Tell us your stories about choosing a pet for a chance to win a £100 voucher for a pet shop of your choice

Carlos is our little Romanian rescue dog. He was found being stoned to death by a group of people in Romania and was rushed straight to the vets who saved his life. We adopted him and it took us six months to win his trust and get him to wag his little tail. He is now fully adjusted to life in the UK and happy and trusting.

I didn't really choose my pets ... my eldest dog (now 13) was 5 years old and his owner, who I knew from my local pub was between addresses and couldn't find anywhere to stay with his dog. My OH offered to look after the dog for a few weeks until his owner found new accommodation. Not long after that, his owner died and we ended up keeping him as he was already part of the family.

A friend of mine had two cocker spaniels, with the intent of breeding but they got "caught short" and the female spaniel had puppies far younger than they intended. Two of the puppies died, one had a home arranged pre-birth leaving her with just one pup. She hoped to keep the pup but the Father dog was vicious towards her so my friend asked if we'd take her. Seven year later, it was one of the best decisions I ever made - she's as gorgeous now as she was when she came home at 11 weeks old.

My little boy (now 14) and I managed to buy a 50% shared ownership house and as it was a brand new home we decided to get a pet (after we checked it was ok!) We decided on cats and a lady at work had just had a kitten and had told us there were 2 left in the litter so we had those, 2 sisters. They came to live with us and soon after I met a man and he moved in, and soon after that I was expecting so we moved to a bigger house! The cats love it here as we have lots of hiding places in the garden. We have 3 children now, and the same 2 cats - they are 8 years old and love the fuss from the kids.

We got some fish as both myself and my husband work long hours and it wouldn't be fair on a cat or dog. My FIL got my daughter some goldfish without checking with the pet shop if the tank was big enough, they died within a week or so!! We got some other fish which fingers crossed for lasted for over 4 mths, we will think about getting a dog when the girls are older and people are home more often.

We got simba in Sept he was the runt of the litter I haver to admit hes my little ginger ninja he attacks us from nowhere

As is typical with cats, we didn't choose her... she chose us! We'd just moved to our new house and found her miowing at our window every evening. Eventually we let her in, thinking she belonged to someone else. Each day, it got harder to get her back out to return to her home until Fireworks Night when she was still there trying to get in. We figured she must be a stray and she's been with us ever since.

We decided on having two rescue kittens and saw Rose and Ivor on the RSPCA website. They had a very rocky start to life after being abandoned and lost several brothers and sisters along the way. Their foster mum cared for them and brought them back to health with numerous vet trips and round the clock care. We had a home visit and then went to see them at the adoption centre to check that they were ok around my children (which they were).

A year on and Rose is very gentle affectionate and Ivor is a vocal diva and makes sure he gets what he wants! -They are adorable, It was definately meant to be!

I wanted a dog for a long time and did a lot of research of what small breed would be best for me. I settled on a Bichon Frise, who I've had for 5 years now. He is brilliant and a great addition to our family!

I work from home and my husband is a taxi driver, he works silly hours so I used to get quite lonely as I have no family or friends in the area. I'd asked for a night away in a hotel for my birthday but my husband got me a puppy. Peppa is the most loyal and loving dog, but a typical crazy Springer Spaniel!

We got our pug Matilda as she was very small and would not be suitable to breed from so she was not wanted by a lady who breeds from pugs. She is a fab dog so although her situation wasn't very nice to begin with we are so pleased to have her.

I made a mistake by answering a newspaper ad for a puppy and then let them deliver it to my home meaning that I knew nothing of the puppy's background. Unfortunately she needed a lot of vet care right away and was full of worms which rather alarmed my children when they saw them in her droppings.

Looks a great book.
I've never chosen a pet, we just seem to have inherited them over the years- animals that have needed re-homing. So far it has worked really well (and I have now learned to say no).

My son really wanted a hamster, given they are relatively cheap and have a shortish live span, this is a good trial to see how he can engage and look after a pet. We went to the pet shop, choosing the one with nice markings, all be it he was the one hiding in the corner of the cage in the shop. Turned out to be the nicest hamster ever! My son's interest and commitment to caring for him has not ended, proving he is able to care for a more demanding animal. great starter pet

We have a tortoise, a girl named Keith (the name was chosen long before the tortoise herself). She is full of character, which we knew on bringing her home, as she weed on my sons lap in the car on the way home. We are inundated with offers to look after her when we go on holiday,as she is so cool, and she is not afraid to tell you what she thinks of just about anything!

