Lily

Lily is a beautiful Springer Spaniel who lives just along the coast at Villefranche, which is a town next to Nice. Lily is much travelled dog. Sometimes she lives in Paris and sometimes in London and she even flies on her owner's private plane as if it's something all dogs do.

One time in Paris, when left with her dog carer, she was walking in one of Paris' beautiful gardens, when a firework went off. She took off, scared, and was lost for two days. A nightmare for both owner and carer. They plastered the park with posters and eventually she was found in the hands of an SDF (sans domicile fixe = of no fixed abode) on the end of a piece of rope. Happily, apart from very sore feet and some dehydration, she was OK. Of course she should not have been off her lead but it's easy to say - we do get to trust our dogs but personally I'd never let someone else's dog off lead in public. No way.

Like most spaniels, Lily's passion is a ball or any toy - so long as it's in her mouth.

Tullius

Copyright 2009 Riviera Dogs. All rights reserved.

Little Tullius is taking shade from the hot sun under a Jade plant in the medieval village of Roquebrune. It's the 5th August - the day of the Procession giving thanks for the time, in the 15th century, when the village was spared the plague. I'll be putting photographs of this on Menton Daily Photo eventually.

Did you know that the Chinese believe that if you put a jade plant in front of your front door and another by the back door, money will come in and won't go out?

I thought Tullius might be a Sheltie cross but his owners told me he's simply a mix - indeed a cute one. Tullius, who is 9 years old, is on holiday in the south of France from his home in Germany.

Choupette

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You either adore pugs or you don't - and if you own one, likely as not, you are obsessed with them. There is probably more pug paraphernalia for sale than for any other breed.

Meet Choupette who is one year old and lives in Monaco. She was bred in a very good kennel but unfortunately she suffered from several serious illnesses in her young life and thanks to her caring owner and a great vet has pulled through and is now in excellent health.

This is for 'Lady Jicky' who loves pugs - so do I, even though they snore!

Legs

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This bright little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel isn't quite in focus but I did take it on the zoom and from a long way away. I was sitting drinking a glass of wine at the Bar du Cap in Menton at the time and this is way across towards another bar. And naturally it wasn't the wine that made the photo out of focus...

Look at all those legs in the smaller photo. When you take a photo from this angle you wonder how on earth a little dog manages to avoid them all.

Comfort

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Some dogs have all the luck. Taken in the pedestrian street of Monaco.

Ol' Blue Eyes

Copyright 2009 Riviera Dogs. All rights reserved.

Ol' Blue Eyes - well yes, but not the Sinatra version. I was crossing a small square in Menton and this lovely Samoyed came up to smell me. If you have dogs, then other dogs find you incredibly interesting.

I don't know his or her name. He/she seemed to belong to a restaurant nearby. Eventually he gave up the sniffing and leaned against the wall. It was a hot, hot day.

Temptation

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The Yorkie is in love! Perhaps someone should tell him the object of his desire is a battery operated toy.

Dog Training - Charley in the Tube

Copyright 2009 Riviera Dogs. All rights reserved.

It's hot and Charley knows it will be cooler hiding in the Agility Tube. Charley is a Labrador/Griffon mix, 18 months old and lives in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.

Dog Training - A-l-t

Copyright 2009 Riviera Dogs. All rights reserved.

This adorable little Spitz looks in magnificent condition, doesn't he? Altaïr is 4 years old and lives in Contes, which is beyond Nice - he perhaps travelled the furthest to be at the Roquebrune Dog Training class.

I really should have asked owners to clean their dogs' eyes before I took the photographs. The sun was so bright I didn't notice until the pics came up on the screen and probably the sun made the dogs' eyes a bit runny.

We had to keep making noises to get him to put his ears up - you can see in the middle photo where they are not up. Too cute - wot no ears!

Note: I've changed his name in the heading as for some odd reason it has been bringing in tons of spam for weeks now.

Capsule and Carnage - the Street Dogs who have been Stolen

As is obvious, these are street dogs - meaning they belong to an 'sdf' (which stands for sans domicile fixe = no fixed abode) Unfortunately, since I met these dogs, they've been stolen. But let's start at the beginning....

I met them outside Marche U, a supermarket in Roquebrune. The one on the left is Capsule - she's a Dobermann crossed with a German Short-haired Pointer and she's 18 months old. She came from the refuge in Ventimiglia, just across the Italian border.

The big boy is Carnage and he's three and a half and he's a mix of a Dogue de Bordeaux and Bull Mastiff.

