Growing up we always had dogs, I don’t remember a time that there wasn’t a wagging tail waiting to greet me when I got home from school.

So, when I met The Husband and we moved in together it seemed like a natural course of action.  We got Peanut, a chocolate Labrador who was our first baby and when we had children their first pet. Having a dog is always a good excuse to get out of the house and explore. Living in West Yorkshire we discovered do many new picturesque places to visit. As long as you have all the right gear you can walk at any time of year – there’s is nothing better than wrapping up super warm and going for a crunchy crisp, and slightly icy walk up on the Yorkshire Moors.

As Peanut got older it was apparent that she was slowing down, she would take a bit longer to get around and would take herself off to bed. I read an article that said that it was a good idea to ‘overlap’ your dogs. The idea being that a new dog gives your old dog a new lease of life and the new dog learns good behaviour from the old dog.

Cue Jessie pup, another chocolate Labrador. When we brought Jessie home Peanut looked at her as if to say “How long is she staying?” but after a few days they became the best of friends and they would nestle up together to sleep and play together.

Of course the sad day came where we had to make tough decisions about Peanut and as she became poorly we decided to make the hard decision to let her go.

She was 14, a good long life for a dog and I hope we filled it with happiness for her.  We were all devastated. She was part of our family and brought us all so much happiness. We all have several funny Peanut stories – the time she ate the candles, the times she escaped the garden to walk three streets away to visit the old lady who fed her Custard Creams, the times she took herself to the local park for a sniff, the inappropriate crotch sniffing of visitors.

A year went by and life seemed a bit strange with just one dog. I knew I had to have another dog but this time I wanted to adopt, I didn’t want to go through the puppy stage again and I wanted to rescue a dog. I looked far and wide and knew I’d know when I saw the right dog. And I did, Cleo arrived with us, from Spain, in October last year. A Podenco, found with pups on waste ground she was rescued and now spends all her free time, when she’s not having a siesta, chasing squirrels in the woods, playing with Jessie and generally lolling around in any patch of sun she can find.  We can’t imagine life without her.

There isn’t a day that goes by where our dogs don’t make us smile. Every morning Cleo and Jessie race upstairs for their morning head rubs.  Every day I take them out for a walk, which is my favourite pastime, I get exercise and do all my best thinking and the dogs are happy.  Of course they have other benefits; Winter Foot warmers, Super Enthusiastic Children Cheerer-Uppers, Canine Vacuums, Mood Enhancers and they will always look at you as if you are THE best person in the entire world – who doesn’t need that at 9pm of an evening when you’ve battled two grumpy children into bed?

Life is definitely better with pets and I wouldn’t be without my waggers.

Purina believe that pets are better with people – and you can’t argue with that! You can make a commitment to your pets with the Purina GIF Generator here – http://bit.ly/29aEJT5. It’s been lovely reading through other people’s commitments. Why don’t you join our movement, spread the message, and share your own commitments – big or small – with Purina?