When our DDs came along, we had two cats. One (my favourite furry child) sadly died when DD1 was a baby. More recently, my DH wanted to choose some fish and the DDs loved visiting the aquatic stores to look at all the varieties! However, as fish are not the most 'pettable' pets, we also decided to find another cat for our home. The main consideration was that the cat needed to be comfortable around little children. We opted for a kitten that came from the home of someone I knew where the kittens had been raised with lots of kids around so wasn't scared at all. Our cat is very gentle and patient with both my DDs but as she also likes to 'play' my DDs have learnt about how to be kind and caring, but also respectful towards our cat.

DCs decided to get hamsters and wanted one each so we went for the russian dwarf variety as they can stay together in groups. We went to the pet shop and they picked their hamster 3 males, however after a couple of days it was apparent that one of them was a female and the 2 males detested one another fighting over said female. It broke DCs hearts to take them back to the shop, but it was for the best. After a while we decided to try again and get another trio, 3 females but one of the girls was aggressive, so we ended up with splitting them up in a cage of their own and they were all much happier and lived well for three years. We now have a budgerigar and a dog who are thick as thieves. Animals are amazing and bring a lot of fun and happiness to our family and home.

We had to think long & hard before getting a dog to make sure an animal would fit into our life and that we were capable of fitting into it's life! However we are now on out 3rd dog and I cannot imagine life without a pet.

Our cats choose us. They weren't happy at home with a dog and the family wanted to rehome them. They had gradually worked their way into our affection and made the children very happy.

We took a long time choosing our dog as we wanted to make sure that they were a breed that did not have any health problems, that were good with kids and did not molt too much.We also made sure that they came from a proper breeder with all the papers. We have had Poppy our Boston Terrier for 9 years now I she is an all round joy!

We spent a long time researching our chosen dog breed (Lhasa Apso) and then even longer finding a responsible breeder. Because we already have a senior Border Collie I felt more research was necessary to prevent disruption. Luckily they are now the best of friends, and our Border Collie has thrived since welcoming Teddy home last July. This is Teddy

We could never have any cats or dogs because my mum was allergic to them but I would have loved to have had a dog.

My husband said we could get a cat, as long as it was a grey boy! So I scoured the area for the only grey boy kitten I could find in the area and as soon as I met his litter he walked up to me, climbed my top, curled up on my shoulder and went to sleep - so I knew he was the one for us!

15 years ago when our cat died we decided to get a dog,I wanted a Cocker Spaniel so we went to have a look around Baths dogs home.Walking around the pens my Husband spotted a Springer called Toby who was lying by the fence,he spoke to the dog and he looked back at my husband and that was it.
Toby was 4 years old when we got him and lived for 14 years until Christmas 2014 when he passed away in my husbands arms.I missed the company and after a couple of months decided to get another dog so we went back to Bath dogs home,I wanted a Beagle but they had no beagles but there was a gorgeous Chocolate lab called Fudge who was 14 months old but had 2 reserves on him,disappointed we went home and kept looking but couldn't find a dog we felt attached to,a couple of weeks later we went back to the dogs home and the chocolate lab was still there,so we enquired about him to be told he was bought back twice as he pulls on the lead and now had no reserves on him.We took him for a walk and fell for him,he was destructive when we first got him home and chewed 4 tv remotes,shelves out of the tv unit,shoes,coats ect.
1 year on he is brilliant and has settled in well he hasn't destroyed any thing for months and he is great with the 3 year old Grandson.

I remember when I was 12 my mum and dad said I could have a dog, I had been pestering them for ages, I was allowed to go and choose which one I wanted from a family of weimeraners. They were all so gorgeous but this one puppy came up to me and sat on my lap for a cuddle. That was it, I was in love. We took him home and named him Blue, he has since been gone along time now but I still miss him every day.

went to Blue-Cross with son and a very fur-less, poorly cat tapped him on the foot several times. Although the people in charge said she would be hard work we took her home because our son said 'Mum she chose me'. She was with us for 21 years and gave all the family so much love and pleasure. Without the care and kindness of Blue Cross we would not have shared those wonderful years. We all loved her so much.