Jenny has five toy dogs, one for each birthday. On her sixth birthday, she gets books, cards, a doll - and a leather dog collar with a shiny buckle and a name-tag made of silver for her special present, a real live collie dog.

Her new pet is very full of life - he barks at the cats, he snaps at the bees, he chases, spins and tumbles - and Jenny calls him Lively.

Mum and Jenny they dash around after Lively, who dives in the duck pond and chases squirrels up trees.

During the long summer days, Jenny and Lively play together and each night Jenny falls asleep exhausted.

Lively's behaviour gets worse instead of better: he crashes into tables and chairs, he tears the clothes from the line and wrestles them in the mud.

But he is Jenny's dog and her very best friend. On her seventh birthday, Jenny asks for a bear...