Having teens is a dog’s life — why bring them with you?

You know when people say you shouldn’t get a dog because what will you do when you want to go on holiday? Turns out it’s the same for teenagers, except I have yet to find a kennel that would take them, writes Suzanne Harrington.

So what to do? It’s not like they want to come with you for days of downward dog in primitive conditions up a Portuguese mountain; they think yoga is for losers, plus there’s no wifi. And as a lone parent, the whole idea of a few days doing yoga up a mountain is to leave everything behind — especially the dogs and teenagers. Who have, respectively, fleas and exams.

“Just go, will you,” they say in exasperation. “Stop overthinking it. What do you think we are going to do?”