From Dimona to Ranana

The Dimona vet made arrangements with the Ranana vet to take some dogs where they would have a better chance of being adopted. Bernie and I agreed to transport the dogs by train. It is a long train ride and it requires transferring twice. Also, the train doesn't go to Ranana, so we had to receive a ride by car from a volunteer in Ranana for the last leg of the journey.
Bernie and I arrived bright and early at the Dimona shelter equipped with 4 leashes and 4 small muzzles. We had agreed to take 4 small dogs. I had a backpack and Bernie had a cloth shopping bag in which to carry the dogs.
The first dog the vet picked was a German Shepherd. So much for the small dog theory. The 10 month old German Shepherd was so excited at being released from it's cage that it wrapped it's front paws around Bernie's arm. It's dew claw was sharp and Bernie was badly scratched. The injury looked ugly and bled quite a bit. Bernie's main concern was having the dog's nails clipped, but the vet was more concerned about bandaging him. I asked him to allow her to bandage the wound as it won't look good to be bleeding on the train.
The next dog chosen was a medium sized brown and white shepherd. Sorry I don't have a photo of this one. It was even more skittish than most shepherds. I thought, "Oh boy, this is going to be more difficult than I thought." It was soon apparent that the German Shepherd had to remain by itself and couldn't be with other dogs. I asked Bernie if he thought we would be okay traveling separately. The third dog was a quiet brown dog. The vet had one more muzzle and she looked at me. I said "Catan?" Meaning small in Hebrew. She came out of the shelter with a small black dog. Finally, a dog that I could fit in the backpack.
So, I had one dog in the backpack on my frontside and one dog on leash on each hand and Bernie had the German Shepherd.
The Dimona dog catcher drove us to the train station and off we went. Fortunately, the Dimona station is quiet. We were able to board the train early and settle in with the dogs. The vet came to make sure we were on the train and to say good bye to the dogs.
At the Beer Sheva University station, we needed to transfer trains. There is a large gap in the stairwell between the train and the station platform. The German Shepherd refused to cross it. Bernie picked the dog up and fell on his knees onto the platform. He didn't loose his grip on the dog and luckily didn't hurt himself.
My two dogs on the leashes were small enough that I could drag them across the gap and onto the platform. I also had to drag the shepherd down the stairs. The train to Tel Aviv was more crowded.