I appreciate and understand my doggy so much more and look forward to growing our relationship every day. He would play with me in the garden; I would walk him; I would do training stuff with him…” Already at school she was desperate to work with dogs.

But mainly, her absolute, infectious delight in dogs is apparent on every page (there are surprises, too: I had no idea licking you can be a polite dog way of saying “go away”). Now Pip, a smooth-coated rescue collie, shares their east London home (plus two kittens found in a freezer, and Walter the rescue tortoise). I found the parts about play, really valuable and have started to try some of the games out with my three year old. If every new own read this before choosing a dog, there would be less puppy farms, less dogs in rehousing centers and less dogs being put to sleep. Some useful tips here to arm me - I was very purposeful in my dog management immediately after reading the book but as ever my determination is waning.Of Pip she says: “As a visual, he’s not a dog I would necessarily be drawn to,” but she took her own advice. The parts of the book where Glazebrook talked about the ways dogs communicate and play were really interesting and I've already adopted some of her tips with Lamb. Even considering the points above, section three and onward would be helpful to any one who wants to understand how to communicate with their dog, though it is most appropriate for puppy training.

I love it, I’m quite nosy and always have been, and that’s a massive privilege, but equally it is a massive responsibility. A lot of the focus is on choosing the right dog for you - considering the breed characteristics and energy level etc. It’s a whole sequence of love, learning and loss that has helped shape her philosophy: if we’re unique, strange individuals, so are dogs. We’d all love to know what our dog is thinking – if only it could tell us when it’s in pain, when it’s stressed, whether it’s fine being left alone for half a day or whether that makes it sad.Those courses were incredible for realising that we’re not all coming at it from the same place; we’re all coming at it from different angles.