WILL Cohu first met Parker, a Scottish Terrier, when living in Wales with his then girlfriend, Catherine, in 1997. When the relationship ended, Will came back to a lonely London where he had no job, and his only companion was his dog, Parker.

To get over the break-up of this relationship, Will took Parker for long walks around London, where they encountered a number of potential partners and explored their relationship with each other.

Parker even became a source of income for Will, thanks to a regular column ('Urban Dog') in the Daily Telegraph's Weekend Section.

Will was able to record the experience of the urban dog world -- from taking long walks around the streets of Islington and Notting Hill, to discovering which restaurants, bars and cafes welcomed dogs with special dog extras, to meeting a wide cross social section of dogs and their owners.

As time went by, both Will and Parker were to learn a lot about each other. They helped each other survive the traumas of heartbreak and ridicule, to become very good travelling companions and reach a high level of conversation -- covering everything from the problems with flatmates to the desirability of sharing a bed.

But their domestic comfort was to change when Will found a girlfriend in Los Angeles with her own dogs. As Will's transatlantic relationship developed, he was to discover that people and their dogs are alike all over the world, and to realise that his life with Parker would possibly change in ways he had never imagined. And as Parker and Will reach their new understanding, they discover that there is only one relationship where they know exactly what to expect from each other, the world and life.

Urban Dog The Adventures of Parker by Will Cohu is published by Simon & Schuster at £6.99.