There are quite a few dogs to be seen in Venice, and they seem to be well loved and well taken care of. Their humans are, by and large, pretty good at cleaning up after them, but do keep your eyes open for the odd deposit!
A friend has commented that the dogs in Venice seem to be very well behaved; I’ve never seen a fight, nor heard uncontrolled barking at any time of day.
When the owners go out for the evening stroll, the dogs are sure to be with them, and part of the socialising that occurs.
These fellows are nice and warm in some wintery weather. I don’t think they’ll be dressed like this in the current Venetian temperatures.
Soaking up that sunshine
My landlady in Dorsoduro (on the right), her mother-in-law, daughter, and the beloved Neri. Not long after this, Neri died. Her family missed their faithful dog very much.
Hello World 
I love the dogs in Venice—so well-behaved (mostly), even when they’re not on a leash.
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And, aren’t the ones who sit proudly on the pointy part of the boats fun to watch, Alexa?
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I always love seeing dogs on boats…even here in Seattle but there is something special about the ones on the boats in Venice.
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Bigger dogs seem to be becoming fashionable at the moment, and, yes, there is more uncontrolled barking and the occasional fight. I do like sausage dogs though…they’re not the best adapted for dealing with bridges and there’s something quite poignant in their attempts to deal with steps.
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Hi, Phil. You’ve conjured up a nice picture of the sausage dogs undulating up and down the bridges. 🙂
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HI! I love the dogs of venice so much that I started doing oil portraits of them last year. They are the most laid back dogs anywhere!
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I just wandered over and had a look at your art work, Barbara. You probably hear it all the time … you’re good!!
(For anyone else reading this, click on Barbara’s name to be taken to her site.)
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Thanks for the tip, Yvonne….loved the doggie paintings and the others too. Barbara they are lovely.
Of course I’m always looking for interesting cats to photograph. Nope, can’t find my pics by clicking on my name though.
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Do all the owners use pooper scooper bags?
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Most of them do, but there’s always someone who couldn’t give a ….!
Then there are the people who do the right thing, pick it up, but chuck the package into the nearest canal.
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I’ve also noticed quite often people have bagged it but just left the bag on the street – frequently next to a bridge for some reason – presumably for the poor streetsweepers to pick up?
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Caroline, if the sanitary workers in Venice ever went on strike, it would be such a disaster. They really are unsung heroes/heroines.
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Love this post. We noticed a lot of dogs in Venice, too. There was a bit of dog mess in Venice, but not as much as there was in Paris. I didn’t find it too bad.
I’m a dog lover, and owned my first dog in New York City – dogs can adapt to cities as long as the owners make the effort to train them properly.
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It may have changed now, but a few years ago, Florence was the place where you really kept your eyes open and your toes nimble. It sure does come down to being a responsible owner.
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Oh, yes, I do remember having to look down a lot in Florence in 2004…warned by the owner of my hotel to be sure to watch my step.
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Hm, sorry, I have to say I hate dogs nearly as much as I hate pigeons. After we moved here there suddenly seemed to be a *lot* more dogs than I’d ever noticed before – and a lot more dog mess in the streets 😦 It’s amazing how many big dogs there are too, isn’t it, when just about everyone lives in a flat? In Edinburgh the rescue charities wouldn’t let you adopt a dog or (with some of them) even a cat if you lived in a flat. And it’s amazing just how antisocial some owners can be – on our way home from the Frari the other night we saw a poor bloke who trod right in the middle of a big deposit slap in the middle of the bridge opposite San Pantalon – I actually got the dry heaves passing it.
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And if you have the misfortune to step in some, it seems you may as well chuck out that footwear, the ‘memory’ seems to linger forever.
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On my first trip my Venetian “contact” person told the group …all six of us…to watch out for potential “deposits”, just in case. She said since Venetians don’t have cars they have dogs instead and that is how they keep up with the Joneses…Venetian version. After that I saw dogs everywhere. No doges though.
Being an animal lover I have no problems with all the dogs and wow, you are right…no fights….no uncontrolled barking…they behave on the vaporetto. I think dogs here need some Venetian training.
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I have found it varied from trip to trip re: the number of dogs seen, and ditto for the deposits. I don’t have any theory as to what made the difference.
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I don’t see any doges.
Oh, dogs. My bad. I was rather hoping you had run into a doge or two in the neighborhood–shopping at the supermarket, taking some pizza back to the palace, proclaiming a new edict, that sort of thing. What a photo opp that would be!
Please keep your eyes peeled for any doges during your future visits.
Also: are you trying to protect your Dorsoduro landlady’s identity?
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Hiya, FS of mine! Who knows, I may have passed by a doge or two, and never realised. I’d have been too busy looking for important stuff. I did go to the Dodges Palace though. Does that count? I promise to be more observant next time.
Darn landlady, why couldn’t she keep her head straight?
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Love their woollies ~ they’d come in handy here at the moment! Sorry to hear about Neri. The thought of anyone losing their beloved animals always makes me sad.
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It’s woolie jumper weather up here too, Shell. Animals can work their way deeply into our hearts, for sure.
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That was a nice post, loved the winter woollens they are wearing.
I hadn’t really thought about the dogs in Venice. They wouldn’t really have a yard to run around in which would be okay for a little lap dog but those German Shepherds would take up a lot of room inside!!!
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And, there were quite a few big dogs to be seen, Melissa.
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very nice cara Yvonne :)<3<3<3
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Grazie, Manu! 🙂
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