Jon loves nothing more than fossil hunting with his furry companions, Poppy and Sam

Poppy and Sam are my beach-walking adventure buddies. We live in rural Somerset on the Jurassic Coast and go for walks daily, for both fitness and fun. I’m a keen photographer and amateur fossil hunter (as well as a professional psychiatric nurse).

My beach-walking adventure buddies

Poppy is a great fan of muddy, wet walks and they both love to run around Bristol Channel Beach, playing in rock pools and waiting for me to turn over rocks to see what we find. It’s great fun chasing eels through rock pools, though we’re yet to actually catch one.

Poppy is good at picking up small, flat stones for me – she once even brought me a small ammonite fossil! In the photo, you can see both of them with a 197-million-year-old Ichthyosaur fossil we found while playing on Stolford Beach.

Luna has a quirky, strong-willed personality, but her owner Daisy completely adores her

Luna’s a rescue dog from Ireland, who we’ve had since she was just nine months old.

She’s loveable and calm natured, but also the strangest dog (in the best way) that you’ll ever meet.

Luna is very set in her ways

Luna is very set in her ways and doesn’t like anything outside of her usual routine. She won’t walk a different route and will lie down and refuse to move like a stroppy toddler! She likes her own seat on the sofa and waits for treats at the same spots on her walk. She really is the heartbeat of our family home.

Broden has gone from a loving family pooch to a fully fledged therapy dog thanks to his big heart.

Broden has been with us from eight weeks old – always rather stubborn but the best family dog ever. He’s welcomed new grandchildren into the family, loving their cuddles.

The best family dog ever

He became a Pets as Therapy dog and has visited care homes and schools. If faced with a person in a wheelchair he will lay his big head on their knees so they can stroke him. He has helped schoolchildren read and helped a child overcome a fear of dogs.

Since my husband retired he has been his walking companion, even walking the Cotswold Way and the Coast to Coast with him. He’s slowing down a bit now, but still has the biggest heart and personality.

Mell is so proud of how much Bess has grown in confidence

Bess was a rescue from the Border Collie Trust. She is very quietand a little timid, but she’s still adored by everyone who meets her. When she first arrived, she was afraid of everything, and although she still doesn’t like fireworks or loud noises, she’s come out of her shell a lot. Now she even allows strangers to strokeher, which is a good thing because everyone who meets her can’t seem to stay away!

She’s come out of her shell

Her favorite pastime is playing with plastic flower pots and racing around the garden.She is such a great dog and has helped us all to get through lockdown with her gentlenessand patience.

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.

Laurie’s dog Angus may be hard of hearing, but doesn’t stop him from living a happy life

Angus is our partially deaf Border Collie. We collected him when he was just eight weeks old, and now we couldn’t imagine our lives without him.

He does hear loud noises, which can sometimes startle him, and he responds to his name if you say it clearly enough. Mostly, he follows signs, even though we make a large amount of them up! It’s like we’ve developed our own language for him.

Without her, my life would be very bleak

Angus is a very clever dog, so he’ll always let us know when he wants something. I think we would all have struggled without him in the last year. He loves long walks in the countryside, which has been great for me. My dog is like my little shadow, and a treasured member of our family.