# For the Love of Dogs

For the Love of Dogs with Alison Hammond (previously Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs) is a multi-award winning British reality documentary television series set at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, presented by Paul O'Grady until his death in 2023, and by Alison Hammond from 2024. Under O'Grady it won numerous awards. The show is made by MultiStory Media and premiered on ITV on 3 September 2012.

## O'Grady era

O'Grady commented that he had wanted to do such a show for years and that he took to it with an "enthusiasm that surprised everyone except me". Although scheduled to initially film at the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home for six days, he stayed as a volunteer for six months. At the end of the first series, O'Grady was invited to become an ambassador for Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.
Following O'Grady's death, the episode titled A Royal Special, which originally aired in December 2022, was repeated on ITV on 29 March 2023.
In October 2023, Battersea announced that they would be naming a new veterinary hospital after O'Grady, and a "tribute fund" set up in his honour would go towards "life-saving and transformative medical procedures" for dogs and cats which need specialist care and treatment.

## Format

Throughout the series, members of the staff talk about the dogs in their care, including head vet Shaun Opperman and head of canine welfare training Ali Taylor. Each episode showcases a few of the dogs who come to Battersea as strays or because their owners can't look after them anymore, and follows each dog's progress through the home.

## Transmissions

| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes | Presenter |
| 1 | 3 September 2012 | 15 October 2012 | 7 | Paul O'Grady |
| 2 | 9 May 2013 | 4 July 2013 | 8 | Paul O'Grady |
| 3 | 4 September 2014 | 20 November 2014 | 11 | Paul O'Grady |
| 4 | 8 October 2015 | 10 December 2015 | 8 | Paul O'Grady |
| 5 | 1 September 2016 | 27 October 2016 | 8 | Paul O'Grady |
| 6 | 19 October 2017 | 14 December 2017 | 8 | Paul O'Grady |
| 7 | 31 October 2018 | 19 December 2018 | 8 | Paul O'Grady |
| 8 | 23 October 2019 | 11 December 2019 | 8 | Paul O'Grady |
| 9 | 7 April 2021 | 8 December 2021 | 8 | Paul O'Grady |
| 10 | 29 December 2021 | 13 March 2022 | 10 | Paul O'Grady |
| 11 | 13 April 2023 | 28 September 2023 | 8 | Paul O'Grady |
| 12 | 16 April 2024 | 21 May 2024 | 6 | Alison Hammond |

## Episodes
### Series 1 (2012)

| Episode | Original airdate | Viewers (millions) |
| 1 | 3 September 2012 | 3.53 |
| 2 | 10 September 2012 | 4.20 |
| 3 | 17 September 2012 | 3.97 |
| 4 | 24 September 2012 | 4.05 |
| 5 | 1 October 2012 | 4.10 |
| 6 | 8 October 2012 | 4.21 |
| 7 | 15 October 2012 | 4.43 |

### Series 2 (2013)

| Episode | Original airdate | Viewers (millions) |
| 1 | 9 May 2013 | 5.04 |
| 2 | 16 May 2013 | 5.25 |
| 3 | 23 May 2013 | 5.08 |
| 4 | 6 June 2013 | 4.44 |
| 5 | 13 June 2013 | 4.81 |
| 6 | 20 June 2013 | 4.83 |
| 7 | 27 June 2013 | 5.23 |
| 8 | 4 July 2013 | 5.09 |

### Series 3 (2014)

| Episode | Original airdate | Viewers (millions) |
| 1 | 4 September 2014 | 3.45 |
| 2 | 11 September 2014 | 3.42 |
| 3 | 18 September 2014 | 3.57 |
| 4 | 25 September 2014 | 4.19 |
| 5 | 2 October 2014 | 3.95 |
| 6 | 16 October 2014 | 4.10 |
| 7 | 23 October 2014 | 3.92 |
| 8 | 28 October 2014 | 4.10 |
| 9 | 6 November 2014 | 4.40 |
| 10 | 13 November 2014 | 4.11 |
| 11 | 20 November 2014 | 4.53 |

