Since moving to France (albeit on a part-time basis), I’ve been struck by the attitude to dogs in France as it seems to be so contradictory.
On one hand (or paw), dogs are welcome in far more places than they are in England. You can take your dog into pretty much any restaurant, at least in our region of France, and no-one will bat an eyelid as long as it’s quiet and well-behaved. When we were house-hunting over the last few years, we took Monty with us into notaire’s (lawyer’s) offices, shops, cafes and B&Bs. I’ve seen toy dogs being carried round supermarkets, and dogs sleeping quietly under tables in commercial kitchens.
The other side of the coin is that the French seem to have a far more pragmatic attitude. Dogs are divided firmly into two camps – working dogs and pets. The working dogs are guard dogs, farm dogs and chiens de chasse (hunting dogs).
Hunting is a huge pastime in France, and in our rural corner every farmer has his hunting dogs. These are well-bred and expensive, and our neighbours are proud of them, boasting of canine pedigree and ability. However, they’re very much working dogs, living outside and only exercised on hunt days.
Even the pet dogs in France tend not to be the pampered pooches that we’re used to in the UK. They also normally live outside, or are confined to the kitchen or boot room. They’re often allowed to roam free over the countryside – in fact our local cafe dog likes to sit in the middle of the quiet road outside the cafe, causing all the locals to slow down and squeeze gravely past him. Thinking about it, our lady cafe owner may have trained him to do this, as it certainly gives everyone time to read the specials board!
This has caused me to re-think my attitude to the way we keep our dogs. Monty is confined to the garden and only allowed out for his twice-daily walks in our company, as we would never let him range over the roads by himself. But leaving the danger of traffic to one side, maybe the French dogs have a better, more natural lifestyle than the pampered pets we’re used to.
I’m not sure, but it’s certainly rare to see a dog that’s overweight in France.