After taking in a mistreated pup - a little sweetie, only about eight months old - we were somewhat less than overjoyed to find out she was pregnant after being "caught" in her first season.
However, once the pups were born - four in total - we were so soft that we kept three of them, the fourth going to our good friends, where she is much-loved.
As you can imagine, our four are a bit of a handful.
Even though about 16 months old now, the pups never really "grow up" and even mum, Millie, is still "daft as a brush", as my grandma used to say.
After various incidents - when we came home to find not only an armchair eaten, but also a dog-shaped hole in the bedroom door after one of them had chewed her way out - we knew we would have to find doggy day-care quite urgently.
The cavalry arrived in the shape of Afterglow Boarding Kennels, on Whitehills Road, Peel, near Blackpool.
We had boarded our family of dogs there a couple of times before, when we went on holiday. We had simply looked in the phone directory and rung around, never having needed to board dogs before, as when we had only one or two, they always went with us on holiday.
The wonderful owner of Afterglow, Mrs Peta Rain, who has the patience of a saint, was very understanding and did not seem to mind that the pups were somewhat rowdy at first, to say the least.
She offered us an excellent day care service, arriving at 8.30am (opening time) and enabling me to pick them up after work (and often later if I had to work a little longer).
Over the months, they have calmed down, but their unbridled excitement at being taken to Afterglow each day never diminishes.
They have a specially-allocated corner area. They have their own spacious run and when it is nice weather, they can "run riot" and work off their excess energy. It is undercover, but looking on to a field.
There is also an indoor area and dog baskets, through a connecting door, so that when it's wet, or they get tired, they can have a little nap and snuggle up.
I have to admit, I now try to vary my route when I take them to the kennels, as they get so excited, they start barking as soon as we hit a certain lane.
They were given little doggy seat-belts by Mrs Rain and this helped, to a degree.
But nothing could really diminish their excitement, unfortunately.
Mum Millie starts it off. The moment I hear her first, excited yelp, I think, "Oh, no," because this means within seconds, they will all be crying and howling with unbridled glee.
They cannot help it.
Millie shrieks with joy and drools all over me. It is really quite horrible finding saliva on ones shoulder on arriving at work.
Son Roy has the most inane and irritating bark one could ever imagine. It is the canine equivalent of a child constantly crying in a high-pitched, monotonous whine.
His brother, Happy Buster - so called because he was a happy pup who looked like my old dog, the dear departed Buster, but who is now a stroppy teenager - then starts joining in the barking in a deeper voice.
Only their sister, Squeaker, is well-mannered and barely yaps.
When we arrive at Afterglow, mayhem ensues.
I always get out of the car alone first, to check their pen is ready and that the route is clear. This is because they run like lunatics, one by one, to their pen, unable to contain their excitement any longer. Woe betide anyone who gets in their way. They are like little steam trains, pulling me along behind.
If I could roller-skate, it would be great. I could train them to pull me through the streets at about 50mph and save a fortune on fuel costs.
But, I digress.
Recently, I was unlucky enough to bump my car.
Sadly, it is quite an old car and being insured only third party is unlikely to be back on the road.
Needing to get them to Afterglow, I borrowed a car - which, unlike mine, was new, with a sparkling clean, leather interior and plush seats.
I did warn the owner what the pups were like.
On one occasion, in my old car, when I had left them inside when I went to the shop, they managed to snap off my indicator switch from the steering column, leaving me with a £50-plus repair bill.
On another occasion, similarly when parked up, Millie had head-butted the rear-view mirror when barking at a passer-by who tried to say what a "lovely dog" she was. The impact of her rock-solid head caused a stress-crack in the windscreen and I needed a brand new one.
In my most recent car, the interiors of the doors were covered in scratch marks - not done maliciously, but merely with excitement as they had each looked out of a window on the journey.
I suggested, to the owner of the new car I was borrowing, that maybe I should get a "dog cage" and put them inside in the "hatchback" part of the car.
But he said cheerfully, "Oh, they'll be okay - they won't do any damage in that short a time."
Famous last words.
On arriving at Afterglow, as always, I got out and checked with Mrs Rain that the pen was ready, which it was.
One by one, I took the dogs out of the car and led them - or rather, they led me - to their pen.
The ones remaining in the car barked, rather crossly, at having to wait, but didn't seem too bad.
I drove back and returned the car to its owner.
The next morning, however, he greeted me with the words: "You know, don't you?"
"Know what?" I ventured, cautiously.
"What they did to my car," he replied.
My heart sank.
I had no idea.
With some trepidation, I went to view the car.
Steering column was still intact. It still had a windscreen and rear view mirror.
Nothing could be that bad, then.
But nothing could have prepared me for the shock of seeing the rear nearside door.
Somehow, the little monsters had managed, in the space of 10 minutes, to destroy the leather interior.
I think it was accidental. A claw had caught the soft leather, causing a small tear.
But as I took the pups, one by one, to their pen, I think the others left in the car had got frustrated and had carried on pawing at the door, trying in vain to get out.
This had caused a gaping hole about four inches long and two inches wide, the soft interior underneath also torn and even metal visible in one place.
I was almost sick with shock.
I am now going to have to provide a new interior for the car.
Temporarily, it is fixed together with a mixture of superglue and black electrical tape.
Blissfully unaware of the problems they had caused, next time I saw the pups, they were bounding happily about, tails wagging, little faces smiling with joy.
A lesson to be learned here, I think.
No, readers, not to get rid of them. Just to take more care when in charge of puppies and someone else's treasured property.
* More doggy tales will follow on a regular basis - watch this space!
* Contact Afterglow on (01253) 696600. See website http://www.boardingkennelsblackpool.co.uk/index.html