Harley has helped Rachel enormously with her mental health struggles, but he has also caused plenty of mischief with his escape tactics

Harley is a Giant Schnauzer crossed with a German Shorthaired Pointer. My husband got him when we found out I was pregnant with my third child, as I already had a six-month-old baby and I was suffering from both pre-natal and post-natal depression. Harley was my distraction and my positive ten minutes of training a day.

Our walks always get me out of the house. And on the days I don’t want to go out, he’s with me in the house with the babies! He keeps me grounded and gives me a break when I take him walking. We’ve even started mountain climbing as a family with Harley and the children.

He can flip his cage and squeeze out of the bottom!

He’s also a Houdini! I’ve never known a dog like him. I padlock his cage in two places overnight because he’s obsessed with licking the butter dish, and he can flip his cage and squeeze out of the bottom!

He’s obsessed with food, especially burgers and sausages, and he’s amazing with the children. My one-year-old will pass him DVDs off our stand one by one, and he brings them to me in his mouth and then goes back for more to play with her! He’s changed our lives so much.

Joanne is determined to make her dog Roo’s life as happy and fulfilling as possible

Roo is a rescue dog. We adopted him as we felt we could give him a wonderful life here on the Isle of Wight, with all the beaches, parks and the countryside close by.

When we first met Roo, he was hiding under a coffee table. He had sad little eyes and his nose was just poking out. I put my hand down and he sniffed it and licked me. At that stage, I didn’t know he only had two legs, but I did know that he would soon become part of my family.

Living the happy life all dogs should

We wanted to give him the very best life possible despite his injuries and disabilities, so I spent weeks researching what tools could help him to help. We ended up purchasing a purpose-made wheelchair from America. It took him a few weeks to get used to it, but now he’s so happy. Roo loves nothing more than running along the beach, chasing birds and playing with my two Huskies, living the happy life all dogs should.

My dog is strong, loving and loyal, and reminds me every day that life is what you make it.

Even though Toby sometimes creates a bit of mess, he makes it up to Andrew and his family in so many ways

Toby’s a rescue dog and he makes us laugh every day. We got him a year before lockdown, and he helped us get through it.

He leads a walking group at our local community kitchen where my wife works. He meets and greets everyone, and they all love him.

He makes us laugh every day

He loves to ‘remake’ our bed and waits for us to laugh when we see it in a mess. And he loves doing zoomies at his granny's, where he destroys the lawn – but she loves him so much, it doesn't matter. He also has amazing, gorgeous ears that we call his angel wings.

Lola has helped her owner Gemma to appreciate the simple things in life again

I have struggled with poor mental health, but Lola has been my saviour and my reason to get better. She needed me when I didn’t need myself.

Lola is an intelligent, energetic and entertaining pooch. She loves long walks and getting super muddy, but I don’t mind as she’s great company and has helped me forget about the world this last year. When out and about she’s a whirling dervish but always comes back and taps her nose on my hand when called. She loves drinking fresh water, so much so that she always lies down in the puddle or pond in order to lap it all up!

Lola has been my saviour

One of her favourite things to do is to sniff out a tennis ball in the long, wild meadows. She also loves being out in the garden with her best friend,our cat Shadow. They frolic and play together, though the cat definitely has the upper hand with his climbing prowess.

When Lola gets really excited, she runs around the fire pit and randomly digs up the ground. Thankfully, the garden is a wildlife friendly area, so wedon’t mind it getting ripped up a bit in the name of fun. If she’s tired, she loves a good nap and curls herself up into some strange positions, sleeping around our necks and against the back of the sofa.

Lola’s needs aren’t that different from my own. Long walks on wet and rainy days, exploring, observing and snuggling have helped us both to getthrough this last year.

When you’re feeling blue, having someone to listen to you can make the world of difference. And for Claire and her husband, Shylow is always all ears.

Shylow is the most ‘human’ dog! He has guided my husband through a very dark period of depression and listens to his every word. He sat beside my husband, tilting his head, listening to every word and rambles back. Shylow understands everything we say to him and my husband and the dog share their own howling conversations. Shylow is our motivation to get up and get outdoors.

Watching him live his best life with us has enabled us to live ours with him

He brings toys to play with and tells us exactly what he wants. Shylow enjoys the finer things in life like freshly cooked sausages – or a packet of beef hula hoops! He is very well-behaved, and watching him live his best life with us has enabled us to live ours with him.

Karen took Mollie in as a foster dog and in return she’s made every day brighter for her

Mollie came to us three years ago as a foster dog and I fell in love with her immediately.

There’s never a bad day with Mollie

She’s blind and epileptic, but this has never stopped her from loving life. She makes every day brighter and has even helped my other foster dogs recover from trauma that they’ve suffered – helping them to realise that life is for living without worries!

You can never have a bad day when you've got a Mollie to snuggle up to.