It was when he was around a few months old that I discovered that Sharav was not a German shepherd at all, or a shepherd-Canaani mix as I had been led to believe, but was a Belgian Malinois.
This breed is not uncommon in Israel, where they are used in the military (עוקץ) – as they are in the American military and are increasingly seen in the service of police departments – but they are not frequently found in civilian life, except when they retired from military service and were then formally adopted by their soldier-handlers.
It’s possible that Sharav was deemed unfit for military service due to his temperament (too playful) or size (too small), and then given away to someone who subsequently abandoned him, when Vitaly rescued him.
Playing at the park. Tel Aviv, May 2007. Click any photo to see more.