A country girls love for gentle giants

THERE’S perhaps one thing that country-loving girl Valerie Hughes loves more than the songs of Jimmy Buckley or Sandy Kelly and that’s her fluffy furry canine friends.
Her passion for and relationship with the Bernese Mountain Dog breed is nearing 20 years and this is epitomised by the winning Crufts rosettes on her kitchen shelf and a photo of her at Aras an Uachtarain delivering a beautiful Bernese to President Michael D Higgins.
The latest litter of pedigree pups are nearing eight weeks old but these adorable, teddy-like bundles of black, white and brown already had their owners’ names before being given their own.