Me and my Shadow in Ventimiglia

A hot dog fixed to a wall at a beach in Ventimiglia. At ten in the morning it was bearable but later reached around 37 degrees - too hot for me. Hopefully this dog had been taken home long before then.

Swim?

Well...not a very good photo of a dog swimming but I know readers sometimes like to see the context of where we are. This is the River Roya which joins the sea at Ventimiglia, just across the border in Italy. All those vans you see in the background are part of the chaos of Ventimiglia's famous Friday market.

Meanwhile...a dog and his family are enjoying the water.

The Bussana Vecchia dog

This dog lives in Bussana Vecchia, a medieval village across the border in Italy. It was totally destroyed in an earthquake in 1887 and then slowly restored in the 1960s. You can look at Menton Daily Photo to follow the story of this amazingly beautiful village.

Whilst photographing the village, I snapped this dog. Know nothing about him except he's a Siberian Husky or pretty much so.

The Mutt

Don't you just love dogs like this. I don't know his (or her) name or where he lives. The photo was taken in Menton so perhaps he's a local. He looks a good age, doesn't he?

Italian Miss

The last few days I've been deleting a ton of photos as my hard drive is fast filling up and came across this little dog. I took it about 18 months ago when I'd gone to Latte to shop. Latte is the first village across the border in Italy - they have a good supermarket there. This little cutie was sitting in the bar with her owner. I took a few shots but when I got home decided they were all out of focus. The smaller one is, but the first one isn't - so here she is, rather later than intended.

Of course I've forgotten her name, how old she is but remember how cute she was. You don't see many Japanese Chin around here although I did recently hear there were two Japanese Chin pups available in the Monaco SPA.

Pepita

Pepita is a Pyrenean Sheepdog (sometimes called a l'Abri here). She belongs to my neighbour and she looks a ragamuffin because I just trimmed her - rather badly - with scissors, but in my defence we always have a bit of a battle on trimming day. I'll tidy up those wispy ends...

She lives with her friend Shadow, a Golden Retriever, who guards her jealously. We'll meet Shadow another time.

Dog on a Motorbike

Some dogs love riding motorbikes. This adorable poodle was in Menton for the Bastille Day celebrations.

Pasha at the Carnival

This charming Yorkie called Pasha, is 12 years old. He doesn't look it, does he? I met him in Monaco on le rocher, where he and his family were enjoying the carnival - hence the ribbon on his collar.

You can follow the Carnival 'U Sciaratu' series by clicking on Monte Carlo Daily Photo.

Pasha comes from the Seine-et-Marne.

Abby and Donald

Meet Abby - a very lucky dog. She's two years old and until recently lived in a breeding kennel in the Var. She had one litter of two puppies and was then put up for sale.

Now meet my good and dear friend Donald. Donald has always had Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and he bought her. So from living in a kennel, lucky Abby now lives in luxury in Beaulieu and of course goes out on Donald's boat nearly every day in summer. She's taken to boating like the proverbial duck to water. When Donald is whizzing around the water she is shut in the cabin below but otherwise she sits on deck, mostly on Donald's lap and looks up at him adoringly. It's a match of joy for both of them.

The 'Beausejour' Dogs

Regular visitors to Riviera Dogs will have met the Beausejour dogs of Gorbio before. On the chair is Boutchette and at her feet is the most recent addition to the family, Galinette.

Seems to me that Boutchette has the most comfortable seat in the house! Not that all the seats aren't comfortable. We had dinner the night I took these shots and it was fabulous!

Naughty Boutchette tho appears to be pregnant and no one knows who the 'daddy is...in fact tho, she isn't. Turns out she has a phantom pregnancy. Sigh of relief all round.

Freedom!

This little dog is often to be seen running around Place du Cap in Menton. I think he lives in Rue Longue in the Old Town.

You can also see him on Menton Daily Photo today where the two dogs on a lead probably wish they could play with him whilst their owners chat.

Greta - Garbo of course

This is tiny Greta, named for Greta Garbo. She's half chihuahua and half shih-tzu and lives in Menton. She's not had all her vaccinations yet so I wasn't able to stroke her - too too too cute...

Hot Dog!

