It's pretty unusual for me to do two blog posts in one day, but then it is pretty unusual for me to appear on TV. One of my volunteer activities for the greyhound charity is that I compile and write the monthly e-newsletter that goes out to anyone who wants it. If you're reading this and would like to be added to the distribution list, just drop me a line, and I'll gladly add you. February was unusual in that as well as our normal monthly bulletin, full of the normal stuff about upcoming events, I'd been specifically asked to do a campaign special to be distributed the night before the campaign kick off down at the Senedd. So, in order to write a good newsletter, I did a lot of liaison with Alain the guy who was the driver behind the campaign, and nearly drove the poor man mad with a barrage of questions. Anyway, the net result was that by the time the newsletter went out last night I did at least feel that I was on top of the main issues.

I suggested to Alain, that although dogs are not allowed in the Senedd building (except guide dogs of course), that I was happy to have ours on standby if needed for a photo-op outside the Senedd building. Generally, journalists/photographers love having greyhounds in the picture; no disrespect to our politicians, but a pic of them standing outside an office building isn't very exciting. Put a gorgeous hound in and you've got something a bit better. Alain said he would let me know if I was needed. Anyway, during the course of the afternoon, this morphed somehow from "Yes, come down to the Senedd and lend your greyhound to a politician for a photo" to "How would you feel about doing an interview up at the kennels?"

So, I found myself driving through the snow and bitter cold with dear Boola in the boot up to Pantymilah kennels - one of the kennels the charity uses for boarding our dogs and also where we took our three when we went to Germany before Christmas. The couple who run it are lovely and they have a great team of staff. When I got to the car park, there was a Transit van parked up with satellite dish on roof so made contact and was fitted up with a little microphone on my jacket. Then it was up to the kennels, had a chat to Martin, the owner, and confusingly all the BBC men were called Rhodri. Of course the benefit of this was that I didn't have to remember too many names.

It was bitterly cold, and I was desperate not to look as though I was shaking from nerves when I was shivering. We did a couple of run-throughs on the questions, then there seemed a long period of waiting about, and then we were told we were going live in about a minute and a half. One of the Rhodris then rushed over and we did the interview (he was very nice and asked good, sensible questions and I didn't feel too rushed) then it was suddenly all over. Boola said Goodbye to the other dogs and we slowly left, having a little chat. Another of the very nice BBC men helped me get out of the car park (doing a 27 point turn round his Transit) then it was time to go home. I've had some feedback which has been positive, and a big thank you to everyone who made nice comments. What really surprised me is the adrenaline rush during the interview and of course downturn afterwards - I feel shattered.

I've put another link up - there's a video clip embedded in the story.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8528159.stm

I must say Boola is fantastically photogenic and he was a real star - so well behaved, both Rhodris were fussing over him. Huge thanks are also due to Martin and his team up at Pantymilah for allowing us to use the kennels for filming.

More greyhound stuff to talk about today. I'm continuing to inch forward with painful slowness on my research into local authority and Trunk Road Agency practice on scanning stray dogs and what they do with dead dogs found at the side of the highway. On Friday, I FINALLY got the final response in for authorities on the first question, after posing it originally on January 12th. Getting this has been like pulling teeth - I've had to repeatedly email some Councils, and in cases have had to escalate to Chief Officer level, invoke Complaints procedure, and argue with senior officers about their own information scheme - horrendous.

What has become apparent is that scanning is not universally carried out and there are some worrying gaps in practice, and more importantly information. Only two local authorities out of 22 kept accurate records on numbers of dogs scanned or wearing ID - given the forthcoming possible legislative change I find this surprising.

Results are still trickling in for the dead dog question. I have about four authorities who have yet to respond. Again though there is a complete disconnect between the departments that sort out live strays and those that shovel up dead roadkill - very few have any sort of coherence in their policy. We seem to have the bizarre situation where in some Councils, dead dogs are scanned but live ones are not, and vice versa. Also, all the Trunk Road Agencies work on behalf of WAG which is looking at compulsory chipping, and guess what? None of them scan dead dogs, even though the Highways Agency (English equivalent) has done for some time. So a case of do as I say, not as I do?

