No one told me life was going to change when I got a dog. No one said much at all really. It’s not like having a baby, getting a dog. It’s a beautiful experience with no baby showers or push presents or any of that nonsense. I just drove to a motorway service station on the M25, handed over £160 and picked up a grubby third hand lurcher covered in dog sick. His name was Merlin then but I changed it that day to Wolfy.

Wolfy soon got used to his new name and my life became rewarding in ways I simply could never have imagined as a dog-free person. One day my life was OK enough and the next day it was sprinkled in poo bags and fairy dust made from the crumbled biscuits I kept in my pockets.

Getting a dog for me was life changing though. It showed me something my life was sometimes short of. It showed me joy.

My book, Lost Dog, is all about how first I saved Wolfy then how Wolfy saved me and made me a much happier person who drank a lot less wine. That could have been a good book in itself, I have so many beautiful moments and chuckles with my ‘beast’ friend every day.

But that was not my happy ending. One day my boy went missing and the second half of Lost Dog the book is about how I survived this awful time, where I looked, who I met and how I nearly lost the plot while trying to find my dog. 

You can read all about that if you buy my book, which I will sign lovingly, with my human scribble and a Wolfy does his paw print. 

I love talking to people about our lives with our doggies. We are all very different people, dog people, but we’re mostly pretty good sorts not like those cat people who can’t be trusted.

Since I got Wolfy in 2015 I’ve discovered a whole world of dog that I never knew about and it’s this world I’d like to talk to you about in my exclusive Dog Fest chat, The Eight Things Only Dog Owners Know.

I don’t want to give too much away otherwise I might not tempt you to join me in Bristol on Saturday and Sunday but here’s a taster: I start with other dog walkers and end with the utter pointlessness of life and in the middle we cover important subjects like cold poo, crisps, fat dogs, Gary Barlow’s Mum, David Beckham and how hangovers are different with a big furry lump at the end of the bed. So plenty of food for thought there. 

See you and your fabulous beasties soon.

Love and licks,

Kate Spicer and Wolfy ?