This week the Dogs Trust launched an online campaign encouraging parents to buy their children a pet dog to keep them from spending too much time glued to technology.

According to research carried out by the charity 42 per cent of dog owners say that their family does more exercise thanks to the family pet.

Dogs Trust has created a fun video highlighting all the activities that children can do with a dog, which are a lot more fun, and probably a lot less expensive, than buying a child an iPhone.

It is also encouraging people to use the #GetADog to share photos of themselves spending time with their dog.

Adrian Burder, chief executive of Dogs Trust, said: “No one remembers a day spent gaming, but a family day out making memories with your dog won’t be forgotten. The summer holidays are a fantastic time to introduce a new dog to your family because the kids are around to enjoy those special first months together.

“It’s time to put down the iPad and walk away from the Wii and… get a dog. Dogs Trust has 20 Rehoming Centre across the UK, full of rescue dogs ready and waiting to start making memories with you and your family.”

Why we love it: while Spy is a big fan of almost any shiny new gadget, Dogs Trust is right. There are still some things that living things do better, playing catch being one of them, and the charity’s campaign has found an entertaining way of raising awareness of dogs at its rescue centres. One of our journalists will be checking with the Dogs Trust that no iPhones were harmed in the making of the video.