After coming to terms with the stairs, Bess is now a calendar girl

WHEN Richard and Glynis Laidler introduced Bess to their home there was just one problem – she had never seen stairs.

“The first time we got her up the stairs we had to briber her with lumps of cheese. When it was time to come down, she was a quivering heap,” says Mrs Laidler.

Three years later and six-year-old Bess is much more adept at getting up and down.

Mr and Mrs Laidler took Bess from the Greyhound Trust Darlington centre.

“We had never had a grey before. We had a large mutt (a lurcher/alsatian cross) for 14 years,” says Mr Laidler.

The couple spotted Bess on the trust website and she was soon on her way home.

“She is Irish and won a couple of races. She was racing in Sunderland and had to be retired due to an injury in one of her back legs.”

Even now, Bess struggles on hard surfaces, walking on three legs. “Greyhounds are easy to look after. They don’t shed their fur very often and are good for people with allergies. They tend to eat and sleep. They don’t need long runs as people assume,” says Mrs Laidler.

Bess has also become something of a celebrity – she is one of the dogs to feature in this year’s Greyhound Trust calendar.