My name is Emma and I’m a two-year-old mix of Labrador and Springer Spaniel. I am a medium-sized dog who was born in Villers-la-Ville, a small village in the region of Wallonia. In the village you can see the ruins of the Villers abbey, one of the most important Cistercian abbeys of Europe. It was founded in 1146 and the Romanesque and Gothic vaults are of some of the biggest archaeological sites in Belgium.

Now I am living a big city life in Brussels. Every Sunday my owner brings me to the Brussels Park to have a stroll. Today is just a normal sunny Sunday compared to what I experienced a month ago. I have the pleasure to tell you that I fell in love with a cute Brussels Labrador.

 

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Exploring #Belgium is getting more and more exciting each day. 👓 This is #Villers Abbey, majestic ruins of an abbey built in XII century. It looks like an #abandoned small town, where the only things left are spectacular #facades and gardens. Considering beautiful surroundings and lovely #VillersLaVille town, it is both one of the most beautiful and extraordinary places to visit in #Wallonia. 😋 #TravelersChild #TravelBelgium #LoveTheWorld #BeautifulDestinations

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I was walking near the old wooden kiosk of Brussels Park, which is currently called the Radio Kiosk and is the first independent internet-based radio station of Belgium. The city of Brussels invested in a public competition in 2017 to revitalize the park. The best new idea for the kiosk won. Anyway, the amusing music from that kiosk didn’t attract me as much as the dog that I fell in love with. I had a stick in my mouth and when I saw that handsome Labrador in the distance, I dropped it. It was love at first sight. After we met, we played together and got along like we knew each other from a previous life. People said that we looked like a couple.

Every time I come back to this park, I hope to meet him again. There are also other good options to go for a walk in Brussels. My favourite place is the Bois du Laerbeek forest. The forest was founded in the 11^th century and it’s called Laerbeek because there used to be an abbey where monks produced stones in a place called Laer. By the way, the Cathedral of St. Michael in Brussels was built with those stones. The forest is in the Northwestern part of Brussels, about nine kilometres from the centre. There I can practice my passion, which is chasing rabbits. One thing I also love to do is digging holes in my owner’s garden but apparently I should stop doing that. I still believe it’s the best way to sharpen your nails, don’t you think?

 

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Par une belle journée d’automne, un incontournable du nord-ouest de Bruxelles 🌳🍁🌰 #boisdulaerbeek #chalet #couleursdautomne #indiansummer #sunnyday #feelinggood #bruxellesmabelle #welovebrussels #visitbrussels

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In addition to that romantic story before, I am also having a deep relationship with my owner.  I am always with her and that is a good combination because I can make her feel safe and at the same time, I don’t have to be alone. Every morning, when she wakes up, I know that it is time to hit the road. We usually drop her daughter at the bus stop and I am waiting patiently for them in the car. I am used to travel by car because we often drive to Portugal. Then I really have to find a good position to sleep because it is a long way to the southern sun.

Barkly regards.

The post Dogs of Brussels – Emma’s love story in Brussels Park appeared first on Brussels Express.

My name is Baloo, my breed is Shiba Inu, and I moved to Belgium from Eastern Europe when I was a puppy. Shibas have become a very popular breed and some people don’t take care of us as they should, but luckily I don’t have any health problems. Today has been a warm and sunny day and that is why I am sitting on a bench right next to the fountain in Brussels Park.

There are a lot of monuments here and buildings such as this fountain designed with a neoclassical style by Gilles-Barnabé Guimard and Joachim Zinner. My owner tells me that this is the biggest park in Brussels city center and it’s located right next to the Royal Palace of Brussels. Also, this park was created more than two hundred years ago, sometime between 1777-1783. I wish I could smell something back from those years. It’s a joyful Sunday, lots of people in the city today.

Once a month we come to Brussels Park to spend Community Day. Today we have tried to find Pokémons, and that’s perfect, because that means a long walking day. Pokémons and myself have a similar background because my breed is originally from Japan. If I notice that my owner is about to take me for a walk, I run around and wag my tail. Wouldn’t you?

I live in Orbais, close to Perwez, which is also a beautiful city. Unfortunately, those were some of the cities which were bombed in Belgium during the Second World War. It is only about 40 kilometres from Brussels, in the southeastern part of Wallonia, so we speak French there. Close to our home is a lovely forest, Bois des Rêves, which means the wood of dreams. That is usually my favourite place to go for a walk.

My owner, Florent Germain, is a nice guy and he is thinking about adopting another dog so I could have company as well. I get every day my favorite chicken biscuits and at the same time, I make Mr. Germain one of the happiest persons in the world. Okay, I have also witnessed my owner’s very bad temper. Just a few nights before I puked on his bed. Apparently it wasn’t such a pleasant surprise.

When we come to Brussels not everything goes as planned. The first time I got on a tram, I saw an annoying dog there. Probably not an expat but an angry local dog who kept eye contact with me the whole route. It was tram number eight. When I finally jumped out of the tram on Rue de Bailly, in Ixelles, the dog came after me. The owner didn’t realize what was happening, or didn’t care, and stayed on the tram. It was scary because my owner had to put his feet between the doors to stop the tram. Otherwise that dog would have been strangled by its leash. Luckily that didn’t happen to the dog, even if I didn’t like him. So be careful with the trams in Brussels and mind the local dogs, as well as their owners who get easily distracted.

I don’t have so many dog friends because I am not used to random dogs. Probably because my first owners liked to keep me always on my own. I am socializing now with other dogs and this kind of community days in Brussels is the best opportunity to practice my social skills.

Barkly regards.

Be prepared for a doggy romance between Emma and her Labrador friend next time.

The post Dogs of Brussels – The story of Baloo’s visit to Brussels Park appeared first on Brussels Express.