As EH passed the Patch the Jack Russell terrier over to me in the office I worked out that he must be at least 35 years old. He also a long way from his home with the S family in Stockton-on-Tees. Unfortunately poor Patch wasn’t feeling very well and threw up in transit. Now I was in a real dilemma: to rush home and change into clean clothes, to soothe the dog, or to complete documentation for a meeting due to start in an hour. It was a relief to learn that my boss was about to set off on a business trip to Canada and that the meeting task could wait.