I took the photos on the 25th June and hadn't yet got around to putting them on Riviera Dogs but a couple of days ago had an email from a friend of the owner to say, they'd been stolen from him in Nice and could I send her the photographs to use in trying to get them back.


Some people I know won't be happy to see any dog living in the street but you can at least see they are not thin and have a blanket to sleep on. Are they happy? Well, I leave that up to you. At the moment, no one knows where they are. Let's hope they've been picked up by someone who will find them a good home. If I hear, I'll let you know. Probably they've been stolen by another 'sdf' as begging with dogs apparently brings better rewards.

Dog Training - Chiva, the dog with the biggest grin

Isn't this the biggest grin you've ever seen?! Meet 2 year old Chiva, the French bulldog. She was late at Dog Training (don't think she minded) so she happily posed and made me laugh. Chiva lives in Beausoleil, which adjoins Monaco.

The Market Dog

This little Jack Russell wants for nothing. Soft blanket, water bowl and a few croquettes spread around should he be hungry and best of all, his owner nearby. Far better than being left at home.

It's market day in Menton.

The Dog with the Plastic Bottle

Well, it's not the greatest photo in the world but don't you just love this French bulldog with an empty water bottle in its mouth?

Apologies for lack of posts. I've had a lousy bout of bronchitis and it was as much as I could do to post my Menton and Monte Carlo blogs. Amazing how weak you get. Anyway antibiotics started yesterday and feeling much more human today.

Dog Training - Auption

Auption is a three year old, owned by one of the ladies who trains the dogs. They live in Sospel, a hill village above Menton. There are several varieties of Belgian Shepherd Dog. Auption - look at those gentle eyes - is a Tervuren.

Dog Training - Brian

Brian lives in Cap d'ail, which adjoins the far side of Monaco. He's two years old and as you can see, is a beautiful Dalmatian.

In the middle photo, he is doing his sit/stay at the Dog Training class.

In the last photo, he's hot!

Dog Training - Zion, the Police Lady's Dog

Zion is an American Staffordshire Terrier, which I gather is not as the same as the Staffordshire Bull Terrier in the UK.

Zion is 5 years old and lives in Castellar, a hill village about Menton, with his owner, a very pretty policewoman. What is it about policemen and women - they get younger as we get older? And better looking.

Dog Training - Easie

We're back at Dog Training today and here is Easie, who is a Bernese Mountain Dog X German Shepherd Dog. Lovely mix, eh? I forgot to ask how old he is but he looks very young, doesn't he? Just a puppy and adorable.

Easie lives in La Turbie, the village above Monaco.

Nina, the Art Gallery Dog

Meet Nina, a Monte Carlo dog in the arms of a Monte Carlo lady - owner of the G.A.M Galerie d'Art in Monaco.

Nina is a long haired Chihuahua and nearly one year old - still only a puppy.

I was walking through the Gallery of the Winter Sporting in Casino Square and noticed a vernissage taking place in this beautiful art gallery. One of the owner's assistants kindly invited me in and put a glass of vin rosé in my hand. The vernissage was for two talented artists, one a sculptor and the other a photographer - yes, I know I should have taken note of names but put a glass of wine in my hand and give me a dog to photograph and that's it!


You'll see another photograph of Nina on Monte Carlo Daily Photo today (second photo).

Gino and Sante in Monaco

Walking along the port of Monaco I couldn't resist these two. Gino is the bigger one and is 8 years old and Sante is the smaller one - he's 4 - looks a puppy, doesn't he? They were visiting Monte Carlo from their home near to Dortmund in Germany.

Dog Training - Bandit takes a nap

Of course, I'm kidding. Bandit, the Border Collie, isn't napping but closing his eyes to the sun.

Border Collies are so intelligent, but they do need training. They need to feel they are working.

This lovely boy is 3 years old and lives in the hill village of Sospel which is 20 kilometres above Menton.

Dog Training - Pepsi

Pepsi is an intelligent little dog, bright as a button and enjoying his training class - you could see how he wanted to please his owner. You can see him in the Sit/Stay a couple of postings ago.

He's 2 years old and is a mix of a Pinscher and an Australian Terrier. He lives in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.

Dog Training - Vickie

This beautiful German Shepherd was so well-behaved and look at those intelligent, kind eyes.

Vickie is 5 years old and lives in Menton. You can see her in the Sit/Stay exercise on the previous posting.