<p>Venetians love dogs. Have done for a very long time. Just take a look at the wonderful painting by a venerable Venetian Carpaccio which still stands on the walls of the Scuola di S Giorgio degli Schiavoni here, for which it was commissioned some five centuries ago.</p>
<p>I was just there this morning. A group of English schoolkids was inside being talked through Carpaccio's wonderful work on the walls. The Augustine canvas is a complex and mysterious piece of work. But what did those schoolkids spot first? The dog naturally. Ahhhh....</p>
<p><a href="http://davidhewson.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/201001201632.jpg"><img src="http://davidhewson.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/201001201632-tm.jpg" width="480" height="317" alt="201001201632.jpg" /></a></p>
<!--more--><p><a href="http://davidhewson.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/rimg0111.jpg"><img src="http://davidhewson.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/rimg0111-tm.jpg" width="250" height="187" alt="RIMG0111.JPG" style="float:right;padding-left:4px;" /></a>If you're a dog lover -- and I am, within reason (if such a statement makes sense) -- it's hard to escape the Venetian love for their mutts. Their little heads peek out from beneath the fur coats of grand ladies on the vaporetti. The pampered pets wander the streets bedecked in the most expensive and, occasionally, ridiculous of costumes (carnival ones even at times). Here are some of the current fashions in one neighbourhood pet store (and for a city with a population of a mere 60,000 people this place has a <i>lot</i> of pet stores I have to say).</p>
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<p>Then there are the toys. Take a look at this Castello pet store window (which is five minutes away from the shop above). Note something? It contains barely a single truly practical item. Rubber chickens, plastic bones, weird toys, igloo kennels... Everything is about maintaining your loved little one in a state of pampered bliss.</p>
<p>And here's the punchline. What do they look like these spoilt canines? Pure bred aristocrats of the dog world? Not a bit of it. Most of them are mutts. Even, in the case of this little creature, ones that appear to have been crossed bred with a gremlin somewhere along the line.</p>
<p>Remarkable place Venice. There's been a dog in the two books I've written here. There will be a dog in the next one too.</p>
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