Apparently the most common thing we say to our dogs is ’I love you’ - all year round, and not just on Valentine’s Day.

However, all too often we misinterpret a dog’s emotions and fail to understand their psychological needs - leaving them on their own for hours at a time, for example, when they are a social species.

We also often underestimate a dog’s need for olfactory enrichment and stimulation, perhaps because the human capacity to smell is comparatively poor. Dogs possess up to 300 million olfactory receptors, compared with six million in humans.

Did you know that dogs tell the time through their sense of smell and that they recognise each other primarily by scent, not by sight?

A dog can find out a great deal about another dog, in particular their health and sexual status, just by sniffing them.

Understanding a dog’s need to smell makes us into better, more responsible owners.

Although exercise is undoubtedly important, and an energetic walk has health benefits for both dogs and their owners, a ’smell walk’ is equally important.

If you need to keep your dog on a lead this type of walk can, admittedly, be a bit tedious because it means stopping at every lamppost and gateway so that your dog can work out what other dogs have passed by and how long ago.

Pulling a dog away from sniffing impacts on their ability to be a dog in the most fundamental way, as well as reducing their enjoyment of the walk.

So, please be patient.

Another way to stimulate dogs, and to see at first hand just what amazing noses they have, is to play scent games.

Hide treats around the house, under a newspaper or towel for example, and encourage your dog to find them.

You can also make scent games by placing treats inside sealed cardboard boxes - make a few holes in the boxes, and then leave your dog to work out how to get inside them.

We know that Jeff will be getting lots of appropriate stimulation and enrichment in his new home, as well as the opportunity to snuggle up in bed (as he is in the picture).

He’s waited a long time for experienced and knowledgeable new owners to come along and find him - 22 months in fact.

Since April 2019 the kennels team have worked hard to develop Jeff’s social skills around other dogs, his obedience, and his understanding of commands.

When ’long-term’ dogs leave us there’s a sense of jubilation that it’s their time, at last, to find a loving new home, tinged with a slight sense of loss because they have been such a special part of the kennels for so long, and they will be missed.

These mixed emotions are felt both by our staff team and our regular volunteers - Jeff was a firm favourite with many of them, and it was hard to say good-bye.

During these winter months both our rescue and boarding dogs keep warm with underfloor heating in their pens and cosy bedding; and at exercise time if they don’t like the wind and rain they can run about indoors in our barn.

But with so few people travelling to the UK and beyond our boarding kennels have been very quiet for the past 12 months.

We’d like to fill some pens and so we’re offering a ’three days for the price of two’ staycation deal until the end of April. The kennels team can be contacted on 851672, option 1 (please leave a message if there’s no-one to take your call straight away), or you can e-mail your booking inquiry on [email protected].