The Year of the Dog: How One Tiny Terrier Ruined My Sofa but Saved My Life

Raising a puppy is simple – feed them, walk them, love them. Right? Wrong.

When Sophia brings home Dennis – a scruffy Parson terrier with big eyes and even bigger opinions – she’s armed with Pinterest-perfect visions of puppy bliss. But after a sudden breakup, she finds herself solo-parenting a creature who snacks on foam earplugs and shreds slippers for fun. And yet, amid the chaos, Dennis becomes an unlikely source of comfort through a turbulent year.

In this candid and laugh-out-loud memoir, between bad Hinge dates and scraping poo off the carpet, Sophia reflects on the oddities of modern life: the awkwardness of being single in a coupled-up world, the pressure to curate perfection online, the strange parallels between raising dogs and babies, and the realisation that building a life isn’t always linear – but it can still be whole.

By the end of their first year together, Dennis has done more than turn Sophia’s world upside down – he’s remade it in his image: wilder, messier and infinitely more alive. Told with warmth, wit and total honesty, this is Sophia’s true story of heartbreak, healing – and one unforgettable pup.

For anyone who’s ever loved a dog – or been saved by one – this is a story of quiet resilience, unpredictable joy and the soft weight of a small body curled beside you when it matters most.