Quote:
Originally Posted by Madelaine Amee
The dogs and the children in Europe always seemed better behaved than ours. Unfortunately, so very true and I really don't know why.
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I don't know about the kids, but the dogs in Paris have grown up going everywhere with their owners--to bars, restaurants, and some shops, and parks. They've learned to be calm about this from puppyhood. They have also grown up off-leash for the most part,and are simply used to following their owners and not running out into the street. I did see one woman beat her dog with an umbrella (verrrrry disturbing) on a street in Paris, but that was an exception. And she seemed a bit "off."
Parisians spend a lot of time sitting and chatting, either in parks or cafes. Americans just aren't used to sitting still that long.The dogs are used to being with them, sitting for longer periods of time. They are not coddled as much as the dogs here in the US. They are treated more like dogs and less like babies/children. NOT advocating one way or the other for this.
We were invited to take our dog to the park in the middle of our street for the after-work social time. Since ours has always been on a leash around traffic, we were afraid to do it. Their dogs would stay put in the narrow park (between four very busy lanes of traffic). We just couldn't chance it.
As for the kids... the French schools are very strict. They learn early what is expected of them, and the parents are expected to teach the children to follow the rules. Our friend was actually afraid to go up against her son's school for certain things, like taking him out early for vacations or bringing him home late.
In Paris the kids are out navigating the streets and metro system from early on. they are pretty sophisticated. The ones we met seemed a bit more mature, age for age, vis-a-vis American children. Again, I'm NOT advocating for or against this. I'm simply stating what we observed while living there.