### Series 4 (2015)

| Episode | Original airdate | Viewers (millions) |
| 1 | 8 October 2015 | 3.46 |
| 2 | 15 October 2015 | 3.84 |
| 3 | 29 October 2015 | 3.86 |
| 4 | 5 November 2015 | 3.98 |
| 5 | 12 November 2015 | 3.85 |
| 6 | 19 November 2015 | 3.89 |
| 7 | 26 November 2015 | 3.67 |
| 8 | 10 December 2015 | 4.01 |

### Series 5 (2016)

| Episode | Original airdate | Viewers (viewers) |
| 1 | 1 September 2016 | 4.51 |
| 2 | 8 September 2016 | 4.12 |
| 3 | 15 September 2016 | 4.28 |
| 4 | 22 September 2016 | 4.67 |
| 5 | 6 October 2016 | 4.45 |
| 6 | 13 October 2016 | 4.82 |
| 7 | 20 October 2016 | 4.98 |
| 8 | 27 October 2016 | 4.66 |

### Series 6 (2017)

| Episode | Original airdate | Viewers (millions) |
| 1 | 19 October 2017 | 4.59 |
| 2 | 26 October 2017 | 4.60 |
| 3 | 2 November 2017 | 4.52 |
| 4 | 9 November 2017 | 4.96 |
| 5 | 16 November 2017 | 4.24 |
| 6 | 30 November 2017 | 4.75 |
| 7 | 7 December 2017 | 4.10 |
| 8 | 14 December 2017 | 4.70 |

### Series 7 (2018)

| Episode | Original airdate | Viewers (millions) |
| 1 | 31 October 2018 | 5.12 |
| 2 | 7 November 2018 | 5.15 |
| 3 | 14 November 2018 | 5.09 |
| 4 | 21 November 2018 | — |
| 5 | 28 November 2018 | — |
| 6 | 5 December 2018 | — |
| 7 | 12 December 2018 | — |
| 8 | 19 December 2018 | 5.12 |

### Series 8 (2019)

| Episode | Original airdate | Viewers (millions) |
| 1 | 23 October 2019 | — |
| 2 | 30 October 2019 | 4.73 |
| 3 | 6 November 2019 | 5.14 |
| 4 | 13 November 2019 | 4.87 |
| 5 | 20 November 2019 | — |
| 6 | 27 November 2019 | — |
| 7 | 4 December 2019 | — |
| 8 | 18 December 2019 | 4.90 |

### Series 9 (2021)

| Episode | Original airdate | Viewers (millions) |
| 1 | 7 April 2021 | 4.63 |
| 2 | 14 April 2021 | 4.21 |
| 3 | 21 April 2021 | 4.24 |
| 4 | 28 April 2021 | 3.96 |
| 5 | 5 May 2021 | 4.20 |
| 6 | 24 November 2021 | 3.66 |
| 7 | 1 December 2021 | — |
| 8 | 8 December 2021 | 3.91 |

### Series 10 (2021–22)

| Episode | Original airdate |
| 1 | 29 December 2021 |
| 2 | 5 January 2022 |
| 3 | 12 January 2022 |
| 4 | 19 January 2022 |
| 5 | 26 January 2022 |
| 6 | 2 February 2022 |
| 7 | 9 February 2022 |
| 8 | 16 February 2022 |
| 9 | 23 February 2022 |
| 10 | 13 March 2022 |

### Series 11 (2023)

| Episode | Original airdate |
| 1 | 13 April 2023 |
| 2 | 20 April 2023 |
| 3 | 27 April 2023 |
| 4 | 4 May 2023 |
| 5 | 7 September 2023 |
| 6 | 14 September 2023 |
| 7 | 21 September 2023 |
| 8 | 28 September 2023 |

