SPAINGLORIOUS BLOG #8 Dogs
Throughout my travels, I have come to the conclusion that you can tell a lot about a place by the dogs. I suppose it could be used for any animal but I think the dog is one of the most common “pet”. I have no particular affinity or aversion for/to dogs or animals in particular but that’s neither here nor there.
In Spain, well at least in Granada, lots of people own dogs and while they are not dead ringers for their owners like 101 Dalmations would suggest, they do correspond to the owner’s lifestyle. For example, the majority of people here have “apartment dogs” (think dogs small enough to carry) because, well most people live in apartments. In the US these would be called “yappy dogs” but I have yet to hear a dog bark or display any excitement in Spain.
Then there are the gitano and hippie dogs are usually big. Those people don’t have to worry about the size of their dogs because apparently they live up in Sacromonte which is basically a series of caves. Most of them aren’t “Spanish” they are either Roma people or other european people who come to Spain because it is more liberal and the climate is agreeable (at this time of year)
All the dogs are well behaved, probably because their owners treat them like companions rather than glorified play-things/children as they are treated in the US. Not many people use leashes here but the ones who do usually live in apartments. Their dogs just calmly trot along beside or a little ways in front and go where their owner goes. When the owner goes into a shop, the dog, without being addressed at all, sits calmly outside the door until the owner is ready and then the procession continues.
The relation between man and mans best friend seems a lot more natural here. Also there isn’t so much a culture of neutering here (which I won’t really comment on either way because I don’t really know why it would or wouldn’t be done in a culture in the first place). Owners don’t insist on dressing their dogs in clothes. I don’t know what any of this says about Spain but I’ll figure it out lol. I’m good at the observation, not so much the conclusions.
I as born in London, England to children of Jamaican immigrants. I have lived in England, Venezuela, USA, and China. I am currently a university student stateside.
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5 Comments to “SPAINGLORIOUS BLOG #8 Dogs”
September 23rd, 2008 at 8:41 am
ElizabethD: The other side of the coin is that it’s quite common for Spaniards to throw their bigger dogs out onto the street when they go on holiday to forage for food. These dogs can get desperate, move around in packs and attack people. This is very natural but maybe too natural!
I ran into one such pack myself one summer. There were 5 big dogs and they started walking toward me and all I could do was walk away as quickly as I could without running - and without showing any fear.
As far as being natural. Yes, they leave dog poop all over the sidewalk and it’s very natural but not very nice.
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September 25th, 2008 at 4:16 am
hahahah yeah I forgot about that until I walked outside again. It’s true. I wish people would clean up after their dogs and I wish that everything didn’t smell like urine….though it remains to be seen whether its animal or human urine…
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September 25th, 2008 at 10:48 am
ElizabethD: lol, more examples of natural but not very nice things…
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September 25th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
lol, interesting post Elizabeth!
I’m an observer too, I love trying to understand other cultures by looking at their “simple” habits, like you just did.
I find that in Brazil people are exactly like in the US
Seriously, some of them talk to their dogs as if they were kids: “come with mommy” and that kind of thing..
I find that really sick. A Brazilian magazine actually published an article about this once, alerting people that they might be putting too much of their emotional needs in their pets, but I don’t think it made any difference.
Anyways, keep on observing…I’m curious as to what your conclusions will be
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October 2nd, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Awesome observations Elizabeth!^_^ Here in the Philippines most people have large dogs. I have five of them myself.xD
Here, their more like pseudo bodyguards cause there is alot of theft and burglary. The small dogs on the other hand are usually owned by the elites and boy are they pampered.
I haven’t seen any dogs in clothes though, except during those contests.
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