We are always being told that dogs are very loyal friends -- and they are. Mind you, I am not sure why all the stories told to illustrate this seem to have a man as the owner; I suppose it's all part of the ' one man and his dog syndrome '. I look after dogs for many women owners and I can see that the bond of loyalty there is every bit as strong as the usual male examples.

Nevertheless the stories -- and they are remarkable -- have taken their lead from the famous Greyfriars Bobby, the Skye Terrier whose owner John Grey died in Edinburgh in the late nineteenth century. For the rest of his life -- all fourteen years of it -- Bobby sat devotedly beside his master's grave.

There are many similar stories set in many parts of the world, especially Australia where Scruff [ such a popular dog's name, even on The Archers! ] could not bear his master going away to war in the 1940s, ran away from wherever he was sent to sit in the road, many miles away, outside his old house waiting for his master, who was missing, presumed dead, used to live. The story had a happy ending as, several years later, Scruff, now dishevelled and semi-wild, was still there when he heard the familiar whistle of his best friend as he came down the road.

In the town of Thame in Oxfordshire there is a little known story of canine loyalty recorded on a plaque on a bench at the far end of the high street. It reads:

For Kim, a faithful Airedale, who died with his master in a fire 6-1-74 rather than escape, but whose barking saved a human life and also that of his best friend, an Irish Terrier.

What a sad but heartwarming and unique story that dog should have saved the life of his own best canine friend.

In my professional life as a dog walker I have about thirty dog friends and feel that I have a bond of trust and respect with them all. But I know that their special loyalty will be reserved for those who share every day of their lives with them, just as I have a completely special understanding with my own lovely golden retriever, Poppy.