Hi. How are you? Hi. Ooh, Pandora!
PANDORA SNARLS Pandora!
What you need to do is get control of Pandora.
DOG BARKS
If dogs go wild...
DOGS BARK They are absolutely nuts.
Is the dog around?
DOGS BARK
And I can't control them.
Come on now, big boy.
Nathan thinks he can read. Sure he can.
He can't. He's a dog. Of course he can.
...and get up... Oh, here we go.
No. Get down. ...to no good...
Oh, it's me now, is it? I'm honoured.
...or down... Oh, no.
...and dirty...
He loves a big, large crap.
DOG GROWLS Oh.
Tank likes to rub his boy parts.
What is going on with you, Tank?
...when pups... Wonder what we're gonna learn today.
...need to be schooled...
Three, two, one, and sit.
Fantastic. Look at that.
DOG FARTS ...or if your pooch...
He's dropped one. Have you got a whiff?
...has a personal problem...
Some dogs have bacterias that are gas producing.
Just in case.
...one man...
Hey, look at that!
...will give it his all...
Jack! Oi! Leave it.
...and get answers...
I think I might know what's going on, and it's not what you think.
...to any doggy dilemma.
DOG BARKS Yeah, that's next level, innit?
DOG BARKS
DOGS BARK Ernie!
This week...
We've definitely lost business because of them.
...an antique shop on the brink of becoming history...
No! DOGS BARK
They say they're dog friendly, but I'm not sure that they are.
...as battling brothers scare away customers...
I'm really not sure that I wanna go in.
Morning, everybody.
...excitement reaches fever pitch at puppy school...
Calm down. Oh, right.
...with their toughest lesson yet...
Try and call her now.
Winnie, come. Winnie, come.
Spoiler alert - recall is possibly
one of the hardest things you can train.
Off, Troy. Off.
...and a Dobermann's brush with death...
No! Off!
He's had four operations on his stomach.
Four operations? Wow. Four.
...could spell real disaster.
He's gonna harm himself. It's a bad situation.
No!
TROY GROWLS Oh.
Graeme's starting his week in King's Lynn, Norfolk.
I've been a dog trainer now for, well, the best part of 20 years,
and running my own business,
it does bring an awful lot of freedom, you know?
I'm my own boss, and I really like that.
It suits me.
He's heading to meet a couple after his own heart.
Louise and Mark opened their antique shop 13 years ago.
Maybe go back that way with it.
Business was booming.
That was until boxer-cross-basset hound brothers
Ernie and Walter came on board.
"Please ring bell as dogs are loose.
"Exclamation mark, exclamation mark."
Oh, well, I better follow the instructions.
DOORBELL RINGS
DOGS BARK This does not bode well.
DOGS BARK
Hello. Are you friendly?
Hiya. Hi. Hi.
Nice to meet you. Louise, yeah? Hi, Graeme. I'm Lou, yeah.
Yeah, nice to meet you.
I'm gonna get some leads and then we can get out the rain.
OK, fair enough. I see the terror's here.
It's a pretty full-on experience
when you first arrive at this business
because you hear Ernie and Walter before you see them.
And the sound, it don't sound friendly.
Since arriving, two-year-olds Ernie and Walter have caused mayhem.
DOGS BARK Ernie!
They are... ...a handful.
DOGS BARK Ernie!
95% of the time, they're lovely.
DOGS BARK No! No!
5% of the time... DOGS BARK
...carnage.
And for a shop that is dependent on passing trade...
DOORBELL RINGS, DOGS BARK
...sadly, the trade is passing.
'I think we've definitely lost business because of them.'
You can see someone's come to the gate,
seen the dogs and walked away again.
Brave customers who do make it inside...
DOGS BARK No, Walter.
...aren't left to peruse in peace.
It's a bit intimidating.
Down. Down.
I think the last two years, since having them,
I think they have put on a serious amount of added pressure.
I think it must put people off coming back.
It must do.
With five children at home to feed and two employees on the books,
they simply can't afford for it to fail.
I'm worried about us being able to make more money,
which is what we need to do.
'Especially in this day and age with a cost-of-living crisis.'
'Our business supports three families.'
So this needs to be sorted out.
Despite the problems, Louise and Mark love the dogs far too much
to let them go.
I couldn't imagine my life without them.
But at the same time, they make our life so hard. Yeah.
They just need fixing, and I think they're fixable.
We just don't know how to fix them.
We don't know how to fix them. No.
With everything at stake,
the pressure is on for Graeme to bring back the customers.
Hey, it's a proper Aladdin's cave, this, innit?
