Bruce, get down! BRUCE BARKS
Stop! Oi! Oh, my God! Jasmine.
JOANNA SCANLAN: Any dog... Jasmine!
Oi, no! Put it away.
Who wouldn't want to put the Chihuahua in a pink dress?
..any size...
DOG BARKS Oh, my God, this is dangerous.
Whoa! DOG HOWLS
..any problem...
He's literally holding his tail in his mouth.
Oh, Horace.
DOG GROWLS No! Kevin! Ah!
Quick, quick, quick! He's just a law unto himself, really.
DOG BARKS Honestly, get up.
Good girl. She won't let me even touch her.
Stop it!
DOG SNARLS No biting.
QUACKS ..one man... Hello, Graeme.
Nice to meet you. You well? You're attractive in real life.
Oh, thank you very much. ..is there for them all.
I think I might have my work cut out here. Not just with the dog.
Release the hound. You beauty.
You won't find this in any dog training manuals.
Graeme, this is a miracle. Leave it. Good boy.
This is just barmy. Put it there.
You are a very naughty boy. Come here, you little...
TOY SQUEAKS, DOGS BARK AND HOWL
This week... an all-out turf war...
She's trying to get through the window to him.
DOGS BARK ..leaves a family...
DOGS BARK It really is horrendous.
..stuck in the trenches.
We live a completely separate life at the minute.
I'm up here and Mark's downstairs.
We can't go on like this. Yeah.
And Graeme catches up with some old friends...
Hi. How are you doing?
..to see if their very bad behaviour...
Oh, you bit me then. He's drawn blood on my leg.
HE SIGHS, WHIMPERS
He's ruining my life. ..has been put right...
He just tells me how stressed he gets.
This sounds very familiar to me. It is.
..or if their owners... No.
It's just not safe.
..are still facing hurdles. Oh, blimey.
DOG BARKS Oh. Uh-uh! No, no, no, no, no.
Here we go again, George.
DOG BARKS Yeah. Not good.
You want a treat? There you go.
I love being at home with the dogs.
Dogs make a house a home.
I know it's a cliche, but it's very much true.
But I've been called by a family up north
who've got dogs who really aren't getting on at all.
So, I've got to go see them, Johnny.
See if we can get them on the right track, mate.
Graeme's heading to Leeds after an urgent SOS.
Big St Bernards, Brodie and Rosie,
are at war with little cockapoo Jasper.
DOGS BARK AND YELP
Ow!
It's gone from them being in the same room,
but not really getting on, to then not being in the same room.
And then, now where we're at, where they're completely separate -
one upstairs, two downstairs.
THEY BARK
The relentless threat of conflict
is stressing everyone out... Good boy.
..as Joanne, Mark, and their kids, Olivia and Max...
Go on, get away.
..battle to keep the dogs from clashing.
DOG WHIMPERS
DOGS BARK
SCRATCHING
I can't relax because it's that fear and panic,
that, "Have we closed the door properly?
"Is the stair gate closed?" to ensure their safety.
It's horrendous. It really is horrendous.
This Goliath-sized feud...
isn't just dividing the dogs.
We live a completely separate life at the minute.
We just don't spend time together
cos I'm up here and Mark's downstairs.
Come on.
So I end up on my own with my phone...
and it's just lonely and boring.
We feel really sorry for Jasper as well.
Bye-bye. Go on, then. Go on, get away.
It's his home first, wasn't it? Yeah, it's his home first.
SCRATCHING
And then these two have arrived and turned his life upside down.
DOGS BARK
Neither of us can come up with a solution.
So we'll say quite regularly, "We can't go on like this." Yeah.
JASPER WHINES
But then it's, "What is the solution?"
So the pressure's on for Graeme to broker peace.
Ah, Joanne, right? Hi, Graeme. Yes.
Nice to meet you. Lovely to meet you. All right?
This is Jasper. Hello, Jasper. Hello, mate.
But before he can take action, he must step onto the front line.
Nice. This is your place, then? This is it.
DOGS BARK All right. Oh, she's a big girl.
DOGS WHINE AND BARK
She's trying to get through the window to him. Yeah.
BARKING AND SCRATCHING
Cor blimey. This is every time, is it? Yep.
It's a bit of a bit of an onslaught, Jasper, 'ey?
Yeah.
Well, it looks as though they were gonna burst through
and have him for breakfast.
I can't believe the force that they hit the glass with.
AGGRESSIVE BARKING
It's not exactly "welcome home", is it? No.
Blimey. No.
