On A Knife-Edge

Little Macie wanted a slice of the action.

- Emmie Harrison/Hattie Bishop/Lucy Needham

Irene Paisley, 46,

Glasgow

Peeling the potatoes last December, I shooed away my Staffie puppy.

‘You’re not allowed in here!’ I tutted.

Macie was 12 weeks old, and very cheeky. We’d got her two weeks earlier and she was part of the family already.

My dog Boston had died of cancer two months earlier, aged 10.

My kids Darren, 24, Shannon, 23, Sophie, 14, and Georgia, 13, had grown up with him.

Now Macie was healing some of the sadness of losing Boston.

But she was mischievous. She’d already ruined some of her squeaky toys!