It's hats off to our guide dog heroes

A GUIDE dog needs to be ready for anything - including a really big hat. And where better to get pups used to extravagant headwear than Royal Ascot?

- 

Ahead of the racing bonanza later this month, a group of guide dog puppies visited Ascot Racecourse, Berks, to help with their socialisation training. Here Star Paws columnist CATHERINE LAMB shares more about their adventures...

IT'S not easy being a puppy. There's so much to learn. And human behaviour can be hard to understand.

For example, new research from charity Guide Dogs has found around three in five dogs might react with "fear and confusion" when they meet people with unfamiliar features. For one in eight, that includes anyone wearing an oversized hat.