Beard said she was not sure whether she was the first woman in the UK to have an assistance pet present during birth, but the hospital where Alfie was born had certainly never allowed it before.

- Confine your puppy when you are unavailable to supervise: Little putties need eyes on them all the time.Make sure you don't leave the puppy in the crate for more than four hours at a time.

Lucian Freud’s whippet, Pluto, Joan Jonas’s dog, Zina, and William Wegman’s elegant weimaraners are just some of the artists’ pooches that will appear in a new exhibition called Dog Show that marks the 35th anniversary of Southwark Park Galleries (formerly CGP), based in the south London park. Dog Show, Southwark Park Galleries, London SE16, 18 July-8 September.

Tim, 33, – who started his business in 2011 after realising that if somebody was going to be paid for walking his dog, it might as well be him – explained how he was able to get all his dogs to pose for the staggering photos, regardless of their species or temperament.

A man repeatedly punched a police dog while it was helping officers with an arrest, Scotland Yard have said. Ernie the police dog was repeatedly punched by the suspect (Picture: PA)Officers deployed the Met’s dog unit and the man was chased in West Drayton.