My family dog lived until I was 23 and I was distraught when she died. I have always wanted a dog of my own, but have always worked full time. In 2007, I had my first child and was at home on maternity leave for over a year, so I was tempted then, but wasn't sure about having a dog with a very small child and I knew I'd be going back to work at some point. Then, when I had my son, we decided that having a nanny would be a far better idea than using a nursery (I have an hour long commute each way, so had trouble getting back before the nurseries shut). Our nanny just happened to be a dog lover. It took about a year before the penny suddenly dropped!
So, I started working on my husband (who isn't really a dog person) and that took a few months. I wanted a rescue dog, as I didn't want the problems associated with pedigrees, but the only dogs he liked were springer spaniels! And then I met a lady walking a cockapoo in the park, went online and found the breeder, my husband liked the pictures and the rest is history.