Woman's BEST FRIEND

Sharon Wright has lots and LOTS of pictures of her cute pooch to show you. No, don't run away...

- Sharon Wright

I'm part of a trend. Not the one for super-stretchy big knickers, the one for having an only child and getting your other one from the Kennel Club. Now I have two boys - one is taller than me, the other is covered in mud and hurls tennis balls at my head when I'm trying to read. Which I find adorable, of course, because I find everything Scruffy does adorable.

It's not just me in this dog-meet-dog world. Midlife Dogzillas are everywhere. We aren't boring you with baby photos - we're trapping you in front of endless phone pics of our surrogate child, choosing to ignore the glazed look in your eyes. You might not welcome a full rundown of the fur baby's funny little ways either, but we don't let that stop us.

A proper pet

It started, as so many of these things do, with a frank exchange of views with my husband when our son was little.

'I want a dog,' I said evenly.

'But they're so tying!' he wailed.

'Our only child needs a proper pet,' I said, wheeling out the guilt gun. 'A dog, not the boring guinea pig.'