Dachshunds live up to their name – ‘badgering’

Thankfully the difficult dog days are over for the MacNaughties, but that’s not the case for their three-month-old friend Cocoa

Agirlfriend has a new puppy. Or, as she says, she has a new “poopy”. The latest addition to the Robinson home is a miniature smoothhaired dachsund. Brown-coated Cocoa is three months old and is already undergoing some serious housetraining. Which involves some small encouragement and some even bigger bribery.

Alongside the lavish praise tiny morsels of lamb meat are offered to help the pint-sized pooch on her way.

Because getting through those tiresome no-nappy days is oh so testing.

Her new mummy tells me she is on half-hourly pee patrols. The diminutive German hound is being watched like a large American hawk. I remember it well. Coming downstairs and watching where you put your feet. Entering the kitchen and suspiciously sniffing the air. Turning down invitations in order to stay fixed on the job.

They are trying times. When it comes to house training you need a constant supply of good quality kitchen paper.

And, as with husbands, when it comes to house training, you have to keep a sense of humour...

Happily, with the MacNaughties, those sort of difficult dog days are mostly gone.

There is the odd accident, of course. There can be a bit of forgetfulness from time to time. But when it comes to matters of a business nature, the naughty Norfolk and the silly spaniel are generally good boys.

However, we should not dwell on messy matters. On a loftier note, the chief and I have been getting some culture. Not at a royal opera house where black bow ties and velvet-lined boxes reign but at a good old local cinema. To watch the screening of a live Covent Garden production of a work by Puccini.

Tosca is a dark tale of love, menace and murder. A story with few laughs, it is not everyone’s cup of tea. And, frankly, we are not sure it will be ours.

But from the moment the diva and the despot open their mouths to sing, we are captivated. We are swept along by the drama.

This is the first time the MacGregor and I have seen big screen opera.

The cameras show close-up shots you never see sitting 20 rows back in the opera house. Yet you feel you are fully there – at the party – with the heroes and villains of the piece.

When it comes to house training you need a constant supply of good quality kitchen paper...

We are hooked and already planning to see another. Which just so happens to be Carmen. More passion and violence. Who knows, we may become a couple of opera buffs in our old age…

Meanwhile, back to the puppy, or rather, the poopy. The latest news we hear is that wee Cocoa is learning fast.

She is starting to do the right things – and in the right places, too. But Cocoa has something they may not be able to train out of her. This minute hunting dog has started to dig holes.

Then “dachs” in German means badger. So what can we expect?