For Love Islander turned lifestyle influencer, Faye Winter, a passion for dogs stems from a childhood packed with canine companions. She sat down with Nathaniel Cureton to talk about her beloved Golden Retriever, Bonnie, and her role as a brand ambassador for PetProov, a new app to help prevent pet scams
NC: Where does your love for dogs originate from?
FW: I think it’s from growing up with them. We’ve always had dogs in my family and it hits us hard when we lose one. Especially my dad. You could look at my dad and think he’s a typical HGV old-school lorry driver… a really masculine, manly man. But when it comes to dogs, he turns to mush. Animals are just a different kind of love. As a kid, I swear sometimes the dogs came first and it’s the way that it should be! Our holidays were always in a caravan so the dogs could come. Our lives revolved around them. And that hasn’t changed for me now going into adulthood.
NC: Tell us about the dogs from throughout your life
FW: When I was born, we had two Golden Retrievers called Shelly and Zoe. I don’t remember Zoe so much, but Shelly passed when I was about six or seven and that was my first heartbreak.
Then Alfie came home with us and sadly, he only lived until he was four as he had a heart condition that wasn’t picked up on quick enough. He was my dog, and I loved him so much.
We didn’t have a dog for a while and then a Golden Retriever came up for rehoming. She was called Bracken and was 11 months old. We ended up calling her Blondie because she was daft as a brush! I remember the day my mum surprised us with her. I’d walked home from school and saw this beautiful Golden Retriever. She brought our family back together.
My mum and dad’s dream was always to have a litter of puppies. That’s where my understanding of breeding comes from and how I know not all breeding is bad, because my mum and dad’s life and devotion went into breeding. Blondie had eight gorgeous puppies. For eight weeks straight, we just sat and watched puppies, no phones, no TV on, and it really brought us closer. They were so beautiful that we actually ended up keeping three of them.
None of the puppies were sold for profit. They all went to people that we knew and trusted. For me, was a really beautiful experience. Blondie lived until a month away from her eighteenth birthday. That for us was the hardest loss. Even to this day, my dad still cries about it. She was more than a dog. All the puppies made good ages from, 15–17. Somewhere along the line, Mum and Dad acquired another Golden Retriever that needed to be rehomed, so we ended up with Nora. She’s now seven.
NC: Tell us about your involvement with guide dogs
FW: When I moved out, my life felt very empty and I felt really lonely. A dog’s love is a different kind of love that you can’t get from people. I went on to volunteer with guide dogs because although I would’ve loved my own dog, my lifestyle wasn’t right for one at the time.
I did some research into fostering, and I came across guide dogs. It’s such an amazing experience and you realise the responsibility that goes into having a dog. I always say to anyone thinking about getting a dog to help out with a charity first, as they also need so much help and support. It is such an amazing way to see if you would be able to look after a dog permanently.
I was really lucky to do that for years. There is a negative, in that the dogs do
have to leave you. I’ll never say to anybody that it’s easy. Each dog broke my heart a little bit more. I still have amazing memories, and I know that they’ve gone on to do amazing things.
NC: Tell us all about Bonnie and how she has affected your life
FW: I worked with guide dogs right up until Love Island. I came out and moved away from Devon, and that’s when I really got hit hard with the feeling of being alone. I was away from my friends and family but mainly I was away from my dogs. My greatest achievement now is Bonnie; I put everything into her. When I said I was getting a dog, my partner at the time did not want a dog.
Before, I was just working with no life, no friends, and no family around me. I made the executive decision that I was going to do my research, and I was going to get a dog. I went through multiple rehoming centres, but because I didn’t have a typical nine to five, and we also rented at the time, I got rejected several times, which was really hard because I knew I was able to commit and provide a dog with the best life.
Anyone close to me knows that Bonnie is the centre of my universe. I got her from an incredible breeder in Surrey. When I rang, I was grilled within an inch of my life about how I would treat a future dog if she was to accept me for one of her puppies.
In that instance, I realised that she was an amazing person, who really cared about her dogs, and wasn’t doing it for monetary values. Then she sent me an information pack on how much a dog would cost me and how much exercise a Golden Retriever would need. I knew that I wanted a dog from her because she cared about the dogs as much as I knew I would care about my future dog.
Bonnie has been the light of my life. If she wants to walk three times a day, we walk three times a day. If I want to go to a restaurant, it has to allow dogs. And that’s the way that my life goes. If I don’t have cover for Bonnie, I don’t go. That is what I know, and that’s what I love. That’s my passion, and I’ve been able to create something so beautiful and a career that allows me to live my life around her. I also realise there’s a massive community of like-minded people who feel as strongly about caring for dogs as I do.
I’ve been told that I can’t make a living that way, or I’m not going be seen or I’ll not do well if I’m just concentrating on my animals. Actually, it’s the greatest thing I have ever done. Having Bonnie and putting my whole life and soul into her, and people seeing us living like this, has then made others want to be the same. That’s the life that I lead now, and I’m so grateful that I can do it. I owe everything to Bonnie because I was in a dark place before I got her.
People say, ‘Faye, go and have a drink’, but I would rather be at home watching a film with my dog. I owe everything to her.
NC: Tell me about the birthday parties you throw for your dogs
FW: Bonnie is my child and once a year I want to celebrate how much she has brought to my life. Everyone thinks I’m daft for throwing it but everyone’s as daft as I am for coming. They know how much Bonnie has saved me. And they do genuinely believe that she’s just an extension of me. I just feel like it’s a great time for all of my friends and family to come together once a year. You know, it’s around my birthday as well. It’s in the summer, and just a reason to celebrate her.
NC: You’re now a brand ambassador for Petproov. Tell us all about that
FW: It’s the UK’s first pet scammer prevention app and the first time that we are going to be able to start creating a database to be able to give a full report of how well a breeder is seen; such as, for example, if they live where they say they live.
We’re hoping it’ll be government backed as it’s the first of its kind. The amazing app takes a couple of minutes to put your details in, and then those of the breeder. Then we’ll contact the breeder, and ask them to fill out a questionnaire.
From that we will send it back to the buyer with a report of the risk assessment. On the back of that we’re creating a database, which is what people have wanted for a long time. If everybody started using this, we’ll be able to sniff out those bad breeders. Puppy farms will go to extreme lengths when it comes to hiding the way that their puppies are bred, and Petproov will help stop this.