Paul helps us take the six dogs out into the large yard behind the shed to start our observations.

We tie the dogs to the fence in a line and I sit with a clipboard while Chelsea ties a number on a piece of card around each dog’s neck. Paul obviously hasn’t seen a trainer as good as Chelsea before, so he sits down to watch.

‘Let’s start with the food tests,’ says Chelsea.

She opens her training kit and takes out some parcels of different food she has brought from home.

‘Um, Chelsea, will your mum mind that you’ve brought roast lamb, sausages and half her vegetables?’

‘That’s one of the best things about having four huge, football-playing brothers, Juliet. If food disappears, I’m the last person anyone would suspect.’

I nod and look over at Paul. He shrugs his shoulders and frowns a little, but I’m sure he understands that animal trainers must put their animals first.

‘Paul, do you have any dry and canned dog food we could use, please?’ asks Chelsea.

‘Sure. We’ve got heaps in the shed.’ Paul walks off and soon comes back with some dog food.

‘Okay, let’s start with the dry food,’ says Chelsea as she puts a few biscuits in each dog’s bowl. ‘When I put them down, Juliet, could you make a note of what dog eats what food?’

‘Okay,’ I say, pencil ready.

She puts the bowls on the ground in front of each dog. I watch carefully as the dogs approach their bowls. Some of them are straight into the dry food, while others sniff and look away.

Chelsea holds up the next sample of food and does the same. She keeps going until the dogs have tried all of the different foods.

Hector and the labrador love being tested. They’re tied up on either side of the little sausage dog. As soon as they finish their food, they strain on their leads to reach his. The sausage dog looks very worried – maybe he thinks he’ll be mistaken for a meal!

I draw up a table in my Vet Diary.

‘From this test we can see who’s fussy and who isn’t,’ says Chelsea. ‘It’ll be really helpful when people enquire about the dogs, Paul. It would be terrible for someone to choose a dog they don’t fully understand.’

Paul nods. He has a slightly dazed expression on his face. He’s obviously never seen a world-famous animal trainer in action before.

‘Now let’s test some of their other skills and interests,’ says Chelsea.

The phone rings and Paul has to leave as Chelsea takes some balls and toys from her bag. She unclips all of the dogs and throws the tennis ball down to the other end of the enclosure.

The collie and the Dalmatian take off after it. The sausage dog runs the other way. The black fluffy dog just stares at the other dogs, and the fat labrador sits down and yawns. Hector spends his whole time trying to get as many pats from us as he can.

I take lots of notes as Chelsea continues. She hands the dogs a variety of chew toys that can have food hidden inside them. Only the Dalmatian and Hector show any interest, but Hector has no idea how to get the food from inside the toy. He drops it on the ground in front of him and starts to whimper. The collie is still jumping around waiting for the ball to be thrown again. And the labrador is stretched out and sleeping in the sun.

‘Well, this tells me quite a lot,’ says Chelsea as she looks down at my notes. ‘We can fill in their posters with a lot more detail now. I think the little dogs might suit older people and perhaps the labrador, too. I also think poor Hector has never been given much attention.’

Chelsea is interrupted when Paul calls out to us from the office, ‘Girls, the owner of the sausage dog and the black fluffy dog just called. It’s an old lady whose friend saw you walking them past the bowls club.’

‘Chelsea, you’re amazing. You said those little dogs might belong to an older person!’ I say, scooping up the sausage dog and giving it a hug. ‘Fancy them coming from the same home.’

We update the remaining dogs’ posters and then make some copies.

‘Let’s take them for another walk and put some posters up,’ I say. ‘Somebody’s got to want these lovely dogs!’