A loved-up pair of Dobermans who were "used for breeding" before being abandoned are looking for a special new home.

Three-year-old Diego and two-year-old Dior arrived at Carla Lane Animal Sanctuary in Melling last months after their previous owner was unable to look after them. The bonded pair are life-long pals and reared puppies together in the past, so volunteers were keen to rehome them together. But they soon realised that the number of potential owners willing to take on not one, but two large rescue dogs was vanishingly small.

Carla Lane volunteer Lauren Munro said: "They are really desperate for a new home. They're big Dobermans, so it's very difficult. They're stressed out in kennels and we're feeling torn because if we separate them it will be easier to rehome them. But they love each other a ridiculous amount.

"They do everything together. They eat together, they share out of the same bowl, share the same bed. If one of them is taken away, the other cries. But they have never been in kennels before and it's coming to the point we're having to consider splitting them up for the sake of their health and wellbeing.

"It's a very sad situation and we don't want to split them up at all. At the moment it's not an option we want to consider. But we're going to have to consider it soon."

Diego and Dior only have eyes for each other, and do not get along with other dogs. Having been used for breeding, they were given little training in their past lives, and need an experienced owner who is able to teach them the rules.

Lauren said: "They're a beautiful pair.... But no one wants two large dogs that need training. We're hoping the more people know about them, the more chance we have of finding them a home.

"They were bought together as a breeding pair and they had litters together, but that isn't possible now they're getting neutered. They've not had the stimulation that this kind of breed needs. They're active dogs and they're so affectionate and friendly with people. They absolutely love attention and love to play with their toys."

Diego and Dior can live with families with responsible children aged 12 and up, but Lauren said the sanctuary would not send them to a home with young children as they had no experience with them.

Lauren added: "If animals come in as a pair we try our very best to rehome them together and 95% of the time we're able to do that, because usually the pairs we get are smaller breeds. It' rare we get two large breeds in. We're just really finding it difficult to find someone that is happy to adopt two dogs of this size.

"Apart from their anxiety in kennels, we're also dealing with a lack of space. We have hundreds of dogs waiting to come in and we're desperate for space at the minute. We have over 500 dogs waiting to come in at least, and those are just dogs from homes, that's not including dogs from pounds that are on their last few days. We're having to put dogs in emergency boarding because we have no more space in our kennels."