Love me, love my dog says Calista

Their relationship has never been easy. But there was still a time not long ago when friends thought Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart were ready to tie the knot.

Their three-year affair had survived Ford's messy divorce and Miss Flockhart's decision to adopt a baby.

The couple even appeared to have got over the 62-year- old's tequila-fuelled night out in Mexico earlier this year, when he was pictured draped around two women before limbo-dancing under the bar counter.

Now, however, the movie star and the TV actress are on the verge of breaking up - and all because of a dog.

Sources close to the couple say Miss Flockhart, 39, feels Ford has not given her enough support following the death of her mongrel terrier Webster last month.

The former star of the comedydrama Ally McBeal was devastated by the loss of the dog, which was her close companion for ten years.

The pet was put down five weeks after Ford lost his mother, Dorothy, to lung cancer.

Struggling with his own grief, he has told Miss Flockhart she is wrong to expect his sympathy at such a difficult time.

'Harrison doesn't think losing a dog is a big deal,' one source said yesterday. 'It is causing all sorts of problems because Webster was essentially Calista's best friend.

'She can see why Harrison is really upset at the death of his mother but she doesn't think that should detract from her own grief. She told me she thinks he doesn't care.

'Harrison is so down he can't even think about anything else,' added the source. ' He thinks Calista is being too demanding.'

Ford fell for Miss Flockhart in 2001 following the breakdown of his marriage to second wife Melissa Mathison, a screenwriter.

Early last year, she moved into his Los Angeles home with her adopted son Liam, now two. Many friends thought a wedding was on the cards after he splashed out £60,000 on a necklace for her last birthday.

Cracks started to appear in the relationship in January, soon after the star of the Indiana Jones and Star Wars films was forced to pay Miss Mathison £50million in a record divorce settlement. Drowning his sorrows, Ford got into trouble partying in a seedy bar in San Felipe, Mexico.

As pictures of his night out flashed around the world, Miss Flockhart dropped plans for her West End debut and returned to LA.