Dog Culture in Germany Vs. My Dog



I really wanted to title this Dog Culture in Germany Vs. Dog Culture in America.  But what I'm comparing dog culture in Germany to is my dog Louis, which isn't an American dog, but also wasn't raised by Germans.  B and I bought him from a French Bulldog breeder in Germany and he's never even been to the States yet.  But, he was raised by Americans and definitely acts like an American dog.  (And I am not saying that every American dog is not well trained and that every German dog  is).  Let me explain.

Germany has a really great dog culture

They love their animals and take them everywhere...because they can.  I don't know about Northern Germany but in Bavaria, dogs are allowed at some malls, in restaurants, stores, trains, buses, and generally any place that a well behaved dog can go.  They are not however, welcome in certain places like grocery stores.  Just look for the signs.  When I got Louis, I was excited that I could take him everywhere, but in actuality he is not well behaved like a German dog.  Also a cool thing about German dogs is they get their own passport which is great for keeping track of their records.

        How dogs act in retaurants in Germany (Source) + This dog not giving a shit Vs. Louis begging + being needy

He isn't calm and aloof like German dogs

If you are looking at him, his butt (not tail) is wagging and he is drooling on himself wishing you would come over and pet him.  German dogs seem not to give two sh*ts about who is around them.    This also applies to the above image.

He's going to do what he wants 

Maybe this is because he's only about a year old or.  Or because he's a bulldog and they are notoriously "bull-headed" but if he doesn't want to walk he's going to stop in the middle of wherever we happen to be like in the middle of town.  He will just lay on the ground like he's dying and it's funny but also embarassing.  He also doesn't like to wear his harness so he will roll around on the ground trying to get it off. I've literally had people point and laugh.  It is funny so I don't mind but come on, Louis!  With that said, I'd find these spoiled behaviors not so endearing in a human child.

Well behaved dog Vs. Louis throwing a tantrum

He's not okay without a leash 

One of the biggest things I am impressed with in the German dog culture is that there are tons of dogs that follow their owners around town without a leash.  The owner can be way ahead and here is this dog, slowly but surely following his/her owner.  Sometimes the dog is even leading the owner like it knows exactly where it is going.  Louis would never be able to do this.  They must do some intense training here because it's pretty awesome.  Germans, what are your tricks for this?  I've actually witnessed a training in progress once when I saw a man who was watching his dog from blocks away.  The dog knew his owner was watching and he just waited there.  Even as his owner went in and out of stores.  Amazing.  Louis would run away or get friendly with everyone.

Louis taking me for a walk
He knows three commands

Louis isn't a dummy.  He knows a few commands like "sit", "lay down", and the ever cute "high five." (He's really good at lay down by the way). But beyond that I don't think he will learn much more and it's probably because he's spoiled.  He's so ridiculously cute that he gets away with everything which I think is something common with American owners.  On the other hand, German dogs are usually well behaved.  When I take Louis to the kennel, the lady that takes him is also an amazing dog trainer.  We don't take him to obedience school there just "puppy camp" but one time we picked Louis up and the lady told us she tried to teach him a few tricks.  We asked her if he learned anything.  She said, "nope."  Typical Louis.

This dog is well trained Vs. Louis who has mastered the art of couch napping (and he looks pissed I woke him up).

He's a jerk to other dogs 

So embarassing and I will attribute this to him being a bulldog and still having his nuts, but he tries to dominate every dog he meets.  He's a total asshole to other dogs.  He's annoying and in their face and worse he even tries to hump them.  Maybe it's time to get him snipped.  I'm embarassed when I bring him around these well behaved German dogs and he's trying to dominate them.  We have two neighbors with Dobermans and he really thinks he is a suitable match for a fight.

Louis being a total d*ck.

He thinks he's people 

And this might be our fault.  He sits on the couch.  He needs his ass wiped like a baby which is totally gross but necessary. He sits upright sometimes and it's goofy.  And I think he can talk.

 Louis sitting like a human

In Germany there are tons of Frenchies 

This is another positive about German dog culture IMO.  There are Frenchies everywhere.  I'd say they are easier to find than even German Shepherds. B and I get so excited when we spot one.  Recently, Louis met one of his kind for the first time and it was the cutest thing ever.  They just sniffed each other and smushed their faces together.  It was adorable.

Two Frenchies meeting is magic


All behaviors aside, he's pretty perfect 

Though I long for Louis to walk besides me without a leash or stop trying to hump the neighbors dog, he is pretty awesome.  He's seriously the funniest dog I've ever had. 

I love Louis

Travel Tuesday

30 comments :

  1. Hahaha this is the cutest. I love meeting bloggers' pets and learning about their weird dog quirks. I read somewhere while planning my honeymoon to Munich and Vienna that a license is required for dog ownership (sort of a certificate of their proper training). Is that true?

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  2. Love the picture of Louis laying all sprawled on the ground, so adorable! I need to live in Germany, I would love to get to take my dog most places with me.

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  3. Lol, this is adorable! I miss having a dog. Please post more about Louis!

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  4. I love your comparison! And you're SO right, German dogs are amazing! I don't know how they get them so well behaved!

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  5. Ha! Your dog sounds like my Westie, Malcolm. He's the most spoiled, stubborn dog I've ever met!

