The people who owned Lady had got her from a rescue pound so they didn't really know how old she was. When I came to look at the house I fell in love with her and when I found out they couldn't take her with them because of Quarantine Laws and that their kids couldn't take her because of rules where they lived I immediately offered that she could stay in her house.

That was in 1994. The above picture was taken in Yosemite, part of a long trip round usual suspects, Grand Canyon, Death Valley, etc., with my family visiting from England. The snow all balled up in her pads so she wanted to cuddle.

She was old when we got her but I like to think she enjoyed a second lease of life with us on trips like this and having young kids around again.

Like it says, the short-term loans are as bad as the long but then we wouldn't have it any other way.