Ode to the Dog
In troubled times, having Man’s Best Friend around helps us a lot. Many poems have been written about dogs, but this pithy paean by Ogden Nash says it best:
The truth I do not stretch or shove
When I state that the dog is full of love.
I've also found, by actual test,
A wet dog is the lovingest.
Humans have been making artistic tributes to their dogs for a long while. In 1774 archaeologists working in Italy near Civita Lavinia unearthed the oldest-known canine sculpture: a pair of marble hounds, circa 1AD—199AD. The dog spirit represents love, protection and loyalty, and ornamental images of this benevolent presence have graced gardens for at least 2000 years.
Real-live dogs are welcome to gambol across most of the 4600 acres of parkland at the Bickling Estate, in Norfolk, England. But here, in the formal gardens, only stone dogs are allowed. Courtesy of nanquick.com
Of the Villa Gamberaia, near Florence, Italy, Edith Wharton had this to say: “Probably the most perfect example of the art of producing a great effect on a small scale.” Within Gamberaia’s compact gardens, dog statues abound…giving a cozy but elegantly domestic feel to the place. Courtesy of nanquick.com
Seated wet hound at a path's entrance, Harold Peto's Garden at Iford Manor in Wiltshire England
NEGarden's official mascot, LEO
Featured products
English Hound Statue
$1,450
Child with Dog Jardiniere
$2,850
