Mickey was unlucky with his previous owners, but he’s found his forever home with Annamaria

Mickey didn’t have a great start in life. Not only was he abandoned by his first owner and kept at the shelter for 18 months, but when he was eventually adopted, he was returned after a few days for being too boisterous.

Mickey is very lively

Since we adopted him 10 years ago, we’ve found that Mickey is very lively and loves playtime, snacks and spending time with his human and doggy friends. He also enjoys walking, bringing us his favourite toys at any given moment and foraging for berries (and has an acquired taste for only picking the ripe ones!).

Natalie has always wanted a dog, but Maia has brought her more happiness than she could have ever imagined.

We bought Maia because everything in our life was going so right, and the only thing that was missing was her! We went around and looked at a few litters, but nothing felt right until she climbed into our arms. I was never allowed pets growing up, so to have her in my life now is a love I never knew. She is so loving and loyal. Truly one of a kind, she loves to lie at one end of the room rolling the ball to me and enjoys laying on the sofa with her head in my lap.

One of a kind

She’s the best dog a person could ask for. She pulls us up on our down days and brings us higher on our good ones. A dog is the only thing in life that loves you more than itself.

Orla loves to spoil her two pups Paloma and Kyuss, who enjoy going on long walks with her – even though they have tiny legs!

Our little troublemakers are a pair of long-haired mini dachshunds, who turned our world upside down when they joined us as pups back in 2017.

There are so many funny things that they do, and even on a down day they make us smile. Paloma’s cutest habit is that every night after dinner, she waits for her dad to lie on the floor so she can rest on him for neck kisses. The truth is that everything she does makes us smile.

They have such short legs!

In 2018, she was diagnosed with lymphoma, and we chose to treat her with chemo as she is so young and has so much fight in her. We needed to give it a shot. Almost 18 months on and she is still beating cancer. Everything she does is special to us – as you can imagine she is so spoiled, even more than she was before she got ill!

Kyuss is a food obsessed mummy’s boy. We know it’s very naughty but his endless tricks to get more treats makes us laugh. We love to take them both out on long walks, which I’m not sure we’d do without them. The longest walk we have done is 10 miles – not bad considering they have such short legs! They love our country walks and always stay close by, not down to good training but because they’re total wimps!

Kyuss and Paloma bring so much joy into our home – or, their home rather, because let’s face it, we’re just here to provide treats and kisses!

No matter what life throws at them, Jerry and owner Ruth can always find strength in each other

We adopted Jerry, an emergency rescue dog who was a bad way after being cruelly treated. Since then, he has come on leaps and bounds.

He’s been a real lifeline to me

He’s very sociable and friendly with other dogs and people and has been a real lifeline to me, especially when my husband passed away from cancer. He gives me a reason to get up and brings me such joy. He is also a brilliant guard dog, as well as being so loving and caring. He loves backs rubs – and running 40 laps around the garden!

Whether he’s sunbathing, sleeping or showering her with good morning kisses, Ozzie has brought joy to every part of Abby’s life

I have struggled with my mental health for as long as I can remember, and nothing has done more for me than Ozzie. From the minute I wake up until the moment I fall asleep, he brings me so much joy.

Oz is a retired racing Greyhound and, after a lot of training, he's now got great recall and is allowed off lead. Nothing makes me happier than seeing his smiling face as he goes hurtling past me at 40mph with his helicopter tail spinning at full force.

Every morning I wake up to him in my bed (all 100lbs of him). As soon as he hears me say ‘Good morning!’, he attacks me with kisses and throws himself into the cockroach position so I can rub his belly.

From the minute I wake up until the moment I fall asleep, he brings me so much joy

He's obsessed with sunbathing, just like me, and will do it at any opportunity. Two degrees outside? As long as the sun’s, out Oz will be on his sun lounger soaking it up. Out for a walk? Who needs exercise when you can sunbathe!

One of his favourite ways to show affection is by ‘nitting’, where he uses just his front teeth to nibble at me when I'm stroking him. His favourite game is ‘smacky bum’ where I tap his bum like bongos and we chase each other round in circles.

Ozzie goes into a deep sleep about 50 times a day, usually with his mouth agape, tongue hanging out and legs twitching (presumably chasing cats in his dreams). I also suffer from endometriosis and whenever I'm having a flare up, he just knows. He sticks to me like velcro and follows me everywhere.

I could sit and write about him forever. He really is my best friend and has changed my life more than he'll ever know. He gives me a reason to get out of bed each day. I love Oz more than anything and would be totally lost without him.

For Hollie, Cooper is a happy reminder of the two years she spent travelling around Canada

Cooper is everything to us. He came into our lives when we were travelling in Canada and got stuck in a small prairie town during Covid. The lady who ran the local dump (it was so remote there was no bin service!) used to have at least 15 dogs, three cats and a horse. They would run around her farm property and none of them were neutered. So, naturally, when she offered us this little golden mutt (a Chihuahua Jack Russell type), we just said we’d make it work.

A few months later, our immigration fell through, and we had to leave the country. We were devastated. It was something we’d worked towards for so long and leaving was so hard. When we came back, Cooper was immediately our source of comfort and familiarity during a time of culture shock and grieving.

He came from such a specific part of our journey and now he is always with us to symbolise that. He helps us through sad times and knows exactly what to do to cheer us up. He’s the happiest dog of all time (people say it regularly!), so having him around is a blessing.

He has quite a strong set of adorable quirks too. He was born with a natural mohawk that never went away, which is always a great conversation starter with other dog owners. He also has the longest and loudest yawns known to man. For a tiny pup, he’s so full of life!

He’s the happiest dog of all time