According to the latest figures released by the established authority on dogs within Britain, the number of West Highland Terrier pups that were registered in the UK last year fell by over 50 per cent to just 5,890.

The numbers of Yorkshire terriers registered slumped 44 per cent to just 3,767, with the golden retriever not far behind with a drop of 39 per cent to 7,804 pups.

The UK’s biggest breeds also saw a decline in numbers, with the popularity of the Irish Wolfhound floundering. The last year saw numbers of the dogs, once used to hunt wolves, fall from 601 to 323. The Great Dane, one of the world’s tallest breeds, saw their numbers fall by just over 600 to 1,306.

The Alaskan malamute is not the only breed of dog to have experienced a surge in popularity with UK owners. The whippet, which bears a strong physical resemblance to the greyhound, nearly doubled its numbers in the past year, with the Kennel Club showing the number of registered dogs as 3,246. Beagles are also becoming more popular, with a rise from 956 to 2,592, along with the pug, whose number stands at 4,769, an increase from 861.

The bulldog also saw a rise in demand, increasing 114 per cent to 4,217.

Hot on the heels of the malamute is the Coton de Tuléar. Rumoured to have been favoured amongst pirates, the popularity of this small dog has grown just shy of the malamute’s from just two dogs registered in 2000.

Despite my indifference, soap operas are huge everywhere. Whether it’s a dour Mancunian grumpfest like Albion Market, the ten-gallon, shoulder padded exploits of everyday Texan oil barons or wigged out Mexican daytime soaps about doctors, inheritance battles and unwitting incest, there’s no mistaking their popularity. In salutation to the humble soap actor, we at Dream Dogs give you our top 5 UK soap star dog owners.

Patsy Palmer

The 38 year old actress, who found fame playing Bianca, the freckled foghorn and bedeviller of cockernee thickie Ricky in EastEnders, owns a Shar Pei called Layla. Although you may think that she’s only ever been in the soap, she’s also starred in Grange Hill, Drop the Dead Donkey and The Bill, but ‘let’s face it, who hasn’t been in The Bill? She also played a teen with a face like a welder’s bench in a Clearasil advert.

Kym Marsh

Marsh, 34, from Merseyside, recently hit the headlines over adopting an abandoned Labrador called Oliver in January. The hapless pup was left in a cardboard box outside a pet shop in Surrey, but found a home with Marsh. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Oliver didn’t get on with Charlie the Chihuahua, Marsh’s other pet pooch, and was banished back to the dog pound.

Ironically, Oliver had previously featured in a program about abandoned dogs. Luckily for him, he was soon re-adopted and Marsh was said to be embarrassed about the whole episode.

William Roache

Coronation Street stalwart Bill Roache, known to the nation as Ken Barlow, had a bad experience with his Labrador after it attacked and killed a neighbour’s Yorkshire Terrier. The actor, who successfully sued The Sun newspaper because they accused him of being boring (go figure), initially denied that his pet of eight years was involved in the incident, but when the local constabulary got involved he had the aggressive Lab put to sleep. He appeared on the Richard and Judy show to explain why he had to do the responsible thing.

Rob Kazinsky

The EastEnders hunk, who played Sean Slater, recently got a two month old German shepherd pup. Having a devil of a time naming her, he turned to Twitter and asked his followers to come up with a name for his new pet. Kazinsky, who is said to be currently penning a series ‘inspired’ by Sex and the City, named his pet Roxy, after the EastEnders character with whom his was romantically involved.

Gemma Merna

The Hollyoaks star, who plays Carmel McQueen in the soap, recently said that she has no plans to become a mother as her time is taken up looking after her pups. Speaking of her pets, she said:

“Phoebe’s a curly-haired Westie and Cole’s a St Bernard. They take up most of my time – it’s like having two kids. They like to play, but can be quite hard work.”

Keep your ear to the ground for tomorrow’s top 5 list…

A 28 year old woman suffering with the debilitating brain disease has seen a dramatic improvement in her condition since her friend gave her a West Highland terrier. The woman was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease three years ago and was forced to take four different types of drugs each day in order to get by. In addition to the drugs, she had to use a pump for her morphine for 14 hours each day. Her condition was also getting worse.

However, once the Westie entered her life her condition improved, miraculously. She now requires far fewer drugs each day, and no longer needs the daily morphine at all.

