Clare Balding thought she was a dog when she was young and even ate dog food

10 March 2024 , 19:52

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'As long as you don’t go around sniffing each other’s bottoms, it’s fine' says Clare (Image: Channel 4 / Nick Eagle)

Crufts star Clare Balding believed she was a dog when she was little – and she even ate dog food.

The presenter and animal lover grew up in a house filled with dogs, and became best buddies with her mum’s boxer, Candy.

“I thought she was my mother,” Clare said of the friendly pooch. “She was always next to me and she was at my height. That was my mum as far as I was aware, until I started speaking. Then I went through quite a long stage of believing I was a dog.

“Dog food can be quite dry, actually, and the wet food isn’t so nice, so I went off the food element. Essentially I’d learnt to wag my tail and roll around and be like a dog.”

Defending her antics, she went on: “It’s not a bad thing to think you are. Dogs have got it quite sussed. As long as you don’t go around sniffing each other’s bottoms, it’s fine.”

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Clare was chatting to comic Jack Dee on their canine-themed podcast, Oh My Dog! and Jack admitted he, too, had sometimes sampled dog food.

“I was partial to the odd Bonio,” he admitted. “They’re quite tasty. As a kid, occasionally, I would have one.”

Clare, who will soon get another dog after the death of her much-loved Tibetan terrier Archie, has hosted Crufts for 20 years, which the Kennel Club celebrated with a treat for her.

“This cake appeared with a little model of me and a dog on the sofa,” she cooed delightedly.

Sadly for Clare, it wasn’t made from Pedigree Chum.

Ashleigh Rainbird