Hanna Ish Horowitz, who devoted her life to dog training, died Wednesday at the age of 92. Horowitz continued competing and working to promote dog sports in Israel until the final week of her life, rising at dawn to train her dogs.
Horowitz, a Holocaust survivor who lost her parents when she was 8, immigrated to Israel in 1947. In an interview with Israel’s dog-sport community, she said her love of German shepherds began in childhood in Warsaw with a dog named Alma. She described dog training as something addictive: “Once you catch the bug, there is no going back.”
Hanna Ish Horowitz and her dog Dana
(Photo: Courtesy of the family)
In recent years, she competed with her dog Dana, who came from the IDF’s Oketz canine unit. Despite her long-standing love of German shepherds, she discovered the qualities of the Belgian Malinois and developed a deep bond with Dana, who became an inseparable part of her life. That came after she had raised a German shepherd for 13 years.
In a filmed interview, Horowitz recalled that after vowing never to get another dog, she arrived at the club in tears and said she needed one and could not live without a dog. She was told no German shepherd was available at the time, only a Malinois, and reluctantly agreed.
Speaking about Dana, she said the dog was something truly special, combining the energy of a Malinois with the temperament of a house dog. If Horowitz was not feeling well, she said, Dana would stay by her side and not move.
The Israeli Protection and Rescue Dog Club announced Horowitz’s death on its Facebook page, saying it was mourning one of the club’s pillars and a woman who had been its beating heart for decades.
Horowitz entered the field in 1983. Beginning in the 1990s, she served on the club’s management board and until about three years ago was its secretary.
“Her work on the board was worthy of the highest praise, always driven by immense love for the club, cooperation and a willingness to help every member,” the club wrote. “In addition to her local work, she contributed greatly to Israeli dog training as a whole when she served as secretary of the board of the Israel Kennel Club.”
The tribute added that over the years Horowitz raised only German shepherds, leading them professionally to the highest levels, including Schutzhund 3.
Her professional contribution to dog sports in Israel was also reflected in her volunteer translation of the FCI working-dog trial regulations from German into Hebrew.
Until age 92, she continued competing in IGP with Dana, her last dog and her first Malinois, who came from the Oketz unit.
“We would also like to extend special thanks to Dana, who faithfully did her job and accompanied her with extraordinary devotion,” the club wrote. “Until the final week of her life, despite her advanced age and medical condition, she did not give up and came to the training field every Saturday as usual. She was and will remain a role model and personal example for every young dog handler in Israel.”
She continued training until her final days; Hanna Horowitz and her dog Dana
(Photo: Hanna Sheleg)
Many dog trainers paid tribute to her. “Hanna was always an exemplary figure, one of the founding pillars of the Protection and Rescue Dog Club,” Sharon Ronen wrote. “A small woman, but a very great one. An exceptional person who showed commitment and seriousness in training and in everything she did. She loved the club, and the club loved her. She was always an inseparable part of its activity, involved and contributing in every way, always with precision, thoroughness and great self-discipline.”
Many regarded Horowitz with admiration and saw her as a role model. Dog trainer Avi Shkolsky, a former chairman of the club, wrote that “Hanna was a figure of admiration and an example to all club members. She will remain in our hearts forever, and her image will remain engraved in the record of our activities and serve as a torch lighting our path forward.”
Her funeral will be held Thursday at the Petah Tikva cemetery.
She is survived by three sons, nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.