Except for the few years I was living in Dublin before getting married, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have a dog. When I was growing up we had working dogs and spaniels, and a little terrier called Binki. Binki was the only dog allowed in the house, and I will never forget the friendship he formed with a pet lamb one winter. You could find himself and Joey anywhere in the house, just cuddled up together.

My mother had a little Pomeranian called Freddy and she adored him. Sadly, he went missing and she always thought he was shot because he looked like a little fox.

Our twins were 18-months-old when we got our first dog, a sheepdog from Wicklow, who’d nearly talk to you. He was called Theo, after a long line of Theos in Sean’s family. He lived until he was 18 and spent each of those winters sleeping outside the back door. Not for anything would he move indoors.

Since Theo we’ve had a succession of Milos and Millys. The latest addition to the family, named in honour of Ronan O’Gara, is Rog.

Rog just loves Sean and doesn’t give a toss about me. As soon as we drive in home, he’s there whimpering and literally laughing with excitement to have his master back home again.

Milly is our other dog and she loves me. It’s been a long courtship. I was determined to keep a certain distance from both dogs, but Milly persisted with her affections and won me over.

So now when I’m gardening, she will sit about 10 metres away and as soon as she senses a moment of idleness she’s straight over to nuzzle my knee or give my hand a lick. It’s no wonder dogs have been man’s best friend almost since the beginning of time.

Up until recently, it had been thought that the ancestors of today’s dogs derived from wolves about 16,000 years ago, sometime after the last ice age. And it was from then on that they were domesticated by man. New research from Sweden suggests that the special relationship between dogs and ourselves may have begun as long as 40,000 years ago. Indeed, not long after modern humans started populating Europe and Asia. And given the unconditional love that dogs bestow on their owners, it’s a relationship that looks set to last another 40,000 years.

Finally, I need your support. For the first time ever, Irish Country Magazine has a show garden at Bloom and it’s just gorgeous. We’d love it to win the People’s Choice Award and to do that we need you to vote for it. Voting opens at 9am today, Thursday 28 May and closes at 1pm on Monday 1 June. To vote for our garden, just text GARDEN12 to 51500. Standard SMS rates apply and it’s one vote per person, per garden only. Remember that votes outside the times stated won’t be counted, but may be charged. Please send those texts in and we look forward to welcoming you into our lovely garden.