Dating can be hard enough without having a third wheel hanging around – especially if that third wheel has four legs and a propensity for very loud breathing.
However, pug-mad Suzie might have met her match in pug-mad Gareth on Channel 4’s First Dates.
34 year-old Londoner Suzie, the owner of one-eyed pug Doug, admits: “I do absolutely adore him. I’d rather snuggle up on the sofa and watch a film with him – I suppose that’s what’s kind of held me back a little bit.”
She adds: “It would be an amazing bonus if a guy had a dog, and the dog was a pug.”
Enter fellow 34 year-old Londoner Gareth, who owns a pug called Cuthbert.
“Dating can be a bit of a slog,” he admits. “There’s often times where I’ve just not gone on a date, not because I’ve changed my mind, just because you finish work late and then, for me, I’ve always got to go home and walk the dog. It’s like having a child.”
Gogglebox: The families
It’s not long before conversation flows freely between the pair, high-fiving when they work out they have four-legged friends in common.
Suzie even shows off a video of Doug wearing a pirate costume – and “face-planting the floor”. If that doesn’t grab your heartstrings, nothing will.
Channel 4, 10pm