It smells lovely in here as well. It's like old wood, and...
Yeah, I think that's the old waxes, the stains.
Yeah. The old oils.
'On the face of it, they're a bit full-on,
'Ernie and Walter.'
The truth is, they're actually really friendly.
They're getting excited and barky cos they wanna say hello.
I notice you've got a bell at the gate there.
So, when the bell goes, they go absolutely nuts.
Ernie normally attacks Walter. Poor old Walter.
Then if customers bring a dog in, that's a...
Oh, it's carnage. ...that's up a level.
Must be the only shop in the country we get...
not annoyed when customers...
Well, yeah, you should be happy you get customers.
We're not. We're like, "Oh, my God, a customer!"
Graeme's seen how they react to people.
Now he wants to see what happens with four-legged customers.
DOORBELL RINGS, DOGS BARK
But this time, Graeme's hearing something far more concerning,
and it's not excitement.
It's a very different sound. It's way louder.
DOGS BARK
They're not happy to have somebody walking in.
Oi!
They're probably saying a swear word and "go away".
Walter, no! No! DOGS BARK
It's just a normal day at the office.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Here! Come on.
Be with you in two seconds. Yeah. Sorry about this.
'I'm really not sure that I wanna go in.'
They say that they're dog friendly, but I'm not sure that they are.
SHE LAUGHS
Come on! Come on!
In you go. Come on.
She's, er... She's gone, your customer.
Mm. That happens quite a lot.
Does it? Yeah.
Yeah. She didn't wanna hang around.
Silly question - why don't you leave them at home?
Because we are here basically seven days a week. Ah.
Probably work long hours, I guess, running your own business?
We have to come work together as well.
There's two of them, both boys. Yeah.
It's not as though they can't stand each other.
They're fighting all the time, but they sometimes turn on each other.
Yeah, it's weird.
And it's the minute someone comes to that gate,
and then they turn on each other. Right.
DOGS BARK
For Graeme, this behaviour is ringing alarm bells.
Their excitement flips to aggression and often a bust-up,
which is a big problem.
You put the two together and they fire off each other,
and they are stubborn dogs,
which might give me a problem in training.
Do you know what? I've got a lot on my plate today.
Coming up... Give it your best shot.
...Graeme's back at puppy school...
Ooh, that was interesting. She looked a bit ploddy there.
...where a reluctant student is raising alarm bells.
Right, I've spotted something.
He meets a Dobermann who's balmy for brushes...
Oh, blimey.
...and a parrot who thinks it's hilarious.
Sat there on his perch going, "Look at these idiots."
Yeah. PARROT SQUAWKS
And will Ernie and Walter ever become model employees?
They don't know it yet, but I'm about to ring the bell.
Three, two, one. DOORBELL RINGS
DOG BARKS
DOORBELL RINGS
Graeme's at an antique shop
where customers are fast becoming history.
They say that they're dog friendly, but I'm not sure that they are.
No! No!
Ernie and Walter's overexcited meet and greet
is putting off customers.
It's like a switch. Doorbell goes and they are mental.
As they scare off passing trade from local dog walkers,
Louise and Mark are losing faith
they'll ever get these two under control.
We've tried many times various methods of training,
we've tried on them, and we can't master them.
Graeme is confident he can turn these gatekeepers
into calm greeters if he can stop them winding each other up.
I always think training two dogs at the same time,
it's not just twice as difficult as one dog,
because you think you're there,
and then it only takes one to chirp up - woof -
and they're both away again.
And they're always together. They've never really been apart. No.
And the best place to start is the trigger that sets them off.
I think we should start with the doorbell.
DOORBELL RINGS For Ernie and Walter,
the doorbell means one thing - someone's arriving.
And that anticipation is pushing their excitement levels
through the roof.
And if they're already here with excitement
when they see a person or a dog,
they're gonna just spike out of control.
That's what we're seeing right now.
So if we can get them desensitised to the doorbell...
Yeah. ...then... it goes ding dong.
They go, "Eh, am I bothered?"
Maybe they're at a two or a three out of ten excited,
and we've got half a chance when they get outside.
And the way to do that is to ring it a lot with nobody there.
Right? Yeah. Makes sense.
Armed with a remote, Graeme's plan is simple...
They don't know it yet, but I'm about to ring the bell.
Three, two, one. ...ring the doorbell...
There we go. Ooh, off they go. DOORBELL RINGS
Bosh! Open the door.
Nobody there. Right?
...until Ernie and Walter lose all interest in it.
