If you could start your own business, do anything you wanted to earn a living, what would it be? That’s the question that lingered as I read this book. Kate MacDougall did this, in a way. She left her job at Sotheby’s and decided to start a dog walking agency. She’d grown up with dogs, and thought she’d give it a go. This was before dog walkers became a dime a dozen and every park was full of them, so she was able to get started without training or experience. She started small, and slowly added new clients and their owners to her roster.
We follow her through her stumbling beginnings, through the mistakes she makes, through the relationships she forges with various dogs in her care and through her new hires and their unique approaches to caring for the dogs (or not, as the case may be). I found this to be the best part of the book. Each dog is as unique as their owner, and she must learn how to connect with them by using all kinds of unconventional approaches, including assigning someone else when all else fails.
I really enjoyed this unexpectedly funny and insightful memoir. It wasn’t what I expected – there’s a lot more hilarity and falling down (literally) than I expected, and it’s not a story of someone who had a solid business plan or even an inkling of what they were doing. Which made it all the more endearing to read. She felt real, a bit like I’d probably be if I ever tried a similar endeavour (though braver). And I also really enjoyed that as her life changes, so does her relationship with her work. It’s not static, there’s no point at which she’s done evolving.
The best bits were when things go spectacularly wrong. The time she hosted a dating event for single dog owners but the only man the women were interested in was her boyfriend. Or the time she takes care of a dog with a very particular diet… and feeds it spaghetti. With dramatic results. There’s a lot of these kinds of situations, and she writes them with perfect pacing and humour to really draw in the reader. I felt like I was having a drink with a friend and they were telling me about their work week, only even better.
If you’re a dog lover, if you’re someone who likes to hear about other people’s minor mis-steps to feel better about your own, or if you’re a young adult having trouble finding your way in the world and not sure which direction to take, this book will have a lot in it for you to connect to. I really enjoyed my time with it, and if MacDougall ever comes out with a sequel, I’ll gladly pick it up.
The irresistibly charming memoir of a young woman who started her own business as a dog walker for London’s busy, well-heeled dog lovers. A true love letter to London, dogs, and growing up.
Aside from the odd biter or growler, the occasional bolter and the one dog who didn’t want to walk, the canines were the easy part. They were a muddy, messy joy in all shapes, sizes and breeds, from greedy Labradors to pampered pugs and everything in between. It was the owners who were the real challenge, a giddy mix of the over-protective, the clueless, the eccentrics and the perfectionists. There is no rule book on how to navigate the obsessions of the London dog owner. A degree in human psychology would have been far preferable to any sort of animal qualification. Not that I had either…
In 2006, Kate MacDougall was working a safe but dull job at the venerable auction house Sotheby’s in London. After a clumsy accident nearly destroyed a precious piece of art, she quit Sotheby’s and set up her own dog-walking company. Kate knew little about dogs and nothing about business, and no one thought being a professional dog walker was a good use of her university degree. Nevertheless, Kate embarked upon an entirely new and very much improvised career walking some of the city’s many pampered pooches, branding her company “London’s Number One Dog Walking Agency.”
With sharp wit, delightful observations, and plenty of canine affection, Kate reveals her unique and unconventional coming-of-age story, as told through the dogs, and the London homes and neighborhoods they inhabit. One walk at a time, she journeys from a haphazard twentysomething to a happily—and surprisingly—settled adult, with love, relationships, drama, and home ownership along the way. But, as Kate says, “It’s all down to the dogs” and what they taught her about London—and life. – Goodreads
Book Title: London’s Number One Dog-Walking Agency
Author: Kate MacDougall
Series: No
Edition: Audiobook
Published By: William Morrow
Released: July 6, 2021
Genre: Fiction, Animals, Dogs, Finding Purpose, Career
Pages: 353
Date Read: May 8-9, 2023
Rating: 7/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.72/5 (2,499 ratings)