Nelson is my first-born child. He has golden hair, long legs, big eyes and is as loyal as they come. Nelson would come with me everywhere – to university, hairdressers, nail salons, cafes, road trips, flights – he naturally became very well socialised.

Lucas entered the mix about four years later –of short stature, brown hair, endearing eyes and rather highly strung. He is my needy child.

(Half of) a family portrait. Vet Dr Lisa Chimes with fur babies Nelson and Lucas. Image supplied.

We chose the baby’s name months before my due date. I felt totally organised, focused and ready for the challenge. That was until the day before my scheduled caesarean. I had been feeling growingly anxious throughout the pregnancy about how I could possibly love a human as much as I love my dogs. I wanted to take them both for a special outing so that we could enjoy our last moments together before a tiny human joined the family.

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I was so worried that the dogs would get less attention, but in some ways, they actually got more! It was a happy change for them to have me around 24-7 instead of working full-time. After all, one of the things a dog truly wants in life is company. They were there for bath-time, they sat with me for night-time feeds and especially loved my naps during the day.

I tried my best to include them, and made a consistent effort to walk them every day. Initially I found it much easier to put Hudson in the carrier on my chest while I walked two dogs - it was much less cumbersome than the pram. It did take a bit of getting used to for the dogs to learn where to walk next to a bulky pram.

You can find more of Dr Lisa Chimes (and Lucas, Nelson, Hudson and Darcie) on her Instagram and Twitter.

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