Whether she’s stealing tea towels or picking up things they drop, Zayat is always making Mandy and her family laugh with her cheeky antics

Zayat is such a character. She does so many funny things, and always makes us laugh. She’s also very clever, so if we drop anything, even if it’s tiny, she’ll find it, put it between her lips and look at us. Then we’ll ask her ‘what’ve you got?’, and she finally spits it out so we can see what it is.

We call her the phantom tea towel snatcher

We can hide anything, say ‘go find it’ and she would sniff it out. She often understands what we’re saying, so she knows people by name, and can read our body language. If we need cheering up, Zayat will always make us feel better.

She loves to take our socks off and our hats. We call her the phantom tea towel snatcher as she will steal the tea towel at any opportunity. We don't even realise she’s taken it as she does it so craftily, then she runs off with it so proudly. Life would be very dull without Zayat – she’s a one off!

Sally was told Bob couldn’t survive his cancer, but now he’s seven years old and still thriving

Bob had to have one of his rear legs amputated at the age of three, following an osteosarcoma. He then underwent chemotherapy, and we were told that at best he would have 12-18 months. Bob didn’t hear that though. He is the most amazing dog with the most amazing zest for life.

He makes us laugh with his antics every day. On his daily walks with his mum, granny, great-uncle and nephew, he gambols like a lamb and throws himself down on the ground, rolling just for the fun of it.

He seems to know if we are down and will come and place his beautiful head on our laps, looking at us with his wonderful deep eyes. It’s as though he knows we helped him when he needed us and now, following my cancer diagnosis, he’s helping me, too.

He adores everyone he meets, and they adore him, often not noticing he only has three legs. He has been an inspiration to owners of other dogs with the same condition, some of whom have made it like him and others who haven’t. Life with Bob is a better life.

Life with Bob is a better life

Grief is an overwhelming thing. But, by simply being by her side, Hero has been an invaluable source of comfort for Julie.

Hero, a rescue dog, came into my life after my husband died. I took him in initially to be part of the family and to train up at agility.

But dealing with the death of my husband then took its toll on me and I now find life very hard to deal with. There is so much that I feel unable to do without support – and that support is coming from all my dogs, but especially Hero who is constantly by my side.

It’s almost as if we’re healing each other

He reads my emotions and responds in the way he feels best. He is now on the way to becoming my emotional support dog. He was such a mess when I took him on, it’s almost as if we’re healing each other. With his help, I hope to get back some normality and I eventually want to see him compete with the rest of our dogs in agility.

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.

Both Jo and her daughter feel eternally grateful for the happiness Oreo has brought into their lives

Oreo is an absolute pleasure to share our lives with. She recently lost her best friend Willow, a Bernese Mountain Dog, and it has taken her a good six months to get back to being her usual happy self.

Love certainly is a wet nose, slobbery kisses and a wagging tail

She’s my daughter’s best friend and they are inseparable. The bond between them is beautiful and we struggle to imagine what life will be like without her. We know that as a giant breed she’s now an old lady, but the joy she brings us all is beyond words.

We feel truly honoured to have Oreo in our lives and we treasure every day we spend with her. Love certainly is a wet nose, slobbery kisses and a wagging tail.

Denise is constantly amused by how much her dog Meg loves playing with her football-themed toys

It took our dog, Meg, about nine years to be able to play with a toy without totally destroying it. She adopted her first cushion football after rooting through a charity bag of toys and claiming it. We’ve since bought her plenty more because she becomes so attached to them. She plays with them, takes them out into the garden and even falls asleep next to them!

She becomes so attached to them

Meg is not amused when we put her toys in the wash. We’re only forgiven when she can get them back out quickly, sometimes before they’re fully dried. The funniest thing about her obsession is that if you say football, she goes and finds one! She’s a great dog who’s always filling our days with laughter.