So where does he go, then? Because... Straight upstairs.
Oh, we're not going in the living room. No. No, no, no.
This turf war has escalated so much...
Doors shut.
..that Jasper daren't go near Rosie and Brodie...
It's OK, it's OK, I'm coming upstairs.
..and the battle lines are clearly drawn.
He knows to go upstairs, doesn't he?
So he lives up here all the time, then?
Yeah, and so do I. And you do?
Well, most of the time
because he just squeals constantly if I'm not here.
So what happens at mealtimes, then?
Well, that's kind of gone down the pan.
We don't really eat as a family any more.
It's just not logistically possible. Yeah? OK.
Even the most simple things of sitting, watching TV,
erm, we just can't do cos I can't be downstairs,
we can't have a conversation together. Mm.
You know, a lot of communication between Mark and I is by phone.
No, really? What, you're phoning each other in the house?
Yeah, yeah. SHE LAUGHS
Blimey! Poor you and poor Jasper. Yeah, yeah.
OK, so we just make sure we close that.
Make sure we close it, yeah. Right, that's it.
Check. SHE CHUCKLES
Graeme must face both sides if he's to break the deadlock.
Hello, big boy. Hello. That's Rosie.
Ah, she's a bit nervous, isn't she? She is, very nervous. Yeah.
Ah, you're not sure, are you? JASPER WHINES
I think I'm gonna have to go back upstairs to calm Jasper down.
I can hear him, yeah.
So, Olivia, what do you think would happen if they got together?
They have actually hurt Jasper before. Have they?
My mum opened this door behind you and they pushed past...
got upstairs and pushed down the gate.
Oh, so they actively go after him, then, really?
No, it's more of a big deal because they haven't seen him for so long.
So you're keeping them apart because of the obvious?
But the longer they've been apart, the worse it gets. Yeah.
Which is a classic Catch-22, isn't it, really?
Yeah. Even the simplest of tasks... PHONE RINGS
JOANNE: 'Hi. Jasper needs a wee.' ..creates a high stress situation.
So how's Joanne gonna get out the back?
She'll go out the front door, round the side.
Really? Looks like a military operation, this, innit?
Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait. Good boy. Wait.
And like any military operation, tensions can erupt in an instant.
Oh, blimey. Oh, you beauty.
Blimey. Oh, it's like mayhem, innit?!
BARKING AND SCRATCHING
These St Bernards can't stand the sight of Jasper.
And from what Olivia is saying,
if they did ever get to him, they would harm him.
And let's be honest, they're really big, powerful dogs,
it wouldn't end well.
Graeme believes the key to resolving this conflict...
He's happy now, look. ..is to find out who started it.
Everything was absolutely fine when we got Brodie.
The two of them got on really well. OK.
They played together, they would lie together,
they'd be absolutely fine. Ah.
And then Rosie came and turned our lives upside down.
What's Rosie's story, then? So you mentioned she was a rescue.
So, she was found at about seven months,
tied to a lamp post. Aw.
She was really, really thin, really malnourished.
And she'd been in the kennels for three months. Yeah.
So, obviously, we'll never know
what happened in the first seven months, then.
No wonder she's... she's a nervous girl. Yeah. Yeah.
Jasper was trying to be dominant with her. Oh, was he?
And she decided she was having none of that.
I know we've played a big part in this cos we've kept them separate,
cos we've been worried about Jasper's safety. Mm.
I'm seeing Rosie in a different light.
You know, she was a rescue, she was abandoned on the street.
And then she found herself in this house with a cockapoo,
having a go at her... and she defended herself.
Coming up, Graeme returns to see if Ray's retirement...
He's drawn blood on my leg.
..is still a stress... He's ruining my life.
..catches up with Doodle the lippy labradoodle.
Doodle. No.
We need to teach Doodle some boundaries.
And will Jasper, Brodie and Rosie...
It's gonna be fine. Right, here we go.
..ever bury the hatchet?
There's absolutely no doubt they've seen him.
JOANNA SCANLAN: Today, Graeme's in Leeds...
This is your place, then?
..where a family has been ripped apart by outright war.
She's trying to get through the window to him.
Jasper and Brodie were inseparable
until rescue Rosie arrived eight months ago.
They have hurt Jasper before.
Now, Jasper can't go near them without a gigantic eruption... Ow!
..leaving him and Joanne confined to quarters.
It's just lonely and boring.
Graeme's seen first-hand how bad things are...
Oh, it's like mayhem, innit?
..and he's reached a potentially heartbreaking conclusion.
