A CANINE-CRAZY woman from New Addington is so besotted with man's best friend that she lives with 12 DOGS.
Emma Morris, 26, rescued her first pet, Doodles, six years ago and her Pedigree Chum bill has only continued to soar since.
With the addition of three extra pooches in the last year, she now owns a dozen and may still continue to expand her dog dynasty.
She runs a thriving dog grooming business called Posh Pooch and has recently been nominated for the Kennel Club's Eukanuba Friends for Life competition at Crufts 2015 with six-year-old jackadoodle Doodles.
Emma now owns four jackadoodles, one Staff, three poodles, a Chinese crested dog, a Chihuahua, a Pomeranian and a shih tzu.
For more pictures of Emma's dogs, dressed up in various costumes, click here.
The former Ashburton pupil was severely bullied at school, causing her to self-harm and attempt to take her own life on a number of occasions.
She credits meeting Doodles with changing her outlook.
"Doodles has saved my life," Emma said.
"He's helped me try everything and have the confidence to meet new people again.
"Dogs are brilliant, they don't judge you, they don't call you names behind your back."
Emma lives with her partner Barry and although he may not share quite the same level of puppy love, he helps and is accepting of her doggy devotion.
She added: "He's not as crazy about the dogs but he spends a lot of time with them too.
"For me it is like having kids and meeting someone. If he doesn't like the dogs then we are not going to have a relationship.
"There is no point in getting to know a person if they can't handle the dogs."
Every morning before she goes to work, Emma has to get up extra early so she can take all her 'babies' for a walk. This takes up to two hours because Croydon Council does not allow one person to be in control of more than four dogs at a time.
"Bailey [the Staffie] needs by far the most walking," she said.
"I have to take him out quite a few times a day and he loves running about but the poodles and the shih tzu, you basically have to push them out of the door."
The dogs have even got their own bedroom upstairs where all of their clothes and outfits are kept in a wardrobe and five chests of drawers.
Emma added: "I do like to dress them up. People think I'm mad but I'm not, they are my babies.
"I think if you had kids, you would dress your kids up."
