New York mascots

People in New York love little dogs.

No where else have I ever seen so many pint-sized companions in one city - they are tucked under arms, on leashes, in cages or scoping out the world from the confines of a Balenciaga look-alike bag.

Like all the top New Yorkers, these pooches dine downtown at Mercer Kitchen and window shop for boots at Gucci. They go everywhere with their mistresses, and I swear they are taking over the city.

Once toted by fashionable women inside the folds of their gowns, miniature pets have been the favourites of aristocrats from Marie-Antoinette to Elizabeth II. Now the pseudo-royals of Hollywood love them, where the likes of Tinkerbell (Paris Hilton's Chihuahua in case you've been in a hole for the past few years) are just as much gossip column fixtures as their owners.


Flaunted as fashion statements, these tiny canines are like the equivalent of a pair of Manolo's or the latest Fendi 'it' bag, and Yorkshire terriers, French bulldogs, Papillon's and Chihuahua's are among the most coveted breeds.

In their defense it is true that Manhattan housing doesn't have the backyards (or any space for that matter) suitable for Golden Retrievers or Huskies to run around. And so really the only solution is a Bichon Frise sized thing, which will always fit more easily in a studio. And of course, a tote.