I mean, I'm not one for rehoming dogs, but...
Yeah. ..there is a strong argument to say rehome a dog,
and I think that would be Rosie.
Not an option.
Not an option? Not an option.
But if you don't rehome one, what are you gonna do?
It has gone through our minds, but we've all come up, "We can't."
But there are times when I'm saying to people,
"Look, not a match made in heaven." Yeah.
You know, "This dog, and you,
"might be happier if you went separate ways."
You know, "This dog might find a better life."
I don't think the dogs have that bad a life.
I think we have the bad life. MARK CHUCKLES
It sounds crazy saying it out loud,
but I'm willing that we do that for them.
That's one hell of a sacrifice, though, innit? Yeah.
We just... I think the longer we've had them, the more attached to them.
That's the trouble with dogs, innit? Mm-hm.
Rehoming might be one guaranteed fix,
but Graeme isn't ready to give up.
I think it's getting worse because you've kept them apart.
And I'm not blaming you cos I can see why you would. Yeah.
So I think we've got to get them together,
but we've got to do it in a way
where we're not putting them all at great risk. Yeah.
Until now, they've never had that chance, have they? No.
So I think we've gotta bite the bullet
if we're gonna... if we've got any chance of fixing it.
And I'll be honest, I'm making no promises on this one
cos it ain't easy. Yeah. Yeah. Not at all. Yeah.
My motto has always been - any dog, any age, and any problem.
And that doesn't mean that I can fix everything with a magic wand.
What it means is I will take on any case.
And the promise is I'll always do my best.
But... if we don't get anywhere,
the right advice to be 100% safe is to rehome one of the dogs.
With so much at stake, Graeme isn't taking any risks.
They're on lead so... just in case.
What we're gonna do is bring Jasper in.
If they react - seems odds-on they will -
it's a case of tell 'em no. Be very firm.
"You gotta get through me to get to him," you know?
But the important thing is when they back down...
"Good boy. Good girl." Yeah.
For any chance of peace, the family must be a united front
and show these warring parties bad behaviour won't be tolerated.
The dogs have got to understand that fighting - not an option.
This beef runs so deep
they clash the moment they make contact...
I think it's gonna be fine.
..but if they can keep calm in the same room for long enough...
Try and keep things looking calm.
..Graeme believes they'll forget what they were fighting for.
Are you ready?
This requires everyone to be on high alert.
Right, here we go. DOOR SQUEAKS
Oh. Very nice.
Sit down. There you go. There we go. Good.
Good boy. There's absolutely no doubt they've seen him.
LAUGHTER
This might be the calm before the storm,
but in this moment, we're able to say, "Oh, good boy. Good girl."
Good boy. Good lad.
And Rosie. Good boy.
Rewarding them for simply keeping cool
reassures them that they can share the same space together.
Is that a surprise? OLIVIA: Yeah, you're OK. Yeah.
Yeah? Yes. LAUGHTER
A lot. I'll let you into a secret,
kind of surprised me as well. How's Jasper doing?
Jasper's nervous, very nervous.
If you notice, he's not making eye contact.
He's looking, but he is nervous cos he's going... Yeah.
And he's licking his lips occasionally,
which is a classic stressy sign. Yeah.
She's my biggest concern at the moment because she is still like...
Yeah. Like this, isn't she, right?
So what I'm looking for with her is,
will she drag her eyes away at some point?
Rosie isn't launching an attack,
but she's hardly extending an olive branch, either.
ROSIE GROWLS No! No.
And then, when she calms down again...
"Good girl." Now. Yeah, good girl.
And now she's looked away. Good girl.
With that, there's a sudden shift in the room.
Not being fixated is a good thing, in't it?
Could this de-escalation
be a major step towards a lasting peace?
She's kind of gone,
"I'll just look the other way. Maybe he doesn't exist." Yeah.
She will learn that she doesn't need to completely ignore him, it's fine.
But... But we take this all day long, wouldn't we,
compared to what we had, so... Yeah.
With Rosie taking her paw off the trigger...
Good girl. ..Jasper follows suit.
I can feel him relaxing a bit by now.
You can feel him calmer, can you? Yeah, yeah.
In light of this surprising success,
Graeme believes the more supervised visits they have,
the closer they'll get to burying the hatchet.
It still seems too good to be true at the moment. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, I share that feeling. Erm, this morning,
I wouldn't have been so rash as to promise you
three dogs that appear to be asleep in the same room.
I know, it's absolutely unbelievable. Yeah.
