David Elsworth: 'I never saw it as work - it was just a big game, an adventure'

Once upon a time he had Desert Orchid and Persian Punch, not to mention Rhyme 'n' Reason, Barnbrook Again and In The Groove, plus so many others over so many decades. Now, as David Elsworth prepares to unpack his shopping after a morning trip to Waitrose, there is only Stretch.

Compared to the thoroughbreds who defined Elsworth's life across most of seven decades from 1955 to 2021, Stretch is distinctly lacking in stature. As befits a member of the Dachshund breed, the seven-month-old puppy presents a somewhat comical appearance, yet you would not say that to his face. There is not much of Stretch, but when not contemplating acts of bodily harm in the garden he spends much of our three-hour visit committing such acts to items in his master's increasingly mauled Dullingham home.

The bags Elsworth filled in Newmarket's town-centre supermarket are still on the kitchen table, with only a few items removed. A ready meal of beef stew with dumplings has been placed in the fridge, but prior to tackling the rest of the job the bungalow's owner has popped into the garden to put torn slices of brown bread in a bird feeder. The bits that fall out are immediately pounced upon by Stretch, whose daily fibre intake is soaring.