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.

The press releases about Crufts are coming thick and fast now - I shall pass the more interesting ones on to you! I interviewed Claire Guest a while ago, when she was just getting started with the cancer detection training and charity. It's fascinating, and a great cause to support. She has trained dogs to do amazing jobs, and it's a pleasure to watch them work. She will be at Crufts again this year. You can hear interviews with her in Episode 48, Episode 63 and Episode 70 of DogCast Radio.

Cancer and Bio-detection Dogs receives support from Samsung Electronics

I mentioned in a recent show that Star, our Bichon Frise, has certain preferences. Call them preferences, or idiosyncrasies, or eccentricities. Whatever you call them, she has them. She has definite ideas on how her life should be; when she should go for a walk, when she should have access to the garden, when she should be on your lap, and so on. The basic rule seems to be that all these things should happen whenever she jolly well wants them to happen, thank you very much!

Usually on a Saturday I buy the Daily Mail. To be honest this has more to do with them having a good television listing magazine, and fun puzzles than it does with any political affiliation. If you want to know my political stance here it is : they're all roughly as bad as each other. Anyway, this weekend we fancied a change so we bought the Times. Shan't be doing it again.