Blessing for Pets

Question: I just got two new dogs and I want them to be blessed and in G-d’s will. What prayers should I say over them?

Answer: You are in luck. Your dogs come pre-blessed. The commentary of Mechilta in Medrash (Mishpatim 22) tells us that G-d watches out for the dogs in return for their exemplary behavior when the Jews left Egypt.

I had a friend who was blind and took his labrador (“Bergen”) daily to synagogue to study Torah and pray. When he went to the famed Grand Rabbi of Skvere Hasidim, the attendants of the Rabbi didn’t want to let the dog in. The Rabbi insisted that a dog that learns every day and had finished all of Talmud deserves a special blessing.

All the best,
Rabbi Shlomo Soroka