Pawsome!

Wildlife photographer Roger Caras said: “Dogs are not our whole life but they make our lives whole.” That statement is certainly true for those of you who responded to the March edition of Vineyard magazine which included a letter from Cherry Constable at VineWorks talking about the benefits of dogs in viticulture. Here are some of your pictures showing how dogs have become part of vineyard businesses in various ways.

VINEYARD NAME: Albourne Estate

DOG NAME: Bonnie Bonnie is so keen at welcoming people to the vineyard she was appointed to an official role! Here she is leading a tour... her coat says 'Albourne Estate Customer Relations Manager'.

VINEYARD NAME: Brook Hill Vineyard and Winery

DOG NAME: Mabel and Petra

Helping with the harvest.

VINEYARD NAME: Westwell

VINEYARD NAME: Astley

DOG NAME: Otso – a Finnish Lapphund

Quite an unusual breed, traditionally used for herding reindeer in Finland. Chris at Astley has one because his wife is Finnish. "Otso" means "Bear God" or "Spirit of the woods" in Finnish. They also famously look like teddy bears.

VINEYARD NAME: Rathfinny Wine Estate

DOG NAME: Buster

As the height of the season approaches, if you have a photogenic dog or cat please keep sending us your pictures as we will run this feature again in the future: vineyard.ed@kelsey.co.uk

VINEYARD NAME: Wyches

DOG NAME: Daisy

Head of security in the vineyard at Swanmore Hampshire. She is a six year old (same age as the vineyard) Patterjack and keeps rabbits pheasants and the odd badger away from the grapes (some of the time!)

VINEYARD NAME: Hidden Spring

CAT NAME: Bacchus and Pinot

Not to be outdone, you can also find cats among the vines.