Really sniffing out the goodhoundsfromthebad

Fiona lauds a military background to help tame an unruly pooch... but can some proper training go a little bit too far?

Don’t you just love it when other people’s pooches are more badly behaved than your own? Is there not a sneaking sense of satisfaction knowing that you are not the one with the devil dog? The lassie at the end of the road has a seven-month-old Airedale. He is a cute puppy and since arriving, he has been busy tearing up the house.

Take him out and he will try to bolt at the slightest distraction. He does not come when called. Plus he is taking an unhealthy interest in all the sheep in a nearby field.

Our neighbour tells me she is desperate. So much so that she may have to bring in a dog-whisperer. Someone who can eyeball the naughty tearaway terrier and bring him to heel.

Then there is our friend, Alan. Now, he has a border terrier and he is the most endearing hound.

Yet in the early days, Muffin was so unruly that Alan also felt the need to seek some sort of professional help.

A canine specialist was duly found.

He had a military background and he came with glowing references.

And he arrived speaking about the need for a firm hand.

Indeed, it soon became apparent that this former soldier’s approach to things was much more stick than carrot.

Poor Muffin got the fright of his life. So much so that Alan had to call a stop to the lessons.

As he explained to the enthusiastic trainer, all he wanted was a wellbehaved pet – not an expert in sniffing out explosives...

On a more serious note, but still on things martial, the chief and I have both been at the First World War commemorations this week.

The MacGregor was in Fife, where he was remembering the only Scottish serving policeman ever to get a Victoria Cross.

Sergeant John McAulay was born in Kinghorn. A Glasgow police officer when war broke out, he joined the Scots Guards.

This is the man whose bravery had already seen him being promoted three times in one day.

After the Battle of Cambrai he was given the VC – the highest award for gallantry – for repelling an ambush.

McAulay rescued his injured commanding officer and went on to see off a German attack when others had been killed or injured.

I, meanwhile, was in Dumfries-shire, marking the life of another VC recipient, Captain Samuel Wallace, who served

Poor Muffin got the fright of his life

with the Royal Field Artillery.

During the First World War, more than 600 men received the VC.

Of those some 70 were Scots. Such bravery. The stories so powerful and poignant.

At my service, local primary schoolchildren fashioned poppies and made a model of a trench, using tea bags for sandbags.

One teenager recited the war poet Wilfred Owen.

Like the old and bold among us, it is good that the young do not forget…