Claude has been through a lot in his short life, so Charlotte always makes sure she gives him enough love to make up for it

Claude has a lovely spoilt life because he’s had so many illnesses since he was a pup, including parvovirus, reactions to injections, SRMA, IMPA, allergies, and various infections caused by the steroid treatment for his immune system illnesses. On top of that, he’s even had a dew claw injury and removal, and now IBS.

Despite all this, Claude is the happiest and loveliest dog, who always cheers us up and keeps us entertained. He’s a sock and underwear thief and such a character.

He also rules the roost, so he does what he wants, when he wants, whether that’s waking up in the morning, or spreading out on the sofa, beds and anywhere else. He also likes to help with gardening, hoovering and any cleaning!

He does what he wants, when he wants

After three wonderful decades of marriage, Denise’s husband, Pete, sadly passed away this year. But through the good times and the tough, Trixey and Deychko have been a real pillar of support.

My dear husband Pete lost his fight for life on Saturday 25th January 2020. We had been together for almost 32 years.

Naturally I have been devastated and lonely since my loss. I have two dogs Trixey, a Doberman Pinscher, and Detchko, a Yorkshire Terrier.

My husband and I rescued Trixey when she was just over 15 months’ old. Trixey then went with us to Babbington Rescue Centre where she selected Detchko.

I am so grateful for their companionship and love as it makes the long and lonely days feel a little brighter

Trixey is a very sensitive and highly intelligent dog. She immediately sensed that there was something wrong. I feel she must have communicated this to Detchko as she was making strange sounds and a different type of bark.

For the past couple of months, she has always been by my side and has given such an out pouring of love that one cannot begin to imagine.

Without Trixey and Detchko by my side I would be a very lonely old age pensioner. I am so grateful for their companionship and love as it makes the long and lonely days feel a little brighter.

Freya has so many funny stories to share about the gorgeous and utterly hilarious Luna

Luna is my beautiful 5-year-old black Labrador, and she’s the calmest and most loving best friend you could ever imagine.

She sleeps at the foot of my bed every single night, obviously under a blanket, and slowly migrates her way up the bed throughout the night, until she's sharing my blankets and pillows and snoring loudly in my ear! She gets up at 6am every single day to jump between my parents, where she lies asleep on her back for tummy tickles until they get up.

Her best friend is her little "sister" Maia, our nearly 3-year-old black Labrador. She's very stuck in her routine and enjoys a quiet life. She loves walking at the local nature reserve where she can run and swim to her heart's content, and she spends most of the day asleep on one of our beds (her MANY beds are never as comfortable as ours are!).

She's definitely my spirit animal and knows what's up!

Every day at 6pm on the dot, she finds one of us and won't leave our side until she's been fed. When she hears the Life360 notification that indicates my dad's return from work, she runs to the door until she sees his car pulling into the driveway, where she proceeds to bark loudly to tell us to open the door for her to go and greet him. After that, it's back to bed until her nightly walk around the village – the absolute highlight of her day.

One of her (very many) little quirks is that she hates being dirty. After walks in the rain, she follows us until one of us washes her feet, she won't sleep in a bed until it has a clean blanket in it, and her favourite place to lie is in one of our beds after we've changed the sheets. She's definitely my spirit animal and knows what's up!

When she's not on the bed, Luna can be found snuggling on the sofa between Maia and her feisty (and rather grumpy) feline brother, Felix, probably on the one small section of the sofa not covered in a dog blanket! Her favourite place in the world is the beach, especially those in Scotland, so we take the dogs on an annual trip to explore the beautiful beaches of the west coast. Upon seeing the sand, she gets the zoomies and will run around in pure joy until she reaches the sea!

Freya had to spend a lot of time in adoption kennels, but it was worth the wait, as she ended up living with Holly and her partner, who absolutely adore her.

Freya turned one this week, but she has already had a lot of upheaval in her first year. She was born a stray in Cyprus, and taken in by a charity over there who brought her to England at just a couple of months old. Once here, she was adopted by a young owner – we don’t know much about him other than he sadly passed away very suddenly soon after adopting Freya.

We couldn’t be more pleased

She ended up in adoption kennels, and shockingly was there for months. Several families came to meet her, but each time they decided she was just too big and lively to be the right fit for them. Although it’s sad that Freya was in kennels for so long as a young pup still developing, it was great news for myself and my partner who eventually found her and took her home.

Staff at the kennels warned she was a bit wild, strong on the lead and over-excitable. We couldn’t be more pleased, this didn’t put us off. Freya is the most peaceful, loving, intelligent dog we could imagine. We’ve had her for three months now, and a day hasn’t gone by where we haven’t been flabbergasted by how lucky we are to have her in our lives. We now love cosying up in front of the fire with her every night, and wandering through the countryside and along the coast with her at the weekends. We can’t imagine life without her.

Cheeky chappy McLaren helps his owner Vicky to keep her independence, and always puts a smile on her face

McLaren is a Canine Partner Assistance Dog, so not only is he a great companion, but he is a brilliant help to me in my everyday life. He picks up dropped items, lends me a paw when I’m doing the washing and even gives me more confidence when we go out and about.

He’s such a cheeky chap

Everyone loves McLaren, he’s such a great ice breaker. He’s a cheeky chap, and loves to clown around and make you laugh. He also has a penchant for gloves and socks, and will happily steal them and parade round the house, hoping to be bribed with treats for their safe return!

I’ve been shielding since March and I haven’t been able to go out to the shops or see friends or family, so having McLaren with me has had a huge positive impact on my wellbeing. He cheers me up if I’m feeling lonely, is always up for an adventure and loves playing games of hide and seek or dancing to music. He is my hero.

Pablo is Olivia’s first child, but he also somehow seems to know when she’s pregnant – even before she does!

Pablo is a miniature schnauzer. My partner Scott and I welcomed him into our family to keep me company when I wasn’t working due to migraines. We got him from a breeder who also owned his mum and dad, and they brought him up around their family until he was ready to move in with us.

Pablo is very anxious. But he likes to bark, and he’s getting better and better each day! Back in 2019, he suddenly became more and more affectionate towards me. He would cuddle me, snuggle right into my tummy whenever he could and bark when people came near me. Two weeks later, I found out I was pregnant with my first child. We all said he knew! Since then, Pablo has been amazing with my daughter, Esmay, and she loves him so much.

I really think dogs know us better than we do

Fast forward to 2021, Pablo started acting the same way towards me – cuddling me, lying on me, not leaving my side. We weren’t trying for another child, but I rang a friend and said to her ‘I think I’m pregnant. Pablo is acting like he did before I found out with Esmay.’ I hadn’t even told Scott I was going to do a test!

Anyway, turns out I was expecting again! Pablo is also amazing with his brother, Jude. I really think dogs know us better than we do. Or maybe Pablo is just one of a kind. He’ll be happy soon as we’re currently doing up a campervan, making sure we have room for all three of our babies.