Putin 'wants sat-nav for pet dog'

Connie sometimes attends top-level meetings

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants a sat-nav dog collar to keep track of his pet labrador, according to the country's deputy prime minister.

"When can I get a system for my dog, Connie, so she can't go too far astray?" Mr Putin is said to have asked Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov.

Mr Ivanov was presenting the president with plans for launching three new navigation satellites.

He said the collars would be in the shops in Russia from July 2008.

The Russian rocket Proton-K is due to launch three new satellites into orbit on Christmas Day to facilitate Russia's Glonass navigation system.

They will bring to 18 the total number of satellites mapping Russian territory.

Ultimately it is planned to have 24 satellites in orbit from 2009.

The Glonass system was developed by the Russian army in the 1980s, in competition with the US GPS network and the European Galileo system.