Erin Dixon

Saga, Teenage Springer Spaniel, practicing recall skills Do you remember when your puppy used to come flying back every time you called? You probably felt quite smug about it. All that recall training was paying off. You had cracked it. Then, a few months later, you called their name and they briefly acknowledged that a noise had occurred somewhere behind them before carrying on with whatever they were doing. You called again. Nothing. You may as well have started speaking fluent Finnish....

When I was a kid, I loved playing with Barbies. I had a couple of Sindy dolls too, but I never thought they were quite as pretty. I used to play with a couple of other girls and, although technically we were all playing the same thing, we actually played very differently. They liked to divide all the clothes up equally and then spend the afternoon changing their dolls' outfits. I needed a theme. My Barbies were going somewhere. Maybe they were going to the beach, going on holiday or heading...

The other day I saw a post in a spaniel group asking people to recommend breeders who had working or show Cocker Spaniel puppies available. Working or show. Either would do. And it genuinely stopped me for a minute. Because if you are looking for a puppy who is hopefully going to share your life for the next 12–15 years, surely one of the most important things to work out before you start looking for breeders is what sort of dog you actually want to live with? Working and show Cockers are...