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

A good few years ago now, my partner took me to look at a French Lop breeder's rabbits with a view to getting a houserabbit, since my previous one had died some years earlier. The first ones we saw included a very shy agouti coloured boy who I held after being shown his brother who was harlequin coloured and full of himself.
I wore (and still do) mainly black or very dark clothes so really wanted a black rabbit so that the hair wouldn't show so much. There were some black rabbits there, but were not yet ready for sale so I said I would come back. It was at that point that my partner pointed out to me that I was still cuddling the agouti coloured boy from the start of our visit at least 45 minutes ago, he had cuddled into my neck and I was stroking him but hadn't even realised as so were so comfortable together.
Needless to say, he came home with me, and we had 4 very happy years together.

Ds really, really, really wanted a dog. We all did. Eventually the rescue told us they had a dog coming in who would work in our household, and we went to see him that evening.
Ds sank down on the floor, called ddogs name, and he ran over to him and they fussed each other for the next hour till we had to go. A week later ddog1 came home to us, and they've been so bonded ever since. Right now, ddog1 is lying upside down on the sofa alongside ds with an expression of bliss.

A friend at work rescued a cat and four kittens and I chose my cat from the litter. He was sulky, miserable and disliked his brothers and sisters. Nobody else would have wanted him but I love him and have had him ten years. For the first few years he wouldn't let anyone but me stroke him and was very antisocial. Then I had kids and he is now a far more sociable animal who lets the children fuss him and speak 'catish' to him. As I work a cat was the best option and I love having a pet in the house to teach my kids about how to treat animals and be responsible.

My son is 6 and my daughter 2 and they both love animals and have wanted something for a long time. I thought it would be nice to get them something for Christmas that wasn't too big so decided on guinea pigs. My partner wasnt keen at all, so had to bribe him and use guilt, your poor children will be so disappointed on Christmas Day as they are hoping for a pet and eventually he backed down. We took the children to the pet shop on Christmas Eve so they could pick their own guinea pigs out of the bunch, and let them name them. Straight away they knew which ones they wanted, and they chose very different ones. My son chose Sam for his guinea pigs name and my daughter called hers justin Bieber! They are lovely pets, have their own little personalities and the children love them to bits......best Christmas present they have Ever had.

When my son was 7 he asked for a cat. We said he had to wait until he was 11. We imagined it would be a passing whim. He waited patiently, reminding us each year until his 11th birthday. That milestone came and went and after looking for ages we still hadn't found a rescue cat that could live with primary aged kids (his siblings), but his desire for a cat did not waver and he waited and waited and finally got a kitten last weekend at age 12...!

Having wanted a dog for some time, I got made redundant which gave me the chance to be a stay at home Mum to our new baby daughter and a puppy. So we begun the hunt and came across a litter of lovely little black cockapoos. There were eight in the litter and by the time we went to see them just one little girl remained unreserved. No-one wanted her because where the others were all sleek and jet black head to toe, ours was a proper little scruff pot with a white beard and cute white socks on her back paws. We couldn't resist and figured she'd fit in just perfectly to our messy little family.