, and lots of children in the world would be lucky to be spoiled like they are," he says, adding that he is now looking for an Elvis (Presley) costume for the pet. Bayfus-Gabay has heard that there is such a thing - that the dog's measurements can be taken and sent to special designers. He also has a special carrier to use on outings. "In the winter, my wife, Shiran, walks with him. I don't do it myself, it wouldn't look good," he smiles, and tells how his dogs rest on their own pink couch with a pillow that says "I Love You" in German. "That comes from my wife," he hastens to point out. Just to make things clear. It seems that women more than men get attached to Chihuahuas. "It's something in their ego: A big man walking around with a little dog? Just think what kind of guts and self-confidence it takes for men to keep a Chihuahua," says Noga Rosenstein. 'Chihuahua goes nuts' "Chihuahua Vacuum Cleaner," "Chihuahua from Hell," "Maternal Chihuahua" and "Extreme Chihuahua" - these are just some of the titles of video clips you can find on Google. On YouTube, there's "Floating Chihuahua," "Chihuahua Goes Nuts," "Singing Chihuahua" and even "Micro Chihuahua," starring two tiny pups, one black and one white, smaller than the hand that pets them in the video. With their big ears, they look like wingless bats. There's also a whole genre of videos devoted to the question of whether Chihuahuas are good or bad dogs. In a flash, they can be seized with hysteria and start leaping around in circles like mad. Since they have 350 genetic flaws - the result of crossbreeding between two purebred species and the mixing of genetic pools - there are extenuating circumstances. Moshe Rosenstein: "At any given moment, it's decided that two dogs will be the first generation of the breed, and then they start going until the desired result is attained. The beginning is the hardest, because there are lots of mutations and defects. If this clown - what's her name, Paris Hilton? - goes and buys the dog a collar that costs $200,000, then the whole thing gets a certain spin. That needs to be stopped." Chihuahua owners are eager to explain that the trendiness of their pets doesn't matter to them in the least. It's just that their Chihuahuas are smart and loyal, help protect their homes, and don't get angry. Says Rosenstein: "Look at him, he's such a nice dog. He has no concept of his size. He's ready to kill if needed. You see how they attack?" Motti Chen, 34, owner of a microchip processing company, was impressed by Chihuahuas' abilities as watchdogs. Twice, his dogs Moosik and Chippy scared thieves away from his home. Moosik has discovered the human weak spot that fits his size: the Achilles heel. If you make him mad, he'll straightaway sink his teeth into your heel. Chen: "My Moosik suffered from epilepsy. I almost fainted when I saw him having a seizure. I called Moshe Rosenstein in the middle of the night - he knows more than a veterinarian - and he reassured me that this is a common thing with Chihuahuas. They get into these crises, too; sometimes where they run back and forth until they wear themselves out." Sara Tal, 62, works in human resources at the agricultural research center in Beit Dagan. She bought Machoo for $1,000 from a woman who won't sell to just anyone. She takes him to competitions and other events, and comes back with prizes and medals. "I'm crazy about this breed. Little dogs that act like big dogs. They're as smart as anything. Machoo is no wimp," she says. He has a down blanket and a fleece T-shirt with his name embroidered on it. She's also made a special necklace for him, but, "I don't like it when they're treated like playthings," she stresses. Boundless love So what sets Chihuahua owners apart from other pet lovers? What does the need to spoil their dogs and treat them like little people say about them? Dr. Smadar Tal, director of the Animal Medical Center in Ramat Gan: "We need to be wary of generalizations, but for the most part these aren't families that are busy raising children and bringing home a dog to be a companion. This humanization [of pets] is often typical of people whose lives are unstable, who have emotional problems, of lonely people, elderly people, and of course, those who have always been especially sensitive to animals." The boundary between keeping a pet and humanizing it is crossed when the dog becomes the most important thing in the person's life. Tal says she knows people who've gone without food to have money to pay for their dog to have "the best orthopedic surgeon in the world," and people who develop phobias regarding their dog's distress. Noga Rosenstein: "To me, it's a kind of compensation. My husband is a busy businessman. I've found something that fulfills me. I have a very serious love for these animals. Who knows? Maybe I should have been a nurse." Do you ever hear people say negative things about you keeping so many dogs at home? Rosenstein: "Sure. I used to live in a religious area. One of my neighbors there once said to me: 'Maybe you ought to have more children, because the dogs won't leave you with anything.' I'm stubborn and persistent by nature. Ready to work hard. Moshe says that my capacity for love and sacrifice is tremendous. After all, I could have gone traveling around the world, but I don't because I can't leave the dogs alone without me. It's okay, though, because I've had enough of shopping and chatting in cafes. The dogs are my whole world." And how does Lapidot explain her deep attachment to her tiny dogs? "It involves an above-average level of sensitivity. I once had nine cats, too. The dogs are an inseparable part of my life. If I have to leave the house and I'm not taking Mika with me, I ask her pardon. The telepathy between us is indescribable. I respect her." Is your love for her stronger than your love for people? Lapidot: "No, but unlike love for people, she allows me to love her without boundaries, and most important, without inhibition. If I were to get sick, God forbid, with a terminal illness, I would need Mika by my side." In the Rosensteins' living room are three large cages for the males. If they were to run free, major battles would ensue. Out in the yard, Moshe introduces Katzele, one of the females who is prevented from becoming pregnant because of her size. She has adopted a small, see-through plastic box as her imaginary pup. If you try to get close, she guards it zealously. It's heartbreaking, but her health is more important, says Moshe. He recalls how Buba suffered a ruptured uterus. "I went to the veterinarian, I woke him up at three o'clock in the morning, and he cut open her stomach. We saved her at the last minute." Noga goes to rinse her face, to freshen up. The pack follows her. She comes back and shares a thought that has just struck her: "In the end, they'll put me on 'Big Brother' to see how I manage without the Chihuahuas."W Bookmark to del.icio.us   Back in the Mideast Carter may meet with Hezbollah officials during his visit in Lebanon. Bush's final days Olmert has a thing or two to learn from Bush about an exit strategy.

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