### Series 12 (2024)

| Episode | Original airdate |
| 1 | 16 April 2024 |
| 2 | 23 April 2024 |
| 3 | 30 April 2024 |
| 4 | 7 May 2024 |
| 5 | 14 May 2024 |
| 6 | 21 May 2024 |

### Specials

| Title | Original airdate | Viewers (millions) |
| Christmas 2012 | 25 December 2012 | 4.02 |
| Christmas 2013 | 25 December 2013 | 4.28 |
| Christmas 2014 | 25 December 2014 | 2.98 |
| Christmas 2015 | 25 December 2015 | 3.12 |
| Christmas 2016 | 25 December 2016 | 3.97 |
| Best in Show | 3 January 2017 | 3.42 |
| Christmas 2017 | 25 December 2017 | 4.25 |
| For the Love of Dogs – India | 26 April 2018 | 3.49 |
| For the Love of Dogs – India | 3 May 2018 | 3.23 |
| For the Love of Dogs – India | 10 May 2018 | 3.45 |
| For the Love of Dogs – India | 17 May 2018 | 3.27 |
| Christmas 2018 | 25 December 2018 | 3.85 |
| Christmas 2019 | 26 December 2019 | — |
| Back in Business | 15 July 2020 | 3.82 |
| What Happened Next | 29 July 2020 | 3.38 |
| Christmas 2021 | 25 December 2021 | — |
| A Royal Special | 19 December 2022 | 3.28 |

## Awards

For the Love of Dogs has won a number of awards. The show has won two consecutive National Television Awards for 'Most Popular Factual Entertainment Programme' in 2013 and 2014. In 2014, it was nominated for a third National Television Award, this time under the category 'Most Popular Factual Programme', but lost out to Gogglebox. It won again in 2019 after beating Gogglebox for the first time in five years, and then in 2023.
The show was also nominated for a BAFTA for 'Best Features Programme' in 2013.
| Year | Group | Award | Result |
| 2013 | National Television Awards | Most Popular Factual Entertainment Programme | Won |
| 2013 | Broadcasting Press Guild Awards | Best Factual Entertainment | Nominated |
| 2013 | BAFTA Television Awards | Best Features Programme | Nominated |
| 2013 | TV Choice Awards | Best Factual Entertainment & Lifestyle Show | Won |
| 2013 | TV Times Awards | Best Factual Entertainment & Lifestyle Show | Won |
| 2014 | National Television Awards | Most Popular Factual Entertainment Programme | Won |
| 2014 | Broadcast Awards | Best Popular Factual Programme | Nominated |
| 2014 | TRIC Awards | Factual Programme | Won |
| 2014 | TV Times Awards | Favourite Factual Show | Won |
| 2015 | National Television Awards | Most Popular Factual Programme | Nominated |
| 2015 | TRIC Awards | Factual Programme | Nominated |
| 2015 | TV Choice Awards | Best Factual Entertainment Show | Nominated |
| 2015 | TV Times Awards | Favourite Factual Show | Won |
| 2016 | National Television Awards | Factual Entertainment | Nominated |
| 2016 | TRIC Awards | Factual Programme | Nominated |
| 2016 | TV Choice Awards | Best Factual Show | Won |
| 2016 | TV Times Awards | Favourite Factual Show | Won |
| 2017 | National Television Awards | Factual Entertainment | Nominated |
| 2017 | TV Choice Awards | Best Factual Show | Won |
| 2017 | TV Times Awards | Favourite Factual Show | Won |
| 2018 | National Television Awards | Factual Entertainment | Nominated |
| 2018 | National Television Awards | Special Recognition | Won |
| 2019 | National Television Awards | Factual Entertainment | Won |
| 2020 | National Television Awards | Factual | Nominated |
| 2021 | TV Choice Awards | Factual Show | Won |
| 2021 | National Television Awards | Factual | Nominated |
| 2023 | TRIC Awards | Factual Programme | Won |
| 2023 | National Television Awards | Factual | Won |