LATE FEBRUARY

DAISY’S breeder hears of Claire’s loss. She owns Daisy’s nephew — who is the father of the new litter that has just been born at Amanda Allfrey’s home in Kent.

‘My friend suggested I might be interested in having one of them,’ says Claire. ‘That it would continue Daisy’s legacy — and cheer me up.’

When Amanda was told about the charity and the sad death of Daisy, she jumped at the chance to help, inviting Claire to her home to see the fiveweek-old pups.

‘Amanda was so kind — she said I could have not one but two of the puppies,’ says Claire. ‘I was immediately struck by a yellow boy called Tala, in much the same way as when I first saw Daisy.

‘He was lovely, very calm. And then I also chose Nel, a black bitch.’

The charity primarily relies on ‘working dogs’ such as Labradors, retrievers and spaniels because they have been bred to use their noses and to work alongside humans. Dogs such as these are able to identify odour concentrations of around one part per trillion — that’s the equivalent of one teaspoon of sugar in two Olympic-sized swimming pools.

As well as having dogs donated to it, the charity also takes on and trains rescue dogs.