Vinny is our two year-old miniature schnauzer. As much as he’s an annoying terror, I wouldn’t actually change him for the world. I’d maybe try and get him out of the habit of wanting to go for a walk at 5am, but if that’s the price I’ve got to pay for the love of this little fur ball, then fine.
Before Vinny, I lived with another miniature schnauzer named Arnold – he was the love of my life, and I was absolutely devastated when I lost him in 2020. The tears still come when I think of him.
I first experienced that pain when I was 17 years old and our family dog – Jackson, named after Michael – left us.
As little kids, my sister and I were desperate for a dog. Whenever we were asked “what do you want from Santa?”, year on year we would reply “a dog”.
Eventually my mum and dad relented, and Jackson was presented to us in a whiskey box on Christmas morning. We named him Jackson because at that time we both loved Michael Jackson. We were absolutely thrilled.
I cannot not remember a time without him in it. He’s in every family photo – we went on so many dog-friendly holidays so that he could come along. We look back and think he deserved way more walks and attention than we gave him. He died when I was 17.
When we lost Jackson, it wasn’t my first experience of grief; I had lost grandparents, including my nana to Alzheimer’s which was particularly harrowing. But it still takes you aback at just how much losing a dog affects you.
People who’ve had dogs in their life will completely understand the grief, but there is a large percentage of people that just don’t get it. A dog is so dependent on you, and whilst they might just be there for a small part of your life, you are their entire life, and when you lose them, it’s horrible.
But with time, the loss gets easier, and in 2009 we welcomed Arnold into the family. I was 21 at the time and two years into my music career. We had 11 great years with Arnold and I still think of him almost daily.
He also liked to chase any animal that he saw. One time, I took him for a walk when I couldn’t really be bothered. So I just went out in my slippers and thought, I’ll just let him off the lead at the field so I don’t need to go around myself. The next thing I know, there’s a deer running by, it’s being chased by Arnold, and I have to go in the muddy field with my slippers on.
For a few years after Arnold left us, people would often ask if we were going to get another dog, but I felt like I was so far away from that. It was upsetting, as though people expected the dog to be replaceable – to me it felt like it was Arnie or nobody. The house did feel empty without Arnold in it, but I just didn’t think I could give another dog the love that I had for him. But I now realise that you’ve got so much space in your heart for another dog – they don’t replace each other.
In 2022, I was on a pretty hectic two-month long international tour, and I’d had a terrible cold the entire time, so I felt pretty miserable. It was December and I was looking forward to getting home and having a very quiet Christmas.
The final gig of the tour was in Munich. While waiting to go on stage, I had an alert from my home camera system that someone was in the back garden.
When I brought up the live feed, I was confronted by my then heavily pregnant sister waddling around the grass in the dark. I couldn’t quite understand what the hell she was doing, until I finally spotted a tiny little miniature schnauzer shaped fur ball at her feet. My first thought was blind panic – my quiet, relaxed Christmas had disappeared in front of my eyes.
I texted my husband: “Why is Katy outside with a puppy?” He was able to reply on his smartwatch, two words – “it’s ours”. My husband had never had a puppy before and was talked into it by my mum and sister. Suffice to say, he had quite the shock doing the first few days on his own with Vinny!
I hear people talk about how hard it is to get their steps in, but here I am at already 7,000 steps in at 8am. I’ve also been awake for three hours and had to deal with insane barking at a paper boy this morning, but we’ll gloss over that.
All this being said, when I got home it was so lovely to have a dog in the house again. The noise of his little feet on the tiles, the toys strewn all over the floor, giving up an entire cupboard in the kitchen for treats, and having someone who is so happy to see you every single time you walk in the door.
I can’t think of not having him there now. I can deal with the pain of dogs, if it means having these beautiful little, demanding divas in my life.
This week I have been…
Travelling… This week has been crazy for travelling! My job can be very, very hectic especially when one is releasing a new album, and I’m in the middle of that right now. So, this week, I have been all over the place; I have been on a small tour doing acoustic album launch gigs (record shop performances to audiences of 500 to 1,000 people) with two of my band mates.
We’ve been up and down the country doing shows in Kingston-on-Thames, in Leeds, in Liverpool and two in Dundee – and then I finished it off with a secret set at the TRNSMT festival in Glasgow yesterday. Afterwards I hopped on a plane down to London for Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch show and the day after went to Switzerland for another big festival performance. Non-stop!
Reading…I recently finished a book called Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I always like her books but this one didn’t grab me as much, sadly. But, I’m very excited because I’ve just started the brand new Lisa Jewell book Don’t Let Him In!
I absolutely love Lisa Jewell; I got her first book Ralph’s Party as a free gift with a magazine when I was going on a family holiday when I was roughly 14 years old. I read it, loved it, and I have since read all her books. She started off with romantic comedy novels, but these days she’s pivoted into thrillers. She’s excellent at it and I’m really enjoying this one so far.
Watching… I have just finished watching the third series of the infamous Korean TV series Squid Game. It can be quite tough to watch – it is not for the faint-hearted and not necessarily one to watch around others on a plane as it’s very gory.
But I have absolutely loved all three series. I think the cast are always incredible and (no spoilers but:) it ended with a very interesting plot twist, shall we say. If you’ve seen it, you’ll know what I’m talking about! I’m looking forward to seeing where they take it next…
Amy Macdonald’s new album Is This What You’ve Been Waiting For? is out now on BMG