Dogs of Nice and Berlin

On my recent vacation, unfortunately without Lucy, I observed dogs and dog culture in Nice, France and in Berlin, Germany.

I was pleased to observe that the French and the Germans love dogs as much as we do. In fact, they seem to cart along their dogs to more places that I bring Lucy!

My friend Christine's Aunt came to Nice for the wedding and brought the whole family, including their adorable lab. Here's a pic of me with their nice dog. Photo:







Christine and her sister each have cute little doggies named Bijou and Bo-Bo. Here they are: (Left to right -- Bijou and Bo-bo):





Bijou and Bo-bo participated in most of the week's wedding events. Bobo even took a mini dip in the pool with us too! Bijou, however, is scared of the pool and didn't venture in. What impressed me was that both dogs were off leash pretty much all the time and just hung out with Christine and her family. As much as I've tried with Lucy to get her to listen off leash, it hasn't worked. Perhaps it's a breed thing? Lucy can jump through hula-hoops, sit, stay, roll-over, and even wave when asked, but not come when called when she's off leash. Well, she does, but only 80% of the time, which is not enough for truly letting her off leash.

Even at the beach near Nice, the "beach club" area where we hung out one day had 3 resident dogs. There was a large and docile German shepherd and two smaller terrier like dogs (both a mix of black and white fur). I snapped a pic of the lovely German Shepherd trying to chill in the partial shade.





Once in Berlin, I noticed dogs everywhere...in stores, in restaurants, in cafes, especially side-walk cafes.

My favorite dog sighting was in Old Towne Nice. I was wandering around the market place when I spotted a Dalmation dog trotting alongside a young blond 3 year old girl. The dog's leash was in a loop, and her little hand held onto it. However, it looked more like the dog was assisting the little girl and walking her. He kept an eye on her and seemed very gentle. An older woman, apparently the grand-mere, was walking close-by. I was dying to take a picture, but I restrained myself. I did go up to the woman and say, "Tres mignon!" and pointed to the little girl and the dog. That means, "very cute!". That seriously could be an advertisement for Kodak, aka, "a Kodak moment."