Paul O'Grady and a dog once won a race at Crufts after he cheated by secretly taping a pooch treat to his watch.
Paul O'Grady and a dog once won a race at Crufts after he cheated by secretly taping a pooch treat to his watch
Ali Taylor, head of behaviour at London's Battersea Dogs and Cats Home - which Paul was an ambassador of, and where he filmed 11 series of his ITV show 'For the Love of Dogs' - has told how the late star, who passed away last week aged 67, became "adored" by the crowd after his inventive idea.
In a piece for The Sunday Times newspaper, she wrote: "One of my favourite memories of him was at Crufts.
"He decided that he would run the agility course with a Staffie - a breed that was getting a bad reputation at the time. He ran very badly.
"I said, beforehand: 'You can’t bring treats in - it’s not allowed.' I was strict. But Paul had a secret dog biscuit attached to his watch.
"He was running around the course over all the agility jumps. After that, all the Staffie community just adored him - and they are a tough crowd."
Ali also revealed Paul once tried to convince the late Queen Elizabeth - who died in 2022 aged 96 - to adopt a corgi when she was on a visit to the animal rescue home.
She added: "Paul had a close relationship with the late Queen over their love of dogs. When she came to Battersea he was trying hard to persuade her to take a corgi.
"He also had a brilliant relationship with [Queen Consort] Camilla - she has two Jack Russells from Battersea."
Last week, Camilla, 75, told how she had been left "deeply saddened" by Paul's passing.
Sharing a photo on Twitter of them together during an event at Battersea, a post on the royal family's Twitter account read: "Deeply saddened to hear of the death of Paul O’Grady, who worked closely with Her Majesty in support of @Battersea_, providing lots of laughter and many waggy-tailed memories."
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