I think the key to it so far, it seems to me, has been Rosie.
She decided to back down.
We've been all right ever since.
I'm really, really happy. LAUGHTER
Just for this, be sat in the same room...
Good boy. ..which is amazing.
I'm still in shock.
LAUGHTER
Just... We've battled with this for months and months,
and then it's, just in a flash, seems to be sorted.
Good boy.
Because of the huge effect on our life, and it's almost like,
"Well, why didn't we just do that months ago?"
How is this gonna change things? Massively.
I don't have to be lonely, staying upstairs with Jasper.
I can watch TV... Yeah. ..talk to Mark. Yeah.
We got the dogs together and nothing happened.
And I think I'm as surprised as they were, to be honest.
It makes me wonder whether all that was needed
was to allow 'em to spend a bit of time together,
and then they could bury the hatchet but,
blimey, what a result in one day, eh?
Dealing with the unexpected is one of Graeme's specialities.
And three years ago in Buckinghamshire, he met Sarah.
Her son George and labradoodle Doodle...
Off.
..who were in a seriously slobbery situation.
Doodle. No.
Morning, Sarah. Good morning.
Come in. Yeah, thank you very much.
Ex-teacher Sarah gave up work to care for her son George,
who has a genetic condition. George, this is Graeme.
George, hello. Nice to meet you. Hello.
And you, yes.
Well, he seems quite sweet, really.
So, you've obviously got problems with him.
Do you want to tell me about them?
George spends a lot of time in seating systems... Mm.
..so it's nice for him to be kicking about on the floor. Right.
Doodle will take that opportunity...
to come and lick George's face. Right.
It's not hygienic. It's just not safe.
Come on, then, George.
Sarah got Doodle to be a furry friend
for then-nine-year-old George...
but she didn't realise quite how friendly he would become.
No. OK.
Yeah. No! GEORGE LAUGHS
George thinks this is fun, doesn't he? Yeah.
He's not bothered by it. No. He thinks it's funny.
He's like his brother. It is like his brother,
you're right. Yeah, yeah. Uh-huh.
George had an older brother... who was called Jack,
who died seven years ago.
And he died in his sleep one night, for no particular reason. Wow.
That's kind of how Doodle came into our lives.
I brought him in to the family to be like a...
baby that I... or the child that I didn't have... Mm.
..and complete our family...
be a companion and friend...
with George, I guess.
Well, Doodle clearly loves George, and vice versa.
The problem, really, is that Doodle, if it's possible,
loves him too much and he's overdoing it.
No.
We need to teach Doodle some boundaries.
Hello. Hello.
To teach Doodle that his sloppy kisses weren't acceptable,
Graeme had a no-nonsense approach.
Good boy.
We're gonna give him one chance,
one verbal warning, so to speak - off.
If he doesn't listen, out. OK.
George, we'll put you on the floor and you can stretch your legs, mate.
The rule was simple - if Doodle canoodled...
Doodle. Off.
Not working. Right. So it's like, come on.
..time out. Come on.
DOODLE BARKS
Well, you can bark, mate. That's it. You've blown it.
DOODLE BARKS
For Doodle, George on the floor signalled playtime...
Come on, Doodle. In you come.
..and he just loved the kissing game.
Ah! Off?
Come on, out you go.
Doodle wasn't listening.
And Sarah thought that might be because someone was encouraging him.
So, George is reaching out to him, fair enough.
GEORGE VOCALISES Good boy, Doodle.
And that is even the noise, telling him to do it. Right.
That noises. That's George encouraging him? Yep.
Like any mischievous sibling,
George was trying his best to get his fur brother's attention.
George. GEORGE LAUGHS
That's it. It was up to Sarah to step in.
Good boy, Doodle. Good boy. Good.
Go on, then, your turn. My turn.
GEORGE LAUGHS Off.
OK. Out!
Good boy, Doodle. In you come.
Off! Oh, OK.
He listened to you, so he doesn't need to go out.
Good boy. Good boy, Doodle.
Doodle learnt, if he wanted to be with his best buddy, George,
licking was off the menu.
So there was George, making all his best noises... Yeah.
..turning to him, going, "Doodle, come on, mate, do the thing."
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Doodle's like,
"I'm not allowed. I'm sorry." And even his partner in crime...
Good.
..was proud of Doodle's progress.
I heard you say... Did you say, "Good boy"?
You're right, he is a good boy.
Now, Doodle's really changed today. He's listening to Sarah.
That one command, you know, "off", now carries a bit of weight to it.
