In my teens I once overheard my then boyfriend’s mum say to her son, ‘She treats her dog better than she treats you.’ I was neither hurt nor surprised by the accusation; in fact I agreed. We accept our dogs just as they are and there is always complete trust on both sides.

More recently, a friend forwarded a humorous article about how to train your husband like your dog. Having had a quick scour online there are actually quite a few articles about how you should treat your partner like your dog. They share a common theme – ignore bad behavior and reward good behaviour. I automatically thought how much easier it is to do that with an innocent dog…

While The School of Life offers solutions to the likes of creative blocks, searching for a meaningful job and dealing with death, I am wondering if a dog training boot camp might offer a solution to relationship problems. These canine classes promise to improve communication, help you understand behaviour and keep you motivated. This sounds particularly helpful for the role of the leader. Although we have just as much to learn from a dog’s characteristics – after all dogs don’t ever try to be anything they’re not; they may seek approval but they don’t depend on it; and they are very forgiving.

The only problem with signing up to a doggy school would be deciding who would take the role as leader in the first session… I do have a rather fetching collar somewhere…