The Time We Share - Why I’m Writing This Series

I’ve shared my life with dogs for many years, and like so many people, they’ve shaped far more of my life than I ever expected.

My days revolve around them.

My routines adapt to them.

Many of my happiest memories include muddy paws, windswept walks and a faithful companion by my side.

What surprised me most when I lost my Westie, wasn’t just how much I missed him, the grief was profound, but how many ordinary moments disappeared with him.

The familiar routines. The little habits. The things I assumed I would always remember.

It made me realise that the relationships we share with our animals are often far deeper than society gives them credit for.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve become increasingly fascinated by the role animals play in our lives.

Not just here in the UK, but around the world.

Some cultures celebrate senior dogs in remarkable ways. Others include dogs in family traditions, festivals and everyday life in ways that might seem unusual to us. Some have ancient traditions that reveal just how long humans have cherished the companionship of animals.

The more I read, the more I realised these stories aren’t really about dogs at all.

They’re about us.

Connection.

Family.

Loss.

Memory.

And making the most of the time we share together.

So this series is an opportunity to explore some of those ideas.

We’ll travel around the world, look at fascinating research, uncover surprising traditions and perhaps see our relationships with our own animals through a slightly different lens.

If these articles encourage just one person to pause during a walk, appreciate an ordinary moment, or create a memory they might otherwise have missed, then they will have served their purpose.

After all, our dogs don’t measure life in years.

They measure it in moments.

And perhaps we should too.