MEET Charlie and Teddy.

Last December the Dogs Trust took in 67 dogs who had all been living under one roof.

There was a variety of breeds, ages and sizes, including several mothers with their newborn puppies who needed immediate care.

Six rehoming centres, including Dogs Trust Shoreham, sprang into action, to provide vital medical attention they needed and a safe place to stay.

Dogs Trust Shoreham took a number of dogs from the emergency situation, including best friends Charlie, a chihuahua cross Boston terrier, and Teddy the chihuahua, both aged three.

Now they have found a new house together. New owner Anthea Klimaytys said: “We’re delighted to have Teddy join Charlie in our home.

“When we adopted Charlie in February we were so keen to adopt Teddy too but we were disappointed to hear that he wasn’t quite ready.

“Our huge thanks to Dogs Trust Shoreham for putting so much work into getting him back on his paws and ready for a new start, it’s been six months but it’s totally been worth the wait.”

Like the other dogs handed to the rehoming centre from this situation, they lacked in self-confidence and took their time to settle.

However, it was clear for staff to see Charlie’s cheeky character from the start.

Easily identifiable as the most confident of the bunch, he made enough progress with his training and confidence-building to be ready to find a home in February.

Anthea was keen to offer both Charlie and his best friend Teddy a home but Teddy’s confidence had not come on enough and he was unhappy to mix with people so was not ready.

The staff at the centre took their time with him, setting small but life-changing goals was progressively able to reach.

He began to find happiness in the company of people and dogs again, eventually feeling a lot more confident with a canine friend by his side.

He also showed signs of building a relationship with his handlers.