Clare Balding
Clare Balding is a well-known and respected figure in sports broadcasting. Beyond her impressive career in journalism and presenting, she is also a passionate advocate for dogs and their well-being.
With her love for animals and dedication to raising awareness about responsible pet ownership, Clare has become an inspiring role model for dog lovers everywhere.
Born into a family deeply connected to horses and dogs, Clare Balding’s affinity for animals blossomed at a young age. Growing up in a household that valued pets’ companionship and joy, Clare developed a profound love for dogs. Her upbringing laid the foundation for her lifelong devotion to animal welfare.
Clare’s career in sports broadcasting began in the late 1990s, where she quickly established herself as a knowledgeable and engaging presenter. Her expertise and passion for sports, combined with her warm and approachable demeanour, endeared her to viewers across the globe.
Recognising dogs’ significant role in our lives, Clare has used her platform to raise awareness about responsible pet ownership, adoption, and animal welfare. She firmly believes that dogs deserve to be treated with love, care, and respect, and she has been a vocal advocate for their rights.
Clare has highlighted the importance of training, socialisation, and proper healthcare for dogs through her television and radio programmes. She has interviewed experts in the field, shared heartwarming stories of rescued dogs, and promoted the benefits of adopting from shelters and rescue organisations. Her genuine passion for dogs shines through in every segment, inspiring viewers to become more responsible and compassionate pet owners.
Beyond her broadcasting career, Clare has actively participated in fundraising events and campaigns for various animal welfare organisations. She has lent her support to initiatives aimed at improving the lives of dogs and has been involved in projects that promote responsible dog ownership in communities.
Clare’s dedication to promoting the welfare of dogs has made a lasting impact on both the dog-loving community and the general public. Her ability to educate, entertain, and inspire has positively changed how people view and care for their canine companions. Nothing more so than the 20 years she has hosted Crufts.
I had the absolute pleasure of talking to Clare recently, during which my respect and admiration for her grew even more, if that were possible. Her standing in the celebrity world is not at all apparent. Clare is warm, completely down to earth, engaging, and so knowledgeable.
What inspired you to write The Isle of Dogs? Your dog Archie, who is sadly no longer with us, featured quite a lot in there, didn’t he?
I think really missing Archie and wanting an excuse to hang out with other people’s dogs was pretty key. But also, that general curiosity of wanting to find out more about how dogs fit into our lives and the advancement of what assistance dogs can do all played a part.
How long did it take you to research The Isle of Dogs? It’s certainly quite in-depth, isn’t it?
Yes, there’s a lot of stuff I knew about or knew superficially about because of doing Crufts for such a long time. I had also done some research here and there for the odd article. But when I started doing Lost Dogs for Channel 5, it piqued my interest again in terms of people’s incredibly strong connection with their dogs and why they are so distressed if they go missing.
I discovered some interesting historical stuff at the Kennel Club library. They were so excited and so helpful because I think for them, getting outside interest that isn’t niche, that doesn’t make them feel like they have an odd interest, that this is something that many people are interested in, meant a lot to them.
I thought it was a subject that had lots of strands and that I would enjoy researching. I probably started about, oh gosh, a year and a half before the book was published. There’s stuff in there that I knew when I was a kid, and there’s a bit of memoirey content to it. That kept my attention, the fact that it was so varied. It kept my interest all the way through.
How long did it take you to write? By the way, can I just say I love your style of writing? There are no exclamation marks, which is so refreshing.
I try not to use them. Funnily enough, I fed back to a friend of mine who had written a book, and I said, when you do the redraft of this, take all the exclamation marks out. My view is that the reader does that for themselves. You don’t need to do it for them. You can occasionally do it in speech to emphasise that someone is saying something in a certain way.
Once I start a book, I write quite quickly. It’s just getting started that I have a problem with. I’m trying to write a novel at the moment and you know, it’s not a case of when will you finish, it is more a case of when will you start. Once I start, I can be quite quick, but my writing has to slot into everything else I do. So, through the summer, when I’m very busy with sport, I won’t write at all, but then I’ll try and do it in the spring or the autumn, and obviously through the winter when I have more time.
When you start writing, are you quite disciplined with it?
