We'll never know.

It makes me a bit sad and a bit angry. We'll never know exactly why Monty was handed in to the dog pound or how he was treated by his previous owners, but there are some clues.

He's frightened to go outside unless someone goes with him. Which is a bit of a bugger for house-training.

Most dogs, when you give them a command and they get it wrong and you tell them "No", try doing other things until they figure out what it is you want from them. Monty does the same thing again, but with his tail between his legs and his nose to the ground between your feet — which, again, is a bugger for training, because as long as he's staring at the ground, you have no eye contact with him.

If you raise your voice to him, Monty cowers down on the floor as if he's about to be given a good kicking. He's clearly terrified. Perhaps the most depressing thing is that he doesn't even try to run away.

He's a wonderful, friendly, cuddly, affable dog. I'd like to give his previous owners a good kicking.

Vic got a new mobile phone the other day. Playing with the ringtones as you do, she came across one which was the sound of a small child laughing. Monty raced out of the kitchen and straight up to Vic, wagging his tail excitedly. He just loves kids. I suspect that the children in his previous home were the only ones who were nice to him.