Get Alfie’s name on the waiting list. Pop
Max and Lola down for membership. We
hear this new southwest London club is the
smartest place in town for socialising and
spa treatments. The decor is in an inviting
Scandi-meets-mid-century style, the furni-
ture created bespoke by the design house
Simpson Studio. But there will be no alcohol,
no bedrooms or bars, and each member
will dine alone in a “barn-style pantry”, to
avoid regrettable lunchtime brawls. This is
because WagWorks is a private members’
club ... for dogs.
The upsurge in dog ownership in the UK
over the past couple of years has been (excuse
the pun) barking. According to the latest Pet
Food Manufacturers’ Association research,
34 per cent of British households now include
a dog, and the canine population has risen
to 13 million, which is a million more than
in 2021. Pandemic puppies are the most
indulged generation of pooches yet, and as
owners start heading back to the office, guilt
has bitten deep. Demand has therefore built
for hip canine hangouts, where Oscar and
Daisy can meet up during the day.
“The dog has become so humanised,” says
James Netherthorpe, founder of WagWorks.
“You used to keep it in the backyard, now it
has moved up to become foremost in the
family. You care for it as much as you do
your children.” He has six children and two
dogs, so knows whereof he speaks. “A lot of
[London owners] get their dogs picked up
and shipped to outside the M25 to run
around in a field, but exercise is only one
component of what dogs need.”
Seeing a gap in the market for a new type
of club, Netherthorpe put together a vision
of what the affluent canine about town
might require to enrich his city existence.
In the US, where almost 40 per cent of
families have a dog, members’ clubs for
pets have been thriving for years. These
include the Soho Grand Dog Park in New
York — free to guests of the Soho Grand
hotel, $795 (about £635) per year for
non-guests — and the Dog Ppl members-
only park in Santa Monica, California (from
$80 per month). Part of the reason they
have a pawhold in these most aspirational
of areas is the networking power of the
dog. “Dogs are a great breaker of ice and
broker of introductions,” Netherthorpe
says. “You can always talk about someone’s
dog. We think WagWorks will become
quite a community for people. I’m not sureTOP DOG
Rustic dining huts, wellness rooms and treats
on tap – there’s been a recent boom in private
members’ clubs for dogs. Katrina Burroughs
(and her labrador, Robert) sniff around
London’s newest, and most stylish, offering
Photographs Ruth Ward34 • The Sunday Times Style