Yesterday we told you that about some of the wonderful stories that we hear from members of the BorrowMyDoggy community, and now we’d love to share them with you. Our doggybase is full of pawsome tales of people and dogs leaving ‘Pawprints of Happiness’ on each others’ lives and we hope that these stories put a smile on your face and a warm-fuzzy feeling in your heart.

So without further adog, here is our first wagtastic tale courtesy of Rebecca, a borrower from London.

I have never had a dog, but I’ve always loved them and wanted one of my own so when I saw BorrowMyDoggy mentioned in the Emerald Street newsletter I signed up straight away. When I was contacted by Benj, an owner in my area, I couldn’t believe how close he lived to me and I was so excited to meet his dog, Elvis. Benj and I exchanged messages a few times through BorrowMyDoggy before arranging to meet for our 'Welcome Woof' at our local park for a walk with Elvis. Benj told me about Elvis - his likes, dislikes and quirks - and I told Benj all about myself. We chatted for ages and really got to know one another and, of course, I got a chance to meet Elvis. It was good to see how he behaved out and about so I knew what to expect when I took care of him.

We got on really well and Benj felt comfortable with me borrowing Elvis for the week whilst he was away with work. Because I’m a freelancer, I work from home a lot, which is perfect, but when I did have to go out for meetings I brought Elvis with me. I took my new buddy everywhere I went! It was amazing how active I was with a dog, I probably walked about three times more than I usually do! What was also nice was that I was taking Elvis to all of his usual haunts as Benj told me where they normally go so he was very relaxed.

Elvis and I have since had several more playdates, he even came with me to meet my family in Sussex! It’s great that Benj can just call me up whenever he needs a helping hand and everybody benefits.

BorrowMyDoggy is a fantastic way to connect dog owners with dog-lovers, not only from a dog care point-of-view, but from a community point-of-view too. Benj and I live across the road from each other, but had never met and probably never would have, had it not been for BorrowMyDoggy. It’s really nice to be able to build relationships with local people in your area whilst also having the added bonus of getting to spend time with a dog!

You can read Elvis' owners Waggy Tale here.