The dogs of Venice

Canale Grande, Rialto, Piazza San Marco: The Venice countless tourists trample through every day feels more like a tourist trap than a real city. Yet there's also another version of Venice, with real residents who buy their fish and vegetables at the market and drink an espresso every day in their favorite bar - and many of them own a dog.

Christian Ortner, the author of the book "The Dogs of Venice," is not really a dog fan. The Austrian journalist lives in Vienna and usually writes about the economy. "A rather dry business," he told DW. As he usually spends a week in Venice every year in the winter, he noticed a typical Venetian phenomenon while he was there.

"I was taking a walk, and I realized that there are many more dogs in Venice than anywhere else, and that they are quite extraordinary ones - and above all, that Venetians like to dress them up when it gets cold," Ortner said. He found it "so curious and funny" that he decided to make a book about it.

To realize this project, he asked the photographer Luiza Puiu to find 80 funny dogs. She spent two weeks in Venice last January and came back with 12,000 photos - of about 120 dogs. She sifted through them all to select the best pups.

Despite the enormous number of photos, the author immediately identified this albino boxer as his favorite in the lot. Although he is actually called Achille, Ortner finds it rather looks like Winston Churchill. "When everyone is looking away, this dog certainly smokes a fat Havana cigar," Ortner writes, "and pours himself a Scotch."

The photographer Luiza Puiu, who was born in Romania and lives in Vienna, was especially happy when she took this picture because "it just happened so spontaneously." This typical Venetian dolceria, which is a kind of pastry shop, turns into a timeless ballroom for this over-sized dog.

"Dog owners are very sociable," says Puiu. That helped her while she was looking for more unusual canines. Take, for example, this dog, which apparently likes to stand on his master's shoulders. It had already caught the attention of the author during a previous stay. Puiu managed to track it down, as people recognized the man and his pet as regular customers of the wine bar Enoteca Rio Martin.

The legendary art collector Peggy Guggenheim (1898-1979) lived in Venice for 30 years until her death and owned many dogs. Her four-legged companions were buried in the courtyard of her house - right next to her. The residence now houses the famous Peggy Guggenheim Collection, with works by Picasso, Kandinsky, Mondrian and more. However, dogs, even this cute tiny one, are no longer allowed there.

Although Venice is known to be a labyrinth that disorients all tourists, the gondolier Nicola Grossi is convinced that this would never happen to a local canine. His 14-year-old dog Sandro can as comfortably travel all day on a gondola as he can find his way home alone through the city's narrow alleys.

"They are like the Venetians themselves, very extravagant and elegant," says Puiu of the dogs she photographed. The book "The Dogs of Venice" by Christian Ortner and Luiza Puiu provides glimpses of the everyday life of the inhabitants of a postcard city overrun with tourists - that nevertheless manages to remain romantic.