Bill

Bill, this bright-as-a-button 2 year old Yorkie was sitting by his owner's shopping basket whilst she took a coffee break near to the market in Menton.

Sunday...A Day of Rest

Well, actually, naps are good any ol' day of the week, not just on a Sunday... and even better when curled up with a favorite friend or family member.

Lady

Meet Lady, the Sheltland Sheepdog. I saw her lying by one of the tables at a Bric a Brac fair in Menton. Her owner wasn't there but a nearby stall holder told me her name.

Snowy

I first spied this little dog asleep under a table alongside the Port of Monaco. A little bundle of fluff, you couldn't tell which end was which - see the small photograph.

Later I saw her walking along with her owners and asked if I might photograph her. She's a little bichon maltais (Maltese Terrier) only 4 months old and so well behaved. After I'd told them about this blog, her nice English owners mentioned it was their daughter's 9th birthday today and how thrilled she'd be to see Snowy featured. So here she is, Happy Birthday Emily! You've got a beautiful little puppy.

Ristick

This is Ristick, a fine looking 8-year old Pyrenean Shepherd Dog. His owners were surprised I knew the breed as they say most people don't. This is because I lived for a year in the Pyrenées and saw many - and also my neighbour has a bitch of this breed. At the same table, sitting by the sea, was a lady - a friend of the couple who own Ristick. You'll find her adorable little dog Chico, on Menton Daily Photo. Please click on the link.

Frends make it all gud

Dis pic is me wen I wus fraid of dat leetle shiney box wit one eye starrin at me. WOH! SCARY!



Da best part of califernia is dat all dem dawgs are nice too me an helps me haf fun. Wen Iz wit my frends I not scared no more of dat box. My peeps tell me pawsitive speriences makes me grow up strong. Lookit me buddies here. Dez reel nice to me.




Dis one dawg in da house namez Lola acts like Iz inbizable. Butt ONE day jus da udder day, she likez me! Da man snuk in and sawz us playin an laffs an got dis muvie. I had to try reel hard to do da rite thing so Lola wuld think I'z ok. Mmmm. Shez so pritty an ROLY POLY!

Muvie: My frend Lola

Sub woofer

Crap action shot of crap dog in park. Notice the shadow revealing a pert tail.

Copy Cat

Since the Wonderful People came and broke me out of that yucky jail cell, I have experienced lots of new things.  

All the new things are really great but it gets kind of overwhelming at times.  There is just so much to see and hear that sometimes I get all mixed up and scared and my body gets stuck. My people help me a lot and remind me that I should look at them instead of trying to see everything, but my biggest help of all is my big sister, Lulu. When I'm not sure what to do I look at her, and she makes me feel much better.  

Lulu is very clever and knows lots of things and never seems scared.  My people tell me she is a Canine Good Citizen, and that they hope I will be one someday, too. I'm going to study very hard because once I’m a Canine Good Citizen, I will be smart and brave, just like Lulu.

I love to copy Lulu, because everything she does is the best. She has shown me lots of things like how to lie on the couch with style, 

 

how to chew toys, 

and how to sunbathe.

If I keep copying her, I know I will be brave one day.

Thank you, Lulu, for being the best big sister any little dog could ever want.

Did You Say Ball ???

I Learned to play this new game.

Its called fetch.

Although, I'm not really sure what a fetch quite is.

But, I sure do like to Play.

Play Play Play.

I sure do like to play.

Jonny-

Black eyes

Waiting in the queue to buy some bread, I couldn't miss this little bichon staring at me with his big black eyes. I don't know his name, just he was happy to gaze at the camera with so much trust. Aren't dogs wonderful!

Another Road Trip!

Only this time we weren’t on the road for nearly as long as that time when we headed out west from Virginia. This road trip was much shorter. My foster mom told me that she was taking me on my very first family vacation. Hmmm…”vacation”…what does that mean?

So, mom loaded up the car and piled us all in, and we drove to a really fun place in the mountains of Northern California. Personally, I like road trips, but I found out that big sister Maxine does not like long car rides nearly as much as me. She spends most of the time squishing herself into some remote corner of the car, doing her best impression of an ostrich, and/or plopping herself on top of the grocery bags, reducing the potato chips and loaf of bread to mere crumbs. If you ask me, I think she’s being kinda silly.

So, as it turns out, “vacation” is one of my very favorite new vocabulary words! Woof!

Just like my buddy Uba said, it is soooooo much fun to play and bounce and wrestle in the snow…

And after all of that excitement, it is very important to find a perfect place to take a nap…










I think I need to ask mom to take me on another vacation very soon!

S.O.S.

I dint know how to swim yet, but my peeps trew me in dis big box of wader called a baff an den covered me wit bubbles. It wus warm an nice an the man tawked nice to me but - GEEZ! - Iz glad itz over.

I hope I dunt hafta do dat agin! Herz da movie: Baff Time!

Ciappi

This handsome dog caught my eye. Look at him in the small photograph with his Italian family, sitting by the sea in Menton. What a fine looking dog. He is a mix of German Shepherd and Italian Spinone and he lives in Bordighera which is just beyond Ventimiglia across the border in Italy. I don't speak Italian so just as well this lovely family spoke perfect English.

