Many of you will remember Choki, who had been badly mistreated and then thrown from a car when she was a puppy. She was the brown dog who would bark and bark at newcomers, but refuse to look you in the eye. We all knew that what she needed was some one-on-one TLC, but unfortunately when you've got nearly a hundred animals to look after, one-on-one is not easy to achieve.

Ian and Jayne took her under their wing for a while, and would regularly take her for walks to the beach, and we could all see the improvement, but then the holiday season started and of course they were both working all the hours of the day, so once again Choki was left feeling sorry for herself. One day, Carole’s husband, Roj, came to visit and, even though he professes to be a cat person, he announced that as soon as they had a place with a garden, Choki could go to live with them and be an "only dog".

Well, this being Greece, it took nearly a year for them to find and purchase a suitable property but finally, last December, Choki went off to check out her new home. "She won't be a problem" said Carole, "she's used to living in a kennel". Roger takes up the story:

Pat kindly provided us with an "igloo" style dog kennel, and we (and the three cats) awaited Choki's arrival. I was a bit nervous, as we had only moved in a coupe of weeks before, and I was afraid that the cats would not take kindly to another upset so soon. Still, the cat's had the run of the house, and Choki was an outdoor dog.

Came the day, and Dave brought Choki over and sat down for a cup of coffee. Choki leaned against his leg and shook. We all wondered what would happen when Dave got up to leave, and we soon found the answer - she leapt up onto the sofa that Dave had vacated and announced that she was now an indoor dog.

Our biggest cat, Spits, lived up to his name and spat at her, Lucy (the matriarch) simply looked down her nose, but Stoli accepted her right away, albeit somewhat indifferently. Within days, Choki decided that she preferred my office to both her kennel and the house, so now she has a basket in my office, and resides there when I'm working. Most of the rest of the time she's on our (two-seater) sofa, with Carole squashed up one end, and me up the other.

For six weeks, she didn't bark at all, then suddenly she decided that this is her territory, and barks at anyone who comes near the gate. Mind you, if they step inside, she runs away and hides!