Slobber, puddle, chewing and trouble

Inspired by COUNTRY LIFE’s search for Britain’s naughtiest dog, illustrator John Holder tells Katy Birchall why he’s dedicated a delightful new book to mischievous mutts

- Katy Birchall

DOGS are wonderful, but they’re naughty, too,’ declares illustrator John Holder. ‘They do terrible things. They slobber, they sniff bottoms, they always seem to go to the loo at the wrong time and they tear things to bits—but, then again, there’s not much fun in a dog sitting quietly, is there?’

This summer sees the release of No Dogs on the Bed, a joyful and humorous collection of illustrations by Mr Holder, celebrating the misdemeanours of Man’s best friend and exhibiting scenes that will be embarrassingly familiar to the nation’s dog owners —from the inevitable destruction of furniture when a pampered pooch is home alone, to a gundog’s sudden development of selective hearing in the shooting field. Yet, in spite of the chaos and frustrations, the book captures the way in which we dote on these mischievous mutts, forgiving their foibles in return for their steadfast loyalty, unparalleled companionship and natural ability to make us laugh.

‘I thought it might be a good idea to have quotes from public figures accompanying the illustrations in the book, but almost all of them go on about how marvellous dogs are. It took a lot of hard work and research to find some that mentioned the other side to them,’ laughs Mr Holder.

I have 19th-century dip pens and thousands of nibs–I’ve collected them all my life