I usually tell owners that they will find a photograph of their dog on 'Riviera Dogs' although sometimes, when I quickly grab a shot, it's not possible. In Ciappi's case, I did and received an email and some photos of Ciappi at home. I'm posting my favourite below - thank you, Stefano, Elena and Luca - and of course, Ciappi.

Gribouille

A hot day in Menton yesterday, and one hot pug. I didn't ask why his owner was carrying him but presumably cos he'd got hot - and pugs can have breathing problems if they get overheated. Look at that lovely lolling tongue! Gribouille, 4 years of age, lives in Castellar - a beautiful old village above Menton. Gribouille looks heavy for his nice owner to carry. Pugs are small but very solid little dogs. What wonderful characters they are.

I've not seen a dog lead like that before - have you?

Happy dogs come from California

Lemme tell ya. This California livin' is really all people say it is.

After I got settled in -- I hear people calling it my "foster home," whatever the heck that is -- these cool people started taking me out for a jog just about every morning. In fact, Nice Mister said I was doing so good that he brought Lucy, their ornery dog, on the run with us. That was fun!

I really love our jogs. I've found my favorite places to *ahem* relieve myself, and Nice Mister and Nice Lady have finally learned to get out of the way so I can FLING dirt as far as I can afterward. They think I'm marking, but I'm really trying to get that dirt across the street! I've almost perfected it, too. Just . . . one . . . more . . . FLING!!

Nice Lady brings me to a big building every week where there were a LOT of other dogs, and we would heel and sit, heel and lie down, and circle around heeling. These people sure do like to play the heel game. Eh, it makes Nice Lady happy, so I do it. Plus, every once in a while, she surprises me with treats. Now, I've trimmed down a bit since living in California, but I can never say no to those treats! Where DOES she get those things from?!




And, I have to tell you -- remember that Nice Kid? The one who came up with my name? Dog love him because when he and Nice Lady are going out, he wants me to come, too, and man oh MAN is it fun.




Yup. Stoked. I could really get used to this California place.

Angelita & Ayala & Ayar 8 months

cold day,warm bed

Life has been pretty busy lately, a whole lot different from where I was 6 months ago. I was locked in a kennel with hard, cold floors and no friends to play with. I had nothing to do but sit there. Those were very hard times. These days are different now. I go on walks, I go to dog school where I see all my buddies, have wounderful people, chew toys, and have even gone off to far away big cities, to be on something called T.V. All this excitement and running around has been great ! But the best thing it has given me, is the ability to be grateful.

Tonite , I am grateful for a close friend and a warm bed. I hope one day, all the doggies in this world, can snuggle with someone they like, and not live in cages with cold, hard floors. I hope more good people can open thier hearts and homes, for dogs that are still without freedom.

This would be my biggest wish come true.

Jonny-

Nain

This is a really tiny poodle - a toy. Called a caniche nain in France. I met her walking along the Corbusier walk between Cap Martin and Monaco. I was told her name, wrote it somewhere and can't find the piece of paper - very inefficient of me - but I did take this photograph in January - so forgive. If I find her name - and I remember it was a pretty name - of course I'll add it.

Busy Bee

Hi! Hi! I’m Grace. Hi!

Ooooo isn’t this fun. Everything is new and well, fun. I have a red ball that I love to play with and I love to watch the birds and butterflies and I love my red ball and my housemate Dutch and tennis balls and I love my red ball and, oops! I’m repeating myself. Heehee! Oooo this is fun!

I am happy to be in a cozy home and I love walks and chew toys and soft beds and treats and my red ball and Dutch and, oops! Heehee!

Wow! Isn't the world a big, beautiful place filled with so much to see, do, eat, smell, hear, it keeps my brain so busy, busy. Sometimes, they call me a busy bee at my house, but I have a lot of experiences to catch up on and oooooo it's so much fun!

Ummm, I don’t talk about before ‘cause, well, it sucked. So that’s all I’m gonna say about that. Ppppbbbbbbllllllttttt! (raspberry sound…Heehee!)

Where’s Dutch and my red ball, and my treats, and, and, and

Fabulous Me

Ok, so I’m Dutch, and you are….oh right… fans. Great! I love fans.

Allow me to bring you up to speed about one of my favorite subjects, My Life.

I was on a chain in the woods and one day people in uniforms came to remove me from the chain and I was thrilled. Oh thank god, I’m so glad you’re here…you see baby I’m a lover, not a fighter.

Apparently, there was a miscommunication. Somehow, I ended up in jail….excuuuuse me, I don’t know what you’ve been told, but I am not the criminal here. In fact, I’d like to press charges.

Unfortunately, it seemed no one was listening…really people don’t I get a phone call or something….

I was housed in a top tier kennel, so I decided to express my displeasure at the situation by peeing out of my kennel on staff members as they passed by (being a boy is cool!)…perhaps not the most diplomatic course of action I realize, but you gotta admit pretty freakin’ funny. When my chaueffers finally arrived, months overdue if you ask me, I overheard one of them say “this dog’s a rockstar.”

Finally, people who recognize the…true…fabulous…me!

Macy

Macy, this lovely 8 year old Boxer, was patiently waiting (see side photo) for her owner to have her nails done in the prestigious Metropole Centre in Monte Carlo.

She's owned by a very nice English lady who lives in Monaco. I didn't trim the top photo just so you could see the beautiful ironwork and marble floors and walls in the shopping centre.

Hasn't Macy got the most beautiful eyes?