More Italian Dogs

When I was in Italy a couple of months back, I saw a lot of this:

And this:

And this:

Dogs!

We saw dogs everywhere we went:

In the city:

In the country:

Under cars:

In the doorways of cafes:

And in the midst of antiquities:

This dog is world famous. Know him?:

He's in a mosaic floor in Pompeii. Below his paws, the mosaic reads, "Cave Canem," or "beware of the dog." He's spawned got a lot of modern knockoffs. too:

Of course, everywhere we went, I kept an eye out for pugs. But I didn't see any in Rome, not a one in the five days we were there. 

I saw guard dogs:

And calm dogs:

And dogs rendered in beautiful detail on the tiled floor of a church:

I saw mythical dogs:

and junk-yard dogs:

and the most adorable three-month old chocolate Lab puppy. This is "Molly":

I even saw dogs on rooftops!

I was beginning to get desperate. Surely this country has some monkey-faced, bug-eyed, barrel-shaped little snorters somewhere??

Not this pointy-nose cutie:

Certainly not this beautiful boy:

Not a pug. Nope:

No pugs, not inside a restaurant:

Nor outside one:

At last, I spotted one in Naples named "Eddita," out on a walk with her pal:

And later, I met one in Rome when we passed through on our way home to the U.S. This is "Ommero" ("Homer," in English):

He was more than happy to say, "Hi!"

And, I'm very happy to say, the Pug Head Tilt is the same, the world 'round:

Ciao for now, baby!