Max gets ready for his next radio interview with owner Neil Martin

MAX, the golden retriever nearly fluffed his lines when he was landed with the golden opportunity to be a radio star.

And now his owner, Neil Martin, is wondering whether Max -- once destined to become a guide dog for the blind -- might be better suited to the silent movies.

Neil, whose whole life is surrounded by dogs as joint manager of Bolton Destitute Animal Shelter, was asked by BBC Radio to help with a regional launch of National Poop-a-Scoop Week.

The location chosen was Bolton's Moss Bank Park where -- despite Bolton's tough anti-fouling laws -- there are still many complaints about dog dirt.

Neil was asked to be there with his dog to meet a Beeb reporter for a live interview on the subject of whether the new laws are working and what more can be done to make pet owners see sense. But it was only as Neil arrived at the park that the thought hit him: "Why do they want the dog here when all they want is a RADIO interview?"

"Ah", said the radio interviewer. "We want the dog to bark."

Neil explained: "That sounded easy enough, but could we get Max to bark?

"We tried everything, but he stayed silent. Finally, after I'd lost count of the number of times I had thrown a stick for him, he barked a couple of times. But it was hard work.

"Max has been trained since he was six weeks old to be well behaved and not bark. I was puppy walking him ready for him to be trained as a guide dog at the Bolton centre. But he didn't quite make the grade and he's now my own pet."

National Poop-a-Scoop Week has been run by environmental health officers throughout Britain to hammer home the message that people are not just morally obliged to clean up after their pet but are legally forced to do so in places like Bolton.