Finty (far right) Black/rough, dog, He was a dog that was due to be put to sleep. A few years before he was rehomed, his breeder heard that the lady to whom she had sold him had been taken ill and he was in RSPCA kennels near Brighton. So she took a taxi all the way from the Midlands to take him home only to be told that she couldn't have him as she didn't have any proof that he was her dog. So she went all the way back by taxi and returned the next day with all his papers and managed to persuade them to sign him over to her. It had been written about in the dog papers at the time.

He was quite a small, neat little chap, about 5 pounds and probably ten years old. He was soon my shadow and in his old age would insist on sitting in the crook of my arm at all times. He lived for another five years and was greatly loved. Sookie (middle) was also supposed to be put down although only 8 or 9. She was a little tubby with quite short legs, a very deep thinker. For some reason she didn't like being kissed on top of her head, and she was always making little snorty noises as though she was talking to you. She was obsessed with food and would try to gobble down anything that was dropped on the floor. I will always remember her stealing a great hunk of cheese from the coffee table and running away trying to gulp it down. She almost fainted because she couldn't breath and I had to reach down her throat and retrieve the cheese, then she started to recover and tried to grab the cheese again!!

She was a great favourite of our adult son and would help him load the dish washer, standing on the door and supervising while sampling all the plates and cutlery. When she was about 15 she suddenly started panting and collapsed not breathing. She is the only dog that I've ever performed mouth to mouth resuscitation on, she started breathing again but stopped again on our way to the vets and I couldn't get her started again. Apparently she had a burst heart valve, when we got home and told our son he broke his heart. It can be heart-breaking to lose your canine friends but I know we've given them a good last few years.

Ebony (far left) Black/rough, bitch, born 1995. She could have been a lovely show dog but her owner could never get her to walk on a lead and neither could we. She made up for it by being very puppy-like and playful. She knows she is beautiful and walks like a model on a catwalk, but she is an absolute air-head! Both Lacey and Ebony still had their tails, which was unusual to see at that time but I got to like seeing them wagging happily. Ebony remained with us untill this September 2010 when she passed away in her sleep.