Britain's beloved gardening expert Alan Titchmarsh returns to our television screens this weekend, presenting his regular Love Your Weekend programme on ITV.

Alongside guest spots from Dame Sheila Hancock and Ted Lasso actor Jeremy Swift, an extensive chat about canines will also be featured on the show.

It comes as no shock that dog enthusiast Alan seized the opportunity to include four-legged friends in the programme once more.

Beyond introducing Golden Retriever-Labrador crossbreed puppy Titch as a Love Your Weekend fixture towards the end of last year, the Yorkshire-born horticulturist fronted Underdog to Superdog for Channel 5 in February.

Yet, while bringing tremendous happiness, dogs have also delivered Alan some of his saddest days.

Discussing his family's first canine companion, Yellow Labrador Lulu, he remarked: "I don't remember ever being so heartbroken at the loss of an animal", following her eventual passing.

During an appearance on ITV's Lorraine, he disclosed that his two daughters initially learnt to walk by gripping onto Lulu's collar.

Nevertheless, Lulu experienced a turbulent beginning with the Titchmarsh household.

Alan documented how she had entered their home as an energetic two-year-old and wreaked havoc in their compact Sunningdale residence.

"It was madness really," Alan penned in his memoir Trowel and Error, elaborating: "A Labrador is not a small dog. But we were prepared to exercise her, and we had the loosely named 'conservatory' for her to sleep in. For two months she drove us mad."

Alan and his wife Alison, at their wits' end, nearly gave up on the dog. After discussing it with friends, Alan and Alison decided to give Lulu one last week to change her behaviour.

Alan remembered: "The next day she was a changed dog. Telepathy? Who knows. But it was as quick as that.

"Loo, as we called her, was my dog. I trained her, walked her and generally was her right-hand man. I used to wrestle with her, and she'd do a passable imitation of a lion, opening her mouth and pretending to eat me, which had the kids shrieking with laughter."

Despite initially being a handful at home, Lulu transformed into a perfectly-disciplined TV star: "I filmed a series of walks for Breakfast Time and she came with me."

"She could do eight or ten 'takes' without getting bored, always taking the same route, always performing perfectly in front of the camera," Alan reminisced.

When Alan moved over to Pebble Mill, which took him away from home for several days at a time, Lulu would express her displeasure over his absence by ignoring the star when he returned home.

He sadly wrote of his beloved dog's death: "She died, eventually, at fifteen. I don't remember ever being so heartbroken at the loss of an animal."