For Julie Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton, dogs have always been part of the family—so many, in fact, that their latest children’s book, Shy, is dedicated to “all the dogs we’ve ever loved (too numerous to mention!).” The 35th book the mother-daughter duo has written together, Shy was inspired by Andrews’s real-life poodle of the same name, who had a habit of singing along as Andrews warmed up her voice during her My Fair Lady years. “She almost went down the scale with her little howling,” Andrews recalls. “I was staggered.”
In the book, out now and illustrated by Eva Byrne, fact gives way to a charming bit of fiction: A timid shelter dog is adopted by an equally shy pianist, only to discover her voice as he practices at home. When he brings her along for a concert at Carnegie Hall, Shy slips out of the dressing room and joins him onstage—to rapturous reviews the next morning (“Canine Cantata Captivates Carnegie,” reads one particularly delightful headline).
For Dogue, Andrews and Walton Hamilton sat down to talk about the real Shy—and the many other dogs who have wandered through their homes, dressing rooms, childhoods, and family life over the years.
Vogue: I’d love to start at the beginning. What are your earliest memories of dogs growing up?
Julie Andrews: I had two corgis, which I loved very much. They were our family dogs and they were very smart and very sweet—one just a little sweeter than the other, but they both were adorable. The elder one would go off in the day and trot down to the village and say hello to neighbors and friends. Then he’d trot back. You’d see him coming along the side road where our house was, and we never worried about him because he always came home.
Emma Walton Hamilton: My first memory was a little toy poodle. She was white with one black ear and her name was Q-Tip. Not long after that, when my mom and my stepdad joined families and our family grew exponentially, suddenly we had three dogs. We had a little Scottie who was Mom’s and mine, and on my stepdad’s side of the family there was an old, huge Harlequin Great Dane.
Andrews: In his childhood, Blake [Edwards, Andrews’s second husband] and his mother used to raise Great Danes, and they were very special Danes. His mother bred them and Blake loved them. They won at Madison Square Garden and all kinds of things.
Walton Hamilton: We’ve had so many dogs. We had several Labs when I was in my teens. We had a great yellow Lab named Honeybun. She was one of the great dogs of all time.
Andrews: And then I eventually grew to enjoy having Scotties and also the West Highland [Terrier, or Westie]. At one time I had three dogs, all terriers.
Walton Hamilton: And then you kind of segued back to poodles.
Andrews: I don’t know why!
Walton Hamilton: Well, Button came.
Andrews: Button was a gift and became as beloved a dog as could be. She just passed last December. She was a little white one with little black eyes and a black nose, hence the name Button. She was, as far as can be, unconditional love. Adored us all and was a real part of the family.
Walton Hamilton: Her happy place was in Mom’s lap.
Andrews: Or Blake’s sometimes.
So dogs really are part of the family? They’re in the house, they’re in the beds?
Walton Hamilton: Oh, they are 100% part of the family. In the house, in every part of our lives.
Shy is your 35th book together. How did writing this one feel different from your previous collaborations?
Walton Hamilton: Each book is its own experience, of course. With this one, the fun of it was figuring out what to keep from the true story and where to have fun creatively with it. If you’re writing about a singing dog, you can’t just have it be privately at home during singing practice. She has to somehow end up at Carnegie Hall or somewhere, onstage. I think what happened was that we found some old photographs of Mom and Shy, and that triggered the memory of Shy singing and prompted the idea. The combination of her name and the fact that she sang helped the story tell itself, in a way.
What can you tell us about Shy the Dog?
Andrews: Shy was my first poodle. I was in My Fair Lady, the musical. I’d finished my long run on Broadway and then the show was brought to London. During that time I became married to my first husband [Tony Walton] and I very much wanted a little dog. It was pre-Emma, and apparently that’s a very good sign—having a dog is a very good sign that you’re going to have a baby sometime soon. At least that’s what I was told. She was a very sweet little dog, and we called her Shy because her kennel name was indicative of that. It went on and on, as you know kennel names do. But we called her Shy, and she was a honeybun. She really was. It was an amazing thing, I tell you. I kept thinking, here I am practicing my voice and getting ready for the show—was I hurting her in any way? Was I hurting her ears? But no, she just wanted to be by the piano with me.
Walton Hamilton: She wanted to sing along!
Andrews: She almost went down the scale with her little howling. I was staggered. I really was. But of course I couldn’t continue practicing because she kind of dominated everything after that. So I put her outside the room and closed the door, and then her little nose would appear under the door and you’d hear the muffled attempts at singing. It was so adorable. It really was. When I went to the theater, I would always practice at home and warm up my voice, and that’s when she sang. But I took her to the theater every night, mostly, and she was perfectly happy in her little box. People were in and out of the dressing room all the time, so I don’t think she felt the need to sing along.
