"Billy, aka Wilhelm, aka Billiam, but mainly referred to as Mr Billy was a very special dog. He was Bob’s first ever dog and as yet has never been replaced. He is a hard act to follow. Not exactly intelligent, hardly ever obedient,a useless guard dog, a master thief and basically un-trainable, but extremely gentle, sensitive, loyal and loving.

Dalmatians, are in my opinion a great family dog. They love their families and want to be part of the action at all times. Although the breed is usually high energy, Mr B. was more of a sofa-surfer. He enjoyed nothing more than hogging a sofa in the fancy room and breaking wind at regular 10 minute intervals whilst looking shifty. I once became ‘high’ on his personal gas - feeling very spaced out with a cracking headache. I can only imagine he’d found something illegal to eat, like the time he stole a whole Stilton one Christmas - my mop had never been so busy!

We got Billy as a puppy before we had children. When Harry was born we introduced him to Billy is his carry chair. Billy sniffed him then sat at the foot of the chair as if to say, “Ok, I get it, he’s part of the pack.” As Harry grew, Mr Billy was his shadow, always gentle, his constant companion. When Tom came along, again he sensed he couldn’t be boisterous, but as the boys grew they became the Three Amigos, always together with Billy keeping an eye on proceedings.

Billy’s only nemesis was Percy our first Oriental cat. Percy was nuts and extremely jealous of him even though Billy had been with us longer. They couldn’t be left alone as Percy once took a swipe at Billy for no particular reason cutting his nose to shreds - to his credit Billy didn’t retaliate, that was how gentle he was.

Dalmatians are master thieves, I lost count of the things Billy stole, if edible he’d have it away asap. He’d clear the boy’s plates on more than one occasion as soon as my back was turned, he ate Percy’s food, the chicken feed, fat balls put out for the birds, a resting Sunday roast if not put out of reach, that infamous Christmas Stilton and even a watch. Yes a watch. We once caught him raiding the boy’s Easter goodie stash in their bedrooms after returning into the house two minutes after leaving. He looked down at me from the top of the stairs with the guiltiest look on his face, sweet wrappers strewn behind him. He wasn’t allowed upstairs and that was writ large in his eyes.

Mr Billy lived for 13 years, not bad for a Dalmatian. He had various urinary problems which he overcame with surgery during mid life, but he was generally in good health. Sadly he had a stroke at 13 and he didn’t recover. We were all devastated when he died and although I love dogs, I just couldn’t imagine replacing him even 15 years on."

RIP Mr Billy