SEVENTIES pop star Dave Edmunds is used to having crowds wrapped around his little finger - but a troublesome puppy was almost more than he could manage.

Dave, 61, from Monmouth, is best known as a producer and top-ten artist with hits like Girls Talk and I Hear You Knocking.

He bought Josie, a Border collie puppy, four months ago, when she was just eight weeks old.

But by ten weeks she was already such a handful he decided to call in professional help.

He said: "To me Border collies are the Rolls-Royce of dogs because they are so clever and so trainable, and that is what I wanted."

But Josie was anything but obedient.

Dave said: "Josie was ruling the roost.

"She would race around all the time and jump up or chew at the furniture, and to stop her I would literally drop everything and play with her. 

"She had me exactly where she wanted me, the little madam."

He contacted Jinny Hatton, from Caldicot company Bark Busters.

Jinny visited Dave and his wife, Cecilia, and quickly spotted the problem.

Jinny said: "Josie had already managed to determine the position of alpha female in her new home and she didn't care how she maintained it.

"She would even bite if she wasn't getting enough attention."

But now, with Jinny's help, Dave and Cecilia have a perfect pooch in six-month-old Josie.

Jinny said: "She would be fine at Crufts now. The transformation is amazing. Dave has worked continually with Josie. To see him play with and train her is a real pleasure."

She warns that intelligent dogs like Josie often end up in dogs' homes because their owners do not know how to train them.

Dave also learnt a lot from Jinny's expert help.

He said: "People often get the idea that the dog is really a human being in disguise, but if you treat a dog like a human, it isn't long before you are treated like the dog!"