I wish I was more disciplined. I think I was with my first book, My Animals and Other Family; I was really good because that had a long lead time. After I’ve written a few, I realised that it makes a huge difference for the publishers if they do have the book early. They can start planning things with booksellers and have marketing ideas based on the actual text, whereas I did it quite late with this one.
Was working with Alice fun? Not all couples can work together. I loved her last word; I thought was a great piece to end with.
In the audiobook, she reads that chapter. I think her voice and her perspective are pretty important in all of this and emphasise the absolute crux, which is that having a dog as part of your life is a decision for the whole family. However big that family is. Everyone’s got to agree, and everyone is responsible.
What was your favourite part of the book?
Going to Dogs For Good, and seeing the puppy training there, I really enjoyed that. I’ve had a fair bit to do with them since.
I think because it was such a long trip, and I had planned it a long way out, going up to the Orkney Islands to see Steve and tying that in with The Ramblings. We did three programmes up there – that was such a remote area, and you really understand the benefit of good training and the necessity for good recall in conditions even when a dog can’t hear your voice. But I think that as an experience, it was pretty special.
I also enjoyed seeing Pat Whitehead and the Spaniel puppies; that was lovely.
Spending time in the Kennel Club library was another. If only you could study this at university, it’s so interesting; ‘The history of the world through dogs’ would be so much better than ‘The history of the world through war’.
I really liked the piece on responsible dog ownership. In the last edition, we talked to Fiona Baird about puppy farms. Can we do more as owners? Do you think introducing the dog license will reduce the number of dogs?
I’d like to know what percentage of the 13 million dogs in the UK currently need a home.
Numbers have never been bigger in rescue centres, and that’s a real concern. You hear stories about people buying what they think is a Pomeranian puppy, and it turns out to be a fox cub. I think we have got to make the point that buying puppies online is not an acceptable transaction. You shouldn’t be clicking a button, getting live animals delivered to your door, meeting somebody in a car park or motorway services, or being handed a puppy in a box. That is a red flag.
I think what it needs – and this is where technology can help rather than hinder – is proper certificates for people who are selling dogs. That’s where the license needs to come in. Now, it doesn’t have to be a complicated thing that the government needs to get involved with; it’s a certification, a stamp of authority, and a standard.
The trouble is that only the government can do that; that’s the sad thing.
Yes. Tracing the illegal sellers or breeders is really important. We had a case that came up because of Lost Dogs, with a stolen dog that was found on a farm. We know, and they have since been arrested, that there was a big case of dog theft and hoarding. Dogs were being kept in terrible conditions. It took ages to get the RSPCA and the police to coordinate and make the raid. It took months, by which time, without a shadow of a doubt, dogs had died. So, it’s the speed of action and the knowledge that when you ring a certain number, action will be taken.
Maybe a body needs to be set up?
Well, quite. I think the frustration among responsible dog breeders and owners is the naivety of new dog owners who think, ‘The more I pay, the more reputable it will be.’ Actually, the opposite is true. So, one almost needs a guideline as to what puppies cost, and you don’t go above this.
I hear you, and I think any responsible dog owner would agree, but the problem is getting it off the ground. We need someone such as yourself to head it.
We have got a second series of Lost Dogs on Channel 5, which I think will be a more all-around programme about dog care, dog behaviour, dog training, etc. I think that’s what it’s going to be, at least, that’s what I want it to be, rather than just dogs who have been lost or kidnapped. While that is a good subject, one would hope that it’s not inexhaustible, whereas dog behaviour and nutrition, fitness, all of those things are constantly interesting, with different examples, different methods, and different products. I think there’s a way of using that programme as a way of campaigning, as we’ve seen with the Post Office drama (Mr Bates vs The Post Office). Television is very powerful. I think the Kennel Club’s got to take the lead; it can’t be reactive, and it can’t say, ‘Well, this isn’t anything to do with us because it’s not to do with registered breeders’. If you are the body that is responsible for dog ownership in this country, then that’s what you are. It will need funding, of course, but it shouldn’t need that much funding because if you’ve got the power to issue fines, for example, you’ve got a way of recouping money.
It’s a technology-led programme that needs to be put in place because we know how strong the naming and shaming punishment is. You look at basic things we buy or use daily that get a review online. You don’t go to places if it’s got a bad review.
Maybe if you could suggest a body, it might come together itself.
