#114 Looking for Puppy Love?
It’s all in the Dog House - UK.
Ginger photo by Joan Naidorf
When our kids were in grade school, we decided to bring toy poodle, Ginger into our lives. I asked my nine-year-old son what he loved most about our new puppy. He looked me straight in the eye, and explained, “I know I’ll always have a friend.”
A little tear might have caught in my eye.
Fast forward a few years to when I normally read and review books for fun, but a charming television show has absolutely stolen my heart. The Dog House - UK is a British TV program now showing on HBO Max. It is worth watching every doggone minute.
The producers placed cameras and extra staff into the Wood Green Animal Shelter in bucolic Cambridgeshire, UK. Hundreds of disowned or neglected dogs are brought to the facility each year. As the narrator promises, “In a quiet corner of the English countryside, there’s a place for those looking for love.”
Each episode of the show follows three different substories of families or individuals who present looking to adopt a pet. There are lonely ladies and traumatized gentlemen. Some of them are desperate and in urgent need of rescue by a non-judgmental and pure-hearted pup. Says one staff member,
“When a dog walks into your life, everything changes.”
The staff interviews the prospective new dog owners and based on their wishes and the variety of dogs that are currently residing in the shelter, they propose a match. Snippets of another interview with prospective adoptees often tell some heart wrenching parts of the story that are edited into the narrative.
We find out that the kids just lost their dad six months earlier. A retired police officer has PTSD and sits alone at home most of his days. A senior citizen craves some furry companionship after moving into a retirement home. Clearly, some of the people require rescue as much as the canines.
An enclosed “meeting pen” with multiple cameras and microphones was built to capture the moments when the folks first meet their furry new friends. Everyone is hoping for love at first sight after the dog is brought to the pen for the initial meeting. What could possibly go wrong?
Lots of twists and turns occur when some shy and skittish rescue dogs are suddenly pushed into an enclosed space with some strange and scary looking humans. They are walked up to the pen by the handlers who they already know and trust. An enormous amount of pressure is placed on the innocent dogs who have no idea why they are suddenly in this strange place. Some dogs shut down and some go bonkers.
When a match occurs, it is absolute magic. As one of the staff members says,
“It’s the best thing ever… watching people fall in love.”
Through the magic of editing, the narrative usually goes this way. A hopeful couple or family awaits. A dog enters and takes a long time to feel comfortable or to make a friendly gesture toward the new human. We feel a bit of tension. A breakthrough occurs and the stirrings of mutual connection and affection occurs between the people and the dog. The storytellers leave the outcome in question at the end of the meeting.
About five minutes before the end of the program, the story skips to “some time in the future.” We get to see if the humans took the dog home or not. The producers provide a personal glimpse of the canine and human lives changed by the pairing of the right dog with the right family.
Some tears of sadness mix with joy in the narrative. The homeless dogs must end up at Wood Green somehow and those stories are filmed and presented to viewers. There are neglected and injured strays who are found by members of the public. The dogs get immediate veterinary care, the grooming, and shelter that they need.
I learned about the breed of dogs called the Lurcher. The handlers say that this is the most common breed abandoned to this particular shelter. Lurchers have been used and misused in the British countryside for racing, hare-chasing, and gambling. When injured or not useful anymore to their owners, they are quickly abandoned.
There are some well-loved dogs who find themselves brought to Wood Green when they start a fight with another dog or bite someone. Pet owners die or fall ill and are no longer able to care for their pets. The look on the dog’s face as their person walks away from the shelter without them is just devastating. Keep the box of tissues nearby.
Mostly, there are corny dog-jokes and happy endings. A jaunty receptionist named Elisha greets the prospective pet parents as they enter the facility. The workers at the charity labor to get neglected dogs healthy and to retrain those with troublesome behavior. We get to know some of the other dog trainers as well as the animals. The lonely dogs develop strong affection for the handlers first, and viewers also get to see those lovely interactions.
The mission of the charity is to save and shelter every dog. They want to get every pooch, and their new person, to fall in love. Every so often, a paired set of dogs finds a family to join. The show is a delightful mix of reality story-telling and deft production. Even the catchy theme music will leave viewers whistling a happy tune.
For those looking for new show to watch, why turn to the stories of drug dealers with bloody and violent scenes that one can never unsee? Why watch the dramatization of stories where human beings are treated as utterly disposable? I understand that folks love excitement. We have the freedom to pick our own programs, but why choose these?
Instead, come on over for a visit to Wood Green. This is feel-good reality TV and who doesn’t need more of that in their lives? As one of the staff members says,
“I don’t think we should underestimate the power of having a dog in your life.”
It is pure puppy-love.
