‘Puppy love: shedding golden strands of love into every corner of hearts'

It’s a humbling thing to sit with a dog while she labours.

Doing her best, her dark eyes filled with bewilderment, trusting you all the way. While you, with no words to console her, can’t help but feel you’ve let her down as she pushes through pain that she has no way of understanding.

Founder of the charity Dogs for the Disabled, Jennifer Dowler, has been with our dog, Jasmine, in the whelping box for hours now. Cajoling and encouraging her to release her pups. I have no doubt if she could, she would have them for her.

We’ve been socialising dogs for this charity for nine years now; and socialise us they have as they’ve christened our carpets, chewed our slippers, and knocked down the fences surrounding our garden and our hearts.

Some came as puppies, staying until they were old enough to begin their training as assistance dogs. Others passed through as weekend callers, or holiday visitors, leaving their muddy paw prints behind them as they snuffled their way in and out of our home, shedding fur and love in equal measure.

Dozing on the cushions that litter our floor like stepping stones, or using their big eyes to gain a place beside us on the sofa, as we, the assistants to the assistance dogs, became excellent walkers and bakers of the most wonderful dog-friendly peanut butter cookies.

Temporary guests aside, our permanent four-legged family also continued to grow. Handsome Hugo, a majestic black labrador who took his job as a therapy dog in the local hospital very seriously, was swiftly followed by retired retriever Fleur, who slipped into our lives like she had been there forever. Joining Jasmine, part of the breeding programme, who came to live with us as an eight week old puppy.

Our little family of four legs and two sat quietly together in the wee small hours of the early morning as Jasmine laboured and Hugo and Fleur dozed at my feet with one eye open, not moving an inch from their accidental sister.

But with the help of the vet, the first miniature miracle was born and, as the sun came up, Jasmine gave birth to six healthy future-assistance-dogs that will change the lives of small children with big dreams to walk

It had been a long night for Jasmine, made longer by the difficulty she had releasing her litter. The first pup was stuck, putting not only his little life at risk but the lives of those to follow and, most importantly, his mother’s too.

But with the help of the vet, the first miniature miracle was born and, as the sun came up, Jasmine gave birth to six healthy future-assistance-dogs that will change the lives of small children with big dreams to walk.

With their sleepy eyes slowly opening, so too did mine. As Mary Poppins says, ‘There’s the whole world at your feet, and who gets to see it but the birds, the stars...’ and puppies too.

Through them, we saw the unfolding beauty of the world they were born into, embracing every magical moment as they turned the house into a wonderful adventure playground.

Exploring every nook and cranny as they chased their tails around and around, leaving their golden strands of love in every corner of our home, and our hearts.

All too soon the day came when it was time for our ten-week-old balls of fluff to leave and start out on their own journey, learning how to partner some very special children who needed them far more than we did.

With only a badly chewed squeaky chicken remaining to console us, we cried as we said goodbye to these six precious bundles of four-legged joy who, at the end of a long, cold winter night, snuffled their way into that place deep inside us. Filling the gap that had been home to our small children, now older and not needing to be held there anymore.

It was such a precious time, and I look forward to the day when my grandchildren will ask me to tell them a story, and I can sit them down and tell them about Neville, Nancy, Nollaig, Niall, Noddy, and Professor Neil Green – practically perfect puppies in every way.