In May 2023, Brian Porter and his wife added a new member to their family of rescue dogs: in this case, a tiny Dachshund puppy who they named Heidi.

She had been the runt of a litter and barely survived her first day of life. Only the love and devotion of the lady who bred her managed to literally breathe life into her lungs, and proceeded to hand-rear her for the first two crucial weeks of her life. Having recently lost their beloved Muttley, the Porters decided to give this beautiful puppy a home.

This book chronicles Heidi’s first year with the family and how she was accepted immediately by the rest of the dogs, despite some initial worries by Brian and Juliet. Anyone who’s ever raised a puppy will recognise many of the trials they went through in those early months: the laughs, the utter mayhem and the satisfaction that comes from seeing an undersized, weak and vulnerable puppy dog grow and learn to love life.