Also on the issue of campaigning, today sees the launch of a campaign to persuade WAG to adopt legislation to give greyhounds a better deal. A petition has been launched and the idea is to persuade WAG to adopt a Code of Practice for Greyhound Welfare that is legally enforceable, including things like

• Microchipping
• Vets present at races and trialling
• Better licensing of greyhound racing stadiums and breeding kennels
• Welfare sector input into licensing (a bit like prison Visitors)

I feel very torn. I loathe petitions and don't believe they are generally successful, but would like to be proved wrong on this one. Part of me is desperate for many of these measures to be implemented - if they were put in, Wales would lead the way in greyhound welfare across the UK. However, as with many things, consequences would undoubtedly be that the current situation where greyhounds are bred and raised in the Republic of Ireland then exported to the UK for racing would continue and worsen - ROI has virtually no welfare laws for greyhounds.

Also, Wales is mercifully down to only one greyhound track at the moment - near Caerphilly. I can well imagine WAG doing a Cost/Benefit Analysis and asking why legislative time should be spent on an issue which is probably going to affect only around 100 dogs, and as the recent Swansea prosecution showed, court action can currently be taken where welfare standards are poor.

Of course, one of the background issues to the Welsh situation is that DEFRA (in England) begin regulation of tracks in April of this year, which is widely expected to lead to the eventual closure of the six remaining "flapping" tracks in England, who will simply find the new regulations too expensive to implement. That's fine, and nobody will shed any tears for their closure, especially if their welfare standards are poor - BUT here's the thing. If Wales is unregulated, we could be seen as the "Wild Frontier" where racing can take place with no troublesome requirements for vets, or good animal care - we could see new tracks opening. Once that happens, it will be hellishly diffiicult to fight against them, particularly if they locate in economically troubled areas (pretty much all of Wales, then) and can recite the magical formula "Jobs and Investment". My bet is that if they turned up wanting to open a bear baiting stadium, with cock fighting on alternate Wednesdays, then as long as the signs were bilingual, and some jobs were created, WAG and local Councils would welcome them with open arms. Greyhound welfare campaigners would be seen as animal huggers trying to prevent economic activity in an area.

My other reservation is that, as already mentioned, WAG has begun work this year on a work programme which looks likely to include compulsory microchipping (at least the issue is being seriously considered). My guess is that the greyhound campaign falls awkwardly in relation to this, and the Govt can quite easily say that if microchipping is introduced for all dogs in Wales, a huge element of the traceability concerns over greyhounds will be addressed (as indeed they will ) and this will weaken the case for a separate piece of legislation for greys. Also, this year WAG has its hands full on the animal front with its hugely controversial decision to begin a badger cull in some parts of Wales. I won't get into that argument here (except to say that I think the science behind WAG's case is not convincing me, at all) but it will mean that the Govt is going to putting its small Animal Welfare section under enormous strain this year dealing with this issue - I just don't see the civil servants having spare time in their work programme for a full consultation and implementation. Finally, of course, there is the other issue of the General Election - although AM's are not being elected this year, the Westminster election will be hugely important, and the campaigning will affect the AM's in that I can't see new policies being agreed or implemented too close to a bitterly contested poll. I desperately hope this rather negative analysis is wrong, but I'm trying to make a realistic assessment of the political landscape. Watch this space as events unfold and develop. Here is the link to the BBC reporting of the greyhound story. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8528159.stm

Last week was fairly quiet - nothing too exciting to report but we had a nice weekend. On Saturday Andrew ran in the annual Love Run in the centre of Cardiff, in Bute Park. Pics attached of him at Sophia Gardens car park after returning. He did an excellent time - just under 49 minutes. The course was quite flat and this year it was a small field. The car park and park were heaving though as Wales were playing Scotland later that afternoon (and would go on to win) at the Millennium Stadium; consequently the car park and the riverside were a sea of rugby supporters, wearing the most glorious assortment of outfits. Most of the Scottish guys were wearing kilts - it is such a good look - it seems to suit guys of every shape and age. On top of the kilt there would be either a Scottish rugby jersey or variations on a theme including very smart jackets and most were paired with sporrans. Welsh fans were wearing a variety of beautiful red outfits with quite a few daffodil hats, lots of red jester hats, some dragons and quite a few Welsh flags draped round shoulders. I think it would be fair to say that a great many fans of both nations were rather the worse for wear but what was so lovely was the fabulous atmosphere - so good humoured and festive with everybody out to have a really good time and enjoy the match. Such a contrast to football matches, sadly.

Sunday was of course St. Valentine's Day which we spent quietly. We exchanged cards, and I bought Andrew a bottle of vintage port, while he bought me a bunch of beautiful flowers and my own website domain. I think that is a really thoughtful and rather romantic gift, and I've spent most of my time since thinking about possible developments for the site. More on this in the future, no doubt. At the moment, I'm considering some form of online shop.

