Here is a funny picture from President Obama’s visit to Buckingham Palace. The president came to London with a huge convoy of cars to carry him and his advisers around – plenty of tyres for a dog to pee against, then…. But yesterday the presidential car was parked in the wrong spot at Buck house. It was blocking the route that the Queen’s Corgi use to for their afternoon walk. One of the courtiers, leading four of the Queen’s Corgis, called President Obama’s driver to move the reinforced Cadillac when he found it was blocking the garden entrance. Nice to know the dogs were not forgotten in all the fuss.

The Queen has always had Corgis as pets, but they are not such a popular breed now in the UK as they were some years ago. They are an example of dogs that have been bred with very short legs and a tendency to gain weight. I hope the new Kennel Club rules will help put an end to this practice: for the dogs already suffering, perhaps there will soon be a diet pill that works to make their lives more comfortable.

Dog walkers in Scotland have been warned to take extra care if their dogs are off the lead after dozens of young animals including swans and badgers were killed by dogs that had been let of their leads. The risks of harming animals is high at this time of year, when many animals are rearing their young. Recently a swan was so badly injured by a Rottweiler dog that it had to be humanely destroyed. A pet terrier which had been allowed to run loose in a wildlife reserve by its elderly owner was later found to have scampered down a badger’s sett, where it killed a cub. Other animals including deer, foxes and ducks have also been regularly attacked by dogs, the charity said, often without their owners even realising. Scottish SPCA spokeswoman Doreen Graham said many dog attacks on wildlife were simply due to a lack of awareness and carelessness on the part of owners rather than any malicious intent. She said dog owners should resist the temptation to let their pets run free in woodland or near canals and riverbanks, where many animals and birds are bringing up their young. Mrs Graham said: “We are not saying a dog should be on the lead at all times, but all this can be avoided if people keep their dog on a lead in certain areas where there are vulnerable animals. Mrs Graham said dogs were also at risk of being attacked and badly injured by wild animals if they were allowed to get too close.

A pet dog killed this badger cub after burrowing into its sett

She said: “Badgers and foxes are not normally vicious, but they will fight for their young when cornered. “A swan protecting her young will view any dog as a potential predator and a risk.” Ben Mitchell, a warden for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in Lanarkshire, said he had encountered many incidents of pet dogs killing wildlife. He said: “People do not appreciate what their pets are capable of. Many dogs are natural hunters and let loose they will attack wildlife. “I have seen swans torn apart by people’s pets. I also recently had to retrieve a very young badger which had been killed by a pet Jack Russell. “At first it looked like a case of badger baiting, but when the owner turned up he was very distressed.”

I have no road sense at all – when we get near a road, I only stop if Mum tells me to. I have to stay on the lead most of the time until we get to the park, and when I first came here I used to pull on the lead quite a lot. That was the main reason for going to obedience classes. They said that Mum should be firm and pull me back whenever I pull on the lead. And there is a good reason for this, cos my Nan isn’t strong enough to take me for a walk unless I walk to heel. The technique was to pull me back and even turn round completely, then we only start walking again if I walk beside the humans – not in front of them. I am still not perfect, (especially if I want to go to the toilet) but our walks on the lead are mostly OK.
Thanks to my friend Silken, who asked me to write about this subject.