When Julie brought Nikka home, she gave fellow lab Bentley a new lease of life, and now the shoe’s on the other paw.

Nikka is a smooth coat Labrador, cream-coloured. We have had her for 18 months, and she is a fantastic friend to Bentley who’s also 7. We got Nikka under sad circumstances as her previous owner sadly died, and to keep her in the family so the person's daughter could visit, we agreed to take her on.

Bentley our other Labrador has arthritis and has been struggling with it for some time. He was depressed and sad, no matter what we tried to cheer him up, including all sorts of medication both herbal and vet prescription.

Like a missing glove, they fitted perfectly

The day Nikka arrived she was a massive impact on us all. Bentley immediately wagged his tail and started to show off his toys snorting with delight. Like a missing glove, they fitted perfectly. They shared everything, slept together and played madly on pulley toys. Bentley was a new boy and Nikka settled so well.  

Only unfortunately in the last six months she has developed cataracts and is now virtually blind. Bentley now guides her, takes her toys, gives her lots of loving licks and will wait for her in the garden to see her back indoors as she slips on the decking.    

So Nikka helped Bentley but it turned and now Bentley helps Nikka – a perfect pair of loving Labradors. We are so lucky to have them and love them so much.

Joanna’s three furry friends proved the perfect tonic during a long rehabilitation from injury

Billy is 6, Henry is 1 and Percy is 9 months. My dogs are the best, as are everyone's to their families, but they really proved themselves this last year. In September I fell off my horse and broke my back, resulting in bed and sofa rest for 6 weeks and then some movement.

They snuggled in closer to comfort me

I am a very active person. I love walking the dogs and being at the yard with the horses and riding. During my 'cage rest' period, my dogs would keep me entertained. They would bring me toys – I'm sure for their benefit rather than mine – to play with, they would snuggle with me and they would guard me and growl at me if I tried to move. It was as if they knew I wasn't allowed to. If I moved they moved.

If I cried when the pain got too much, they snuggled in closer to comfort me. When I was allowed to start my rehab and walking, taking the dogs out was part of that, they were as good as gold, it was like they knew. They didn't mind the fact that I could only go a few steps each day, but always had a wag and never got stroppy. The dogs helped me through a really tough time and helped me mentally to overcome the trauma I was going through.

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.

Despite her sprightly nature, Lola still loves snuggling up with Elisabeth at the end of an action-packed day

Lola is a live wire who’s full of energy, like many Lurchers. We adopted her as a small puppy and she’s now nine years old.

She’s full of energy, like many Lurchers

We go most places together and she loves going to pubs, restaurants, cafes etc. She enjoys lying there on a mat, just being with us. She also loves cuddling up on the sofa.

Lola is a home girl. She currently shares her home with a relative’s Whippet, Lexi, who we look after during the day when her owner is at work. They get on well and race around together at a similar pace. Lola snorts and dreams when she’s asleep, so she twitches a lot, which is always funny.

Owner Paul has always enjoyed listening to Percy’s musical talents, and clearly he is not the only one!

Percy is a singer. He has several favourite tunes, but his go-to is A Kind of Magic by Queen. No matter where he is, he can't control himself, if he hears this song he must sing to it!

Singing at the top of his voice

A couple of years ago, we were on holiday in the south of France, and found a pub we liked to go to every evening. One night, Queen came on the jukebox and Percy was away, singing, or more correctly, howling, at the top of his voice – much to the amusement of the guests.

The bar owner cottoned on to this, so every evening at the same time he would turn on the jukebox and Percy would do his thing. One night, there was a Karaoke competition. Needless to say, Percy took center stage – which was an upside down beer barrel with a microphone placed in front of it – and started singing at the top of his voice. He attracted quite a crowd and won by a mile, and afterwards became somewhat of a local celebrity!

Christine is so proud of gentle Milly, who goes above and beyond for her fellow pets

Milly is so loving and friendly. I suffer with depression and she seems to know when I’m not feeling good and will come and put her head on my lap. She is also a real hero because she has donated blood to the pet blood bank on a regular basis since she was two years old – in September just gone she made her 16th donation!

She has donated blood since she was two

She loves holidays by the beach with her other half, Daisy, and she has lots of friends that come to our house for play days. She acts all brave when she thinks she has to, but in reality, she’s a big sissy and wouldn’t hurt a fly. Milly always greets people with one of her toys, although she does do a submissive wee wee at the same time, so I have to tell them to watch their feet! She also loves to swim in any water she comes across on our walks and likes to get very muddy, running through all the puddles.