Today we took the dogs over to Tredegar House for their usual walk. Near the house are the formal gardens (closed to dogs) and the open parkland (with ha-has) and carriage drives. Also within the park is an ornamental lake and a wooded area, with a large amount of rhododendrons and cherry laurels. Recently, the park management have been doing some pretty extensive work around the lake, pruning trees and repairing pathways so that part of the park has been closed, much to Andy's disappointment. We call the wooded area "Squirrel World" as not surprisingly there are a large number of squirrels and Andy loves going in there, trying to climb trees and generally have a very exciting time, with much squeaking, bouncing and leaping along the way.

Since the closure, he has taken to looking longingly at the path into the wood, and trying to pull us in there. When we've previously let him off near the wood he has also tried to make a bee line for it, so we are very careful to only let him off further over on the open parkland, where there are fewer temptations. Anyway, this morning, the park was very quiet so we let off Boola (who behaves very well), Booty who was sniffing molehills ecstatically and Andy. To start with, all was fine, as he and Boola had high speed chases over the grass - fantastic to watch, as they hit some terrific speeds. Then the chase got over to the entrance to the wood, and sure enough Andy decided to take the opportunity for a bit of exploration and squirrel hunting. It was actually very funny as he went deaf to all calls, looked back at Andrew with a very defiant expression and trotted off purposefully yet with a rather guilty slink. Andrew jogged in after him in case the local Yorkshire Terriers were having a convention and I followed more slowly with Boola, who was just very interested in finally getting to see inside the wood. After a few minutes, we met the escapee returning on the lead with an expression of mixed defiance and embarrassment. Apparently, as Andrew had been jogging after him, he'd been looking back at him with a distinctly naughty expression, would wait till Andrew nearly got to him, then continue to trot into the wood, still occasionally looking over his shoulder.

Since returning home, the criminal has been snoozing peacefully, having enjoyed his prison break and subsequent recapture. I've been ironing and continuing to listen to Husky Rescue - the glorious Finnish band. If you haven't tried them before imagine a dreamy electronic soundtrack with ethereal, slightly folky female vocals (they sing in English)- absolutely hypnotic and beautiful, and one of those bands who you can enjoy more and more with each subsequent listen.

Our other piece of exciting news is that we've managed to get tickets for WNO's Die Meistersingers later this year at the Millennium Stadium. We had tried to get them before but they had sold out (probably because Bryn Terfel will be singing) but we went on the list for returns. Very happily for us, the WMC called on Friday to let us know of some returns and we were very glad to take them. Apparently the performance is six hours long (good old Wagner, never one to rush)with a meal break in the middle.

The big news is that after a lot of thought and discussion we have decided to formally adopt our beautiful foster greyhound, Boola, taking us up to three permanent canine members of the family. So, I thought that in this blog post I would tell you all a little bit about him.

Boola's full name is Boolavogue Gold and he was born on 11th February 2000, probably one of five littermates. He was born in Ireland to Irish parents (his mother was Boolavogue June and his sire was Roanokee). Like most greyhounds, he has distinctive and unique ear tattoos, which allow us to look him up on the worldwide greyhound database at http://www.greyhound-data.com/, a fascinating site with all sorts of racing stats and dog pedigree information. This site allows us to trace Boola's pedigree right back to the 19th Century. We can also see recorded here his racing information. His racing career was fairly short, mainly at Enniscorthy Stadium, County Wexford, just seven races in 2002, with not very impressive results. Boola was one of the lucky ones - at this point, a lot of greyhounds are shot or killed in other ways but in his case he made his way over to Wales, probably to race on one of Wales' unlicensed flapping tracks. A steady stream of cheap Irish dogs (and English ones too) come to Wales as a sort of "last chance saloon" to have a pop on the flapping tracks - these dogs are cheap, often as little as £10.

Their attraction is that they are unknown on the local Welsh tracks so the new owner will try and gain money by betting heavily on the new arrival - the idea being that because they are an unknown quantity it may be possible to get a big payout from the bookie if they do well. If they don't do well, not much money has been invested in the dog. At this point, again Boola was lucky as often dogs are shot at this point if they don't do well. Some reputable owners will hand them over also at this point (Andy got rehomed at this stage) but Boola ended up being dumped on the streets in the winter. This is how greyhound racing repays the dogs who don't do well. Eventually he was found straying and taken to the Council dog pound in Neath, South Wales on New Year's Eve 2002, and from here he came for the first time into the care of the charity.

