a poodle with scandalous associations

thanks wikimedia commons (PD)

"Codina," says the name picked out in gold on the striking red collar.  Who's Codina?  Supposedly the pet poodle of none other than the very lovely and naughty Emma, Lady Hamilton.  Lord Hamilton was the British Envoy to Naples, and this painting of the early 19th-century Neapolitan School (that's all we know about the artist) shows this meticulously groomed dog posed before the famed bay of that city.  So is that a knowing look on Codina's face, or am I imagining things?  I think the temptation to have some fun with the portrait would be too great for any city painter at the time to pass up.
Emma was primarily well known for her love affair with the war hero Horatio Nelson, which was conducted publicly with very little indeed in the way of circumspection.  Here is more about that from the BBC.