Is Spain dog friendly? Before we brought Chief over to Spain with us, we were asked many questions about the state of affairs for dogs in Spain. So many people also asked how would he deal with the heat? Well, the one thing I would say is that it seems like for every human there are two dogs. OK, that's an exaggeration, but when we take Chief out for a walk over here in Benajarafe, nearly every house we pass has a dog barking at us on the way by. For the most part, the other dogs are quite friendly, The country as a whole is quite dog friendly and the numbers tell the tail :-)
Some Local Spanish Dog Friends
So far we have met Henry, Scruffy, Fred McGriff, Diablo and many more whom we haven't got the name. Henry is a massive mutt, owned by a British ex-pat named Tony. He assures us that Spain is indeed a dog friendly nation. Having lived here for 17 years, he has nothing but good stories to tell about his experiences with other dogs. Scruffy is a wee Border Terrier who has seen better days, aesthetically speaking that is. For the first week or two, we assumed he was a stray. However, Tony assures us that he has owners who do feed him, they just don't wash him. In this dusty climate, a wee dog like that gets quite worse for wear. Thus the name everyone put on him. We actually started calling him Scruffy before we found out all the neighbours call him that too. He has taken a liking to Chief and stops by on a daily basis to visit. He also joins in for most of our walks! Fred McGriff, is a wee Bassett Hound. My American friends of my generation will know why I call him Fred McGriff. We have no clue what his real name is but he's very friendly and just hangs outside his house and will greet us on occasion. Last is Diablo. He is a very large Doberman Pinscher. I met him and his owner out in el campo while I was out for a run. I was running up this deserted hillside when I saw his owner walking towards me about 30m away. I knew there must be a dog nearby, but I didn't see one. That is until I was within 10m of the man and his huge Doberman came bounding out of the tall grass towards me. The man started calling for him to stop by using his name, Diablo. Diablo translates into Devil. Needless to say, this struck a chord with me and I stopped running. However, as intimidating as Diablo was, he just licked and slobbered on my hand as I held it out to him. Phew
Chief on the MedChief's Day at the BeachExcited in the CarNot Sure About the Waves
Dog Friendly Beaches in Spain
On our first trip to La Playa Canina, chief had a blast. It was the first time since being here that we let him off his lead when outside and it was also his first time at a beach. A little different to costa del Jenkin! He loved the freedom and the joy could be felt by everyone. He bounced and bounded all around. One of his favourite pastimes is chasing stones that are thrown. I tried to entice him into the water by tossing some a few feet into the surf. It was a bit too much for him as he had never experienced waves before. He is, however, very much looking forward to going back once again. For a dog who loves to swim, it won't be long before he finds his courage and goes for a paddle in the Mediterranean. One of the added benefits for us is that we are now out walking Chief two miles in the morning and two miles in the evening. Add that to the few shorter comfort breaks he gets during the day, and we are getting plenty of added exercise. That's all three of us getting the miles in. So, the bottom line is yes, Spain is a very dog friendly country and Chief is really enjoying the dry, hot weather. I
