The pet I’ll never forget: Sofi the dog, who single-handedly lifted me out of my depression

Sofi, ‘the kind of dog they had rolling on balls in circuses’. Photograph: Handout

Sofi appeared in 2006 after my marriage fell apart. I hadn’t had a dog since I was a child and really had no interest. It was a lot of work, I thought, and when you’re depressed – as I was – that’s the last thing you want in your life.

My 13-year-old daughter, Annie, knew better, though. We – I – needed a dog. “Let’s just go and look at these eight-week-old snowball puppies,” she said. “We don’t have to take one – just look.”