Meet two barking blondes: How love of dogs changed our lives
SITTING in the decadent lounge of a swanky, five-star hotel in Kensington, west London, four girlfriends are enjoying afternoon tea. It’s a twice-monthly chin wag for Anna, Jo, Molly and Matilda and sounds like a perfectly normal get together befitting a group of close friends, except that two of the girls are of the four-legged variety. Molly is a miniature bull terrier, Matilda a bulldog and Anna Webb, 47, and Jo Good, 53, are their respective pooch obsessed owners.
By: Sadie Nicholas
Molly the minature bull terrier shares none of man's bad habits
The two women have previously co-presented the world’s only radio show dedicated to dogs – BBC London’s Barking At The Moon – that attracted canine-loving celebrities including singer Bryan Adams and football manager Harry Redknapp to the airwaves.
They are also proof that a dog isn’t just man’s best friend but a woman’s too. Both admit they treat their pooches like the children they chose never to have and put them before any men in their lives.
“Anna and I met by chance in a dog-friendly café in Hyde Park almost five years ago and hit it off because we shared the same opinions on everything from our clothes and musical tastes to our dismissal of men and our absolute adoration of dogs,” says Jo, who lives with Matilda in Maida Vale.
“People look at us with a sigh because our dogs come first, careers second, fashion third, getting our roots done fourth. We’re ridiculous and we know it. As for men, dogs are so much better. Everything’s about food with dogs, while with men it’s all about sex. Dogs don’t bear malice or sulk or leave their clothes, books and musical instruments strewn across the floor.”
Though she laughs as she says this, there’s sadness behind Jo’s words because her partner of five years – affectionately known as Big George due to his height – died suddenly from heart failure in April 2011. The pair had raised Matilda as if she were their daughter.
“Matilda will be five in August and I never want anything to happen to her because she’s my last link with George,” says Jo. “Matilda made us a family and has been my saviour since he died. We didn’t have children so she’s all I have left of him.”
Meanwhile Anna chose to leave her own long-term partner when her pooch Molly was 10 months old and he could no longer cope with playing second fiddle.
“We’d been together five years but after getting Molly when she was eight weeks old she became the centre of my universe,” admits Anna, who lives in Islington, north London and is a broadcaster and dog expert. “I’d refuse to go to the pub or out for dinner with him if it meant leaving Molly. I didn’t want to be without her.”
According to the Oxford Dictionary what Matilda and Molly have become are “furkids”, a word used to describe the increasingly common phenomenon of dogs taking on the role of surrogate children, particularly among child-free women in their 40s and 50s.
Research has revealed that women produce oxytocin when they stroke their own dog, the same happy hormone produced by new mums when they breastfeed their babies. “I always believed there was no place for a child in my life and that I’d be a terrible mother, the kind who’d forgetfully leave it standing outside the supermarket while I drove off with the weekly shop,” says Jo. “So it was one of life’s greatest surprises when I found myself longing to care for and nurture another being.
“It all started when George and I went to New York where we’d sit in Union Square which was awash with people parading their bulldogs. I couldn’t take my eyes off them. They were like fat, cuddly, docile children who wanted to be loved.
“Back home George trawled the internet to find a bulldog puppy for me. We collected Matilda when she was 10 weeks old and I cuddled her in a blanket like a newborn baby as we drove home.
“Until then I’d been the archetypal career girl with a fabulous social life of non-stop parties. George and I ate in restaurants every night and would take off on a whim to the likes of Cannes and Paris. But Matilda took over our lives and we didn’t want to go anywhere without her. We began holidaying in this country and joined the Hyde Park bulldog group where we’d stand with other owners watching proudly as the dogs played, like parents observing toddlers in a nursery.”
Jo admits that had she met Anna before she had got Matilda she’d have thought her completely nuts.
“I always joke that Anna is half dog, in the nicest possible way,” she laughs. “But now I’m just as bonkers as she is.”
As a nation we lavish £5billion every year on our dogs and as you would expect Molly and Matilda are pampered pooches in the extreme. They enjoy mud wraps and pedicures at a pet spa in Harrods and have back massages from a canine chiropractor once a month.
