15 French Expressions that Feature Dogs

Dogs are loyal, sweet, cute, and cuddly—and almost everyone loves them. More so the French! The French are notoriously known for walking around everywhere with their furry friends, and everywhere you turn, you’ll most likely find dogs in every size and shape. Dogs inside restaurants, supermarkets, at the hairdresser, on the streets; small dogs, big dogs, medium dogs, dogs in bags, dogs with sweaters, dogs having a meal in restaurants with their human family. Well, you get the point.   This fascination with man’s best friend has spilled over to idioms. Several French idiomatic expressions mention dogs in them, and here, we will learn all about it. Here’s the thing though. In French, the word for dog (chien) when used as an adjective translates to something negative such as “wretched, nasty, ill” or just a general pleasantness. For example, when we say chien de temps (though this is really an