Woman's Best Friend, With Petplan

*This post is in collaboration with Petplan, however, as always, all thoughts and opinions expressed within this post are 100% my own.

Ever since I was a child I have loved animals. Since I was born I have always had a cat and a dog and loved growing up with pets. I grew up in the countryside and although there weren't many children nearby to play with, I could always rely on my pets to play with in the garden and keep me occupied by caring for them, going on walks and playing games such as fetch with my dogs.

Ever since I can remember we've had boxer dogs. We all fell in love with their playful, gentle and friendly souls and we still have a boxer dog to this day. His name is Bruno (almost all of our boxer dogs have been named after actual boxers, how original of us! We've had two Ali's - a male and a female, Tyson and now Bruno. We also had a Tilly and my brother now has a Tezza).

Bruno initially belonged to another family, but they decided to re-home him after they had a baby who had allergies to dog hair. We had sadly lost our previous dog Tyson, who died suddenly one day on our driveway, and when the opportunity to welcome Bruno into our family we jumped at it. 

Now, after almost five years of love, care and affection from us all, Bruno is a happy and healthy dog who is very much part our family. In fact, anytime I sit in the garden he comes over and tries to sit on my lap! He's a sweetheart and loves a bit of babying, despite the size of him, because he's a big boy!

He's like a seagull and will take the food from your hand (a trait my boys have now become very used to when it comes to Bruno!), he'll never say no to a treat. Tyler's job has now become feeding Tyler and he loves giving Bruno his meals each day. I love that the boys have a pet to not only learn how to nurture and care for an animal, but to learn some responsibility in looking after a dog too.

We love nothing more than taking Bruno for a walk in the woods. It's only two minutes from the house and on a quiet country road so safe for the boys to hold the lead and walk Bruno down. It gets us all out of the house and Bruno loves stretching his legs and exploring the woods.

Bruno's such a friendly boy and is so good with the kids. They both play fetch and football of sorts with him and he gladly obliges. He's so gentle with them both and the genuinely love him so much. He loves nothing more than lazing about on the grass with them and will sit quietly as they fawn over him, giving him rubs, cuddles and wrestling with him.

Our Bruno is a gentle giant of sorts and we're so glad to have him. Thankfully he hasn't had any major health problems or scares yet, however, boxer dogs are known for having weak hearts, so having pet insurance, such as Petplan Pet Insurance is an essential. Having dog insurance just helps to give us all some peace of mind that he will be taken care of in case anything ever did happen to him.

Petplan have created an infographic on the most popular dog breeds - does your dog feature on it? What is your favourite breed of dog? I really do have a soft spot for boxers and one day I would love a pug too, I think they're adorable!

We're very grateful to have our Bruno and for how gentle and loving he is towards us all. I can't recommend boxers enough to families who have children and who are wanting to get a dog. Boxers really are so good with children and, in my opinion, are the perfect dog breed for families.

I think we'll always have a boxer dog in our family, for us they are the best pet as they're such dotes and are genuinely caring, warm and friendly - as well as being great guard dogs. Bruno always gives a bark when he hears cars coming down the driveway.

Dogs really are a woman's (and mans!) best friend. I wouldn't be without a dog or any pet in my life. After all, I've had one since I was born and it's just natural for me now to welcome an animal into my family. They can be your best companion on the hardest of days and even though they can't say anything, the comfort they can bring is the most beautiful thing. Dogs bring a special kind of friendship and I'm very grateful for Bruno - even when he tries to sit on my lap, despite being a giant!