In this new History Hit series Mike Loades embarks on a hands-on exploration into the amazing history of dogs - from giant Newfoundlands to skilled sheep dogs, delightful chamber dogs to resilient carriage dogs. It’s a fascinating story of how humans and dogs have lived and worked together for thousands of years - and in each period certain dogs stand out.

In this first episode Mike follows the pawprints of history back to Tudor times, an era when you could find dogs both on the hunt and in the laps of courtiers. With his active approach to history, and using an original Tudor dog manual, Mike tracks down a fugitive with bloodhounds (just as the Earl of Essex did in Ireland), he uses poodles to retrieve crossbow bolts from a lake, tests a spaniel ‘on point’ with a gosshawk and discovers the sad tale of Anne Boleyn’s pet dog, Purkoy.

Come with us as we take a dog’s eye view of Tudor England.

And, coming soon, we have the story of Dogs in the Age of Revolutions.

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To find out more about the great contributors (human and canine) that took part in this programme, you can visit the following websites:

Coakham Bloodhounds
https://www.coakhambloodhounds.org.uk/

Viadua Working Poodles
https://www.viadua.co.uk/

Tod’s Workshop
https://todsworkshop.com/

The Maltese Club
https://www.themalteseclub.co.uk/

The Papillon Club
https://papillonclub.co.uk/