Love at first sight for gentle giant

She had never owned a dog before. But even though the new pet was six inches taller than his mistress and weighed as much as an average man, it was love at first sight.

Rocky had spent six months at Cheshire Dogs Home, where two staff members had to walk him with two leads because he was so strong, after becoming too big for his old family home.

NHS project manager Ms Foster, of York, said: "He was obviously getting people's attention but no-one felt they could take him on because he was so big."

She and her partner Rob Drever-Smith saw Rocky on a news show. "He looked like a lovely dog, so we thought we would go over and have a look. We seemed to take to each other straight away. He can be quite intimidating on first impressions due to his size and the volume of his bark.

"But he's such a loving dog we wouldn't change him for the world. He's a gentle giant, he causes no problems at all and I can happily take him for walks.

"The only issue is he doesn't like rain, so we got him a nice jacket so he can go out in all weathers. He's also the laziest dog I've ever known. It's a job to get him up in the morning."