Love ...

I have to admit, I've recently fallen in love. I didn't think it would happen, but it has. My husband even knows about it, and he knows there's nothing he can do. He's actually resigned himself to the fact.

Yes, I've fallen in love with our family dog.

I didn't really want the dog in the first place, but my husband's best mate Graham got a dog, so of course Simon had to have one, too. They went to an animal rescue place, and sure enough, they each came back with one. Graham's was a beautiful Alsatian bitch, and Simon brought us a funny looking brown and black mutt. At least that was my first impression. Mitch is actually a Staffordshire bull terrier mixed with a bit of who-knows-what, but I don't know much about dogs. All I saw was a funny looking animal with a big head and a too-skinny body.

The first few weeks didn't endear me to him either. He refused to be left alone. The first time we had to leave him alone so we could go to work, he pulled my duvet off the bed and pissed on it. Then he ripped to shreds the bouquet my daughter caught at my sister's wedding. Oh, and I won't mention what little gift he left at the top of the stairs.

And yet slowly but surely, he's wormed his way into my heart. He's as daft an animal as you will ever meet, but he's also the most docile and loving dog you'll ever find. Imagine being thrust into a house with five loud kids. It didn't phase him at all. He's never once snapped at one of us, bitten one of us except in play, or made so much noise that the neighbours complained. In fact the neighbours didn't even know we had a dog until we told them. And this while Graham had to find a new home for his dog Roxy after she went after his four year old son Jak. We definitely got the better dog.

I think the turning point for me and Mitch was the night that Simon and I were play fighting in the living room. Simon pretended he was strangling me, and Mitch crawled up into my lap (which is no mean feat since he's not a small dog) and refused to let Simon anywhere near me. My own personal guard dog.

Now I enjoy taking him for a run on the fields behind our house. I wish the weather were nicer so we could have some long walks, but it's just too cold and muddy to do much more than have a run through the grass. I can let him off his lead, and as soon as I shout him to come back so we can go home, he does.

My kids aren't even that well behaved.