Looking bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and glossy coated but without a pooch in sight, the human stars of Marley & Me, Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson, were left to go walkies alone on the red carpet for all to labr-adore.

Marley & Me follows a couple, John and Jenny Grogan, who decide to preview family life by getting a dog who turns out to be a whiling dervish of bad behaviour. But as their brood grows, their mutt Marley becomes a lynch-pin in their lives.

The fetching pair both brought their own pets onto the set - alongside the 22 Labradors who stood in for the canine lead - with Owen’s doggy even gaining a cameo role in the movie. But it was Jennifer’s naughty pooch Norman who caused a stir, taking a pee-break mid-shoot. She told us: “He certainly did - he thought it was real foliage, he’s a sweet thing – I guess his sense of smell is failing him now, he’s getting up there.”

Taken aback by the London reception, an excitable Wilson gave the crowd plenty of love and attention, leaving Aniston to take the lead and comment on the screaming crowds nearby: “I like it - it’s very sweet. I like that guy over there especially!”

But the ever-humble Friends star said she wasn’t above being a little star-struck from time to time: “God are you kidding? I’ll never forget the first person I walked up to and asked for an autograph. It was the guy from Sesame Street. And he actually – well it’s not a great story – he shoo-ed me away!”

And that was just last week!

But, at this, the busy co-stars had to pick up speed – kept on a short leash by their publicists. Obediently they followed on into the cinema and Empire padded home for a tasty dinner of kibble and boneos.