Resilient rescue collie cross Holly has brought owner Kathryn 15 years of joy.

We brought our rescue dog Holly, a collie cross, home on 17 December 2005 when she was about one year old. She was very jumpy and bouncy and her tail wagged in a circle. 14 years later she's a grand old lady and has to cope with an awful lot.

She's the love of my life

She has fatty lumps which make it uncomfortable to lie down, she has a sebaceous cyst on her neck which she lets us clean and bandage, under sufferance, every day. She is losing her hearing but has adapted quickly to hand gestures instead. She has arthritis, she has episodes of vestibular disease and recently we have discovered that she has heart disease too. So these days she isn't so jumpy and bouncy, but she's still so affectionate and loving, faithful, gentle, placid, laid back and beautiful.

She'll still rip the post up if she gets there first and can be stubborn and contrary. She doesn't like the rain, and she's happiest exploring the garden, eating her tea or her favourite game sausages, sleeping or having big cuddles. She loves being pampered at the groomers, which is a real treat for her that she thoroughly deserves. She's a real battler and as long as she's got her favourite things – and all her medication – she's happy. She's the love of my life.

For owner Joanne and family, the addition of Dotty to their lives has been just what they needed

We got Dotty back in January as a rescue dog. Little did we know what an important little dog she would be.

In the morning you wake up to Dotty on your head!

I started to suffer from anxiety and was signed off work for four weeks and Dotty gave me the strength to go out and walk her. Then during lockdown she has been our rock. Our son is autistic and she helps him a lot.

Dotty is a sausage dog crossed with a Jack Russell so is full of energy, jumps runs and keeps us on our feet. Dotty does not like to sleep on her own so spends the night at the bottom of our bed but in the morning you wake up to Dotty on your head! Her favourite things to do are play with her toys and snuggle up to you.

Skip went through a lot before he was rescued, but now he’s living his best life with a new prosthetic leg and plenty of love from Carly

Skip is a rescued Spanish Galgo. We’ve had him for just over a year. He was found chained up in a derelict barn, with just bread rolls around him that he’d been eating. He was also missing the lower part of a back leg.

A charity took him on, but he was incredibly nervous and unsure around people. They think his leg had been caught in a snare trap – who knows how long he had been like that.

He walks on the new leg as if it was his own

The only options were to amputate the leg or have a prosthetic made. I’m a vet nurse and I work in canine rehabilitation, so we made the decision to try the prosthetic. It was made bespoke for Skip by an amazing company in America and he hasn’t looked back.

Now, he walks on the new leg all the time, as if it was his own. Though he’s still shy at times, he’s grown so much in confidence, and he helps us raise funds for the charity who rescued him.

Sprocket quickly became a treasured member of Carla’s family

Sprocket is our first dog. It took us a while to decide whether getting a dog was for us, but it was without a doubt the best decision we have ever made as a family. Sprocket is such a lovely boy – he's a working Cocker Spaniel so is full of energy and enthusiasm for life. He has a wonderful, sweet temperament and wouldn't hurt a fly. He loves his walks and taking him out in the countryside is an absolute joy.

He joins in with everything we do

As we’ve never had a dog before, we didn't realise just how much they become a part of your family. Sprocket plays a huge role in all our lives, and we couldn't bear to be without him. He joins in with everything we do,from kayaking to camping. He is very funny and has mad moments where he zooms around the house. He also likes to do his ‘happy howl’, which wethink is him telling us how much he’s enjoying life.

Heather has adopted many Miniature Schnauzer’s in her lifetime, but few live up to Bella Bear

We rescue female Miniature Schnauzer dogs from puppy farms. Over the past 20 years, we’ve rescued 16 – each with their own set of fears, neuroses, strange habits and physical problems after years in the most dreadful environments.

Two years ago, we suddenly lost a very young rescue who had a heart murmur. I looked online and saw that there was a nine-month-old Miniature Schnauzer in a rescue in Wales. On the hottest day of the year, we travelled 300 miles to get her and 300 miles to bring her home. Since that day she has delighted us with her youth, her love for everyone and her exuberance for life.

She is a true joy

She is always happy. She insists on cuddling and playing with the four much older dogs we have and they seem to forget their traumas and woes when they’re around her. She patrols the garden endlessly to ensure no pigeon, jackdaw, or rook lands. But she’ll give robins and blackbirds safe access. She insists on taking out a soft toy every time she goes into the garden. But she always leaves them there. She greets us with squeals of delight even if we’ve only been gone for five minutes. She sleeps between us on her own pillow, never moving, but pressing against my back as though to say ‘I’ve got you’. Everyone loves Bella Bear. Although we don’t seek a reward for rescuing these dogs, I believe she is our reward for looking after all our ‘damaged’ girls over the years. She is a true joy.

When their belongings unexpectedly disappear, Lucy and her family have come to realise that Scrabble is usually the culprit

We got Scrabble at the start of June this year, and since then, she has become this whirlwind of affection, fun and mischief in our lives. She loves stealing the laundry as you hang it on the line. We only know something has gone because suddenly she streaks past you and disappears – we call it being Scrabbled!

One time, we tried to put up guttering in our new shed, and at the key moment we found the connectors had been Scrabbled. Other times, we might go to put on walking boots, and one of them has been Scrabbled. Where do they go? Quite often in the wild part of our garden at the back, or if we are lucky, just in the dog bed!

She has become this whirlwind of affection, fun and mischief in our lives

Scrabble won’t let you not love her. She literally bounds into your arms and licks your nose if you are not cuddling her or playing. And then, just as suddenly, she is curled up asleep.

Tonight, I walked her and my other dog, Corry, down the lane from my house at dusk. Her delight and curiosity towards the deer, owls and squirrels was so heart-warming. She always loves sniffing and sometimes eating flowers, and she’ll come up for a quick stroke if she’s unsure where we’re going. I could never be alone or lonely with that little girl!