WHEN Susan Campbell and her husband Colin decided to get a dog they never imagined the incredible changes their new four-legged friend would make to their lives.

It was love at first sight, says Susan, when the couple met Ronnie, a lurcher cross, at the Dogs Trust.

Giving a rescue dog a good home might be enough for some people, but Susan and Ronnie say the arrival of Ronnie actually transformed their lives. And now Susan has written about their experience in a book.

Ronnie, a Dog Owner’s Guide to Fulfilment, is a memoir of of the domino effect of the decision by Susan to give up a demanding national post in a mental health charity and retrain as a life coach.

“I’d wanted to do it for a few years and finally took all my courage in my hands and made the move in the summer of 2008,” says Susan, 48, who lives in the west end of Glasgow.

“By Christmas, Colin and I realised we could have a dog because I was working from home predominantly, which was great because it was something we had always wanted to do.

“The first time we met Ronnie we fell in love with him straight away.”

Within six months Colin had lost his job and inspired by the other dogs and owners he met on trips to the park with Ronnie, he came up with the idea of setting up a dog-walking company.

“Colin has a very positive disposition, he has a very good manner. With Ronnie, who gets on well with all the other dogs, it meant the two of them were really great at talking to people and telling them about the dog walking. Before he knew it, Ronnie Ronster’s Dog Walking Service was up and running and doing really well,” says Susan.

“Within a year the two of us were working for ourselves, we had adopted Ronnie and life had changed completely.”

That’s when Susan decided to write the book, chronicling the positive changes one wee dog has made in their lives.

“There are so many abandoned dogs, I wanted to get across the whole thing about the Dogs Trust and what a brilliant job they do and how amazing it is if you do adopt a dog. It really can change your life,” says Susan.

“I just had this uncontrollable urge to write about it.”

When Colin found a new interest in running and started training to compete in marathons, Susan started writing and before she knew it had penned 50,000 words and half a book.

Busy with work, she put it to the side for a couple of years before a friend suggested a publisher. It took just four months to finish the book, which was published last month.

“Ronnie is so special to us because we don’t have children but that is not the focus of the book. It’s not a ‘poor us’ story,” says Susan.

“I think if you don’t have children, then animals are very precious to you. He has been a real gift to us, he probably get a lot more attention than he would if we did have kids.”

Through the local dog-walking community, Susan met Christopher Bowen, who took the book cover photo of Ronnie and Elspeth McLachlan of 999 Design who produced the cover.

“Ronnie is full of life. He’s eight now but he’s still like a puppy the way he behaves,” laughs Susan.

“He’s a very loving and playful dog and gets on brilliantly with all the other dogs. He’s the pack leader when we go out on walks.”

She adds: “Colin and I both had dogs when we were growing up but Ronnie is the first dog we’re had as adults.

“It was always a long-term dream to have a dog but because we were both working full-time and out of the house all day we just didn’t feel it would be fair. Once we were both self-employed it became a possibility.

“In the best possible way, our lives have never been the same since.”

Now Susan is working on her second book, focusing on her role as a life coach, counsellor and community worker.

Ronnie, a Dog Owner’s Guide to Fulfilment by Susan Campbell is published by Ringwood, priced £9.99.