They have holidayed in Paris, at the plush Four Seasons Hotel in Hampshire where there are menus just for dogs, and at the picturesque Bailiffscourt in West Sussex where staff bring bedtime biscuits for four-legged guests.
If you think that’s barking their dogs’ diet is more ridiculous. Molly and Matilda dine on cider vinegar with royal jelly to make their coats shine, organic fruit and veg, smoked salmon and minced chicken – everything they eat is raw because research has shown this could increase their life span by up to three years.
They are also proof that a dog isn’t just man’s best friend but a woman’s too. Both admit they treat their pooches like the children they chose never to have and put them before any men in their lives.
“Anna and I met by chance in a dog-friendly café in Hyde Park almost five years ago and hit it off because we shared the same opinions on everything from our clothes and musical tastes to our dismissal of men and our absolute adoration of dogs,” says Jo, who lives with Matilda in Maida Vale.
“People look at us with a sigh because our dogs come first, careers second, fashion third, getting our roots done fourth. We’re ridiculous and we know it. As for men, dogs are so much better. Everything’s about food with dogs, while with men it’s all about sex. Dogs don’t bear malice or sulk or leave their clothes, books and musical instruments strewn across the floor.”
Though she laughs as she says this, there’s sadness behind Jo’s words because her partner of five years – affectionately known as Big George due to his height – died suddenly from heart failure in April 2011. The pair had raised Matilda as if she were their daughter.
“Matilda will be five in August and I never want anything to happen to her because she’s my last link with George,” says Jo. “Matilda made us a family and has been my saviour since he died. We didn’t have children so she’s all I have left of him.”
Meanwhile Anna chose to leave her own long-term partner when her pooch Molly was 10 months old and he could no longer cope with playing second fiddle.
“We’d been together five years but after getting Molly when she was eight weeks old she became the centre of my universe,” admits Anna, who lives in Islington, north London and is a broadcaster and dog expert. “I’d refuse to go to the pub or out for dinner with him if it meant leaving Molly. I didn’t want to be without her.”
According to the Oxford Dictionary what Matilda and Molly have become are “furkids”, a word used to describe the increasingly common phenomenon of dogs taking on the role of surrogate children, particularly among child-free women in their 40s and 50s.
Research has revealed that women produce oxytocin when they stroke their own dog, the same happy hormone produced by new mums when they breastfeed their babies. “I always believed there was no place for a child in my life and that I’d be a terrible mother, the kind who’d forgetfully leave it standing outside the supermarket while I drove off with the weekly shop,” says Jo. “So it was one of life’s greatest surprises when I found myself longing to care for and nurture another being.
“It all started when George and I went to New York where we’d sit in Union Square which was awash with people parading their bulldogs. I couldn’t take my eyes off them. They were like fat, cuddly, docile children who wanted to be loved.
“Back home George trawled the internet to find a bulldog puppy for me. We collected Matilda when she was 10 weeks old and I cuddled her in a blanket like a newborn baby as we drove home.
“Until then I’d been the archetypal career girl with a fabulous social life of non-stop parties. George and I ate in restaurants every night and would take off on a whim to the likes of Cannes and Paris. But Matilda took over our lives and we didn’t want to go anywhere without her. We began holidaying in this country and joined the Hyde Park bulldog group where we’d stand with other owners watching proudly as the dogs played, like parents observing toddlers in a nursery.”
Jo admits that had she met Anna before she had got Matilda she’d have thought her completely nuts.
“I always joke that Anna is half dog, in the nicest possible way,” she laughs. “But now I’m just as bonkers as she is.”
As a nation we lavish £5billion every year on our dogs and as you would expect Molly and Matilda are pampered pooches in the extreme. They enjoy mud wraps and pedicures at a pet spa in Harrods and have back massages from a canine chiropractor once a month.
They have holidayed in Paris, at the plush Four Seasons Hotel in Hampshire where there are menus just for dogs, and at the picturesque Bailiffscourt in West Sussex where staff bring bedtime biscuits for four-legged guests.
