Waterford couple and adorable pooches hoping to 'walkies' off with Ferry Pawfather/Pawmother crown

Ferry company Stena Line is on the lookout for a Ferry Pawfather/Pawmother to become the face of their pet friendly services, and a Waterford couple and their trio of cute pooches are among the five finalists.

With a gentle, sweet, melting expression emanating from his large round eyes, it is hard to believe life wasn’t always as enjoyable for the aptly named Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Charlie, but safe in the comforts of the south coast of County Waterford, surrounded by his forever family, he is thriving.

In 2018 while living in Dubai, Laurence and Lesley Loughnane came across a photo from a rescue organisation of a “little scared, skinny pup” and, with two young Cavalier King Charles Spaniels — Rosie and Ruby — already an instrumental part of their family, thought “one more wouldn’t make any difference” and decided to adopt Charlie.

“We’re originally from the UK but had moved out to Dubai in 2016 and in 2017 we got Rosie and Ruby. A year later we saw the photo of Charlie (now five) and knew we had to do something for him,” says Lesley.

“He had never been in a house before. The rescue people decided we’d be the ideal family to take him as his big sisters could teach him how to be a dog and thankfully, he settled in really well.”          

Having swapped Dubai for County Waterford in 2021, Rosie, Ruby and Charlie love being just 15 minutes from the sea while also being close enough to a forest to enjoy woodland walks as well.

No strangers to travel, the trio, whose Instagram account @blenheimcavs has more than 16,000 followers, are often found travelling to the UK with their owners, to visit Laurence and Lesley’s grown-up children, Sinéad, Aisling and Jamie.

“The dogs are used to staying in their crate in the car but we have booked a pet friendly cabin on the Rosslare to Fishguard route when it is available and it is so much nicer,” says Lesley.

“They’re obviously happy to make the crossing as their tails start wagging when we wake early and put their crate in the car and they realise they’re off for another adventure.

“It is a great experience for everyone.”

The family may have another Irish sea journey on the horizon as the paw-some trio saw off competition from 4,000 other dogs to make the final shortlist of the ‘Stena Line Ferry Pawfather/Pawmother’ competition. The winners will ‘walkies’ off with a return trip to Britain.

All the pets on the shortlist will have their images and stories shared on the Stena Line UKIE Facebook page where a public vote, which will be open until October 27, will help decide which pet(s) will take on the prestigious title and become the face of Stena Line’s pet-friendly services.

You can vote for Rosie, Ruby and Charlie by watching the video on Stena Line's Facebook page and entering the name of your favourite from the nominees in the comments. 

The Swedish owned ferry company organised the competition to celebrate its enhanced pet travel experience which includes the introduction of 70 pet friendly cabins across its Irish Sea routes and pet lounges on its Stena Superfast vessels operating between Belfast and Cairnryan.