Actually, it's interesting - they were quite excited,
but they weren't barking and shouting. No.
With no visitor at the gate... DOORBELL RINGS
Hello, boys. ...they switch to searching inside.
"There's something going on because I've heard that ding dong.
"There's nobody outside, so maybe somebody's in the back of the barn."
DOORBELL RINGS Graeme wants to show them...
DOORBELL RINGS, DOGS BARK
There's nobody there. No. He's almost angry about it.
...ding dong doesn't mean...
DOGS WHINE, THEY LAUGH
...there's reason to get worked up.
DOORBELL RINGS And again.
Hello, wally. DOG BARKS
"Why did you bark, wally?"
"I have no idea why I barked."
THEY LAUGH
Bless him.
I'm hoping the penny's gonna drop, isn't it?
Doorbell, it's nowhere near as exciting as it used to be.
The only problem with this is I have no idea
how long this is gonna take.
DOORBELL RINGS No.
Don't know what to do, then, did he? No.
Right now, he's at the stage where he's like, "You never know..."
Yeah. "..there might still be somebody out there."
After finding nothing to get excited about...
DOG BARKS
...both dogs are calming down.
There's nobody there. Ding dong.
They've come in again, look. Hello.
Hello, Walter. Hello.
Hello, mate. Now, this is interesting.
They're starting to come and check in on us.
Let's try again now. DOORBELL RINGS
It's taken an hour...
Ooh, that's good.
Nothing. Silence.
Penny might have dropped. Hey! Good boy. Good boy.
...but now the doorbell gets nothing.
DOORBELL RINGS They'll get the idea.
That was good, yeah. That was really good.
Now they're desensitised to the sound...
DOORBELL RINGS
Did you hear that? Nothing.
Exactly. HE LAUGHS
Hello, wally. Hello, mate.
Hello.
...stage two - how to give a warm welcome to actual customers.
It's time to introduce a person at the gate.
If we ring the bell, they go outside, see the people,
if they jump and they bark, we're gonna do nothing.
Once the dogs calm down, they can then come through the gate. OK.
Earlier, the bell was the trigger for total chaos.
Now Graeme's hoping desensitising them
will keep them calm when people arrive,
but it's still a gamble.
DOGS BARK No!
I only need one of them to get it wrong and bark,
and they're both gonna be barking, aren't they?
It could be a long day.
Right, here we go.
DOORBELL RINGS
Oh. That's a lot calmer.
Hey, this is good.
Hiya. You all right?
Hey, look at this. Wow. Good boys.
Wow. Did not expect to see that.
Stage two of Mission: Warm Welcome has beaten the odds.
Wow, I didn't expect anything like that.
It was amazing.
But it could still go wrong.
So, what we'll do now is,
the next thing is you would pop them on lead. Yeah.
If they stay calm, they can hang out with the visitors...
Come on in, guys. Come on.
Yeah, lovely.
...but only if all four paws remain on the ground at all times...
This, by the way, is very good.
So, if this is good, what should we be doing?
Good boy. Well done.
...and they must be rewarded for doing so.
And you can give them a little fuss if you like.
He's a nice man. Aw.
But... No, no.
...the moment they jump up, the meet and greet is over.
That's it? Yeah, you can go. Yeah. No.
He should be thinking, "What? What? What did I do? What did I do?"
Right? He is, I think.
You see the game we're playing?
If they're good, the people come to them.
If they jump, the people go away.
Right, yeah, come back through. The dogs are calm.
Good boy. That's it.
This time, Walter's staying calmly on all fours.
Good boy. Good boy.
Oh, this is brilliant.
I don't think they've ever been this calm.
Well, I'll tell you what, why don't we go inside?
We could even let them off lead, see what happens. Yeah?
Thank you. After you.
Now instead of the usual overexcited barking, running and jumping...
Good boy, Walt. There you go.
...Ernie and Walter's meet and greet is calm and respectful.
Hey, look at this.
GRAEME LAUGHS
Well, this is a turn-up for the books.
GRAEME LAUGHS
Very good, eh? Yeah.
That is amazing. They are like different dogs.
It's great, innit? And it's easy to replicate, innit?
I can't believe after just such a short period
and just such simple instructions the dogs had,
and it just... what difference it makes.
This morning, when I first rang that bell,
the sound that came out of the barn was pretty scary,
but I think this afternoon,
you'd see those two dogs come out of the barn,
and you wouldn't need to be a dog expert
to know they're lovely dogs.
Our stress levels are gonna come down.
Yeah. We may have more customers.
Yeah, which helps. Yeah.
