The French and Their Dogs

Beth warming up to dogs.

Hair salon hosts the owner's bulldog

If a venn diagram was drawn few people would fall in the overlapping territory found between the great polarizing sides of society - 'dog’ vs ‘cat’.  The ‘cat’ side, has always been the choice of Beth, as she always finds time in whatever she does to stop and ‘pet the kitty’. On the odd occasion she meets up with a dog she finds modestly appealing. In these cases her usual follow up to Rob is, “She kind of reminds me of a cat.”

Study Partner

Rob's fun fact: Poodles prefer tea
over coffee.

By general observation, it seems that the French fall more on the side of ‘dog’.- especially small dogs like Chihuahuas and Jack Russells.  They love their dogs, at times obsessively.  Frequently Beth and Rob watched as dogs walked through the streets in costumes, bundled in warm sweaters or wrapped in blankets despite  the mildness of the winter, sat inside restaurants, or roamed through stores as their owners shopped.  In one shoe store, Rob watched as the owner’s dog barked at customers as they entered the shop.  Despite the dog being a deterrent for attracting business, the patron customer only smiled and accepted the situation and proceeded to browse, while the owner only encouraged the dog to sit quietly.

As animal lovers, Rob and Beth found the acceptance of dogs refreshing as they generally feel that "Pets are people, too."  What they really wish is a little less dog poop on the sidewalks.