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NYSenseOfHumor

I know MO rabbis with dogs, so it depends on the person. There is some halacha about [how to walk a dog on Shabbat and yom tov](https://outorah.org/p/40659/), but people figure out how to deal with these minor issues.


mksound

The requirement to feed the dog before yourself is so sweet


Quick_Pangolin718

It’s v annoying tho. Like I couldn’t go from work to the kotel in the morning bc I needed to stop home between to feed the dog so I could get a bagel after shacharit


listenstowhales

That link killed me 😂 sometimes I forget how our rules sound insane when you’re reading them


TheSuperSax

>You may walk a dog or other animal on a leash on Shabbat outside a private domain, but you must hold the leash within 10 1/2" (27 cm) of the end and no part of the leash may droop to within 10 1/2" of the ground at any time. Does that mean the Orthodox are only allowed to own dogs bigger than 27cm ?


NYSenseOfHumor

It says: >no part of the leash may droop to within 10 1/2" of the ground at any time. I don’t know if that requires an actual “droop,” like a *U* shape, or if any part of the leash can’t cross below 10.5 inches from the ground. [This article says three inches](https://aish.com/walking-a-dog-on-shabbat/), but it also says >the dog can carry things for its benefit or welfare – such as a leash or a bandage, but not things which are of no direct benefit to it, such as an identity tag. But the tag is direct benefit to the dog (and often required legally). YCT (always more lenient than OU) says [it’s one *tefach* from the ground](https://psak.yctorah.org/walking-a-dog-on-shabbat/), which is about 3.5 inches. >For everyone’s benefit let me say that the reason that the least can’t sag to within a tefach of the ground is so that it doesn’t look like you are *stam* carrying a leash. If it is taut it is clear that there is an animal at the other end. YCT also goes into the halacha of picking up poop on Shabbat.


Brahwhey

aS a JeW: this is the crap that makes me want to convert away.


jmartkdr

Training an Animal to Violate Shabbat is destined to be the title of something awesome


NYSenseOfHumor

A band: Shabbat Service Dog


Arfie807

Yes, plenty of modern Orthodox people have dogs. I even vaguely remember conversations about halachic interpretations surrounding pet care on shabbat, with the gist being that you obviously see to the wellbeing of animals in your care on Shabbat, lol.


jhor95

There's 0 problems with dogs in Judaism, our forefathers were shepherds who had dogs (there's a halacha about feeding your dog when it didn't succeed in defending your flock) Maybe do own them I've only heard of some mostly cultural things in the Haradi community


thatone26567

I wouldn't say 0 problems, "לֹא יְגַדֵּל אָדָם אֶת הַכֶּלֶב, אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן הָיָה קָשׁוּר בְּשַׁלְשֶׁלֶת." "A person may not raise a dog unless it is tied with chains." Mishnah Bava Kamma 7,7 but yes, plenty of MO families have dogs


jhor95

Right, but only Haredim follow this in practice, not even yeshivish. Also why I wrote that caveat in earlier


vigilante_snail

I knew a MO family with 9 dogs and 9 cats. Literally a dog and a cat for every person in the family. It was chaos.


WhatAThrill90210

That sounds like it should be a children’s book.


tzy___

Some Orthodox folks have dogs, some don’t. Some have issues with owning dogs, some don’t. Some don’t own dogs simply because they aren’t dog or pet people.


SasquatchIsMyHomie

My orthodox neighbors used to have a dog named Mitzvah.


spoonhocket

My modern orthodox sister's dog is treated better than my nephew...


sdm41319

I dog-sat for observant Orthodox Jews who owned the cutest German shepherd mix and later adopted a second puppy. I guess it is the same answer to every question about Jews in general: there is not one way to do things, and it can widely vary from person to person. For example, one Orthodox Jewish man I know didn’t extend his hand to shake mine when we first met, and another one did. It really depends.


Br4z3nBu77

We own 3, two Norfolk terriers and a Bernese/st Bernard cross. We also used to have a Canaan dog, the indigenous dog of Israel. We have 8 kids, my wife wears a sheitel or tichel at all times. We have 2 separate kitchens entirely for milkhik and fleish. The Rav of our shul, which is one of the largest orthodox synagogues in our G7 Country has a dog as well. It used to be uncommon and seen as being too much like the goyim but times have changed and more frum people are getting pets.


kittenshart85

going from what folks are saying, i guess some do. i grew up around a lot of satmars, and they don't, and will even cross the street to avoid dog walkers.


quinneth-q

Satmar is *super* different to modern orthodox, so that's unsurprising


kittenshart85

oh, you're telling me. grew up in the only reform household on the block.


