I was sleeping on a Saturday morning, having my well-deserved rest after one very busy week at work, when my husband came to our room and started talking very loudly to wake me up. I looked at him a little upset, as I was too tired and I’m usually very grumpy in the mornings. He looked and me and said: let’s make a dog happy today?

That was the password for me to change from grumpy to happy! I jumped out the bed and ran straight to get ready to try to find my new furry child. It would be my first adoption, as I previously had to get my previous dogs from dog breeders.

First, we went to Stubbington Arc, a place I know because my company has supported them by raising money. Getting there, we found a couple of beautiful dogs that I was happy to adopt, however, they had some requirements, as for example, “it can't be among other dogs” (and I have Frida, my little 3 years old and hectic Jack Russel), and at that time, we had Barney, our beautiful cat that has passed away last November.

So, we came back home unhappy as I was when I woke up, but still thinking about where else we could look to find a new dog to adopt, to make a happy home for a fluffy one.

Still in the car, we were thinking about where could we go, when I said to my husband: let’s try online? Let’s see if we can find some other institution that could help us find a dog? And he said: yes, let’s do that as soon as we get home!

At home, he started looking through some websites, and I remembered, I was in the kitchen preparing something to have for breakfast, when he called me to show Dion, a dog from Cyprus that was in a foster home, in Southampton. Look at this little one, how beautiful is he? And I looked at him and said: let’s meet our dog!

He made some phone calls and the foster mummy gave us the permission to come and meet him in the same afternoon. We asked if we could take Frida with us, for us to see how they react together. Helen Marie, the foster mummy said yes. We ran straight to the car and headed up to Southampton!

When we arrived, we waited outside the house and that little furry blonde beauty came along side Helen Marie. I fell in love with him at the first sight and in my mind, I was already thinking: God, give me the blessing to be his mother!

We had a walk around the park and they got along straight away, which was a sign of heaven! At the end of the stroll, we had a chat and we told Helen Marie that we would like to adopt him. She said that she had some couples come over to meet him, but that she had a feeling that we would be the perfect couple to have him, however, we had some adoption rules to follow.

Then, we arranged all the bureaucratic paperwork and she booked a date to come over to our house to introduce Dion our home, and see how he would react with Frida (dog) and Barney (cat) in the home environment and the adoption would just happen on the following Tuesday… "Oh my God, it’s Saturday! I don’t think I can wait that long!", I said in my mind.

On the following Tuesday, we had our house ready and waiting to have Dion introduced to my other children. When they arrived, I had the chance to meet Wendy, another beautiful soul among the ones I already have met throughout this process. She explained all the things that had happened to Dion, how he was neglected in his earlier years, he was just 16 months old when we adopted him, and all those sad memories he had to date.

At the end of the visit, I thought he wouldn’t stay with us yet, but Wendy turns to Helen Marie and said, "Well you can start saying goodbye to Dion. He will stay!"

Oh my God! I couldn’t believe such good news! I wasn’t expecting it to happen that soon, but I was amazed by it!

And that was Dion’s last day of being Dion. We have baptised him as Lucke (pronounced like Luke with an E on the end), in honour to my human son, as that is his nickname (Lucke sounds in Brazilian Portuguese as Lucky).

Lucke is now happy and settled, Frida’s partner in crime, having his long walks around the park, the beach, the forest. Now he is my shadow and if I’m home, he is always around or sat on my lap.

And before I forget, now I am having the best “welcome back home” that a human being can have! He jumps up and down with Frida, and just stops when I hold him in my arms.

Now Lucke hasn’t found a house. He has found a home. Forever in a home full of love to live his beautiful life.