It was one of those nights that leaves you wagging your tail - a warm and fuzzy fundraiser for the four-legged friends who provide a second pair of eyes to the vision impaired.
That pretty much sums up my evening last Saturday at the South African Guide-Dogs Association gala dinner.
Walking into the foyer of the Montecasino ballroom, where the knees-up was held, I spotted seasoned actress Lillian Dube cooing over the guide dogs.
She had turned up to support the worthy cause with another acting veteran, Sam Phillips.GOOD DOGS
It's often easier to teach an old dog new tricks than to get guests to cough up for a worthy cause, so you have to hand it to auctioneer Jade Cahi, who got us all opening up our wallets, saying: "It's only money, and I promise you it will grow back."
And he put his money where his mouth is by making the highest bid on one of the night's items.
It all proved a huge success, with a cool R641,000 raised - the most money raised so far in the history of the gala dinner.
Outside the auction, we were entertained by vision-impaired singer Vernon Barnard and harpist Jude Harpstar.
But the big stars of the night were the dogs, from Lyric the labrador (who sported lipstick marks on his forehead from an admirer) to the puppies brought in by Mrs South Africa contestants like Reevana Govender for us to cuddle.
Pawsome!..