Diary of a Dog-walker by Edward Stourton

roller-bladingthrough Reception carrying his lunch) they have an open dog policy – the hounds mingle happily with the geeks ‘writing code’.
    America knocks our claim to be a dog-loving country into the proverbial cocked hat.
    In the United States, if you want a partner who shares your doggy enthusiasms, there is a special singles agency ( www.datemypet.com , if you are interested). If it is dog news you are after, the
New York Post
has a weekly page – with features on such matters as Canine Acupuncture.
Modern Dog
magazine can tell you where to find the Top Ten Dog Blogs. And if you are facing doggy bereavement, how about a ‘memorial pillow’, which allows you to ‘conceal the ashes in a discreet interior pouch so you can hold them close’?
    The bookshops in Washington and New York are stuffed with titles like
Come Back Como; winning the heart of a reluctant dog
. Redemption by doggy affection is usually the theme: the blurb for
A Big Little Life – Memoir of a Joyful Dog
tells how Trixie ‘taught Dean [Koontz, the writer] to trust his instincts, persuaded him to cut down to a fifty-hour work week, and, perhaps most important, renewed in him a sense of wonder …’
    It would be dangerous for this column to sneer – I have done my fair share of anthropomorphizing on my Kudu adventures. But sentimentality slips very easily into cruelty. This season in the United States ismarked by what are known as Howl-oween Parades, for which dogs are given absurd and demeaning costumes. Would I dress Kudu in a pink tutu? Or put him in a French maid’s outfit? I would not, and I worry about the dog ethics of those who would.
    And it is very nice to be home. Kudu and I do not really do ‘romps in the yard’, but we do enjoy sniffing around the garden together, working out what needs attention with the secateurs.
    Every dog should have his day at the workplace
    14 November 2009
    Kudu and I offer belated congratulations to Molly, a Welsh Springer Spaniel of our acquaintance, who has been named Westminster Dog of the Year. Her owner, the shadow international development secretary Andrew Mitchell, was said to be ‘overwhelmed’, and declared that he and Molly were ‘collecting the award on behalf of all dogs in Sutton Coldfield’ (his constituency). In this newspaper’s photograph of the event, Molly herself, gloriously confident in her beauty, looked as if she would have little truck with such shameless political opportunism.
    Young beauties can be powerful role models, and in her private life Molly provides a socially valuableexample: she is a working dog. I do not mean she picks up pheasants or herds sheep; far less am I using the phrase in the sense of ‘working girl’ (I happen to know that her chastity is a closely guarded treasure, because I have enquired on Kudu’s behalf). Molly is taken to work by her mistress.
    I reported in my last column that the Internet giant Google includes an open dog policy in the trendy working practices (volleyball at lunchtime, slogans like ‘You don’t have to wear a suit to be serious’ and so on) it deploys to encourage creativity. The time has come for this column to take a Public Position: dogs in the workplace should be encouraged as widely as possible.
    Some businesses can be given exemptions: you would not want Kudu’s wag in a glass factory, and I can see the need for the ‘Sorry, no dogs – not even cute ones’ sign, which has recently appeared in our local butcher (they make up for it by being very generous with bones). But the general presumption should be that dogs are allowed to come to work with their owners.
    Employers would quickly appreciate the impact on staff relations. It is impossible to have an argument in the presence of a dog – certainly a nicely brought-up one. If anyone in our household speaks with a raised voice, Kudu adopts an expression of distress,