Dash: Bitch of the Year

"‘Bed.’ I patted it. ‘Bed.’ We both looked at the bed like schoolkids staring at the Rosetta Stone. I crouched down and curled up in the bed, with my legs hanging out and my head over the side. Dash gave an enormous yawn, as if wanting to know what on earth I was doing. I asked myself the same question. It was going to be a long afternoon."

Andrew had always wanted a dog – something you could mould into the perfect playmate. Tail going like a windscreen wiper, tongue a pink strip, wet-nosed, bright-eyed – what boy wouldn’t want such a force in his life? But a man of thirty-seven, just about to propose to his girlfriend? And an ex-racing greyhound?

Dash is a heart-warming memoir about the adoption of a champion greyhound and her transformation into ring bearer at her new owner’s wedding. ‘Dash’ is far from perfect, but that’s half the fun. The novelty of a man trying to organise a wedding is the other half.