Off, or... you'll find yourself excluded.
Graeme may have one problem licked, but three years on...
Are you coming this way? Yeah, we're coming through. Righto.
..he's back... There you go.
DOODLE YIPS Oh, blimey.
..to face a whole new hurdle.
I was worried he was gonna land on George.
No, no, no.
And he returns to Henry...
If I simply stand up, he will go into meltdown.
..to see if stressed-out Ray... HENRY BARKS
He tried to kill me... cos I needed to answer the door.
..can get any peace in his retirement.
Nice to see you again. Nice seeing you. You all right?
Good morning. Ray. Yes. You've seen Henry before.
He's barking at the waves. HENRY BARKS
JOANNA SCANLAN: Today, Graeme's in beautiful Buckinghamshire,
back to meet Sarah, George, and their labradoodle - Doodle.
Last time he met them,
he helped put a stop to Doodle's wet kisses.
Doodle, off. Not working.
Go on, out you go. DOODLE BARKS
But three years on...
Morning. Hello. You all right?
Are you coming this way? Yeah.
..whilst PDAs are a thing of the past...
Oh, blimey. DOODLE YIPS
..Doodle's developed a serious case of BARK -
barrier activated reluctant canine.
No. Cor, he's not happy. DOODLE YIPS
Sarah and George love visiting this nature reserve,
but lately their trips have faced a hurdle...
DOODLE BARKS AND YIPS
..because Doodle's been going doolally at gates.
It used to be the licking. Now, it's getting through gates.
Walking through the gate on my own is hard enough.
With the wheelchair, it's virtually impossible.
While Sarah fights her frustration...
George finds it hilarious. DOODLE BARKS
George might find it funny, but Graeme has concerns.
I really felt for Sarah there
because she literally had her hands full, didn't she?
I mean, at one point, I was worried he was gonna land on George.
Right. Oh. Uh-uh-uh. No.
Graeme thinks there could be a reason
behind Doodle's recent change in behaviour.
Is there something about gates that's making him scared?
Cos he does look anxious.
Has he ever been caught by the gate or anything, do you know?
Not that I can recollect. No, but... It wouldn't be...
It's not... ..impossible.
So he might have a good reason to be anxious about gates. Right.
Graeme's seen Doodle's barrier meltdowns
and is sure it's driven by fear.
If you could talk to him and ask him,
"What is it about the gates, then?" He'd be, like, "Everything." Yeah.
"I don't like the look of 'em. I don't like the sound of 'em."
Yeah. So I think we've just got to convince him
that, actually, gates are OK. Nothing bad's gonna happen.
GEORGE VOCALISES George agrees. Good. I'm glad.
THEY LAUGH
The key to getting Doodle comfortable with gates
is desensitising him to everything about them.
Good. Well, let's not get too near, cos we both know that's his nemesis.
Before attempting anything with George,
Graeme wants to break the training into stages.
I want to show him that the gate's nothing to worry about.
If he starts to kick off,
I would stand in between him and the gate
and just say "No", but calmly. OK.
But the key thing is he calms down when you say "Good boy."
Stage one - getting him close...
So, good boy, Doodle. ..without a meltdown.
DOODLE YIPS Hey, hey, hey, hey.
Never mind barking at the gate.
Good.
DOODLE YIPS No.
Good lad. So the message here is,
"If you do nothing, we love you for it."
We've certainly got to the point where
the sight of the gate on its own is just no issue, really.
Doodle's making progress. Now, for stage two.
The sound is now the big deal.
LATCH CLANKS, DOODLE YIPS Ah. No!
Good boy.
LATCH CLANKS, DOODLE YIPS Ah!
Hey, hey, hey! No!
Good boy.
Flick that again. That's no problem, is it?
Doodle seems comfortable with the sight and sound of the gate.
Stage three - movement.
Ah. DOODLE YIPS
No!
No. LATCH CLANKS, DOODLE YIPS
Uh-uh, no.
Good lad.
Ah.
That's good, cos that's further, look.
Good boy.
The groundwork's paying off.
Right. Well, that was progress, wasn't it? Yes.
Do you want a go?
I will do my very best. There you go.
But has Graeme desensitised Doodle enough
for Sarah to get him through the gate without a fence off?
DOODLE YIPS No.
I think this tension's not helping.
If you're holding tight, he's gonna pull against it.
OK. Try again. OK, good.
That's it. Good. Uh-uh!
No! Watch him. Uh-uh.
No.
Good. Uh, no.
Graeme's theory is that if Doodle is gently led through,
the next time should be easier. Right? Uh-uh.
And then, when you're ready, you can go, "Right, off we go."
That's it. Off we go.
Well, it was hard-fought, but you got there.
Good. Come back through, then. So time to put it to the test.
Come on. No. Well done.
Good. Come on, then.
That's it. Good. Well done. Take your time.
Good. Good boy.
He's trusting you now, look, see? Good.
Good boy. Good.
Very nice. Expertly done, I would say.
Good. So far, so good. A bit of progress.
Well, everything looks really, really good.
Not perfect, but way better.
And it's gonna get better and better the more she practises.
There's been good progress,
but it's time for the real judge - George.
Magic. Off you go, then.
Can Sarah manoeuvre his wheelchair and Doodle?
That's it, well done. No. Take your time.
Good. Good.
Now, he's protested once or twice, but he's not jumping. Good.
Good. That's it.
Well, I'm loving this. Good.
That's it. Good. We'll let the gate go. Good.
Waiting. And off you go. Phew!
Good. Good. Good!
Well done. Good boy.
Just hours ago, Doodle was a nervous gate-crasher...
Cor, he's not happy.
..but now he's a much calmer and happier pup.
That was good, wasn't it? So, that. Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah! What do you reckon?
Yeah, I'm really pleased, and relieved. Yeah. Good.
Well, I think this will make all the difference, eh?
I think it will. I have every faith in you.
I didn't imagine
that we would be walking through the gate like that at the end.
I really didn't.
It's gonna take a little bit of hard work,
a bit of patience, a bit of resilience.
But if there's one person who I think has got that...
it's Sarah.
Good boy.
Oh, yeah. Good boy. Good boy.
Graeme's next stop is Eastbourne, in Sussex,
where he's meeting up with some old friends.
Today, I'm gonna meet a dog I've seen before -
Henry, Welsh terrier -
and his mum and dad, Ray and Tammy.
Now, Henry had all sorts of problems in the house, really,
that were affecting Ray's retirement.
I hear what's happened now
is that they've moved here to Eastbourne, to the seaside.
The thing about Eastbourne is it's famous for...
how shall we say,
having an elevated average age of the residents?
I feel very young here.
HENRY BARKS
Three years ago, an even younger Graeme
was called in to try and bring some respite to Ray's retirement...
because a very hard-nosed Henry was raising hell.
God, he's loud, even from here.
HENRY CONTINUES BARKING
Hello, Graeme. Hello. How are you? Come in. Thank you.
Come in. Cor!
There we go. All right. Henry.
Model aircraft enthusiast Ray, and his wife, Tammy,
had Henry from a puppy three years ago.
Sit. Henry... sit. Sit, sit.
It was love at first sight. My heart just melted for him.
He was meant to be the perfect additional companion
for retiree Ray.
I wanted a dog for my retirement
so that I could go out for nice, long walks with him and stuff.
But forget it.
Henry. Come here.
DOORBELL RINGS Oh!
HENRY BARKS
Ray can't go out on walks... because Henry won't let him leave.
If I simply stand up and walk towards the front door,
he will go into meltdown.
HENRY BARKS
Oh! Ooh! Well, you bit me then. Oh.
HENRY BARKS
No, he's drawn blood on my leg. HENRY WHIMPERS
His behaviour causes me immense stress.
HE SIGHS
After a full day of harassment by Henry...
No, no, no. Get... No.
..wife Tammy bore the brunt of Ray's frustration.
We're not going anywhere.
HENRY BARKS Shh, shh!
I do come home to a grumpy husband.
Sit. No.
I've had a day from hell today with Henry.
He tried to kill me cos I needed to answer the door.
HENRY BARKS INCESSANTLY Stop.
Ray messaged me at work one day
and stated that he had had it with the dog,
that he has to go.
How are you supposed to live like this? Look at him. Look.
I-I really am struggling with him, I really am.
And now I'm-I'm...
MUFFLED CHOKE
I'm sorry about that.
HE BLOWS NOSE He's ruining my life.
Ray thought Henry's actions were downright deliberate...
He is trying to stop me from leaving his house. Right? Basically.
..but Graeme was keen to see if Ray was doing anything to rev Henry up.
Can I see what happens? Right, well,
anxiety is now kicking in
because he knows I'm gonna pick my keys up. Yeah.
I've done nothing other than pick my keys up.
Right. Yeah.
HENRY BARKS Cor, it's loud, innit?
There's a couple of things I'm seeing Ray do wrong.
I think one is that he sort of pre-empts the problem.
He knows it's about to happen, and then he's....
You know, he gets himself in a bit of a state.
Graeme believed Henry fed off Ray's stress.
So, if he could stay calm, Henry would let him move freely.
It all started with a simple command.
Henry. Sit.
That's it.
And... that'll do. Good boy.
So that's the very beginnings, yeah? Good boy.
Take a step back. Split second, right.
Good lad. Come back to him. Yeah.
Now come back to him, straightaway. Good boy.
That's it. Good boy.
So, what he's starting to believe now is,
"So if Dad moves away,
"he'll probably come back and give me a treat."
As long as Ray kept calm...
Very good boy. ..so did Henry.
Very good. Very good boy.
Right, this time, let's see if we can stretch it to the front door.
Touch the front door. Sit.
Good boy. Good boy.
Well, you walked out the door, er, come back in again.
Henry's not barking. He's not rushing you.
How's that feel? I don't feel tensed up any more.
I don't feel stressed. Yeah.
You all right? Huh?
Oh. What are you thinking, Ray?
I'm thinking, "I just don't believe this is happening."
Coming up, Graeme might have won the fight on the home front...
but he's back... HENRY BARKS
Henry. ..for a brand-new battle on the sea front.
He don't want it. It really, really stresses me out.
JOANNA SCANLAN: Graeme's in Sussex,
checking in on a couple he met three years ago.
I've done nothing, other than pick my keys up...
Back then, retiree Ray...
I wanted a dog so that I could go out
for nice, long walks with him and stuff.
..struggled with Henry, a two-year-old Welsh terrier
who kicked off when he left the house. Ooh!
He's drawn blood on my leg.
Graeme spotted the issue -
Ray was revving him up.
And with calm commands and rewards,
Henry's harassment stopped.
Henry... sit.
Since then, Ray and Tammy have moved.
Graeme's been called to action in Eastbourne.
GRAEME: Da da-da-da da-da-da da-da da-da da.
This is the life.
Henry, however...
Got my work to do.
..does not like to be beside the seaside.
HENRY BARKS FRANTICALLY
We have moved to Eastbourne, to obviously enjoy a seaside life.
Sit, sit, sit. HENRY BARKS
When the surf's up, so are Henry's hackles.
The wave thing is quite annoying
cos he can be really loud and be quite aggressive.
Henry. What's this?
And I can honestly say, hand on my heart,
he really, really stresses me out.
Henry certainly knows Salty Sea Dog.
So it's up to Graeme to tackle these tidal tantrums.
Morning. Good morning.
Nice to see you again. Nice seeing you.
All right? Good morning. Ray, hi.
How are you doing? I'm very well. And Henry.
Yes, you've seen Henry before. He's barking at the waves.
Another problem to spoil your retirement, then? Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, it's not what you want when you come down to the beach
for a nice bit of relaxing, quiet time, is it? No.
It don't stop.
BARKING CONTINUES
A dog that barks at waves.
I think that's a new one.
I don't think you'll find it in any textbook.
They can't come down to the beach because of Henry.
The beach is the best bit of living here.
And just like before,
Henry's having a huge impact on their well-being.
Ray comes back and he just tells me how stressed he gets.
This sounds very familiar to me. It is. It is.
We had this conversation last time. It was a different problem.
Ray thinks Henry's deliberately making waves to ruin his retirement,
but Graeme suspects he's simply confused.
With the waves, he doesn't quite understand
what waves are, what they're about. No. Yeah.
He just knows that they make a heck of a sound,
which I think is bothering him, and they're coming at him.
I've contemplated getting in the water with him
and going for a swim. RAY LAUGHS
I don't think that would work.
HENRY BARKS Graeme believes
Henry needs to understand that waves aren't a threat,
and to do this, a calm command and a treat for doing nothing.
If he starts barking at the waves, we're gonna step in front of him.
He might sidestep us. "Get out of the way!"
If he does that, we'll sidestep him.
Right, OK, like this.
Ah! Stop! BARKING STOPS
Then, when he calms down - good boy -
and we can give him a treat just to underline it as well.
So, we're actually rewarding the moment when he chooses to back down.
By calmly blocking the barking and rewarding good behaviour,
Graeme thinks Henry should get the message.
I wanna see him kind of look and go, "Nah".
Key to de-stressing Henry - keeping clear and calm.
HENRY BARKS OK. Right, you know what to do.
Henry... stop.
Stop. Stop.
