Dogs in Paris 2025 - and Dog Poop

I was in Paris in June and saw some dog poo on the ground, but frankly far less than in San Francisco where I live. I can't recall seeing many dogs at all, but I also wasn't looking for any. We spent time in the Tuileries, the Place des Vosges and various other smaller squares and parks, and all were definitely not overrun by animals. I didn't see any in restaurants or on the metro.

I am one week into my month in Paris and have been all over the city. I have seen many dogs and very little dog poop. I’ve seen a few well behaved dogs in some restaurants.

See dogs routinely in restaurants. There is no more poop on the sidewalks than in the US -- there will always be a few selfish piggy owners anywhere in the world who don't pick up after their dogs, but it is now the norm in Paris to pick up. And dogs don't run free. I have literally never seen an unaccompanied dog in Paris and very rarely a cat in a park or on the street.

Also in Paris there is regular sidewalk cleaning. They have little mini street cleaner trucks that go on larger sidewalks and crews of workers in chartreuse green jackets who sweep and clean. Shop owners also usually hose down and clean the sidewalk outside their stores.

The dog poop problem went from major to minor in the last 30 years. I barely notice any anymore.

Not an issue during my April stay. I seem to remember more dogs in restaurants many years ago compared to now. But there were some, usually on the terrace/sidewalk. I didn't come across any signage forbidding dogs.

Are you worried about dog allergies? You should contact the hotels you are interested in directly to see if they allow pets or have a hotel dog. The hotel I've been staying at my last few Paris visits has a very well behaved dog that welcomes me when I return every day. He makes me happy.

Having spent a month in Paris this summer, yes, I noticed dogs, obviously, but as a "problem" however you define that, absolutely nothing comparable to that in SF and Oakland, ie, a difference between night and day, far less of a problem to the point of no problem at all.

I don't know if I live in a neighborhood that has significantly fewer dogs, but I have definitely noticed that I do not see anywhere near the amount of dog poop that I used to.

Not a scientific response at all ! Just one person's anecdotal experience.

Agree. I almost stepped in some poop last week and was shocked because it's months since I saw any. And I live in a residential area with a pretty high dog population.

I was in Paris a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t see any. I wish I could say the same for Spain’s sidewalks. We took bets on if the dog owner would pick it up. Most didn’t.

Concur on Spaniards generally leaving their dogs' effluvia uncollected, though it seems to vary by city. In Murcia and Madrid dog owners seemed a bit more responsible than in Sevilla, Granada and Valencia.

It seems to be a problem—shop owners have to hose down their sidewalks every day.
A group of us were waiting on a sidewalk for a tour bus & multiple people stepped in poop. We smelled it but thought it was in the garden. Somehow it got smeared all over this one stretch of sidewalk. It’s a shame people live in a beautiful city yet don’t care about basic hygiene.

I’ve been in Paris for nearly a week so I saw the post when it first went up. I’ve made it a point of looking and really I’ve seen so little. Today seemed to be a Golden Retriever day - a couple were playing fetch with their owner in Square du Vert-Galant then saw another one on the Metro back to my hotel.

One of the reasons I didn’t really like Paris on my first visit in 1973 was due to the dog poop and the smell from the pissoirs. That has changed way for the better in 50 years!