In honor of Mary Tyler Moore (who could turn the world on with her smile), today is the perfect day (since she loved them, and all animals so much) to do DOGS of the English Countryside. MUSICA  And do not think I am insane, remember I am only the reporter. I didn’t think of this all by myself, and don’t forget this isn’t just one day, it took two and half months to take all these photos. I actually didn’t take pictures of every dog we saw, but I tried.

British people are famous for their love of dogs. It starts right at the top, and is met with a mighty roar by everyone else in the Queendom. Dogs are everywhere.

The media has lots of fun with the Queen’s well-known adoration of Pembroke Welsh Corgis, which have followed her around for her whole life. My favorite part of the wonderful movie The Queen was seeing those dogs with Helen Mirren, they just made every scene they were in. And it was all real, as you can see HERE.  According to Welsh folklore, Corgis were the “enchanted dog of the Fay,” and the perfect mount for tiny fairy warriors.

It all began when Elizabeth was a child . . . the look on both of their faces says it all…

I thought I might show a few of the British dogs we encountered on our walks. Of course, there were Corgis like this adorable one at Stourhead. If I had a dog, this sturdy little fellow is the one I would want!! They are always smiling. And when they want to play, they bounce on their front feet.

Dogs provide the perfect opportunity to talk to strangers when you’re traveling. And as you know, dog owners are the best people (right up there with cat owners)! Here we are on a walk, hooking up for a meeting of the minds. Two dog owners and us and plenty to talk about.

This dog was reaching up for a head pat and a smile.

And then expressed joy of gorgeous fall day in the leaves and the wind . . .

She wouldn’t stop. She was in heaven.

We definitely had nature’s address, so here we go … here’s my dog gallery:  This cutie was prancing along just fine, but was suddenly put off by the camera and the strange person behind it . . . he came to a stop, and was just about to step back . . .

This big boy was wearing his plaid best while walking the grounds of the Palace where Winston Churchill was born. His lovely owner shared him with us.

This one thought it knew me. Just for a moment.

Here come the twins. Yes, I am on my haunches ready and willing to be licked to death.

Swans are another thing you see lots of. Most people know to walk around them, even when they look sociable, it’s a ploy. But that little dog wants them so bad.

This is that same walk past the swans, along the canal in Aylesbury ~ you can see the little dog from the last photo in the back.  As we visited with the person who owns these dogs, she told us the black one carries his toy because it keeps him from barking. Brilliant!

It was a beautiful, misty, fall day in the neighborhood.

Then there was this one. In a store . . . she let me take her photo, one ear up, and one down, but soon it was clear she’d had enough,

She opened the door . . .

and left.

Because they are a civilized country and very people-oriented, dogs are welcome, along with their bones, bowls and chew toys, in almost every pub and tea shop, and most hotels.

So, if you don’t mind the separation every night, you CAN bring your dog with you on the Queen Mary 2.  THAT’S how civilized this country is! Not so sure I see happiness in everyone’s faces, but still, dogs and cats can come along, they just aren’t allowed to sleep in your room and have to stay in this kennel where the owners can go visit. This would turn me into a smuggler. Look at that bulldog’s face. It says it all.

And will be welcome wherever you go. You’ll note the water bowl with the heart in it. MAS MUSICA!

All three wearing plaid, in a pub, and with all different owners . . .

This one is at the table next to us at an outdoor tea room . . . extremely interested in …

. . . this guy, just across from us.

This one, and the one up ahead, are right at home at the beautiful Devonshire Hotel. And why not, look at the wallpaper. (Excuse me for a moment, Jack is insisting I come into the bathroom and watch him drink water from the faucet.)

Speaking of love, this is Alice. She is the lucky puppy who belongs to Rachel and Paul, our wonderful English friends.

Here’s Alice among the flowers. She is beloved and they take her everywhere. She knows her way around the train too.

This is Alice’s collar.

And here are some of the decorative Alice collection, antique and otherwise, that reside on Ray and Paul’s kitchen shelf.

Rachel is a dog lover from way back. This photo is in her childhood bedroom.

So you can imagine how Joe and I felt at this antique store when we saw all of these wonderful old toy dogs . . .

We were almost drooling over them through the glass cupboard doors, especially loving the one on wheels . . . thinking what a good gift one of them would make and how cute it would look in their living room.

Trying to decide . . . very exciting, so many choices. “Maybe I could make cookies,” I was telling Joe, “and give them to Ray and Paul in this darling box.” Good idea!

And then I started asking for prices. And was horrified to discover they are NOT FOR SALE. None of them. They were just put there to torture us!  The store owner’s private collection. Really! And I’m sorry to say that begging didn’t help a bit.

