Meet TV’S favourite Dogfather
Graeme Hall on his distinctive style and bestselling book
His Instagram describes him as “the most dapper dog trainer on TV”, and we couldn’t agree more. Cravat-wearing Yorkshireman Graeme Hall has his work cut out with some of the nation’s naughtiest pups on Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly, and, with the huge influx of people becoming new puppy parents over the COVID pandemic, he’s barely had time to breathe over the past year. But the 54 year old has just about had time to write his first book, All Dogs Great And Small: What I’ve Learned Training Dogs. From working with celebs like Denise Van Outen and Leigh-anne Pinnock (and their dogs, of course) to tackling a pooch with a penchant for lemon drizzle cake, Graeme has seen it all…
Your book basically broke Amazon, how did that feel? You think about it in your wildest dreams, but I’d never written a book before. I write a column for a magazine, but it turns out there’s quite a difference between a 700-word column and a 70,000-word book! I just hoped people would like it. What made you decide to bring the book out? After training over 5,000 dogs, I thought it was time to share what I’d learned. But the other answer is, [because of the pandemic] I couldn’t do any TV work and
I couldn’t go to see private clients. I’d already talked to the publishers about writing a book, and I was thinking, “When on Earth am I going to get time to do it?” And, then, there was the time to write. You’ve become an absolute TV icon – do you get recognised in the street? It comes with the territory. I do get recognised quite a bit, but quite often, it’s my Land Rover. It’s done 190,000 miles and it’s still going strong. It’s quite distinctive. And I suppose I am, too, so people do spot me. They’re always lovely, it’s nice to have a laugh and a joke. You do have quite the distinctive look. Are you always super-smart? Well, my pyjamas are made of tweed and I wear a cravat to bed and in the shower, obviously… No, I do have casual stuff, but it’s kind of smart casual. I do own the odd hoodie, for schlepping about in the house. I am currently wearing a shirt and a pair of jeans. One of the waistcoats that I use a lot on the telly was bought for me by my sister ten years ago as a Christmas present. That’s what set me on to the waistcoats.
All Dogs Great And Small by Graeme Hall (Ebury Press, £16.99) is out now
‘I suppose I am quite distinctive’