We are living through canine television’s golden (retriever) era. Idly flick through the channels and it’s odds on that you’ll land on a minor celebrity on a walking holiday, a documentary about air fryers, or a programme about dogs who either need a home or be better trained in the one they already have. For the Love of Dogs is the original, the top dog, and it remains the leader of the pack. The late Paul O’Grady hosted this look behind the scenes at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, for whom he was also an ambassador, from 2012 until his death last year. The title bore his name, but he was so dedicated to Battersea’s work that it would have made little sense to stop making what amounts to a primetime TV spotlight on the charity and its reach. Nevertheless, his are very big shoes to step into.
It makes sense, then, that Alison Hammond would be the presenter to take over. At this rate, all TV institutions will be under her stewardship. I’m looking forward to her inevitable stint as host of Antiques Roadshow, University Challenge, perhaps even a few months as landlady of the Queen Vic. What Hammond brings to Bake Off is warmth and amiability, and on a short, snappy, thoroughly wholesome documentary about rescue dogs, those are very good qualities to possess. With O’Grady, you had the sense that he liked dogs more than people – in an interview a few years ago, he told me as much – and that he was always on the verge of taking the dogs home with him. Sometimes, he did.
That, then, is the test for me: would I watch this and suspect that Hammond might be in danger of ending a day’s filming with a one-eyed nine-year-old spaniel called Nelly tucked under her arm? She doesn’t actually do that (at least not yet) but clearly, she adores dogs, and, crucially, they seem to really like her, and I do believe that dogs are often very good judges of character. I wonder if there was a special chemistry read for potential new presenters: an hour alone in a room with a nervous rescue mongrel, with no biscuits to ease them in. The doggy version of the white smoke for a new pope would have to be a wagging tail.
Hammond gets all the wagging tails. “This is the best day of my life,” she beams, as she manually burps a three-week-old puppy called Oscar. You’d be hard-pressed not to believe her, as she looks delighted. The number of abandoned puppies received by Battersea has gone up 50% since the pandemic, and poor little Oscar was found in a bin. He is so young that his full-time carer has to be up every few hours in the night to feed him. We get to see the first weeks of his life, as he tries food for the first time, and grows accustomed to where he’s supposed to go and do his business. “He might get up in an hour or so, have a poo, back to bed,” says another one of his carers. “What a great life,” sighs Hammond.
Elsewhere, we meet Nelly, the nine-year-old spaniel brought to Battersea after her owner fell ill and could no longer care for her. Nelly has a series of unusual problems down one side of her body, from a gammy eye to half a dry nose, and the vets soon discover that she has a rare case of nerve damage causing the trouble, and will require surgery. Later, we see her being taken for a walk around a busy shopping centre, and to a restaurant, in order to get used to her new line of vision, though try as Hammond might, Nelly is not all that up for recreating the scene from Lady and the Tramp.
Finally, there’s Bobby, a live-wire 18-month-old spaniel/terrier cross who tears around his play area with a pace that puts Max Verstappen to shame. He is a handful, and then some, but his behaviourist Stan explains that with all that energy and intelligence, he is a perfect candidate for a “working outlet”. He could take on prison or police work, or even airports. Bob, says Hammond, is getting a job.
There is a short, sweet, fittingly un-mawkish tribute to O’Grady at the start, showing us his Battersea memorial plaque and reminding viewers that, according to O’Grady, “all a dog needs is love”. As a tiny brown bundle of burps happily falls asleep on Hammond, you get the sense that she is more than capable of carrying the torch.
• For the Love of Dogs aired on ITV1 and is now on ITVX.
