In Tokyo I have seen many, many dogs but 99% of them have been of the small or downright tiny breeds rather than the labrador sized man's best friends in the west. Since people here generally have smaller living spaces than Europe or America this makes sense from a practical point of view but these dogs mostly look very ugly. Besides which you can't very well throw a very big stick for them to fetch as they won't be able to carry it back to you.
The Japanese have used the fact their pets are so small to their advantage though. When taking their dogs places they neatly drop them into a bag slung over their shoulder and save the dog the hassle of walking. More than once this has caused me consternation on the busy metro as I turn around to find myself face to face with a beady eyed mutt protruding from a rucksack. Perhaps if they weren't so ugly I wouldn't mind so much (does this make me a shallow person?).
On a similar note a neighbours dog finally cracked this morning and started barking at the crickets. I can only assume he was also shouting "shut up"!
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