“She was such a big character in such a small package,” commented one friend about Sami. Just a few days before she died and even though she was not well she still enjoyed a good run across the fields. When younger she even won that rosette for being the fastest in a race for small dogs at the Wensleydale Agricultural Show in Leyburn. I am in no hurry to replace her because Sami was such a special little Yorkshire Terrier, with a big heart, large expressive eyes, and a great companion.

The first Yorkshire Terrier we had was Tommy (left) way back in 1987. The idea was that he would be a good companion for my son, Eddie, as we travelled the world with the UN agency that his dad, Tony, worked for. So Tommy travelled with us to Quetta in Pakistan to become part of the expatriate community there. When we moved to Peshawer Eddie and I had the fun of travelling on the “milk run flight” which stopped at such old British outposts as Fort Sandeman. Tommy, however, was not so impressed and howled every time the turbo prop Fokker F27 Friendship came into land and took off. But at least the crew let us take him out of the luggage area at the back of the cabin so that he could have a walk (and a pee) at each of those small airfields overlooked by the Hindu Kush.

Sadly Eddie and I had to leave Tommy behind when we settled in Wensleydale in 1990. A few years later when Tony and Tommy were in Geneva Eddie and I collected the little dog and went on a fascinating train tour of Switzerland which included visiting Jungfraujoch . And, of course, Tommy, left his blessing…. Yes, he had a pee at the highest point he could reach.

Back in England Eddie felt lost without a dog so we went to the National Canine Defence League in Leeds and fell in love with a cross bred dog called Zac (left). And then in 1997 Tony decided he wanted another Yorkshire Terrier. He asked Eddie and I to find him a bitch and to house train her for him. So that’s when Sami came into our lives. She was called Sami because the elderly lady that had her thought she was a boy – so we just added an ‘i’ to Sam. What surprised us was how quickly Sami became top dog and very much part of our family. So Tony gave her to Eddie as a birthday present and went looking for another puppy. This time we made sure that the new dog, Tina, went to Switzerland as quickly as possible – and I thought that was that. A few years later, however, United Nations High Commission for Refugees sent Tony to places like Sarajevo and Kosovo and he couldn’t take Tina. Rather than see her left in kennels for months on end Eddie begged me to let her come and join us in Wensleydale. Having three dogs was fine all the time we could walk through the fields but it became a nightmare when that was not possible during the foot and mouth epidemic. If anyone had made a video of me tangled up in dog leads they could have sold the film to You’ve Been Framed.

But one by one our dogs died. Zac went first with acute haemophilia. Tina developed mammalian tumours but with good care she continued enjoying life until she died in 2006. Below: Tina as a puppy; and Tina (left) with Sami.