Waggy Tales - Borrower Lucie, London

Lucie and her family, including three children, joined BorrowMyDoggy and found their pawfect match in Laury and her two beautiful Boxers, Ruby and Bella. Here’s their wagulous tale...

Why did you sign up to BorrowMyDoggy?

BorrowMyDoggy is such a good idea. We have three kids, a girl aged 9, a boy aged 7 and another girl aged 5. They are desperate for a dog so we were really excited about the possibility of meeting up with a local dog.

Our family would love to have a dog, however, my husband and I both work full time and it just isn’t practical. We wouldn’t be around enough to give a dog the proper attention that it needs. For us, having a dog is like having another child.

How did you and your family go about finding a pooch pal?

The kids sat down with us and we added a lot of dogs that we liked the look of to our favourites. We had looked after a friend’s dog before so that gave us a taste for it and some insight into it, too. My husband is a teacher so has the long school holidays which means, in the summer, him and kids can walk the dogs.

Laury, the owner of two local Boxers, was the first person to contact us. She sent a message saying she liked our profile and would like to meet up. It was in the summer school holidays so the whole family was very excited. The kids lept at the chance to meet the dogs.

How was your ‘Welcome Woof’?

Our ‘Welcome Woof’ went very well. We met up locally in Alexandra Palace. The kids loved the dogs, Ruby, who was 11 years old and Bella, who was 18 months old. Laury could see that my husband was good with dogs and everyone got on very well.

How are you and your family getting on with their new pals?

The kids love it and Bella is brilliant with them. Laury has found it useful to have her around kids, too, as it’s been good to socialise her with children.

Very sadly, the older dog, Ruby, recently had to be put down. Laury texted my husband and I the night before to tell us that she was going to take her to the vet in the morning. She invited our family to the park to see Ruby one last time, let the kids say goodbye to her and take some photos. It was so good for the kids to see the older dog. They got an experience of the ageing process and learnt that animals aren’t here forever.

They handled it really well and it was so sweet of Laury and her partner to think of us. I think it demonstrates what a lovely friendship we now have. Laury is so sweet. She goes to Paris quite often and always buys the kids treats when she comes back. They’ve become part of the family.

High paws! Tell us about your BorrowMyDoggy experience...

We’ve looked after the dogs for various lengths of times. We had them for an entire week once. There is no regular routine, but we now have Bella ad hoc on the weekends.

The beauty of it is that it works both parties; Laury knows Bella gets lots of love and attention and walks and we get the benefit of having a dog. Bella gets so excited when she sees us. She knows us, recognises the kids and knows our house.

I very much hope it’s a long term thing. Laury knows if we’re around we will always look after Bella. Quite often, Laury doesn’t just call on us if she’s going away. Even if she’s home she will contact us and see if the kids want to take Bella for a walk or have her overnight. If we haven’t seen her in a while, the kids always ask when we are next going to see her.

We never knew any Boxers before, but this has opened our eyes to them. They are a lovely breed of dog and we would not have had experience with them if it wasn’t for BorrowMyDoggy.

What's the one thing you would tell other potential borrowers about BorrowMyDoggy?

It is very much a two way street. It’s not just the owner who decides if they like you. You may decide that a certain dog isn’t suitable for you and that’s ok.

What one word do you associate with BorrowMyDoggy?

Innovative.