WHEN Holly-Rose Faram is feeling overly anxious she knows exactly what her pet dog Roxy will do.

“She lies on top of me - she can sense how I feel. She knows when I am stressed or when I have a meltdown and she comes straight to me.”

Holly-Rose, known as Holly, is autistic, and believes that Roxy senses that she is that little bit different and needs protecting. “She can read my emotions and always knows if I am not feeling right,” she says. “She comes over to comfort me and cuddles up to me.

“Roxy has really bony elbows,” she laughs. “She is white with tan patches on her bottom, ears and tail. She stands out, like I do.”

The devoted Staffordshire bull terrier has won the Telegraph & Argus Pet of the Year competition. Dozens of readers entered, sending in their dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, horses and other adored creatures. Choosing a winner was a hard task but after much deliberation we chose Roxy, who was put forward by Holly’s mum Krystle.

“Roxy and Holly have such a strong bond. Holly connects so well with her, as she does with animals generally,” says Krystle, a pastoral support worker at Bradford Academy. “Staffies have a bad reputation but it is all down to how they are brought up.

“Roxy and Holly just clicked. If Holly goes to the shop for five minutes Roxy will be up at the window watching for her coming back. We call her Roxy Whoo-Whoo because that’s the noise she makes until Holly comes home.”

Adds Holly: “She recognises my footsteps. She likes to be by my side - she sleeps with me in bed, under the blankets.”

Roxy - who has her own Instagram page xxro.xyrooxx - also had a sixth sense when Holly had a major operation on her spine two years ago. “She was so gentle and knew not to put her full weight on me,” she says. “I have metal rods all the way down my spine and still get pain at night - Roxy helps to take my mind off it.”

The affectionate dog came to live with the family in Holme Wood, after their beloved Labrador Seeley died in 2018.

“I was quite happy with one dog, my Pomeranian Bella,” says Krystle, but Holly and her dad Steven had been looking online and spotted Roxy. She was only ten weeks old.

“Her previous owners only had her for two weeks but didn’t want her anymore. I’d made a lovely bed for her in a large dog cage, but when she saw the cage she was terrified and cried. She would cower whenever she heard a raised voice, even if we were just calling each other in the house. She also had a limp, so we don’t think she had a happy start in life,” says Krystle, who as well as Bella, owns Staffie Dexter and Shelby - the daughter of Dexter and Roxy.

Holly, 19, a final year student studying animal management at Askham Bryan College’s Saltaire campus, says her choice of career has been influenced by Roxy.

“I want to be a professional dog trainer and have been working at a dog rehabilitation centre, helping dogs with all sorts of problems. My close relationship with Roxy steered me towards this work and I really love it.”

Roxy has won £50, which, says Krystle, will be used to buy new harnesses for the Staffies and a jumper for Bella.

“We are so pleased - they will all be getting some treats,” she adds.