Have you met the Friends for Life hounds? From the website: "Friends for Life recognises and celebrates the difference that dogs can make to their owners lives, be it through bravery, support or companionship."

There's a video of the shortlisted doggies and I'm begging ye to watch it! It's only five minutes; much shorter than a MotoGP race. The must-see bit is at 4:10 where you will meet nine-year-old Nye Thomas. He fell thirty feet into a river and broke both his arms, but was rescued by his trusty dog Bud. Gareth and I have watched Nye about 25 times now. His accent makes me bust a gut every time, and he has an hilarious turn of phrase.

"When Bud rescued me I was like... ohhh, flip. This is one strong dog. I was just amazed. I mean, how is he pulling me up like? I'm nine, and he's only eight!

If Bud wasn't there I might be in heaven, I might be in hell. I don't where I might be. I might be in a hostebal."

. . .

Are you a UK blogger? Are you funny? Are you feeling charitable?

Mike at Troubled Diva came up with a great idea for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day - he's putting together a book in a week, full of funny Britblogger tales called Shaggy Blog Stories. You can submit your most amusing blog entry if you're a Brit in Britain, a Brit overseas, or even one of those pesky Almost-Permanent-Residents who are currently tearing their flat apart looking for no less than twenty pieces of evidence proving to the pedantic Home Office bastards that their marriage is not a sham.

Mike's mission to pull off this "collaborative blog-stunt" in just seven days. It will be printed on lulu.com and all money raised by the sales (minus the lulu fees) will go to Comic Relief. More details here!