What have I done to deserve this? Why me? Or more to the point, why not me? Have I not been my mistress’s constant travel companion for the last two months? Have I not been the ideal pet when going through the tunnel to England? Did I complain at having to sleep in a garage? So given that I am quite obviously somewhere close to perfect, why has she gone to England without me? Yes I understand her point that is going to work for a couple of days and that I can’t go with her to meetings. Well actually I don’t understand why I can’t go with her to meetings, I am able to behave when I need to and she already knows I am ok with hotels. None of my protestations had the least impact and I was left with my master as she drove off. I thought that was the end of it and that I was at least getting to stay in my own home, but no, it wasn’t to be. My master said I couldn’t stay there while he worked and I would have to go and stay with McKenzie. I had lost the will to fight by that stage, so here I am. To be fair I was planning to be grumpy when I got here but it turns out that McKenzie is pregnant and the shock really made me forget my mood. Having grown up a bit there are also certain things you know to do when in the company of a pregnant dog. First and foremost is of course to check you aren’t the father. Fortunately the puppies are not due until the end of January and that rules me out because my operation was too long ago to have been responsible. It was a nice thought though, even if she is a different type to me. The second thing is to check whether they are still in a position to play with you or whether you need to back off, sadly there isn’t going to be a lot of playing this week. Finally, you move into chivalrous mode and ask if there is anything you can do to help. Your main hope is that if there is anything it will be along the lines of fighting with the dog that did it rather than running round completing domestic chores. As it turned out she just wants to be left alone and I can do that.