I should know better

Recovering from an extended trip to Darlington and an effort to show Marcus myelf. The bus left far too early, and we inspected the delights of several dingy motorway services at length before getting there in the dawn mist. (I would like to put it on record that Southwaite, where the facilities consist of a do it yourself coffee machine and toilets is definitely where you would put the tube if you were giving the M6 an enema...)

Arriving early, I had to reconcile Florian to the presence of his brother. He sees himself as My Dog, and the one who does the showing, and was distinctly sulky. Marcus, who simply sees himself as an adorable sex god, was only interested in the possibility of female......companionship, and the diminutive Casanova took every chance he could get to introduce himself to ladies of every colour and size. (I think the Great Dane he began courting was a more than a little puzzled - was she to wear him round her neck? Or was he lunch?)

And then there was the experience of taking him into the ring. His handler has described hm as "a handful". I have since described him to her as "that wee bastard". She agreed completly with this.

He has no interest in doing what he is told. He has no interest in the person handling him. He is extremely interested in the other entries in his class, in the hope that they may be female. He likes to show off. And that`s about it. I struggled to get his attention, and somehow we won, and he got a big cuddle.

This weekend we`re off to Belfast - a stormy crossing in more ways than one. The troubles have erupted again in that city - with the IRA bowing out of the terrorism business, the Protestant factions have taken to fighting with each other and burning cars and businesses "because the Catholics get all the attention." If you detect that I have absolutely no sympathy for either side, you are right. Show me any example of social or political progress that came from burning cars and putting local people out of business. Ireland has been down that road before, and it leads nowhere. Why not try the road that leads ahead?

However, that`s my next destination, with the adorable Marcus and the stalwart Florian.