One of the first times I took her out for a walk she made a “B” line for a wet ditch and emerged covered in mud. I was so mortified as when she had arrived at my house she was clean, perfumed and the colour of ripe wheat in summer. Little Miss Perfect had transformed herself instantly into a brown, smelly and slimy creature which could easily have emerged from the deep lagoon. I had visions of her owners’ horrified faces if they could see her looking like that so I took her home, put her in my kitchen sink and gave her a good wash with medicated dog shampoo. Next I toweled her dry and set her down in front of the Aga to complete the drying process. Once she had dried off I found to my horror that the hair on her legs had gone a bit curly so I gave them a good brush and then finished off by brushing her all over until she looked once again like the little dog that had arrived at my house earlier on. When I told Peggy’s owners about this escapade and how horrified I had been about the state she had got herself into, they laughed and said that Peggy would often get muddy out walking as she loved going into water and they didn’t mind at all, so told me not to worry if she was returned to them a bit less golden than when she arrived at my house!