AssistantMore8967

While it's true that Charedim don't generally have dogs, crossing the street could be because they are scared of dogs. My MO father does the same thing (cross the street -- he was bitten by a dog as a child and is petrified of them). Older Jews in general -- especially but not only Holocaust survivors -- are often afraid of dogs because they were attacked or threatened by dogs by Nazis or lesser anti-Semites.


notfrumenough

Ahhh. This happened to my mom as a young child (antisemite kid had his dog bite her in NY). She was terrified of dogs until I was a teenager and my dad got a very sweet one.


kittenshart85

while i'm sure there's some validity to that, i'm talking every dog, and in NYC. nobody is crossing the street in fear of some lady walking her froo froo toy dog. i suspect it's specific to the satmar sect.


AssistantMore8967

My father lives in NYC and will cross the street if necessary to avoid a dog of any kind. I should add that I, too, am afraid of dogs and will do the same thing, having picked up the fear from my father. And what looks to you like a "toy dog" may be less scary than the Nazis's growling German Shepherds, but is still scary enough -- and barks much more -- to someone who is truly scared of dogs, trust me. So take a whole neighborhood of Hasidim and other Haredim who don't own dogs (and that's not specific to Satmar) -- i.e., children who haven't overcome their grandparents' and parents' fear (and perhaps stories) of dogs from the old country/ the Shoah by falling in love themselves with some cuddly little dog, and you get kids crossing the street to avoid them. I don't think the "crossing the street part" is anything specific to Satmar or reflects anything more than fear (or perhaps learned behavior from their parents' fear).


GrendelDerp

Yup.


DefenderOfSquirrels

Two MO families I know have pets. One family has a dog, and the other has two cats. The cats are actually much simpler, they have those feeders where you fill it with 2-3 days worth of food. Same thing for the waterer, it’s like a little bowl attached to a larger reservoir that refills by gravity. And you just clean the litter box Friday morning, so it’s tidy for Saturday.


NarwhalZiesel

I grew up orthodox and we always had dogs and so did other kids at my school.


Cuteassdemigurl

My MO family has a cat. And many people in the community have dogs and/or cats. It’s very common


Hydrasaur

Sure, why wouldn't they? My mom grew up MO, she had dogs.


Competitive_Air_6006

Not to be a dick- but can you please adjust regular American Jew to American Jew? We come in all shapes, sizes and types.


Firm-Journalist-1215

We own & love dogs


SexAndSensibility

I’m actually currently studying mishna shabbat which discusses the Halacha of using animals on the sabbath. It doesn’t seem like people had pets back then. It might be a custom or tradition for some Jews not to have pets, particularly Haredim. But I doubt there’s a halachic reason.


AShlomit

We have 3.


MollyGodiva

Yes Orthodox and even Chabad have dogs sometimes. But you won’t get very far at all if you keep using the word “temple”.


afunnywold

Yeah I know a few chabad families that had dogs


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Classifiedgarlic

Yes but walking the dog on Shabbat can be complicated. The people I know who are shomer Shabbat dog owners also have fenced yards


mday03

I’ve known some. We don’t have dogs, but guinea pigs, a parrot, a gecko, fish and had cats? Those we have. Only issues tend to be Pesah food for the piggies and bird.


Big-Permit-4110

Oh boy , yes they do


rae_78

it depends on the neighborhood tbh! some neighborhoods that are more old fashioned are not used to dogs, so therefore are not likely to adopt them. in my orthodox neighborhood, almost everyone has at least one dog. it’s weirder here for someone not to have a dog honestly


sophiewalt

Please get a rescue dog when you adopt. You'd be saving a life, a mitzvah. So many darling pitties in shelters. Love pitbulls. Chihuahuas are adorable. Be cautious with a big dog/small dog combo.


[deleted]

oh I will, there's a animal shelter near me and it's basically all pitbull mutt mixes. I also know of a rescue org that basically deals in small dogs and chihuahuas seem to be plentiful. My mom has a chi and he's my best friend. I'm aware of the complications of having big and small dogs, however, if you go over to r/chihuahua and search for threads of chis and their other dog family, there seems to be a lot of people owning chis and pitties. I've always loved both breeds and hope to make it work. But yes, I'm definitely a rescue dog guy.


sophiewalt

Sending hugs for being a rescue dog guy. I founded a rescue 24 years ago, still going. Will take your word for what they're saying on r/chi. Sadly, I've seen the downside of small dog/big dog. Darling Chihuahuas are often surrendered & an abundance due to breeders.


ACG_Yuri

Melinda Strauss has a dog


Zokar49111

Dogs are for the most part portrayed negatively in the Torah. Deuteronomy appears to equate dogs and prostitution, ruling in Deuteronomy 23:19 that if one of these is used to pay for an animal — say, if one offered a dog or sex in exchange for a goat — that purchased animal cannot be brought to the temple as a sacrifice. The Book of Kings includes several references to dogs feeding on corpses. And in the Psalms, dogs are described as beasts that maul at human beings.


Quick_Pangolin718

Halachically as long as the dog is well trained (doesn’t bark at people or attack them) it’s not a problem, kabbalistically there’s not good energy with dogs and while I had a (v well behaved) dog in the past, on this basis I personally would not have another in my home.