The next Year of the Dog starts on January 29, according to the solar calendar.

Images of puppy dogs are everywhere on posters, New Year paintings, greetings cards and calendars heralding Spring Festival and a special time for family reunions.

In reality, nothing of any significance will happen to dogs apart from the display of different images of different breeds.

What is worth mentioning is the fact that the number of dogs kept as pets in urban areas has increased tremendously over the past two decades.

The number of dogs registered as pets has exceeded 400,000 in Beijing. Including those that have not been registered, the total number is thought to be in excess of 1 million.

Walking their pet in the morning or afternoon has become a regular pastime for many. A friend of mine told me the other day he has lost more than five kilograms in the month since he started walking his dog each morning.

Every day I see people strolling around with their dogs, most of whom are dressed in winter clothes. Every now and then, sweet names such as "honey, sweetheart" can be heard from those walking their pets.

So many pet dogs have their day every day. But it is just for one and a half decades that it has become the vogue for Chinese urbanites to keep dogs as pets.

It would have been unimaginable for an urban resident that only earned enough to make ends meet to keep a dog before that time.

Even if you could afford to, you would not dare to because it was labelled as a bourgeois thing to do, and was denounced as decadent.

But dogs have been kept in rural areas, not as pets but as watchers to guard the gates to courtyards.

People have kept dogs as gatekeepers since ancient times. A poem by a Tang Dynasty poet goes: "Dog barks at the door of a thatched cottage, a man returns at night from snow and wind."

A dog is loyal to its master and never fails to bark at strangers that come close to the door it is guarding. That may explain why man considers dogs his best friend.

But we do have some derogatory phrases that compare evil-doers to dogs.

The most common household phrase is "zou gou" meaning running dog, which was used to describe those that work as stooges.

Another phrase "gou zhang ren shi," which literally means a dog barks or attacks people when its master is behind it, describes a situation when a bully lords it over others on the strength of his influential boss.

The phrase "gou yan kan ren di" can literally be paraphrased as all people are of low status in the eyes of a dog. One may use this phrase as a verbal attack against anyone perceived as snobbish.

The saying "gou bu xian jia pin" means a dog never shuns its poor home, epitomizing the good nature of dogs.

The irony is that poor urban families cannot afford the hundreds or even thousands of yuan to buy and keep dogs as pets when it is now fashionable to do so.

But some wealthy families that raise dogs in urban areas do not know how to abide by required codes of conduct to keep their dogs from being a nuisance to their neighbours.

In the neighbourhood where I live, dog droppings are everywhere, covering lawns because many abandon waste when they are out walking their pet.

The municipal regulation requires all dogs should be kept on a leash when they are going for walkies, but many let their dogs loose.

As a result, pet dogs have become a concern for many in terms of sanitation and the danger of catching rabies from an infected bite.

It has been reported that 72,000 people suffered injuries through dog bites in Beijing alone last year. A specialized clinic in the city receives dozens of patients every day.

In such cases, dogs are not to blame their masters are responsible for keeping control of them.

In the Year of the Dog, I hope more of those that raise dogs will look after them in a decent manner so that people will love them, and love their dogs.