If you’ve ever had a dog you’ll know how much a part of the family they really are. They are always so happy to see you, and the love truly is unconditional.

We rescued Angel from Battersea dogs home 13 years ago. We’d looked at loads of dogs whilst we were there, but none really suited our family life. The woman suggested we might really love this young dog they had who was in the kennels out the back. She hadn’t been there long, so wasn’t “on display” yet. We went into a room and she bought in Angel. She was a quivering wreck. Tail between her legs, shaking like a leaf. Mum, Katie, Richie and I all looked at each other as if to say “really?, this dog?”, not at all convinced she was the one. Eventually she relaxed a little bit and started playing with the ball we had. We saw glimpses of the crazy, funny dog she was and we quickly fell in love with her. We took her for a walk in Battersea Park and knew she was actually the one.

We went back, signed the papers and suddenly had a new dog. On the way home she promptly vomited all over the boot and back seats of the car, leading us all to question what the fuck we’d done.

After that she was a dream – a crazy, scatty, over-excited dream. None of us were a big fan of the name Angel, but despite Aunty Becky’s best efforts to change her name to Poppy, it’s what she answered to, so we had to make our peace with it. Obviously we mostly call her stupid variants of Angel, predominantly Shpangel.

The past 13 years with her as our dog have been incredible. When I moved out I felt so bad that I was abandoning her, that she didn’t know where I’d gone and that I’d just up and left her one day. I was so scared that she would forget me, but thankfully every time I saw her she would get so excited, and I would make a big fuss of her.

But now at the ripe old age of 14 (98 in human years) like any old girl, her body has started to give up on her. She’s loosing control of her bladder and her back legs are starting to go. It’s a slippery slope from her that will only mean her quality of life will get worse, and that’s not fair on her. Unfortunately my mum has had to make the really tough decision to have her put to sleep today. She’s taking her for a fun walk before hand, and is going to let her jump about in the river and do whatever makes her happy one last time.

Neither my sister or I can be there due to the fact my mum lives a long distance away from both of us, but I know we are both there it’s her in her heart.

I’m not religious person, but I do really hope there is a doggy heaven that she is on her way to. A place she can hang with all the other dogs and have everything that makes her happy for the rest of time.

So Angel, I love you and will miss you tonnes. Thank you for all the love and the wonderful memories I have of you. Thank you for all the walks we went on and all the pictures I tried to get you to pose for. Thank you for all the times you got covered in fox shit, and the time you somehow managed to get stuck in Aunty Becky’s bra.

Sleep well, and make sure you find Dolly Dog, I know you two will be best dog pals.

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