When not involved in making sculpts of animals and birds, Nicky Cooper has her hands full with a recent addition to the family.

"In January of this year we rescued a Border Collie called Patch. He's a bit of a handful and still needs a lot of training but he is so loving and so worth trying to get him to over come his fears and problems that the former owners left him with! We also have a bearded dragon names JayD. He is still very young but one of the easiest pets to look after! He belongs to my son who has a bit of an eye for unusual pets!"

Full of energy, border collies are known for their intelligence and stamina. Patch is no exception to this rule when it comes to tricks.

"Patch loves agility training, he has jumps, hoops and weaving poles that are set up in the garden, and you know a dog loves to do this when they use them unprompted! We are yet to convince him about the tunnel though!" said Nicky.

But when it comes to being helpful, Patch is at the ready.

"Oh, Patch always helps keep my feet warm, he likes to have his nose as close to what I am working on as he can! He is even a good critic and will smile if he likes what has been created!"

Ah, the kind of critic we all love. In addition to taking care of Patch, Nicky also likes to treat the neighborhood birds.

"I make the suet balls from suet, peanut butter, honey, dried fruit and bird seed. These are made every week all year round. We get at least 100 birds each day that visit our little garden, but sometimes Patch gets a little naughty and will try and steal the suet balls I make for the wild birds."

Not to be outdone by a bunch of birds Patch has his own special treat and his own style when it comes to enjoying it too.

"Patch's special treat is his twisted hide sticks, but he doesn't just chew them, he throws them in the air, stalks them and barks at them as if they are living. He can sometimes do this for nearly 2 hours before he finally thinks he has scared it enough to eat!"

So what's the final word on an adorable pup with his own sense of style?

"Halloween is just starting to get big here where we live, but Patch likes to be dressed all year round, he has his very own bandana with 'Bad to the Bone' on it and he is not happy if it needs to go in the wash!"