Along with many others, we got a dog at the start of lockdown. Not knowing what was to follow and naively thinking we may only work from home for a matter of weeks, we initially fostered him. However, a few months later, after much thought and consideration as to whether he would fit into our life post-pandemic, we decided to adopt him. 

In March last year, rescue centres were rehoming dogs faster than ever before. The Sunday before lockdown, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home alone had 1200 applications. Likewise, according to Dogs Trust, during the first month of restrictions, searches for ‘buy a puppy’ were up 120%. This high demand for them resulted in prices being more than doubled – but this didn’t deter those looking for a lockdown companion.