A fully fledged member of the "News Pack" now.

While they went down to London, I talked to Raq who is a member of the team at Cumbria Tourism while he isn't filming for Out of Town with Eric Robson.

Raq is going to put up some of his favourite walks on his Diary at Lake District for Dogs and you can put your favourites up there too.

If you want to read his interview you can see it on the Discover Dogs website. There's a bit from Jethro the Blood hound and also Mya the Dalmation, talking a bit about what they like doing best and what its like living with a dog like them.

After all that's what Discover Dogs is about - helping people to understand a bit about all the different breeds, what sort of life they like to lead and the health checks you need to do to help you find a healthy puppy. Lots of dogs end up being dumped in rescue centres because people didnt find out enough about them first and then find they can't cope.

There was an interview in the Times on Monday about a journalist, Alice Miles, who thought she was well prepared when she got her puppy but in the end had a few problems "Not all of us are cut out for puppy love" - she obviously didnt ask the right questions and get the right support and ended up asking for the puppy to be re homed. Poor kid. But at least she was open about it. The reality about looking after a dog (with rainy day walks in the dark and sorting out house training) is a bit different to the feeling you get when you see a cute puppy. As Christmas is coming up its important we remind people of the old Dogs Trust slogan a Dog is for life not just for Christmas!

Talk again soon

Scout