He was successfully rehomed but unfortunately ate a pet rabbit and had an incident with some chickens, leading him to come back to the care of the charity and being rehomed again in 2007. This time he went to an alternative therapist and her family but allegedly displayed severe behavioural problems, including pooing in the house, whining, disturbed sleep and other issues. Eventually, the owner contacted the charity in autumn of last year and simply asked them to take the dog away. And that's when he came to us.

I have to speak as we find. We are not (most emphatically) experts, or have any expertise in dog behaviour. Since Boola has been with us, he's been spotlessly clean in the house, and generally sleeps through the night. Like all greyhounds, if he needs to go out, he lets you know, and he does whine but it's with excitement when we're preparing food or going out on walks. From being a little shy on first arrival he's blossomed into a gorgeous, confident, affectionate boy who is a pleasure to be around. Some other interesting trivia:-

• He loves cold curry
• He has a nail missing on his front right paw and on his front left paw he has a mis-shapen nail.
• He likes having his belly tickled.
• He is a very messy eater.
• He has a funny bark when he is out the garden and wants to come back in.
• He likes to pee on the raised bed in the garden.
• He loves cuddling Andrew on the sofa.
• He doesn't like the vacuum cleaner very much but at least he doesn't try to bite it (unlike Andy).
• He doesn't like going upstairs.

So, to conclude, welcome to our newest family member and I'm sure many of my readers will enjoy meeting him in person in the future.

Just a quick post tonight to say that I went to my class tonight, and sat my last exam on Databases. I PASSED!!! Yippee! So now I am the proud holder of an ECDL. Watch out for me on your cyber-street. I will miss my lovely tutor Liz, who is a real star.

I asked her tonight about the certificate. Apparently it is sent out to the exam centre, (which would be the community centre) then they phone me to pick it up when I am passing. I asked Liz if they have any adult learners' presentations. Apparently not. I don't want this to turn into a bash the Council blog (although occasionally that is so easy) but I really feel they are missing a trick here.

Looking at my fellow students, some don't have English as a first language, and others have been out of the workforce for a number of years for various reasons. They are doing ECDL as a route back into work or as a stepping stone to a better job. Many have not had good experiences with education at school. In fact when I worked in local government I quickly realised that bad experiences of education were the norm not the exception. Given these obstacles, these people turn up week after week and plod through the different modules, and you should see the excitement, pride and congratulations when someone passes an exam. I have far more respect for people like adult learners (or seeing people get their NVQs in work) than I do for the average pampered middle class university student living in their comfortable bubble.

Why can't the Council hold an evening somewhere like City Hall at the end of each academic year, lay on a few trays of egg sandwiches and get in a few bottles of brown ale/beverage of choice and invite all the learners who've passed something to come and get a huge, collective pat on the back. Not, God forbid, a graduation ceremony, but something to recognise the huge effort put in by people who are taking the steps to make themselves better qualified. I think it would also say something about how the city regards itself - I saw a bus today with the sick making slogan " Cardiff - Proud to Innovate". I mean - urgh!! What does that actually mean? Because in practice we teach people on seriously out of date software and then don't congratulate them when they become qualified in IT, one of the most rapidly changing fields imaginable.

And while I am on my bash the Council high horse, the standard of cleanliness in the city centre is now woeful. I mean dire. It is grim. Regular readers will recall I go back and forth the train station regularly to pick up Andrew and deposit him so usually travel via Rover Way. The pavements along Rover Way by the steel works are awful then there is a big roundabout by the docks entrance. The roundabout itself is strewn with huge quantities of broken glass and bottles, and right round the roundabout the pavements are an embarrassment. The irony is this is also the main route for any manager that is visiting the cleansing depot from County Hall or vice versa - so this crap is being seen on a daily basis by countless people from the department who are doing sweet FA about it and should know better. I can only speculate on the reasons for this.

I often walk the dogs at Hamadrayad Park after dropping off Andrew and go there by Dumballs Road from the station - this is one of the main arteries from the city centre to the bay - it is usually strewn with litter. The early morning should be when it is cleaned as there are problems with parked vehicles later but I never see any cleansing vehicles there. I park on Clarence Embankment by the back of Hamadryad Hospital (now a social services office) and broken glass from a car break in has been on the pavement and road near the park entrance since before Christmas. Again, awful. When I am actually in the city centre (not often these days) again I am struck by the general air of scruffiness. I can only assume this is due to a change of management as in general the operatives and supervisors in the city centre were among the hardest working in the city. The young master is doing a London run tomorrow and a few next week so it will be interesting to see if/when these get cleaned.