As a self-confessed cat lover, I never thought the day would come, when I owned a dog. Yet here I am today, not only a dog owner, but a converted dog enthusiast! Well, certainly Dogue de Bordeaux’s anyway!!

My husband, Carl, had grown up with dogs, so he really felt the emptiness, when we had a home without one. I had avoided the conversation for years, but I started to realise how desperately he wanted a dog.

I have always had cats, so owning a dog had never come to my mind. I considered dogs to be hard work, dirty and a much bigger commitment…I WAS RIGHT!

A few months before giving birth to our first child, my pregnancy hormones finally worked their magic and I agreed to my husband’s plea, to get a pet dog.

We knew right away that we would own a Dogue de Bordeaux, Carl was so in love with the breed, ever since the first time he watched the movie Turner and Hooch. We waited for the opportunity to find the right one. After viewing one or two, we had yet to come across the right one for us.

At the time, a friend of mine was talking about starting a family and how her partner was due to work out of the country, so she was sharing her concerns about caring for the puppy that they had recently acquired. When we spoke more, I realised that the puppy she owned, was a Dogue de Bordeaux! We decided to go and visit to see the puppy and see how things would progress.

It was a shock seeing a 9-month-old dog, that looked like a full-grown lion! Okay, slight exaggeration, but, honestly, I thought that ‘puppies’ were supposed to be small!

We were greeted by a very handsome young dog, peering out from behind my friend’s legs, with a calm disposition. Not jumping at us, as the other dogs had done. This dog was slightly anxious, disappearing off to his corner, where he felt safe. As we sat in the living room, he slowly came over to us, hoovering all that he could from the floor, into his mouth on his way and he looked up at us with drool on his lips as my friend quickly reached for his drool rag. That, strangely enough, was the moment that we both fell in love with Denzel the dog. Just days later, he became ours!

The first couple of weeks were challenging, I won’t lie. From having a house that was clean and easy to maintain, we had a dog that drooled everywhere, chewed everything and smelled awful. Even his food was smelly!!

It took a lot to adjust to this change, especially for a squeamish clean freak with her first ever new-born baby on the way! We introduced rules, experimented with different feeding areas / foods and slowly started to find ways to make it work for us all.

Over the years, we have encountered many obstacles with Denzel, mainly due to his allergies and anxiety. We have learnt so much about caring for a dog, that I’m almost certain, we can now deal with anything!

Suffering with allergies has been tough for poor Denzel. At the age of around 5, we noticed Denzel’s allergies were almost seasonal and it was tricky keeping on top of it all. The tell tale signs would be back, the licking of paws, fur gathering into dart like clumps that fall out and his eyes looking even droopier than usual.

We have explored many remedies including, changing Denzel’s diet, limiting the use of harsh chemicals in the home, even using certain brands of flea prevention medication. Every time we try something new, it feels as though it works for a while, but eventually, the problem starts again! However, we can tell that our efforts improve his allergies more and more. I think he will just always have sensitive skin, but we now know better how to control the outbreaks.

The anxiety has not been easy and is certainly something that has gotten worse with age. In hindsight, we know that with better socialisation in his younger years, Denzel may not have been so anxious. We have tried methods to improve this, from crate training to even socialisation at a dog kennels. Denzel is not an aggressive dog and outside of our home, he will be happy to go about his business amongst other dogs and people, without really paying them much attention.

At home however, Denzel is extremely territorial and does take his time to welcome new faces. Once he knows that we trust individuals, he trusts them also…although he may still let out the odd warning growl under his breath at times!

More recently, we have had health issues occur that are totally new to us. Some months ago, Denzel had to have some tumours removed from his mouth, which are apparently quite normal, but not nice when the dog catches the tumour on the bannister and leaves the house looking like a crime scene (2 days before Christmas, might I add)!

The latest episode however, is the saddest. Denzel has been displaying signs of a degenerate disease in his back legs, which was confirmed by our vet, just a few months ago. This for us, is a new chapter all together and we are working on making Denzel as happy and comfortable as he can be. At the age of 9, Denzel has exceeded the breed’s life expectancy already and we are determined to keep that record going.

We have had had lots of hurdles with Denzel, but he is worth every bit. I now fondly fold up his drool rags and put them tidily in each corner of the house, I gladly wash his many comfortable mats, to keep my house smelling clean and I do not mind religiously hoovering up the dog hair as often as I can.

Denzel has brought so much joy to our family. He has embraced our rules and we have embraced his neediness! Our children adore him, we all do, and I feel safe being home alone, with the guard dog that people dream of. The cat however, 9 years later, is yet to warm to him!

So, as you can see, Denzel is a crucial part of our family, he has taught us so much about ourselves and about his breed. I truly feel as though he was my first born child and I could not be prouder to be a dogue-mum.