Frodo goes to Paris

French dogs are much like French people; they snuff each other when walking down the street—at least that’s what they’re trained to do.  When you’re walking your dog and you see another dog approaching, the protocol seems to be to either cross the street or pull the leash tight and yell at your dog to behave (i.e. not even look at the other dog).  Yes, there are some people who let the dogs sniff each other for a half a second, and a handful who stop and talk, but that is rare.  The funny thing is, restaurant owners are the most welcoming to dogs.  They often make a grand gesture of inviting them in and sometimes give them a bowl of water.

Many French dogs—particularly males—are not neutered.  The French are concerned that it causes deep psychological problems and they think dogs have needs for sexual pleasure too.  One lady even yelled at me and told me I was mean and I was a bad person because I had my dog neutered.  Others merely found it interesting that my dog was neutered and they all commented on how submissive he was.  Somehow it’s okay to spade the female dogs though because they don’t seem to have a problem of too many puppies.

The result of the non-neutered, non-socialized dog scene is that practically every male dog humped Frodo.  The owners saw it as the dogs having pleasure on my submissive pup, but experts would say that it’s purely a sign of dominance.  Some French dog owners even said that my castrated dog gave off hormones that attracted their males, but experts would say that removing the testes eliminates hormones.  Frodo was a good sport.  He’s a happy-go-lucky dog.  He tolerated a certain amount of domineering dogs and fought them off when it became too much.

Despite the widely held view that Paris is dog friendly, it might interest you to know that the dogs aren’t allowed in most of the parks.  I hear this is because dog owners don’t clean up after their dogs. Twenty years ago, it was absolutely foul to walk down the sidewalk dodging dog poop at every step.  It is a million times better now, but dog owners still think it’s okay to leave dog poop that’s not directly in the walkway or that is in nature (such as a park).  

Dogs used to be allowed in parks around Paris, but not any more.  Dogs are allowed in small sections of a few parks.  The Luxembourg Garden, for example, allows dogs on a leash in a small part of the southeast corner.  You aren’t supposed to walk on the grassy sections, though, so it’s gravel and dirt, and lots of mud when it’s raining.

We found the one-and-only off-leash dog “park” in Paris and it happened to be a 5-minute walk from our apartment.  I say “park” because it’s about the size of our living room.  It was literally the only place in Paris where the dog could run and play freely.  The only other option is to go to Bois de Boulogne, one of the large parks outside of the city.  Not only would you need a car to get there (as dogs aren’t allowed on the Metro), but many people warned us that the park is full of gypsies who try to rob you and prostitutes that, well, you know.  We opted for long walks on the leash and short bouts in the local “park."