IF the frequency of arguments between me and my husband is anything to go by, when the time comes that I need to find a new man I will know what to do.

I won't go to singles bars or approach dating agencies. No way will I frequent internet chat rooms nor stick my telephone number in call boxes.

I will simply get a dog. When you take a dog for a walk almost everyone - male and female - who happens to cross your path stops to chat. Or at the very least they look down at the hound who is dragging you along and smile.

"Oh, isn't he lovely," they say, "What's his name?", "How old is he?", "My uncle's got one of those." It's amazing the amount of interest a pooch generates.

A half-hour walk can easily turn into an hour as you

stop to run through the animal's CV with passers-by.

As for men - I ve been stopped by old blokes with terriers, middle-aged fathers with tots and even dodgy-looking young lads on their own.

No longer do I feel like Scruffy Lady with wild red hair. Now I'm Attractive Man Magnet with dog.

I admit, I am not a dog person. I am a cat lover through and through. To me a dog means responsibility, smells, dribble, hairs all over the house (anyone who claims that cats leave more is talking rubbish), dog dirt (cats bury theirs), training and exercise.

Yet I have met so many people since I have been walking George, my neighbour's West Highland Terrier. I've never really felt at home in our street, where people don't seem to have time to get to know you. But going out with George at the end of a lead I almost feel part of a community.

Plus, I always feel better for the exercise. Research has proved that owning a dog improves health, although I can't claim to enjoy being

made to hang around for ten minutes at every lamppost, tree and car tyre.

My eldest daughter would love a dog, but we have neither the time nor the space.

Plus I am still biased in favour of felines - quiet, small enough to have on your knee every night, no toilet requirements other than a cat flap and a scrap of soil and no exercising other than occasionally throwing balls of paper across the living room.

However, should circumstances change and I find myself a single mum struggling to put up a shelf or craving dinner in a swanky restaurant with a lovely man, I will be down to the dogs' home faster than you an say "Here Boy!"