Later on in the trip, we found this little iron door-knocker in another antique store, probably the only one of these dog things in England that other lady didn’t own. So we snapped it right up. Not big, furry, or on wheels, no straw hat, but still, old and kinda cute.

There were dogs on every walk . . .

We didn’t even have to get out of the car to take pictures of them.  This is at Loch Ness in Scotland. Look at the man wearing a kilt, talking to that white-haired person over the garden wall . . . Ahh Scotland . . .

Doggies on display at stoplights . . .

. . . and when we come out the front door of the house we were staying in, this car was parked across the street. Look at the little pillow hanging on the window.

Don’t you think this pup would look perfect with Jack? They would make a beautiful pair. He seems very fit to me, and dressed tastefully, like the boots and pants of his owner.

Photographing dogs means you get a good excuse to do the shoe-cam . . . these two look so alike, something about the eyes.

Look at that eyeball. Isn’t he darling. What kind is he? I don’t know. Morning Science. I would like hair that color. Or those colors.

Cool dogs in Bath.

Farm dogs . . . in a car pulling a trailer filled with hay.

 Here’s Joe and a man we met on our walk named Mike. That’s our walking path off on the left (don’t you just want to follow it and see where it goes?), he was coming down as we were going up. He has a dog, so of course we got to talking ~ he was so nice and so funny. He had that cute English accent and all . . . . . .and after a while, among other things, he shared with us that he was a recent widower, he’d lost his wife Hazel, just six months before. We could easily see how much he was missing her. But his memories seemed to be all joy. 💝

There is his beautiful dog, and I mean this dog was beautiful, standing near the fairy circle Mike had built for his wife . . .

We’d seen this mysterious circle (at least to us, imaging all sorts of ancient Mists of Avalon Druid-y things) before we ran into Mike and started asking him about it, what it was, how long it had been there . . . he told us he was the one who’d actually made it (not a Druid after all) because his wife asked him to, from tree stumps that he buried . . . she wanted a magical place outdoors where the local children could have birthday parties. Isn’t this the best remembrance?  Shows how really easy it is to go on living forever.❤️

Same walk, different dog, in the English Countryside, which among other things, defines the meaning of the word “green.”

This one liked to model for us. He was excellent at it.

Very playful sweetheart of a dog. So see? It’s not all just trees and things . . . dogs and their masters are part of the discovery too.

Remember? I showed this one on the blog the other day. We’re in Birnam Wood, where we went to see an ancient tree, alive in Shakespeare’s time ~ I’m down low to take this photo, and he just kept coming. . .

Getting cuter and cuter, he almost knocked me over! But it was worth it.

Dogs on TV too . . . I was just going through the channels and happened upon this show and it was the BEST!  Could have watched it every night . . . it was called One Man and His Dog. You can see an episode HERE ~ you’ll love it too. Who knew? It’s a whole other world.

This was the winning dog in the episode I watched. Dogs have so much heart.

Seeing that show on TV was what got us wanting to see the dogs and sheep in person . . . so when we got to Scotland we found Neil Ross, a shepherd and spent the afternoon enjoying his wonderful display of working dogs . . .

I wrote an earlier post about them. So beautiful. And amazing, what they can do.

They had puppies at the farm too . . .

We spent part of our time in Scotland with our friends Elizabeth and Mike . . . and all of us fell in love with the dogs.

Elizabeth has two dogs at home in California, one looks just like this one, this cairn terrier we met on an abandoned WWII landing strip (as we learned from his mistress) we found while walking the perimeters of Stourhead. See? Meet a dog, and you get all kinds of interesting information and history.

Pretty and clean ~ obviously not walking through the English countryside. A town dog.

Another Scottish dog.

The look of love.

And this little one is called Jack, and belongs to Carrie (our friend from Twitter @holywellbnb), and has a wonderful life chasing birds in Oxford. Soon, on an upcoming post, we’ll go visit the whole family and see inside Carrie’s really old, beyond normal, darling, cottage.

And then there was this beauty. Perfect for a winter in the northlands.

This is an English doghouse. Because charm is their middle name.

Not every picture I took had a dog in it… some, like this one, had to stand on its own. And does a pretty good job of it. Loveliness-wise. Can you just feel yourself on that path. Look at that “architecture!” Who does that?

Ahhhh, deep breath, the English Countryside . . .

Well, I suppose it’s back to real life for me . . .

Hope you enjoyed that ~ I’ll be back soon with more . . . maybe some amazing pub food, or maybe some Scottish plaid. Something quirky, no doubt.  I hope the sample mug shows up this week, if it does, and it’s good-to-go, we’ll have a Giveaway in the next post.💖 And, remember, if things get rough while I’m away, follow the old Mark Twain rule of thumb and it will all seem better . . . OR, watch this . . .

Or, this . . . (you can go on all day with these!)

Or, if you have a special dog in your life, you can make these: