Martin Clunes Marks 14 Years With Jim After Dog's Death
martin clunes has opened up about losing Jim, his Jack Russell companion of fourteen years, describing him as "one in a million." The loss sits at the center of his latest book, Training John and Murray, which also draws on the chaos of bringing two Jack Russell puppies into his Dorset home.
Jim died of liver cancer in the previous year, after spending fourteen years as Clunes's buddy and right-hand dog. Clunes said, "For fourteen years, he had been my buddy and my right-hand dog. We did everything around the farm together. He had actually been a surprise Christmas present."
Dorset farm life
Clunes moved from London to a 130-acre farm near Beaminster, Dorset, in 2007, and he now lives there with his wife, Philippa Braithwaite, on a £5 million estate. He said, "It's my favourite place in the world. I can go for weeks without leaving the farm. I like being connected to the seasons in a real way - making hay, worrying about the grass, watching the leaves come and go, and caring for the animals."
That farm setting gives his book its frame, but it also brings the practical cost of the life he chose. Clunes said, "I wish I had more work because we're very expensive to run." He added, "If I didn't employ people and enjoy food and drink so much, it might wash its face, but yes - if I don't work, within a year we'd have to sell up."
Training John and Murray
Clunes said he and Braithwaite first wanted a field so they could get a pony for their daughter, Emily Clunes, who is now an equine veterinary nurse. Instead, Jim arrived as a Christmas surprise and became part of the household routine that later fed into the book's focus on two Jack Russell puppies.
The contrast is sharp: the book looks at the disorder puppies bring, while Clunes is writing from a place shaped by the loss of the dog who already knew the farm. For readers, the takeaway is straightforward — this is not a celebrity pet anecdote, but a book grounded in the daily work, cost and attachments of a working home in Dorset.
