I was recently asked what was the best dog related advice I had been given. It was quite an easy question really, because something Graeme Sims said sprang straight into my mind. He said that the secret of good training was to love your dog so much that they can't resist you. I think that applies to life with a dog in general, not just training, but certainly if you apply that to life in general with a dog, I think you get better training results.

Just a quick post to let you know that you can now follow us on Twitter. Our ident is DogCastRadio, and I'll be keeping you updated about shows, blog posts and so on. If you're on Twitter, come and say hello and we can follow one another. See you there.

Take care,

Julie x

We had our day at the beach yesterday, and it was marvelous after the winter we've been having. The dogs had a great time; as soon as I opened the boot and let Buddy out, he was leaping about, quivering in excitement that he was going to get a run on the beach. Star takes it all a bit more in her stride, and her passion is digging. What was really enjoyable was that the beach was not crowded, so although we had the leads with us, we didn't have to attach them once. Bliss!

As I type this, Star is lying in a patch of sunlight in front of an open door. This is one of her favourite positions. She likes it best with the door open, so that should the need arise, she can potter out into the garden, but she will accept a door closed situation. Eventually. Today though, the door stands flung open, because on opening it a lovely spring day, complete with warm sunshine, was waiting for us. (It had been waiting an indecently long time in fact, as we tend to lie in on a Saturday morning.)

Here's another Crufts story. Alan Checkley and his Support Dog, Fudge, will be at Crufts on Friday 6th March. Support Dogs is a founder member of Assistance Dogs UK and also a full voting member of Assistance Dogs International, an organisation that represents assistance dog training programmes around the world. Every year Support Dogs receives in excess of fifty applications for dogs from each of its programmes, which means that there is currently a two-year waiting list. Without secure and regular funding the wait may be even longer and demand for dogs continues to increase every year.