Lily is 12 years old, yet she still steals any food she can get her paws on! She’s a bit lumpy and bumpy, and distinctly grey around the edges.
When Lily wakes up, her face often takes a while to return to normal after being squished by the side of her favourite chair, but most of all, she’s my 85-year-old mum’s best friend.
She’s my 85-year-old mum’s best friend
They’re both a little unsteady on their feet (and they’re on more medicines than you can imagine), but they love cuddles and cups of tea.
This picture is from one of her previous visits to the vet after breaking into a bag of dog food (she had no regrets!).
My wife and I were approaching our fifties and had decided it was the perfect time to get a dog. After a lot of research, we found Rocco. He looks like a Labrador who has the white spots of a Springer plus the tail of a Husky – and the energy of all three!
Bump the chair with his bottom
We’ve become a lot more mobile thanks to Rocco and his antics. If I’m relaxing in my recliner and he wants to play, Rocco will walk past and bump the chair with his bottom. He won’t stop until I give him attention! If, for some reason, we haven’t given Rocco enough of a walk, he’ll start going crazy at about 10pm to let us know he needs some more exercise. He’ll even grab his toys and dismantle his bed to get your attention.
Our fifties are full of activity and adventure, and it’s all thanks to Rocco.
I lost my dog a few years ago and decided that I was going to wait until my circumstances had changed to get another. I then met my amazing partner and we decided to look for a puppy.
After a lot of discussion, we decided on a St Bernard. We found a wonderful lady in England who had just had a litter and we contacted her and that was it, Albert was booked. He brings us all more joy and happiness then we could imagine and we could not love him more.
Albert makes us laugh every day and brings us together as a family. He will also walk down the aisle with me at our wedding next year. We just can’t wait!
We could not love him more
Goose is a Cyprus street dog. One of her best qualities is her kindness and intuition – she comes to work with me out on the beach and puts my coaching clients at ease. She’s also a volunteer SAS Rep and a Marine Mammal Medic Search and Rescue Dog.
For SAS, she helps run beach cleans and is extremely patient with all the children. She’s also self-trained in finding ghost fishing nets for us to collect. We bring her to fundraisers too and she acts as a great draw. She is so mellow and relaxed, and people gravitate towards her. When I’m asked what breed she is, I say she is a total mix and that she must be made with 100% love.
One of her best qualities is her kindness and intuition
For British Divers Marine Life Rescue, we attend callouts to sick and injured seal pups and Goose is brilliant at locating them. Ordinarily we would say keep dogs well away from seals – and to be fair, Goose keeps her distance – but after attending a great many callouts, she must have realised what we were looking for. One evening, we were on the beach in the dark, searching for a seal pup that had been called in with vague location details. We had her on the lead, and after around 45 minutes in the pitch black we were giving up. So, we took her off-lead and saw her blue collar light disappear back to an area we had already searched.
She climbed about ten feet up a rock, then stopped still. As we approached, we saw that ten metres away from her, fast asleep in a rock crevice, was our poorly seal pup. Since then, we have paid a lot more attention to her when out on rescues and she always leads us straight to them, which is a great help when time can be critical. I can say for certain that she’s saved many seal pup lives.
Goose is loved by all who meet her and she holds a huge part in our hearts. For a small dog, she has made a lifelong impact on us, and we are eternally grateful to have found each other. She is my hero and teaches me life lessons every day!
My husky Ozzy really is my soul dog – that dog you connect with on a different level. I feel he and I were meant to be together. I rescued him when he was three in 2010. He's seen me the through the loss of four babies, the loss of my dad and several rather awful relationships.
I feel he and I were meant to be together
His love is unwavering. I've lost count of the amount of times he's pressed his face into mine when I've cried into his fur. He's now almost 15 and has lots of lumps, arthritis and is deaf and going blind, but he still thinks he's a puppy and is absolutely giddy telling me he needs his tea or frolicking on the beach. After a car accident in 2012 and working long hours away from him and my other dogs, he inspired me to start my own dog walking business which is now into its 10th year of business.
Oz has been into schools with me to teach young ones about how to approach dogs and has also been to lots of events as he inspired me to be a part of several husky rescues and to take on foster dogs before setting up my own business. When Oz goes it is going to leave a huge hole in my life and heart, but I'm so thankful that the best years of his life I've got to share.
Lerihas recently retired from his role as a Protection Dog for the British Army. I first met him when he was two years old, after he had been postedto my unit fresh out of training. He was my first Military Working Dog and together, we guided each other through.
We guided each other through
We absolutely smashed our last licensing, and were awarded an advancedpass, something that has not been achieved in more than ten years at my unit. I have learnt so much from Leri and I’m honoured to have been able to take him home at the end of his service. I owe him all that life can give and I love him so much.He’s my big, slobbery, brave boy!