Welcome to "Man with two dogs" - the family website for dog owners and dog walkers.

I ALWAYS appreciate letters I receive from readers. The most recent was sent by a Group of Oldies. They gave no address so I am acknowledging their kind thoughts here. They ask if robins are “sometimes violent wee birds as they always look so timid”.

REGULAR READERS know of my interest in our old language; words and expressions of another age and others which have fallen altogether out of everyday speech. And I regularly come across new ones.

THERE ARE times when a dog in the countryside, especially one as rumbustious as Inka, can be a drawback. At this time of year the focus is on nesting and breeding and it’s often possible, if you go quietly, to get closer than usual to a lot of wildlife. Going quietly isn’t really an option with Inka, but there’s still plenty to be seen.

DOGS ENJOY a holiday just as much as us humans   New territory and fresh scents to sniff are a stimulation, and the adage  €œa change is as good as a holiday € holds good for them too.

IT'S BECOME a bit of an annual fixture for the Doyenne and me to take a day down at Scone for the Scottish Game Fair, if for no other reason than we usually meet at least one chum we haven't seen for ages   So it's a great place to catch up with the  €œgoss €.

A BUZZARD sits atop the same pine tree with such regularity that I'm sure he's standing guard over a nest nearby where a hen bird is sitting on eggs   If I'm right it can't be too much longer till the eggs hatch, and then he'll be too busy feeding ravenous chicks to have time to sun himself.

SOMETIMES THEMES recur. Last week I wrote about barn owls and a couple of days later I was in Morayshire which is a part of the country I enjoy visiting, in no small part because of the contrast with the countryside here at home. I was walking in brilliant sunshine on the flat plain beside the coast where the RAF built its two air stations at Lossiemouth and Kinloss. But the dogs had been left behind at home this time.