But there might be something in the theory. Lots of French people think the British attitude to animals is funny because we (or some of us supposedly) love them as though they are people and therefore do ridiculous things like refuse to eat horse (unless it turns up by accident in our Value burgers, but that’s another story). They like to have pets (especially small, yappy ones) but to them, a dog is a dog and not some kind of human in fur-ball form. Maybe this attitude does rub off somewhere – after all, isn’t dog training all about showing them who’s boss?