Chico, the dog from Orvieto

This little dog belongs to Don, a friend of mine who lives in Italy. Below you'll see Don and Chico outside the church in Gorbio village. Chico appeared one day at Don's house in Orvieto and despite a long search, the owner was never found - so Chico now has his forever-home. Lucky dog! Lucky Don!

'Skipper'

This little dog has got the art of being cute down to a 'T.' Only 8 months old, she's as bouncy as you'd expect a puppy to be. She wouldn't sit still until I make squeaky noises which made her sit up and take notice. Here she is with her owner outside a café in Carnoles, which is a suburb of Roquebrune-cap-Martin.

Dogs at Menton's Arabian Horse Show - 4

This little cutie - only three months old - is proudly held by her owner. Yet another dog and a very small one this time, snapped at the Menton Arabian Horse Show.

Dogs at Menton's Arabian Horse Show - 3

This is a Sloughi with a bandaged foot. Yet another dog present at Menton's Arabian Horse show. The plastic bags you see in the background are fixed onto the ends of rigid wires and waved about to 'get the horses going' - to energise them. I suppose they are used to it but it seemed to scare some of them. You can more on the beautiful Sloughi breed below.

The following information on the breed was taken from the Sloughi Fanciers Association of America website - click here to read more.

The exact origins of the breed date too far back to be completely known and remain speculative. Representations of African Sighthound-like dogs go back to the 8th-7th millennium BC. and artifacts of Ancient Egypt show us how valuable straight eared and lop-eared smooth Sighthounds were in those days. The smooth lop-eared Sighthounds of ancient Egypt are thought to have originated from Asia (east of Egypt), but they were also part of tributes to the Pharaohs from Nubia (South of Egypt). This ancient hound resembles today's Sloughi, Saluki, Azawakh and smooth Afghan, and it is impossible without any genetic study to know whether it was a breed of its own, whether it was identical to one of these 4 breeds, or whether it was the ancestor of all lop-eared Sighthounds.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the Sloughi was almost extinct. Political upheavals had disrupted highly sophisticated breeding by leading families. A French law introduced during French occupation which prohibited hunting with Sighthounds had resulted in the shooting on sight of these dogs. Epidemic rabies had further decimated the Sloughi population. In spite of dedicated efforts which started at the end of the 1960ies in Europe, North Africa and the USA, the Sloughi is still not very common, and its breeders have an important responsibility in the conservation of this ancient breed.

The Sloughi's native countries are Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. It is the hound of the Berber and Bedouin who have always highly treasured the Sloughi's tremendous hunting skills, beauty and loyalty and treated him like family.

In the old days, the Sloughi used to hunt desert hare, fennec (desert fox), gazelle, large mountain gazelle, hyena, ostrich, and jackal. Today it hunts mainly desert hare, fennec, rarely gazelle, and protects the goat and sheep herds by hunting their predator the jackal. Like all Sighthounds, Sloughis are open space hunters which rely on excellent vision, speed and stamina to catch their prey. They chase on sight anything that moves, however far away. Although the breed hunts mainly by sight, it also relies on scent and sound to do so.

The Sloughi is also an alert watch dog, which remains aloof and cautious with people it does not know. Sloughis take time to warm up to strangers allowed to enter the house, and it is always best to let them do it at their own pace. With its owner the Sloughi is gentle, affectionate and very loyal. Once it has bonded with someone, the Sloughi does not always change owner with ease. Bedouins treasure this attitude and have bred their Sloughis accordingly.

© Dominique Crapon de Caprona

Dogs at Menton's Arabian Horse Show - 2

Here's another dog at the Arabian Horse Show in Menton - there seemed to be almost as many dogs as horses! I posted a photo of a Shar-pei a few days ago - here's another - this one, however, is just waiting outside one of the horse boxes. She was here for hours, waiting, waiting. Dogs are so patient, aren't they?

Bundle of fluff

This dog walked past with his owners as I made my way up to the Old Town of Menton. He is a cross between a Chow Chow and a Pyrenean Shepherd Dog. You can see more of the sheepdog than the chow but he has a touch of a chow's black tongue.

Dogs at Menton's Arabian Horse Show - 1

The horses were wonderful and you can see photographs of them on the Menton Daily Photo blog. However, so were the dogs and here is the first - a lovely Shar-pei with her young owners who came from Belgium.

Rapport

This kind gentleman allowed me to photograph his dachshund in Monaco - just outside the Hôtel de Paris. These two, man and dog, seem a very good pairing to me - they had a great rapport. I got the feeling he so loved his dog and had a great and gentle respect for him.

Vide grenier - 2

This dog is helping his owner sell 'stuff' at the Vide Grenier in the medieval hill village of Gorbio. Eventually tho, if you look below, you'll see he had enough! Time for zzzzzzzzzzz.

Hot hound

This lovely Bassett Hound was proud to pose for his photograph at the entrance to Sospel: a beautiful mountain village 20 kilometres above Menton.

Tall drink

There a vide grenier on in Gorbio village today. Literally, 'empty the attic' - it's what we'd call a Car Boot Sale or a Jumble Sale, perhaps. This enormous Bernese Mountain Dog, although tall, is having to stretch to drink from the village fountain in the Place.

Summer hair cut

I'm a sucker for an American cocker spaniel and this one is a cutie. Funny haircut, but who cares and he's nice and cool for summer. I'd far rather see this, than a dog full of knots and uncomfortable. This was taken in the walking street of Menton. Pension Milou is named for Milou who was an American cocker spaniel. You can read his story here.

Hey me, look at me!

These two Wire Fox Terriers were tied up, waiting for their owner outside Carrefour, the supermarket in Monaco. The young one thought it great fun to jump for joy and show what a happy dog she is. When the owner returned we briefly discussed the breed and I said they can be a bit sharp with other dogs. She said provided an owner is tough enough, the dog will behave and certainly she had her two under control - and very happy they were too. The one jumping up is 4 and the other one around 10. A great rapport between dogs and owner here.

Ice cream time

A shot like this makes us realise how large we must be to a little dog. Here he is waiting with his family - wonder if he got a lick of ice-cream? These photographs were taken in the pedestrian street of Menton.

Conversations in Menton

The owners are having separate conversations but plainly the dogs are not.

Porcelaine

This dog is a breed called a Porcelaine - one of France's hunting dogs. Seen here outside a stylish shoe and bag shop in one of the indoor shopping centres in Monte Carlo. He reminds me of Beau, my Bruno de Jura - it's those loooooooong ears.

Brocante in Menton

Every year on the 1st May there is an enormous brocante in the streets of Menton and every year it gets more and more crowded. This owner has the right idea - her bichon maltais in her arms - and her son on the shoulders of her husband.

Remembering those...

This little cutie is not taking as much interest as his owner in what is going on. In fact, a crowd has gathered for the National Day of the Deportation - the day that remembers those sent to the concentration camps. You can see another photo and read more here.

Get a portable telephone!

Taken in one of the main squares of Menton, this little dog waits quite happily for his owners to make a call.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz........

More visitors to the Monaco Dog Show.