We decided yesterday to adopt a new dog, sixth months after Tilki, our dog of 13 years, passed away. My husband thought this would be a nice thing to do for Mother's Day :-).

She is about a year old and was brought by the Washington Animal Rescue League all the way from Kuwait, where the country's only dog shelter just burned down. We can't bring her home until Tuesday and are in the meantime trying to get our house once again dog-ready. We're also trying to think of an Arabic name for her that people here can pronounce. Since the WARL called her a "desert dog," I was thinking of "Sahraa," which means "desert" in Arabic (as in the Sahara). In any case, it's an exciting event for us! I'd also like to learn some basic commands in Arabic because when we rescued Tilki in Ankara, she knew Turkish, and as we spoke the language, it helped immeasurably in the beginning to communicate in terms she understood.

For local news about the rescue, go to http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local-beat/Adorable-Pups-Up-For-Adoption-92399579.html -- watch the video "Adorable Pups Up For Adoption." At the very end there is a dog who rolls on her back; that's our dog. She seems to do that all the time, but rather than seeming submissive, she really just wants her chest scratched (and never wants you to stop).

According to the rescue league: "Most of the dogs are mixed-breed of the sort that one would expect to find at any American shelter (there’s even a mixed husky), but eight of them are “desert dogs,” according to the Kuwaiti shelter. The Kuwaiti desert dog is an indigenous, naturally occurring breed that comprises most of the population of stray dogs there. They are medium-sized dogs with short coats and large ears."