Daniel

Pardon me if I've told you this story before, but I was thinking today about Daniel the Spaniel, who died long ago but still wags his tail on the website. Towards the end of his life we were living in the house on the Home page - it went with the job Tony was in at the time. The two front bedrooms were ours and LOS's, and there were another two at the back for Daughter and LYS. The bathroom was at the back of the house, too.

Daniel slept in his basket in our room, then, in the early hours, woke up and popped on to our bed knowing that I wouldn't bother to object. As soon as I was up he'd run to the door, and while I washed and dressed he organised the household.

First he'd push open the door to LOS's room, make a fuss of him, and then run a few paces away so that if LOS wanted to play with him, he'd have to get up. LOS and Daniel were great buddies, so it worked every time. Then he'd trot along the landing and into the other two bedrooms in turn. He didn't actually get Daughter and LYS out of bed, but it's hard to stay sleepy and horizontal when there's a spaniel jumping up at you. By the time I came out of the bathroom, he was reporting for duty at the door

'Right, missus. I've got them all sorted, now let's have our walk.'.

As you know, a dog has to be walked come snow, sleet, rain, ice, or beautiful mornings when you're glad to be out. We'd get home to find everybody having breakfast in the kitchen, when he'd either have a drink or find a warm place to lie down, depending on the weather.

No wonder he was exhausted. He'd already done his whole day's work.