Meet Gavi, he's a six month old chocolate Labrador who lives in Monaco. I met him on the port on the day of the recent Civil Marriage ceremony between Prince Albert and Charlene Wittstock. (The big religious ceremony was the next day).

It was a warm day, hence the title of this post.

By the way, Gavi is a delicious wine from Liguria, just across the Italian border.

Igor, the Chinese Crested

Here's another dog I met at the Arabian Horse Show in Menton - and an unusual one.

This dapper little Chinese Crested is called Igor. He's two years and four months and he lives in Belgium.

This breed, being nearly hairless, has to have sunscreen put on the skin in hot weather - just like us! You can read more about Chinese Cresteds by clicking on the link.

He carries himself so beautifully, doesn't he? Looks like the tiniest shire horse with a blond mane.

Salukis at the Arabian Horse Show

Salukis go with Arabian horses - you often see them at the fabulous Arabian Horse Show in Menton and so it was the other day.

These have beautiful collars - see the tassels on the first and the purple and green woven collar on the second.

These two were tied up whilst their owners watched the competition. You can see more by clicking on Menton Daily Photo.

Fanny Update...two months on

It nearly two and a half month since Fanny was dumped, tied up outside my gate. (click to see how she was then)

Since then she's had an ultrasound to see if she had Cushing's Disease - really awful skin, which she had, is a symptom. The result was negative although she does have a very bad heart - on a scale of 4 being bad, the vet said she is 3. She's on antibiotics, two lots of heart pills, something for her crazy stomach that sounds as if it's in the middle of a rough ocean, special baths every five days and cortisone twice a week to help stop the scratching. The vet wasn't sure she could sterilize her because she didn't know if her heart would take the anaesthetic.

Then she came into season and it went on for over a month. The vet said she'd have to sterilize her as otherwise she'd get pyrometra (pus in the womb) but that she'd use the safest anaesthetic she had. And so Fanny was sterilized, had her teeth cleaned at the same time and is now fully recovered.

She has no upper front teeth between the canines - the vet thinks she probably never did. She looks, in profile as if she has an overshot bite but in fact she is vastly undershot, so there is some deformity there. I've not mentioned it to her, of course...

She's put on half a kilo but to do so eats enough to feed a small labrador. She doesn't seem to get the goodness from food and needs more than a dog her size should.

Amazingly she is growing coat where she has the elephant-like skin on her face and under her chin - not around her rear end but then we don't have to look at that too often.

She's very needy - stuck to me like glue. She isn't crazy about the dogs who come to stay but is having to learn dogs share attention in this house but she's now got used to Beau and Mia - she really didn't like Mia at the beginning.

And she barks... so we are working on that. Barking dogs and me - we don't get along.

And she has a godmother in Monaco - a good friend of mine who has undertaken to pay her vet bills for life - and they've been considerable. Isn't that incredible. Thank you to my dear friend, Sue.

Fanny always has the saddest look in her eyes but now she plays with a toy - brings it to me to throw and and I don't think she'd play if she wasn't happy - or at least as happy as she can be. I often wonder about her life before and why those eyes look so sad...

Kisha

Meet Kisha. She lives in Mandelieu, which is along the coast a bit. Kisha is 7 years old and looks a bit like a Briard gone wrong, but in fact she is registered as a Griffon x. Her coat doesn't look like a Griffon to me.

She's a beautiful dog, so gentle, so polite. Very shy yet wags her tail enthusiastically when you talk to her. I've a very soft spot for Kisha.

The Lacemaker's Dog

This lovely old Peke was sitting near his owner in Menton. She's an English lady who is part of a group demonstrating old crafts - her speciality being lace making. They live in Nice.

Baci, the Jet-Set Dog

Baci is tiny, adorable and 13 years old - his name means 'kisses' in Italian. He's also a jet-set dog who flies regularly between his homes in California and La Turbie, a beautiful medieval village above Monaco.

The Lucerne Hound

I did a double-take when this beautiful hound walked towards me on market day in Menton. She looks like a small version of my Beau, who is a Bruno de Jura.

Her owners told me she is a Lucerne Hound and I've included a photo of her walking with her owner to show that she really isn't that big a dog.

Her name is Fanny, she's 3 years old and lives in Vienna.