Belgian Holiday, part 2, Dogs of Belgium

A bulldog statue painted in the colors of the Belgian flag.

Of course I kept an eye out for dogs in Belgium as I always do, and saw some interesting things, some expected and some not.

A "dogs drink free" sign outside
a bar or cafe. 

This is a statue in Antwerp depicting a boy and his dog,
apparently they are characters in some Asian folklore or story.

Green bulldog with banana. Don't ask my why.

I saw a couple of these fountains.
The top is a bird bath, the center is
for horses, and there's water for dogs
at the bottom. Very clever and attractive.

This is the first Malinois we saw in Belgium.
None of the Mals we saw appeared to be
working dogs. They all seemed to be pets.

"Nachtwinkle" is the Dutch word for "night shop". It's sort of
a 7-11 type store open only at night. No idea why this one is
named after Maya. 

This one kind of surprised me, I guess because
I've always thought of beagles and hounds as
American dogs for some reason.

Ok, this actually depicts a bear, not a dog. It was
supposed to represent ferociousness but it really
looks like a cute little Teddy Bear.

This dog!  We saw several of them and I don't know the
breed. Very cute. They have a long and low body like a
Dachshund, but a scruffy face and fur like a schnauzer.

Also not a dog, but we spotted this large scale statue of
a draft horse in some town we passed though.

Part of a window display, not sure what they were advertising.

A rather well-fed shepherd.

Seen through the fence next to a brewery we
were visiting. Some kind of spaniel?

I don't remember the story, but this
was a bronze sculpture of some local
hero. It was supposed to be good luck
to rub his arm.

However, there was a dog at his feet and I
gave the dog's head a rub instead.

Continuing the theme of dogs in statuary, this is a tomb effigy of Mary of Burgundy in the Church
of Our Lady in Bruges. She died young in an accident involving her horse. The dogs at her feet
represent fidelity, because nothing is more faithful than a dog, of course. Mary's likeness was
later immortalized on the label of a beer called Duchesse de Bourgogne.

New key chains I picked up for the dogs' collars.

Good looking guy with a good looking,
and very well behaved, Malinois.