Well it's been almost three weeks since Storm went to the Bridge and I finally feel able to tell you all about him.

Storm wasn't supposed to come and live with us (although those that believe in Fate will say that he was always supposed to be ours) but to get to this point I need to rewind a little bit.

We had a 10 year old Akita - Nala - (average age 10-12 years) who was slowing down due to arthritis and a 5 year old Akita x GSD - Willow - when we decided that it was time to get another pup to train up in case anything happened to the old girl and left Willow an only dog. We found an advert for some GSD x greyhound puppies so decided to go and have a look at the little girl puppies (we have always owned girls).

When we arrived I was slightly uncomfortable, it wasn't the cleanest place but the puppies looked healthy and I made the mistake looking at the litter. There was only one girl let (a little black one) as the other one was reserved. My husband fell in love with a grey coloured little boy but I told him no, we had come for a girl and we wouldn't change our mind based on a fancy colour and anyway, the black ones were always harder to home so we left with our new puppy - Meeka.

Meeka was a right little character who my friend fell in love with and decided she wanted one of her own so back we went with her. What a difference in 5 weeks, they let the 2 remaining puppies out, they were dirty and smelly and rather thin. One was a girl who had previously been reserved and one was the little grey boy. Before I knew it my husband said 'we'll take the boy too' and so Storm came home.

He was a gentle soul from the beginning, thoughtful and kind. He loved to work in obedience, so much so that he would work for anyone just to have the chance to please. He trained many a new owner and was fantastic with child handlers. Don't get me wrong, he didn't make it easy, use the wrong command or tone of voice and he would play them up but it was his way of teaching them how to do things right.

We plodded through life, a happy little family and Nala stayed with us for another 5 years until she passed to the Bridge at the grand old age of 15. Lots of lovely walks, camping holidays, dog shows and warm cuddles passed until we suddenly lost his beloved sister Meeka. It was sudden and unexpected, an x-Ray for a stubborn cough revealed extensive tumours in her lungs and she didn't come home, she went to the Bridge aged 9.

I was heartbroken and swore no more dogs but Storm was lost, Willow was 14 by now, senile and incontinent and he needed canine company. I wanted to rescue this time, to offer a broken soul a chance and a friend introduced me to a charity who rescued the street dogs of Romania from horrendous cruelty. We chose ginger puppy - Bella - and arranged to bring her over but before she left we saw that her sister - Ruby - had a failed adoption, the third time it had fallen through. On making enquiries we found out that she had been hit over the head with a shovel at 4 weeks old and left for dead leaving her future uncertain, so we offered to take her too, we couldn't leave her behind.

Storm took to the task of being big brother with wild abandon. He opened his paws and welcomed these two lost and damaged puppies who wouldn't let us touch them for three months but drew their comfort from the big old boy. His love and patience taught them so many things, that touch is good and never hurts, that chasing rabbits is fun but a ball is even more fun. He taught them how to swim, how to beg for pizza, how to open the zip on the treat bag to steal the liver treats and so much more. He calmed them down when they reacted to strange people out of fear and taught them to just ignore them and sniff the grass instead. Life was good and then sad as we saw Willow pass to the Bridge at the grand old age of 16. Two months later the bombshell and everything changed, a persistent limp, an x-Ray and the dreaded diagnosis and you know the rest.

Storm fought long and hard to stay with his family, he loved his girls regardless of how he felt, three legs didn't stop him from continuing his teaching and nurturing and when two more lost souls - Milly and Molly - came along he just welcomed them in, this time with three paws instead of four.

Storm will be forever missed, especially by Molly who, at a grand weight of 11lb, made him her protector, comforter and friend. He was a special boy who brought so much love to the house, warrior, teacher, protector, big brother, carer but most of all he was Storm.