I’m constantly amazed by dogs’ many talents. In this issue, we’re featuring  some dog detectives, incredible  canines who can find lost pets using  their tracking and scenting skills (‘The super sleuths’, page 34). Then there are those multi-talented gundog breeds. 

Contributor Dr Jacqueline Boyd is the owner of five Cocker Spaniels and in this new series she’ll be exploring how tapping into these dogs’ innate skills — think sense of smell and ability to locate and retrieve items — can help improve your dog/owner bond, even if your dog is very much a pet and will never be required to ‘work’.

Many of the gundog breeds are very popular as companion dogs because of their friendly natures and trainability, and acknowledging their active minds, desire to use their noses, and to retrieve, can help to keep them physically and mentally fulfilled. Find out more on page 18 (‘The gundog in your living room’).
This issue we’re also updating you on pet theft and what you can do to keep your dog as safe as possible; the benefits of crate training, provided it is introduced properly and not misused; and one owner’s story about getting a puppy during the pandemic — definitely a very different experience (page 24).

And don’t miss the moving tribute from one reader to his dog of a lifetime, the talented, intelligent Dobermann Jackson, who saved a puppy from drowning when he fell into a river, and achieved so much in his short life, including his Kennel Club Good Citizen Awards, and raising thousands of pounds for charity (page 38).