Walton Hamilton: Unlike the dog in the book, the real Shy was very well-behaved and stayed in the dressing room.
Andrews: Yes, she did.
Was Shy unusual in accompanying you to work? Did any of your other dogs come to sets or backstage?
Andrews: Shy was the only one that I would take with me to the theater because in those days, my husband and I lived in a small apartment and we didn’t want her to ever be lonely. She was a very loving and sweet companion in those days. Actually, I should mention that Shy herself was the only dog that actually came to America with us. That must have been for Camelot, when I was doing Camelot on Broadway. She traveled very well. Then she went back, and this lovely little Shy had puppies. My grandparents adopted one of her puppies.
Walton Hamilton: And my godmother. So Shy’s family DNA is spread quite nicely.
Do you know if any of them inherited Shy’s musical talents?
Andrews: I’m unaware that they did. They were sweet dogs. She had a very endearing nature. She really did. She was happy, loyal, absolutely no problem at all. Other than she would sing.
Walton Hamilton: And who can blame her?
Beyond Shy, were your dogs generally part of your working life, or did they stay at home while you were on set?
Andrews: Mostly it depended on where we were living. Did we have a big enough space for the dogs, and were they happy in the garden? I don’t think I really took any pets to the set because I was so busy myself.
Walton Hamilton: Also, we usually had more than one, and so we wouldn’t exclude one.
Andrews: No. And they had each other. And the coming home! Our lovely Lab called Honeybun—the minute we arrived, she’d pick up a toy or a ball or even a piece of wood or anything and come and drop it at your feet, like, “I’m bringing you a present.” She was adorable.
How were dog-watching duties divided in the house?
Walton Hamilton: We had a big family so we shared the responsibilities, and they were constant companions. If we went swimming, Honey went swimming. If we went on the beach, they came on the beach.
Andrews: Even if we were watching a home movie or something, they’d come and lie beside us. It was just companionship.
Walton Hamilton: Remember the Thanksgiving turkey?
Andrews: The complete leftover carcass! Honeybun came in and lay beside me and my husband. We were watching some movie or other and had some guests over. This sweet dog was just lying at my side, groaning. I said, “What’s the matter with her? Is she just loud because she’s happy to be lying with us, or what?”
When she got up, I saw that she had an enormous belly. I thought, “What has she been up to?” We got back into the kitchen and she’d eaten the entire carcass. It was a great worry because, you know, the bones can splinter and ruin the dog. And of course it was Thanksgiving. There were no vets that were really open except one emergency vet who told us to feed her cotton ball sandwiches in a lot of bread, as much as we could to coat her tummy. She didn’t eat for about a week after.
She had quite the Thanksgiving feast.
Andrews: She sure did. It was up on a high counter, but Honey could just put her paws up there. I guess she found it.
Walton Hamilton: She was motivated.
How did your many dogs come into your lives?
Andrews: I think at one time one felt the need for that companionship. Other times maybe the kids wanted a dog.
Walton Hamilton: They came all different ways. Sometimes from a breeder, sometimes as a gift. Button was a gift.
Andrews: Button was a gift.
Walton Hamilton: My sister and my stepfather gave Button to Mom. One of our dogs had puppies and we kept one. Lots of different ways.
Andrews: Quite often one of my daughters, my eldest child, my stepdaughter Jennifer, would find some lost soul somewhere, whether it was a cat or a dog. Of course, we had a canary once or twice, two cats at one time, a turtle, and so on and so forth.
The foolish thing that a parent does when you have five children is give every child something instead of having a family dog for the whole damn lot. Everyone wanted something of their own, whether it be the turtle, the fish, the cats, or whatever.
And now you both still have dogs?
Walton Hamilton: I have one Goldendoodle named Harry, who’s 16 months old, and then we have a mini Bernedoodle named Lola. She’s five.
Andrews: Lola and Harry. What about that for names? And I told you that my lovely poodle Button just passed away, but I had two and I still have one. He’s a Moyen poodle. He was meant to be a miniature—not a toy, but a miniature—but he sort of kept growing. He’s very leggy. Very old now, but very sweet. And he’s, again, part of the family.
Walton Hamilton: His name is Barney.
Andrews: So I had a Barney and a Button.
Walton Hamilton: You’ve probably seen that the book is dedicated to all the dogs we’ve known and loved. And that was not even all of them, so now you really have a sense of some of the dogs. There were quite a few others we didn’t mention.
Andrews: Lots and lots of dogs. Anybody’s dog that you encountered in the store or on the street!
This interview has been edited and condensed.
