Your canine crusader suggests it's no wonder Labour's primary industries spokesman Damien O'Connor is now looking a little lost in the Labour caucus.
His fellow right-wingers are falling faster than Andrew Little's poll rating. 'Shane Jones left a year or so ago, Phil Goff is leaving to contest the Auckland mayoralty and Mike Moore protégé Clayton Cosgrove has announced he won't stand again in 2017.
Meanwhile, O'Connor seems to have decided his future is aligned with would-be coalition partners the Greens: he is promoting 'medicinal' cannabis. The West Coast MP recently entered a member's bill in the ballot, seeking a law change that would allow access to cannabis products by people suffering a terminal illness. As one wit told your old mate, the move is less dopey than many of Labour's other proposed plans.