It seems to me that I’ve been writing very serious blogs, so I thought I’d take a moment to introduce my good friend Remy Martin, a Bouvier des Flandres (a Flemish Bouvier.)
He is the model for my fictitious ‘Le Grand Charles’—‘Charlie’ for short—whom I introduce in my Battle of Britain novel Infinite Stakes. Charlie belongs to a Belgian pilot who escapes from Belgium in 1940 in the midst of the German invasion and joins the RAF. You’ll have to read the book to see what happens next…

Belgian pilots serving in 609 Squadron during the Battle of Britain
Bouviers are tough and intelligent dogs, originally bred for hard work including herding, guarding, and pulling light carts. Smart, strong, and brave, in more recent years they have had great success as personal security dogs, K9 police dogs, and in serving in Special Forces.
Rem—he’s the one with the tongue and the hair and the white silk scarf, by the way, and I’m the one with the big ears and no hair—is a working security dog when he’s on duty and just a good ol’ boy when he’s not.