Pets in Italy

Interesting topic.
I do not have a pet, but I want to say that if people come here and want a large dog, it will be hard to find.  Italians really go for small dogs.  The big reason is that their homes have smaller space and a big dog takes a lot more room.  The do have dog pounds here to adopt pets.  Of course, if you want to spend big euros, you can find a breeder and get a golden retriever, etc.  German Shepherds are difficult to find because people stopped having them due to the genetic back problem.  At least I think that is it.??
There are a lot of cats in my village that roam around loose, but are owned by people.
My blog this week is on Venezia, if anybody is interested.  Ciao!
whatfillsmyplate.blogspot.it/

Hi

Well I have to disagree. I live in the Italian countryside south of Milan (Oltrepo Pavese) and there are lots of large dogs which are mainly kept outside. There seem to be two types of dog lovers: those who want a guard or hunting dog and those who want a pet.

How interesting....Well, in my village there is only one big dog.  I can count 20 other ones that bark at me as  I walk by on my daily 30 minute walk.

Hi, i travel to Genova every year with our German Shepard and it isn't as hard as I thought it would be. There is lots of bureaucracy from both US and Italy, but it is manageable , just paper work. The dogs have to be current on all vaccinations. If you are coming from certain countries ,Italy wants your dog blood tested for something else, but I dont remember what that is, as it is not necessary coming from US. Italy wants you to have a pet passport that you can get going to an approved vet.  In US you have your dog certified by a vet 10 days before travel and then go to the Dept of Agriculture to have the vets' certification certified!!!!! There are lots of big dogs in Genova. I notice that people  in Italy really really love their dogs, but they aren't necessarily socialized with other dogs. Also, I don't know why, but most dogs in Italy are not fixed. There are very few dog parks and the ones that are there are not maintained or cleaned, so If you have an active dog in the city,(as we do) you will be doing LOTS of walking. All in all, it is lovely to have our baby with us in Italy and she can now ignore our commands in Two languages!!! LOL