b'books, movies, music & more.A REGULAR COLUMN FEATURING REVIEWS OF DOG-THEMED BOOKS, MUSIC & FILMLondons Number One Dog-Walking Agency With sharp wit, delightful observations, and plenty ofby Kate MacDougall dog and people personalities along the way, Kate grew herPublished by William Morrow, 2021 business through the ups and downs of life. She intertwinesKate is a British freelance journalist whose story about start- the stories of the dogs and their owners, and then the doging a dog-walking business took her out of a post-college walkers she added with her own personal growth. There isrut in 2006 and intoadulthood. Along the way in her jour- no rule book on how to nav-ney, she learned about business, more about people and igatetheobsessionsofthesubsequently herself. Londondogowner,writesKate.AdegreeinhumanDog walking has become a respectable business. A recent psychology would have beenarticle in The New York Times featured a story on New preferable to any sort of ani-York dog walkers making upwards of $100,000 per year. mal qualification. Not that IThe rise in pet ownership, combined with a boom in pet had either.care has turned dog walking more into a business venture,wrote Alyson Krueger in the Times piece. Not only for Thenarrativecelebratesstandard walks but also for more upscale services that cater dogsasthedelightfulgar-to city dogs like nature hikes, day trips to farms, training nish on the huge, messy stewcamps, and dog spas. ofurbanlife.Funny, poignant and honest, Kates charming memoir is a must-Dogs sneak up on you like readcertainlyforanyoneinthebusiness,anddefinitelythat,buryingpartsof anyone considering the dog-walking business. Uthemselvesdeepwithin Good Grief, On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafteryou,bitsthatareonly by E.B. Bartelsrevealedlater,oncethey Published by Mariner Booke, 2022are long gone. In full day- This may not be the first book to pick up when searchingforsomethinggoodtoread.Infact,Ikeptmovingitlight,whenyouaredoing around my office like a burdensome task I kept shovingKate, Mabel & Henry somethingquiteordinary, aside, until it fell off my desk, one morning. Cautiouslyoneofthesepartswillbedugupagain,quiteby flipping through the first couple of pages, I fell into therhythm of Bartels writing and could not put her book downaccident, and it will stop you in your tracks.until I finished it.Excerpt from Londons Number One Dog-Walking AgencyGood Grief is not the downer of a book its title conveys.Its not an easy profession, working 12-hour days, walking Richly-writtenandinformative,Bartelscoversthemany15 to 25 dogs each day and picking up poop. And if youre differentwayspeoplesaygoodbyetotheirpets.Whileconsidering adding dog walkers to your business to expand, understandably tender, it is an often funny guide that cele-now you have the people dynamics to consider. Anyone brates the imaginative and far-fetched ways we grieve, cele-considering getting into the business should consider read- brate and memorialize our pets.Good Grief is really noting Kate MacDougalls book. about grief as much as it is more about life and love.In 2006 after nearly destroying a precious piece of art at TheauthorweavesherownexperienceswithpetsfromSothebys, where she worked, Kate quit her job to set up her childhood to adulthood. Bartels has had a lot of pets in herown dog-walking business, improvising with each dog and lifetimedogs, birds, fish, tortoises. Each one has taughtdog owner. People who heard of her plans, including her her what any animal lover knows: to own a pet is to love amother, were not so sure it was a good idea. pet and in time, lose that pet.46 THE NEW BARKER www.TheNewBarker.com'