My own dog, Ben, died earlier this year. I'm still missing him and probably always will, just as I still miss my previous dog, Grendle.

The good news is that yesterday I adopted a four year old retired greyhound. His name's Taffy and he's Irish. Figure that one out. He needs obedience training and, since he's not been formally house trained, I'm keeping a very close eye on him. Touch wood, there have been no accidents yet. He'd never been in a house before, but I think he's got the idea. It's his new kennel and you don't foul your new kennel.

The great buzz though will come when I've taught him to come on command, and I'll feel safe enough to let him off the lead and he can have a really good run.

I think Taffy and I are going to have some great times together.