Yes, hopefully, you can talk these things into existence. I don’t know what is in place in other countries and whether other countries have this problem. I’d also like to see stricter vetting of dogs that are imported from abroad. To take the XL Bully case, to slap a ban on a dog breed that is pretty hard to identify and totally misunderstands the nature of dogs – it’s not the breed that makes them aggressive, vicious, and violent; it’s what they’re taught to be. The biggest dogs in the world can be the softest and cutest. I really worry for people with big dogs because most ignorant folk don’t know the difference between an XL Bully and a Bull Mastiff, for example. It’s not a massive leap for people to be judgemental and weary of big dogs with broad heads. It doesn’t solve the problem because it doesn’t go to the source of the problem.
But again, if we had a governing body, these sorts of things could be dealt with properly. The people who are issuing the bans are not dog people. No, they are not.
Crufts is upon us. How much research do you need to do after hosting for 20 years compared with the first few?
What you learn in the early years is how the show works, and basic things like it is “best of breed”, it’s “best in show” – you learn how to speak the language. You’re always learning about different breeds because there are 220 of them. There’s always something that you didn’t know before, and I love exploring new breeds. For example, the Lagotto Romagnolo that won last year. What a gorgeous, gorgeous dog that is. I bumped into someone when I was rambling yesterday, and I said, “Ooh, has that got a bit of Lagotto in it?” and he said yes, it’s a cross between a Lagotto Romagnolo and something else. We went on to have a chat about Orca, the bitch that won last year.
It becomes a favourite hobby of mine to spot different breeds and to be able to say when I’m walking around in life, ‘Ooh, is that a Papillon?”. I occasionally get caught out; for example, I met a Portuguese Water Dog the other day, and I’m not very good at identifying them. Although I love them, I just never quite know what it is. There are so many crossbreeds, so it’s really difficult.
They say never to work with children or animals. Have you ever had any disasters in the studio?
Oh yes, I once tried to line up all six categories of Daschunds, and everyone who had a Daschund watching was going, ‘You stupid idiot, that’s never going to work…’ and of course, it didn’t.
I had a Boxer who literally sat on my head for most of one link. It was so sweet. Lots of things like that. Suddenly a dog will get uncomfortable and leave, and so you know, my policies are always just let it go because the owner is always there in the studio. I don’t want to hang onto a dog and get it all panty.
Because of Isle of Dogs, there’s a lot I’m going to suggest for Crufts this year. I try not to get too involved in what people think will win because I get to interview the group winners live at the end of the evening, and I want them to tell me about their dog. I really enjoy it, and I love live television. I love the unpredictability of what happens with dogs as well in the studio or, indeed, in the arena.
Crufts has grown much bigger in the last few years on the Flyball, and what’s interesting about that is the community aspect of it. This is a big travelling group of people who come together because they love their dogs, and their dogs love Flyball. You’ll suddenly hear a story about someone who was really struggling for whatever reason, and the Flyball family is the thing that’s picked them up and held them close. There’s a story in the book about that.
Dogs can give you not just exercise and company but they give you a social circle. They give you a purpose and a life outside, and I think that is a real gift. The programme has become much more intensive in terms of TV time.
You’ve got a fantastic series of children’s books. Do you draw on your childhood experiences? I’m particularly thinking of The Girl Who Thought She Was a Dog.
Yes. In the biography of my children’s book, instead of saying, ‘Clare Balding presents television and sports’, and all that, I thought that kids want to pick it up and think, “Who is this author?” So I just put, ‘For most of her childhood, Clare Balding thought she was a dog’.
A little girl put her hand up at a literary festival and said, “Clare Balding, Clare Balding, can I ask you a question? When did you realise you weren’t a dog? Did you work it out for yourself, or did your parents have to tell you?” It was so literal and sweet that I thought there was a short story in that, and I should take it to its absolute extreme.
Have you and Alice decided on your next breed of dog?
Well, I do love the Portuguese Water Dog, but I also like the idea of a Schnauzer, or indeed, a lot of people suggest a Schnoodle because you are getting a wonderful combination of temperament, intelligence, coat, and all those things. This is a long-term plan. In a sense, we are building a new house to create an environment that will be perfect for our two cats to live in comfort and not in fear and to have the space, time, and environment to train a dog.
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today.