I think my dog is the best dog in the world 

Marnie the dog, Boo and Tuna used to be my favourite internet famous dogs but now Coco is undisputed champion of the dog world and I have 20,000 photos of him on my phone which prove this. He can do no wrong and his crooked smile and big expressive eyes melt my heart. 

I'm no longer house proud

I was adamant that Coco would be well trained, sleep in his own bed and all of his things would be stored away neatly. This fell apart after about 2 hours of getting Coco into our home. His toys are strewn all over the living room, I'm always standing on his chew sticks and he is allowed to come into bed for a cuddle. I find it really hard to say no to Coco and he has taken over the house. 

I smile more

When he does something cute, I smile. When he learned how to wait until walkies to go to the toilet I smiled and even when he does something naughty I have to laugh it off and smile. Coco is a fantastic companion and I'm no longer lonely when my husband is on the late shifts and he encourages me to be positive. I do find it hard to smile when I'm scrubbing his wee and sick out of the carpet though, why is Coco never sick on the wooden floor?!

I stay in more 

Martyn and I went out far more frequently before we got Coco. We ate out, went shopping together and had the freedom to go anywhere we liked. Our life has had to change dramatically since we got Coco. We have fewer holidays abroad and have bought a caravan so we can now take him with us wherever we go. We will be going to a dog friendly pub for our anniversary meal later in the month and many historic attractions are off the cards if we want to do things as a group. 

I'm really not a fan of leaving Coco in a crate and I'm more than happy to find alternative attractions where he can come with us and we now make more of beaches and the great outdoors rather than more formal settings like museums. Is he worth it? 100% yes. 

I move more 

Owning a dog can motivate you to exercise every day. In the winter I go to work, come home and put my PJs on but now I have Coco bringing his lead to me or barking at me to go for a walk and I can't say no, even if it's raining or I've had a bad day. Taking your dog for a 30 minute walk every day can greatly improve your health and it really helps me to de-stress. I love to see how happy Coco is when we go for a walk, he looks back at me with a huge grin on his face. 

I fell in love 

Dogs show the most unconditional love and I made a best friend the day we brought Coco home. He's my little shadow and follows me everywhere and I wouldn't have it any other way.