BARKING CONTINUES Stop.
Ray might be saying the right things,
but he's still making waves.
A trait Graeme's seen in him before.
I know from experience with you, Ray,
that sometimes, on the outside, you look as though, "I've got this",
but on the inside, you're actually getting a bit het up.
And I think he's picking up on that as well.
And just like before,
raised stress levels are only winding up his seaside sidekick.
HENRY BARKS Henry, stop! Henry, stop!
BARKING STOPS Well done. Good boy. Good boy.
If Ray just stays calm...
HENRY BARKS No. Henry, stop.
..and rewards Henry for following his lead...
And a treat. That was the missing ingredient.
HENRY BARKS ..he'll learn...
No. Henry, stop! BARKING STOPS
..waves should be watched... Good boy. ..not woofed at.
Tickles. Good boy.
And it seems to have worked. It's good, innit?
This is the first time I've ever seen him sat here, like this,
just looking at the waves. Already...
this is a different dog again.
I think we're doing all right. He's-He's pretty calm.
You're pretty calm. We're all pretty calm.
Let's move a little bit nearer to the edge.
That's it.
Henry. Henry. Henry.
As they move closer to the sea... Good boy.
HENRY BARKS
Henry. Stop!
HENRY GROANS And again. Stop!
..it only takes Ray's command to calm Henry.
See, when you calmly take control like that, he kind of goes,
"All right, boss." He's still having the odd moment,
I think it's fair to say, but we're nearly there.
Now Ray knows how to calm Henry, time for a test.
Now, the whole point of this is
that you can go for a walk along the beach, of course.
So what I'd like you to do now is,
why don't you go for a walk along towards the pier?
If he does kick off... stop... Yeah. ..get him back under control.
Walk again. All right? Yeah.
Graeme's dropping Henry in at the deep end.
As the waves are crashing against the pier,
the closer they get,
the louder and more intense they'll become.
Yay!
So he's quite alert.
Well, his little tail's up.
He's doing a lot better. Yeah, he is. Good boy.
Well, lovely. That's a picture, innit?
'Ey? A couple walking the dog on the beach.
Wow.
They've gone all the way to the pier and he hasn't barked once.
Good boy. Good boy. Good boy.
Good boy.
Just a couple of hours ago,
Henry did not like to be beside the seaside.
But now, with a little ray of sunshine,
it's smooth sailing.
How did that feel? Sound. Yeah, it was great.
I know it was only a short distance, but, erm, things are looking up.
Yeah. It's a short distance you couldn't have done
a couple of hours ago. No, no, no.
Very pleased with that. Very pleased.
He's taught me what he taught me last time -
that it's not the dog that's the problem, it's me.
We really, really appreciate what Graeme's done for us,
because... I would never in a million years
believe that I could stand by the water's edge...
with Henry not kicking off the way he does.
Right. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
From a dog who was reacting to the sound of waves,
let alone the sight of them,
to actually being... just walking along nicely.
And watching Ray and Tammy just enjoy the beach,
going for a walk along the shoreline, is great.
Priceless, really. So I'm really pleased that's gone well.
In Yorkshire...
although Graeme had an unexpected victory on the day...
And now she's looked away. I'm still in shock.
THEY LAUGH
..after moving to a new house, relations once again untangled
between cockapoo, Jasper,
and St Bernards, Brodie and Rosie...
I'll let you go up first. Upstairs.
..and Graeme was called in on a new peacekeeping mission.
When did all this start to go wrong, then?
When we moved in, it was a bit chaotic,
so we immediately separated them. Right. Ah.
Understanding, mistake.
By removing any aggression from the room...
Yeah, go on. Sin bin.
..Graeme got the warring parties to share the same space.
This in itself is a small victory, innit?
It is. I know we can crack this.
But as tensions flared... Oh. ..he was forced to call time.
Is this problem fixed? No, it isn't.
Are we on the right track? I believe we are.
And I think Mark and Joanna, they know what to do,
they understand how to get to where they need.
Thank you so much.
It takes time when you've got two dogs fighting.
In Buckinghamshire, Sarah continues gate training with Doodle.
LATCH CLANKS
I am much more calm,
and I've got a bit of a better idea of how to approach them,
but it is still very much a work in progress.
And in Eastbourne... I just can't do what Graeme does.
Graeme is just a magician.
Graeme's efforts were fantastic on the day,
but this dog has got serious problems.
I just can't control this dog.
No! If you think
your badly behaved dog could do with Graeme's help,
then why not get in touch?
Details can be found at...