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Mike and I have a marvelous pair of Scotties but the truth is, we love ALL dogs, a fact that’s pretty clear after a tour of our home. And yet unless you’re watching for it and doing the math, it’s easy enough to overlook the fact that our house is crammed with dog-themed art from paintings and prints to tchotchkes and statuary.

Like in the vignette below–does it scream dog to you? Or just hyper composed and a little uptight? I think the key is to include non-theme items like the lamps and the framed 19th century folio.

We know Scottie owners whose homes are shrines to the breed. This is a tendency we’ve actively discouraged, especially with our relatives. The last thing we want to come home to is a Scottie circus.

Mike being a chef, we’ve always dreamed of opening a dog-themed restaurant and that’s our excuse any time a nice item comes up at auction, which is how we acquired many of our prints and paintings.

The trouble now, is that we’ve run out of wall space. We’ve got 35 framed artworks hung with lesser pieces moved into storage and several good prints we haven’t gotten around to framing yet. Someday.

To keep the theme from riding roughshod over the rest of the house, we’ve relegated most of the dog art to the basement where our TV room has become a little gallery.

That said, there’s at least one dog portrait in every other room of the house except our bedroom. Have we gone too far? Probably. But you’ve got to put something on the walls so it may as well be something you love. And anyway, we like to think we’re upholding a noble tradition; the late, great Billy Baldwin featured dog paintings prominently in some of his most famous rooms. If nothing else, we’re in good company.