A dilemma

Meg should have gone to her new home this afternoon. I was all ready to take her. I had even packed a little food parcel, crammed with her favourite biscuits and chew sticks. I had written out my email address, so the people could send me photos and updates. I had groomed her coat till it shone like the sun. Hetty was groomed too and was wearing her silk brocade collar for the occasion. We were going back to the kennels to meet Meg's new family.

I was just about to get the girls in the car when the lady called to ask if the date could be changed to tomorrow. Well, it is my Bobbi Brown make-up lesson/ hard- sell tomorrow, and aunty visiting on Saturday. So, Sunday is now the date Meg will be leaving. The only problem is, I am now having grave second thoughts. I really want to keep her.

What should I do?

Answers please. . .

Reasons to Keep Meg

• She is the most loving and affectionate pooch.
• Hetty has someone to run with, they like to explore places together and curl up together every night.
• She is gentle and friendly with every dog she meets.
• She is house-trained.
• She comes back when I call her.
• She taught Hetty how to sit and give a paw on command (something this teacher had failed to do).
• The cats tolerate her, and she likes them.
• She is beautiful, one of the prettiest lurchers I have ever met.
• She snuggles up to me, places her head in my lap and gazes up at me so lovingly that I forgive her anything.
• She snores, not as loud as Rochester, who was like something out of Jurassic Park, but very gently, it is sweet, like a snoozing piglet.
• She is loyal and very attached to me. She will miss me, I know.
• I love her.

Reasons not to keep Meg

• She is very clingy, it will be terribly hard for her when I go back to work.
• At her new home she will always have someone with her.
• I can't afford the extra food, insurance, chews, silk brocade collars . . . I am skint anyway.
• She can bully Hetty, and once even attacked her in a fit of pique. They love each other 99% of the time, but Hetty is a sensitive mutt. She doesn't understand Meg's occasional snappiness.
• Hetty will be able to play with her beloved ball on a rope again (her raison d'etre). Meg hates it when Hetty plays with a ball. Meg doesn't want the ball, you understand, she just doesn't think Hetty should have it either. She is a spoilsport. This causes friction.
• I think Hetty sometimes looks upset that she has to share me now. It makes me feel like some cruel, Mormon patriarch who has selfishly brought a younger, prettier wife home.