They are indeed wonderful dogs!
This is not the popes first public encounter with a canine. He also likes St. Bernards:
Indeed, affection for St. Bernards seems to run in the Ratzinger family (this is the popes brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger):
I was driving down a divided highway, light traffic, and there was a black lab that jumped onto the highway and started running around in circles and running back and forth. He looked like he was having a party all by himself. Several cars beeped at him to get out of the street, which he did.