London's No 1 Dog-Walking Agency: 'Charming, funny, heartwarming' - Adam Kay

Description

Kate Macdougall always knew her heart wasn't really in her job at Sotheby's. All around her, her friends were finding their dream jobs and whooshing up career ladders, fulfilled and glowing with success, flush with easy credit. After yet another breakage, this time of two precious porcelain pigeons, she had enough, and walked out of her comfortable, snoozy, back-office existence into the unknown world of the then-nascent gig economy. London's No 1 Dog-Walking Agency is the story of her next 5 years and the dogs (and people) she meets along the way. There's Winston, the Labrador who isn't allowed to get muddy, even after owners split up and then enlist Kate in their custody battle. There's the chic trio of Islington couples whose immaculately arranged dog walking schedule is thrown off when one of them gets off with the dog walker Kate has employed. There's Kate's long-suffering, dog-agnostic boyfriend Finn, and her mother, who is always on the alert for wedding bells and grandchildren. Amongst all this, there's Kate herself: trying to work out what she wants from life and when, and how to get there.

Kate is now a freelance writer, specialising in dogs, the countryside, lifestyle and interiors and write for Country Life, the Telegraph, Homes and Antiques, Horse and Hound and Period Living amongst others. She has three children and two dogs and lives in Oxfordshire with her husband.

A really lovely book for dog lovers * Jilly Cooper * 'Charming, funny, heartwarming and full of dogs - what more could you want?' * Adam Kay * This is a glorious romp of book starring a cornucopia of canines and their hapless humans. It tickles the funnybone and tugs at the heartstrings. Hugely entertaining. * Ruth Hogan, bestselling author of The Keeper of Lost Things * A joy from start to finish. I loved it! * Stacey Halls, bestselling author of The Familiars * It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me long for a dog! Incredibly moving, very funny and wonderfully wise, this is a brilliant debut memoir and a beacon of hope when we need it most. I shall be recommending it to everyone I know, dog-loving or otherwise. * Annie Lyons * Kate gives you a peek into London lives, where nothing is quite as it seems. I raced through like a dog in its favourite park. * Ericka Waller, author of Dog Days * "Top on my list of dog lover's must-reads. London's Number One Dog-Walking Agency positively fizzes with wit - and it's all the funnier because it's true. You literally couldn't make it up!" * Graeme Hall (The Dogfather) *