If you think that’s barking their dogs’ diet is more ridiculous. Molly and Matilda dine on cider vinegar with royal jelly to make their coats shine, organic fruit and veg, smoked salmon and minced chicken – everything they eat is raw because research has shown this could increase their life span by up to three years.
Dog enthusiast Bryan Adams is a fan of BBC London's Barking At The MoonI always joke that Anna is half dog, in the nicest possible way...but now I’m just as bonkers as she isJo Good, presenter
The dogs each sleep in sumptuous beds (at £245 apiece) with handwoven blankets, wear rhinestone collars costing up to £300 each and both have extensive wardrobes – Matilda’s includes a pink tutu and a handstitched lime green cable knit jumper.
While Jo was a latecomer to this canine parallel universe Anna reveals that her obsession with dogs began as a child growing up with springer spaniels at home. “I spent a lot of time with my aunt who was well connected in the dog world and the highlight of my year was going to Crufts,” she explains.
“However as a busy career girl I hadn’t had a dog for years until my dad died 11 years ago and, bereft, I decided to get Molly.
“I soon discovered she offered companionship that my then partner and no man ever could. It’s been scientifically proven that dogs can read our facial expressions the way humans do and can smell when you’re sad or happy. They’re intuitive and sensitive, unlike men.
“Obviously there are certain things you get from a relationship with a man that you don’t get from a dog – I certainly miss sex sometimes! However with Molly I can wake up with greasy hair and spots on my chin and it doesn’t matter.”
Anna and Jo both admit that despite never having wanted children, they do now appreciate the maternal urge that passed them by in their 20s and 30s.
Jo says: “Only now through my relationship with Matilda and the way she loves and needs me do I understand the maternal instinct between humans and their children. I do think that had I understood this in my 30s I would probably have wanted children.
“The actress Jenny Seagrove once told me that when your dog reaches four they will never leave your side. It’s true. Matilda is my soul mate. I think she sensed that when George died. For a year I couldn’t say his name and would spell it out if talking about him otherwise Matilda would run to the door thinking he must be there.
“You’d be forgiven for thinking I’m barking mad and I probably am but Matilda came into my life and changed everything, not least my capacity to love another being. She and Molly have also taught Anna and me that life without a man can be fulfilling, loving, fabulous and the most barking mad, bonkers fun imaginable.”
While Jo was a latecomer to this canine parallel universe Anna reveals that her obsession with dogs began as a child growing up with springer spaniels at home. “I spent a lot of time with my aunt who was well connected in the dog world and the highlight of my year was going to Crufts,” she explains.
“However as a busy career girl I hadn’t had a dog for years until my dad died 11 years ago and, bereft, I decided to get Molly.
“I soon discovered she offered companionship that my then partner and no man ever could. It’s been scientifically proven that dogs can read our facial expressions the way humans do and can smell when you’re sad or happy. They’re intuitive and sensitive, unlike men.
“Obviously there are certain things you get from a relationship with a man that you don’t get from a dog – I certainly miss sex sometimes! However with Molly I can wake up with greasy hair and spots on my chin and it doesn’t matter.”
Anna and Jo both admit that despite never having wanted children, they do now appreciate the maternal urge that passed them by in their 20s and 30s.
Jo says: “Only now through my relationship with Matilda and the way she loves and needs me do I understand the maternal instinct between humans and their children. I do think that had I understood this in my 30s I would probably have wanted children.
“The actress Jenny Seagrove once told me that when your dog reaches four they will never leave your side. It’s true. Matilda is my soul mate. I think she sensed that when George died. For a year I couldn’t say his name and would spell it out if talking about him otherwise Matilda would run to the door thinking he must be there.
“You’d be forgiven for thinking I’m barking mad and I probably am but Matilda came into my life and changed everything, not least my capacity to love another being. She and Molly have also taught Anna and me that life without a man can be fulfilling, loving, fabulous and the most barking mad, bonkers fun imaginable.”
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