Hi folks, yours truly is back home after another dog listener expedition.  This time a full-on course in Yverdon, Switzerland. Full-on because it was the first ever Dog Listener Foundation Course done in French, and I did it without a safety net!

There were a few slip-ups language wise (or paux-fas as an Aussie once put it...) but they found it charming rather than alarming. Not like the time I was in Montreal and instead of saying "mammals" I said "boobs".

It turns out that Swiss law says that dogs must be walked everyday, so for a split second there was a problem when I said that owners do not have to walk their dogs.

Thankfully, one of the skills that comes with experience is the ability to think outside the box.

I suggested that they practice Stop/Start Change Direction indoors, that way they can truthfully say that they walk the dog every day, as it transpires that the law is not specific about WHERE the dogs are to be walked. Ta-da!

This elegant solution went down very well with the students. Anne-Francoise - who contacted us in the first place to organise the course - got the best birthday present too. She got rid of her Guilt about walking the dog come rain or shine. Five minutes of SSCD indoors while it is raining outside is much more enjoyable (and drier too of course).

Unfortunately, this weekend's success does mean that I now have to start working on the translations for the Advanced Course. Have I created a rod for my own back?  Cheers for now, Tony Knight

Hi, from an over-heated dog listener! Yours truly here currently sweltering in the most humid conditions I have ever known in France.

The last few evenings have been spent with the windows wide open and Kez doing his best impression of a steam train, puffing out his cheeks as he tries to keep cool.

I have tried to help by spraying him with water but he just looked at me like I was trying to kill him (mind you he always has that face, bless him).

If I am feeling the heat, how must the dogs be coping, as they refuse to take off their fur coats (well, not all in one go anyway - the tumbleweeds of dead hair that keeps making an appearance around the house are testimony to that).

I was out and about yesterday in the nearly 40 degree heat, when I saw an old lady struggling to make it down the road under the oppressive sun.

What made it worse was the sight of her poor pooch panting alongside her. Now as a dog listener, I always like to liberate people from the mistaken belief that they have to walk their dogs when it is raining, as the walk is not important to a dog (to find out what is, check out my coaching programme at http://www.dog-listener.com).

In this case, if a dog owner is liking the idea of taking the dog for a walk in the blazing sunshine, I will quote Alec Guinness in Star Wars... "Trust your feelings" (does that mean I owe George Lucas a pound now?).

So, in short, avoid hot dogs... and I don't just mean the canine type (did you see that TV show about what goes into them? Thanks Jamie Oliver!)

Cheers, Tony Knight