In August 2012 I finally convinced my partner that it was the right time to get another dog. We had been talking about it for a long time and the only two things which we were certain of was that the new dog had to be a rescue and had to fit in with our active lifestyle. He/she would also need to be confident with other people and dogs as I would be taking the dog to work with me where I teach Animal Management. I also did not want a dog with short white hair, as hovering is not my favourite activity!

On our very first visit to Salisbury Dogs Trust nothing seemed to tick the boxes, except for two very attractive hounds who looked very comfortable in their surroundings. I asked about the younger Foxhound cross, to discover she was a Trailhound – I had never heard of them despite believing my knowledge of dog breeds was good. So, we took Sally for a walk with our dog and we soon realised that she would fit in perfectly – she was calm, relaxed, confident with my impressions of an over enthusiastic young student doing a health check and not at all bothered by a Labrador trying to mount her as a greeting!

We went home and did loads of research – this confirmed the breed was ideal for us.

So, on the day Mo Farah won his 10KM race in the Olympics, our new family member was renamed and began her new life with us. Farah quickly established herself at home, learnt a good recall and settled into her ‘day job’. Our next task was to see how she fared at Canicross – after coming second in her first race we were overjoyed and she absolutely loved it!

After building Farah’s fitness and toughening her feet up slowly, I was due to run the New Forest Ultramarathon with her in March 2013, but there were concerns after some unexplained dog deaths in the area at the time of the race so did not take part. Our new challenge is to run the Brecon Beacons Mountain Marathon on the 11th May 2013; it will be a huge challenge for me though I am sure Farah will find it much easier. Any money we raise will be donated to the Dogs Trust and Lakeland Trailhound Welfare as we have a lot to thank them for and wish to support them to continue their amazing work.

So, in summary, we have the perfect dog and I look forward to the day I convince my partner it’s time for another addition to the family! The only drawback is that I have had to learn to embrace hoovering!