Doctors from the Imperial College London reported about the case in the Journal Of Neurology. They commented:

Remarkably sustained benefits occurred, with improvement in her walking and symptoms including appetite, sleep and bowel function, as well as socialisation.

The Doctors aren’t sure how the introduction of the dog has managed to affect her condition so much, but the need to take care of the dog has encouraged her to take more exercise. It is also possible that the need to take care of the dog has helped her brain to manufacture the chemical dopamine, which helps the thinking areas and movement areas of the brain.

It was believed that Robert Pattinson and Twilight co-star Kristen Stewart were making dough eyes at each other when the cameras stopped rolling, but both have denied these rumours. Instead, Edward’s new flame is his dog, as reported in the March edition of Details magazine. Edward explained:

The only emotional connection of relevance is with my dog. My relationship with my dog — it’s ridiculous.

Edward’s new dog is to replace a West Highland Terrier that he had since a child, who died recently. The terrier, named Patty, was described as being like a sister to Edward in a recent interview.

All that he really wants is a home, so he can get a dog, since the West Highland white terrier he had since the age of five and ‘who was like my sister’ died last Christmas.

Isn’t it good to know that Pattinson is the sort of man who can love his small dog?

66 year old Valerie Bailey noticed her dogs acting out of character and detected a strange smell in her bedroom. The former hairdresser alerted her local police who stormed her neighbours’ semi-detached home to find over 200 cannabis plants.

Mrs Bailey explained to the media that the fumes from the drugs were causing both she and her husband David, 69 years old, to feel ill.

She stated:

“It was incredibly hot upstairs in our house and my husband and I could detect this strong smell which was making us both cough. It’s been terrible. My cough got so bad I had to have a course of anti-biotics and my husband David has got leukaemia so it hasn’t helped his chest at all. I don’t know what cannabis smells like but we guessed that was what it must be.

“I am sure my dogs were affected. We have two little West Highland terriers. I noticed I was having trouble waking up one of them in the morning which was very unusual.”

In the next door neighbours’ house, the police officers discovered two of the three bedrooms were full of large cannabis plants growing beneath lights controlled by 12 hour timers. The third bedroom was also being prepared for plants and even the bathroom was full of bottles of Monster Bloom plant food.

According to police, the two ‘gardeners’ that had been looking after the cannabis plants were believed to be Vietnamese and had not been seen since Bank Holiday Monday so arrests have yet to be made.

The neighbourhood specialist police constable for the Tilehurst area, Tim Emery explained that drug producers often chose property in respectable areas to produce cannabis like this in order to avoid attracting attention to themselves.

It is understood that both the Baileys and their West Highland terriers are in good health.

15 year old West Highland Terrier, Toby, is owned by Fiona Hagenbuch from Uphall in West Lothian.  21 year old Fiona has cerebral palsy that causes her to fall and to suffer from fits on a regular basis.

Toby has become used to Fiona’s illness and has learned, without any special training, to use a distinctive bark whenever something happens, to alert Fiona’s mum.

Fiona, who also has epilepsy, vertigo and Meniere’s disease, knows how devoted Toby is to her and Toby has now been nominated in the ‘doggie devotion’ category of the national Dog’s Trust Honours awards, sort of like the People’s Pride of Britain awards for dogs.

Wendy, Fiona’s mum, told the media:

“When she goes out he literally lays by the front door until she comes back.  He normally barks but if Fiona has had a fall he will yap. He’ll do two short yaps then pause, then another two and he’ll keep doing it until I come to help. It’s as if he’s calling ‘mum, mum’.  Toby is very intelligent and I’m so proud of both of them.”

Fiona added:

“Toby has been our family pet for 15 years, since he was six months old.  We have a really special relationship. If I come home from work and forget to say hello to him he goes to his room and sulks.

“He doesn’t like it when I go to work either and thinks he should be with me all the time. I love him very much and hope he wins an award for being the best friend anyone could wish for.”

Dogs are not just companions for people but often develop a special bond with their owners and know instinctively when something is wrong.  Toby has developed his special bond into a potentially life-saving skill.

If Toby makes the shortlist, he and Fiona will be able to attend the prestigious ceremony in London on 19th May where celebrities such as Paul O’Grady and Kirsty Gallacher are also expected to attend.