Most seem to be the victims of household break-ups.

I've had two cross-breds from Heaven's Gate in the Mendips and one from Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard. They've all been perfectly behaved from the word go, with none of the neuroses that seem to plague pedigree dogs which people I know have bought from breeders.

I've never ended up with dogs which refuse to come when called, or who cower and hide, or who lie down and refuse to move. By contrast, from the first moment these dogs saw me they followed me everywhere and obeyed just about every command straight away (they were 7, 9 and 4 when I got them). They're just so desperate to have a human to follow again that there's no way they'll take the p1ss.

The seven and nine year olds were setter crosses who had been in a cage for a year after their owner had died. They lay together quietly in the car on the journey home, then got straight up on the sofa together the moment I opened the front door, and shut their eyes. Good luck with that with a pedigree setter!

Other than the male tending to catch mange from foxes, I don't think I had a problem with them, until they each had a stroke and were put down aged 17 and 16. Again, you don't get that kind of a vet-free experience with most inbred pedigree types.

Much the same with the sheltie-cross I currently have. She's now 15, and still follows me for 6 to 8 miles a day into Taunton and around its betting shops. She got a couple of bouts of vestibular syndrome (wobbliness) in the autumn, but she's fine again now. Utterly perfect temperament, but still a proper dog, catching rabbits and so on when she was younger.

My first dog as an adult was a Kelpie/Bull Terrier. I found her in my front yard and she looked terrible so I assumed it was a stray. Later I found out it belonged to a bloke around the corner so I gave her back. Then a couple of weeks later he came around and asked if I could take her because she and the other dog he had didn't get on at all. I said 'great'.

This bloke was a pig hunter and Jo (that was her name) was a pig hunting dog. They don't hunt pigs like Babe they hunt wild boars with huge tusks and the dogs often get killed. It's not my cup of tea but hey - it's a free world. Jo was apparently a particularly ferocious pig hunter and her numerous scars and disfigurements were evidence of that.

At the time I had a 19yo cat and Jo's owner was terrified that Jo would kill it because apparently it wouldn't be the first time. I was a bit worried myself after hearing that but Jo just ignored the cat. The cat drowned in the pool not long after. (Maybe Jo pushed him).

Anyway not long after I got Jo my son was born. Two years later my daughter. I couldn't have asked for a better dog for my children than that ugly battle scarred former pig hunter. My kids wrestled her,poked her eyes,tackled her,rode her like a horse,jumped on her,twisted her already mangled ears,subjected her to all kinds of indignities,sometimes even slept on her. She loved it. She was a Star!!

I've often wondered if drinking massively chlorinated water and a diet of raw chopped Kangaroo meat led to our cat's long life (19) before his untimely death in what can only be described as suspicious circumstances.

A meat-only diet isn't any healthier or more natural for a dog than it is for a human. Left to themselves, dogs scavenge virtually everything, seemingly relying on puking up to deal with the stuff they shouldn't have swallowed. Mine gorges herself on excrement, rotten wood, corn (especially cobs missed by the combine) - dogs thrive on all of those for the minerals, vitamins and roughage they don't get from meat alone.

The dogs you see on a meat-only diet may look well in passing, but I'll bet at home they're scooting and itching and farting, and they'll definitely be in and out of the vets to have their anal glands emptied all the time (their stools will be too loose to empty them normally).

good sleepers and snoorers