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  6. I find German dogs would be more well behaved because of the intense training that's done in Schutzhund, especially breeds like German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois, etc. It's a really intense program. I have one dog that is trained in the similar, high intensity obedience of schutzhund, thus she behaves like most of the dogs you described from Germany, but I have 3 others who are merely companions and they are just like Louis, but I love them anyway. XD In my opinion, you dog has their own personality, it doesn't make a difference whether he's a professionally trained, most perfect dog at obedience school, all that matters is that you love each other.

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    1. You're right Deanna, most of the well trained dogs here in German go through intense obedience school. And many of them are the German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois. I have even been impressed by many other breeds following along without leashes with their owners too.

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  7. Hahah, you nailed it. Stuart, my dog, is embarrassingly American in his habits too. How many times have I said things like "Stuart, that's rude!" as he's shoving his nose to smell another dog's butt, or trying to bite a sandwich of a passerby, or, or, or... He's a spoiled little brat, but he's my spoiled brat and I love him to pieces. One day Louis and Stuart should play, though given their traits it might not be pretty. :)

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    1. Aw, what kind of dog do you have. I'm sure Louis would try to dominate him too but still love to play!

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  8. your blog post made me LOL. It almost sounds like when this Latina moved to the USA for the first time XD minus being a jerk! Ha ha Ha ;)

    -Maria Alexandra

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  9. It took me awhile to get used to seeing dogs everywhere after I moved from the U.S. to Europe. Here is Slovenia they're allowed everywhere. Can't say I'm a big fan of seeing dogs in restaurants and grocery stores, but i can live with it.

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    1. Yea it's kind of weird seeing them in restaurants but they usually just sit under the table and mind their own business. I think American might find that a little gross but here it's not because they aren't like moving around and getting hair everywhere.

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  10. I don't have a dog but I can tell you that dogs in France go everywhere and always seem so well behaved. They must be closely related to their German cousins!

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  11. He's adorable! I'm sure when he grows up a bit and loses his manhood he'll settle down a little! Thanks for sharing at Fridays Unfolded!

    Alison
    Nancherrow

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    1. Yes, I agree. We are struggling with cutting off his manhood. I think it's a good idea but my husband is having issues with it. I normally think it's a great idea to spay and neuter your pets. We have no intentions of breeding him or giving him away so it's not really an issue for us right now.

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  12. Dog culture is changing in Australia. Years ago dogs were dogs and lived outside the house. Now they are transiting to being inside dogs and are treated more like children than pets. Ours lives downstairs and leaves the house by her own Doggie Door. I am lazy and don't want to be picking up her long white hairs all the time! She is not well behaved at all, i.e. she jumps up and licks people! Dogs are not allowed in restaurants or cafes in Queensland where I live but in Melbourne they are much more accepted. Louis is a real character :)

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  13. Ahhh this is an adorable post and made me so aware of how thin my life is without a dog! I can't wait to get one again, but in the meantime your photos had me chuckling and smiling :)

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  14. Here in Korea, the tinier the better, and the Koreans like to dye their hair and dress them up. Definitely, not my thing. I like dogs, but too much work. I have a cat and Indy is perfect for my lifestyle :) Louis is cute!

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    1. Wow that would be interesting to see with the tiny dyed dogs. I'm not so into tiny dogs. Louis is smaller but he's 30 lbs. Definitely not tiny!

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  15. great post! my daughter and her hubby have a Frenchie named Vinnie and he's just like your guy, to a T!

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    1. Aw. So funny how they seem to have the same clownish personalities.

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  16. I LOVED this post! Never seen this topic before, triple points for coming up with a never-before-seen post topic. Um, dogs? I'm in!

    Hilarious photos too. It's great that you can admit your dog is a jerk to other dogs. (made me laugh) So many people are in denial about this!

    Here's our lovely dog Chewie. We refer to her as our 'German Sheplet' because she's, well, little for her breed. She's pretty well behaved but only because I paid a fortune to get her trained before we had our baby.

    V @ Life+1
    New Post : How to Avoid Embarrassing Travel Moments

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  17. I cannot go anywhere without the leash for my dog, she does not follow me at all.

    Bea

    www.lovelivingabroad.com

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  18. My fiance's high school girlfriend was a German exchange student and they got a jack russell together. It was the most well trained dog ever. It lived in Germany for awhile with the girl before he brought the dog back and it was so well trained. I knew so many commands in German and in English. We have a lab now and he's fairly well trained. He definitely has some bad habits but there's a lot of things we had to be sure to teach him since he now weighs over 100 pounds. He can't get away with some of the things little dogs get away with because it's 100 times more annoying coming from a giant dog. Sometimes I wish he was little, at least when your dog gives up in the middle of a walk you can pick him up, if Gatsby decides he's not moving...he's not moving haha.

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    1. Yes, I agree, the bigger dogs must be trained well or they can be a menace. That's why so many of the bigger breeds in Germany do go to the obedience schools.

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  19. Such a cute dog. I love his ears :D
    Didn't realize that dog culture in Germany would be so different from other countries but we do have a lot of rules and regulations here and having a dog in Germany comes hand in hand with paying dog taxes and having to follow certain guidelines......interesting to see how it's like elsewhere ;)

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  20. I love this picture! Frenchies are so cute! I love the picture of his sitting like a human, like he doesn't give a damn haha

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-Brittany Ruth