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.

Sometimes Sammy has so many people waiting on him, Stephanie thinks he’s more human than dog

He’s the best thing since sliced bread – a human with four paws. He's not easy to wake in the morning because he likes to stay wrapped up in my dressing gown until I get sorted.

He enjoys the perks of two houses, as he passes between ours and the neighbours via his own self-made gate in the fence. He goes there to play and comes home to sleep.

He’s the best thing since sliced bread

He loves ‘hunt the treat’ games, as well as the usual doggy toys. He asks to go out for a wee by peeping round the corner of the room and giving a small 'chuff' sound. He also makes the same noise when he wants to come up on the sofa – he’s a dog with manners.

He has his own masseuse (my friend), his own eye cleaner (my husband) and his own bottom cleaner (me). Can you get any more human than that? Or is he just a spoilt pooch? We love him loads, for all his traits.

Rebecca had always dreamed of being a dog owner, and at 28 she finally got her wish when she and her partner adopted Hendrix – four months before their wedding!

I have dreamt of owning a dog since I was five years old. When I was a kid, I saved my pocket money and bought collars and leads dreaming of one day having a dog to put them on.

It wasn’t until I was 28 that I was finally ready to bring my first ever dog into my life. We were getting married in August 2019, and in March 2019 I saw an advert for Collie puppies. We were told we were mad to get a puppy four months before our wedding, but along came Hendrix in April. We used our honeymoon fund to buy him, so instead of a honeymoon we had a puppymoon!

Hendrix is a bundle of energy. He is a typical Collie – incredibly clever, always thinking ten steps ahead. For example, if we start getting ready to go out, he will know from our voices and movements whether he is coming with us or not. If he thinks he is, he will go and sit by the front door, but if he thinks he's not he will get up on the sofa and lay down. How he knows I will never understand!

Instead of a honeymoon we had a puppymoon!

We do trick training together and he is now an expert trick dog. We started because he had some hip issues so needed some extra mental stimulation, but we've carried on as he is an absolute natural and loves learning new things! It’s also had wonderful benefits on his mental health too. He is a very anxious lad and this has really built up his confidence.

He has completely and utterly changed our lives. I am disabled and used to lack motivation. I would sleep till gone noon and stay up all night. Now I am up by 8am every day with Hendrix. He wakes me up by licking my wrists every morning and then we start our day of adventures!

He gives me a sense of freedom that I never had before. He also makes us laugh so many times a day with his clumsy silliness. Hendrix is my absolute world and I love him so much!

Carole adores her cheeky chappy Norman, even if he does have a habit of going walkabout.

As a pup, Norman was a bit of an escapologist. He managed to escape out of the house and run off round the corner. He got into a garden and went in through an open back door. He was discovered by the homeowner when he heard a noise, turned around and found Norman sitting watching tv with him and his family!

Norman was a bit of an escapologist

Another time, he managed to squeeze under our garden fence and make his way into our neighbour’s house… where he was eventually found in her upstairs bedroom.

After years of living as a stray in Cyprus, Zola has finally found her forever home with Annabel, and now she’s blossoming into the dog she was always meant to be

I adopted Zola, a German Shorthaired Pointer, on 2nd May this year. She was found as a stray in Cyprus, rescued and looked after in a shelter for about two months until she was well enough to travel to the UK.

She has settled really well in the time she has been here, and I have just started very basic training with her as she was completely untrained. She has definitely come out of her shy, anxious shell and is showing her cheeky, funny, very affectionate character. She is a puppy in a 9-year-old body as she's probably never enjoyed a puppyhood before.

Adopting a neglected, abandoned dog is one of the most rewarding things I’ve done

She loves anything fluffy, especially if she's not supposed to have it, like my slippers and the dog coats I’m knitting for rescue shelters, for example. She pokes her nose in any open drawer or cupboard and loves to grab and run – she is particularly drawn to silicone baking containers for some bizarre reason.

Zola is starting to bond with our other two adopted German Shorthaired Pointers, 9-year-old Baxter and 12-year-old Danny, who’s also a Cyprus rescue. She loves food, food and more food, playing with toys, stealing Danny's tennis balls and doing anything naughty.

She makes me laugh every day and drives me demented from running around saving items from being chewed, but gives me so much love in return. Adopting a neglected, abandoned dog and giving them a loving forever home is one of the most rewarding things I’ve done, and seeing them blossom into the dogs they should have always been is priceless.

Patsy is a girl who knows what she wants, and Rose wouldn’t have it any other way!

Patsy was two when we adopted her from Bath Cats and Dogs Home. She had just had a litter of pups and was handed in. She was tiny, seemed so scared and frail, and we were nervous taking her home. We were so wrong! She walked in, took the bone out of our other dog Eddie’s mouth, pushed him out of his bed and made herself at home. She treated Eddie like her puppy and still does.

Over the months it was clear that Patsy hadn't had the best start. House training was a nightmare, she couldn't walk far as she had little muscle and very cracked pads, she was also scared of walking sticks, but loved people. Six years on and she is so different. She’s much more confident and a local favourite! Patsy loves people and loves a cuddle, and everyone is willing to oblige.

She is our family and we love her

She loves Eddie and still cleans his face every day – even though we don’t think he actually likes it he still lets her do it. Some days she won’t walk, some days it’s like walking a bag of potatoes, but as soon as she’s in the woods, she comes alive! Exploring, chasing squirrels and having fun. And, although she’s not built for swimming (her body to leg ratio is not great) she loves the water and will always paddle in streams and loves a beach trip.

She is getting old, has terrible wind, snores like a steam train and is stubborn like I’ve never known before, but she is our family and we love her. She’s great for a cuddle on the sofa and the comedy value is priceless.