A second CHANCE

Three women share how they each gave a rescue dog their forever home

- GILLIAN HARVEY

'I longed for a pup and it was worth the wait'

Louise Lee, 50, senior media officer for Blue Cross, lives in London with her partner Tom, 46, and her rescue dog Martha.

My favourite memory from childhood is coming home from school aged 10, to find my dad cradling a tiny Yorkshire terrier. I'd been begging for a puppy for years and nearly fainted!

After university, when I moved to London, I lived in rented accommodation and it just wasn't practical to have a pet. Instead, over the years, I made the most of pet-sitting Beanie, my sister Katy's Shih Tzu, in Leicester.

I longed for a dog, but the timing always seemed wrong. Then during lockdown, our neighbour's dog - a black and white Shih Tzu, Gigi started to suffer from separation anxiety, barking whenever my neighbour went out. I offered to pet-sit her when needed.

Caring for the dog reawakened something in me, and I decided it was time to find my own pet. I wanted a puppy that I could train, so I began trying various charities, including Blue Cross where I work, scrolling through pictures online.

Finally in July 2022, a little puppy popped up on my screen. Something instantly clicked. Martha, a tiny Shih Tzu-Maltese cross, was being fostered by Jenny, who worked at Blue Cross at the time, so I decided to get in touch.

Martha and I met online when she was just two weeks old. Her mother and siblings had died after a complicated labour, and it wasn't certain she'd make it.

Thankfully, she grew stronger and, when Martha was eight weeks, I went to collect her from North Yorkshire. She was still so small, I worried I'd tread on her!

Almost a year on, she's my constant companion. She comes to Hampstead Heath to watch me play pétanque and sometimes commutes into the office with me. When I'm working from home, she snoozes on my lap.