When Bonnie met Neil, it was not so much puppy love that brought them together but the latter's pulling power - and the matchmaking might of The Argus.

Neil Marshall, a three-times British dogsledding champion, rode up in his chariot, pulled by a team of husky dogs, and quite literally swept Arctic challenger Bonnie Owens off her feet.

Neil, who keeps 13 Siberian huskies at his home in Hove and races his rig for sport, read a report in The Argus that featured Bonnie appealing for funds to send her on a charity Arctic challenge.

She failed to bring forth any funding but Neil boosted her spirits by giving her a chance to sled with his dogs and help her train for the trip.

While the dogs were pulling the rig, Neil pulled Bonnie.

She just could not resist his animal passion and the two have been riding in his rig together ever since.

Neil, a 43-year-old microelectronics specialist, put Bonnie through her paces in a chariot powered by huskies Egor, Jenny and Clyde after the report was published in January last year.

Bonnie, a customer services representative, eventually made her nine-day charity trek through Scandinavia into the Arctic Circle.

She survived under canvas in temperatures between -5C and -20C (23F and -3F) but things started to get a little more heated when she returned.

Now Bonnie and Neil are in love and plan to live together.

The saying goes that three's a crowd but Bonnie has to contend with 13 rivals for Neil's affections. He is mad about his huskies and takes them everywhere he goes.

Bonnie, 21, from Woodingdean, Brighton, said: "Neil is the first man I have met who has been completely head over heels in love with animals just like me.

"I was at Cambridge studying at the time. We organised a meeting in Brighton and I spent the day with him and ten lovely doggies.

"Neil has his dogs with him all the time but they are so well behaved they are a pleasure to look after. They have a big run to move around in and they are excellent off the lead. When he calls they obey and now they listen to me as well.

"When I first met the dogs I fell in love with them and now I just don't know how I can be apart from them."

Then she fell for their owner.

The dogs even went on the couple's first dates - pulling them along in the rig while Neil showed Bonnie how to take the reins.

Bonnie said: "I had a brilliant time in the Arctic and afterwards I started training with Neil. He takes out six or seven dogs and we both go on the rig.

"Slowly I started taking out dogs on my own. I had my first ever race last week and I came first in one race and second in another. It was worth the pain, the wet and the rain."

The husking-racing couple's new home will have to be big enough to house their animal menagerie that includes Bonnie's two rabbits.

Since romance blossomed for the two animal-lovers, they have spent hours at a time chatting to each other on the phone between race meetings. The longest was a six-hour heart-to-heart.

Bonnie said: "We were chatting on the phone and text messaging each other all the time and things just went from there.

"We got on the phone at 11pm and did not get off until 5am in the morning. I only had an hour or two before I had to get up and go to lectures."

Bonnie finished her degree in animal behaviour and ecology and moved back to Brighton last June.

Since then she and Neil have been inseparable.

Now they are in it for the long haul - pulled by the dogs of course.