Might even have a positive effect on the old bottom line, eh? Yeah.
GRAEME CHUCKLES
Two-legged visitors are one thing...
DOGS BARK No!
...but other dogs are the real problem.
No!
It's territorial, and it needs a completely different approach,
so Graeme will have to come back and tackle it.
Oi! No!
Before that, he's heading 80 miles west
to a stable near Leicester.
TROY BARKS No, off, Troy! Off! Off!
Four-year-old Dobermann Troy... Let go!
...goes bonkers for brushes.
Because he's got the bristles, I can't get them off him.
No!
Oh, he's 50kg. No! No!
Let go!
'This is like, he will not let you have it.'
That is his. And I don't like that kind of vibe.
Let go.
Troy's tug-of-war game makes life impossible for Amelie.
Let go, Troy! Let go!
You need a brush to do all the stables.
'You need a brush to sweep the yard.
'You need a brush to sweep the gangway.'
A brush is gonna be involved pretty much all the time.
'This is his heaven and my hell.'
No! Get off! Get off!
Off! Off!
SHE SIGHS
Get off! Off!
Morning.
Morning, Graeme. GRAEME LAUGHS
Morning. Erm, right, I see your problem.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. He won't let go.
No, he won't, will he? And if I...
When I try and get it with my hands,
that's when he's accidentally bit me.
Oh, he's got you? Yeah. Yeah. So I don't wanna do that.
TROY BARKS
Oh, you've got no chance, have you? No, no, you can't do it.
Oh, no. That's gone. That's it now.
Oh, now we've had it. Let go!
TROY GROWLS Yeah, it's pretty serious stuff.
Oh, well done. Well done. TROY BARKS
I'll tell you what, shall I... Oh, just chuck it in the bin.
...chuck it up there? Yeah, thank you.
It's crystal clear to Graeme just how bad this is,
but this brush battle is just a warm up.
Well, it's bad here, but it's worse at home.
Really? Yes.
I've got Dwayne to contend with. Dwayne? Is that your other half?
You'll see. Lead on.
At home, Amelie's got an even greater foe to contend with -
Dwayne, an African grey parrot, who's a very naughty boy.
I don't know much about parrots. I do know they're clever, though.
He's very clever.
Oh, is he? And he makes a lot of mess.
No! Oh, blimey. Right.
Can't keep up with this.
And, look, Dwayne's quite happy at the showdown.
This is TV for him.
He's sat there on his perch going, "Look at these idiots."
PARROT SQUAWKS I mean, chucking seeds out
because you know that she's then gonna get a brush out,
and you know what happens when a brush comes out...
and he just sits back and just watches the entertainment,
time and time again.
He's hilarious. He's a joker, that parrot.
The faster Amelie sweeps,
the more mess Dwayne makes on purpose,
winding Troy up even more, until...
Oh, he's broken it. TROY BARKS
It's broken. TROY BARKS
It might seem like a big game,
but the problem is, every time Troy plays it,
it's a brush with death.
I'm really concerned about if he bites a brush,
if he gets one of the little bristles stuck in his throat
or even if he ingests it.
He's had four operations on his stomach.
Four operations? Wow. Four.
And that's started from when he ate a stick as a puppy.
They removed between his small and large intestines,
and that's the last they can do.
Right. They said they cannot operate again.
Can't do that again.
So if he eats anything that he shouldn't, then it's... well...
That could be the end of him. It could be, yeah.
For Troy, one swallowed bristle could be game over,
so Graeme's got his work cut out.
I think we need to be realistic about how far I'm gonna get today,
particularly with view to Dwayne the parrot.
'He's an evil genius, that parrot.'
I'm anything but a pessimist, but realistically,
there's a lot of ways this can go wrong.
Coming up, Graeme's puppy class gets competitive...
Welcome to the recall arena.
Loki can struggle with distractions,
so I think this is gonna be a real test.
Loki, come.
Right, here we go.
...Graeme's called to King's Lynn...
DOGS BARK
...where Ernie and Walter are kicking off
at four-legged customers.
DOGS BARK
And with a life on the line...
TROY BARKS All right! Game over.
...can Graeme stop Dwayne's fun and games
and Troy's obsession?
He's not showing any signs of stopping,
and I didn't see that coming at this stage.
DOG BARKS
No! Uh-oh.
No, not my new brush. TROY BARKS
In Leicester, Graeme is tackling
Troy's brush obsession...
Oh, he's breaking it. TROY BARKS
...and Dwayne the African grey is loving every minute.
He's very clever. Oh, is he?
And he makes a lot of mess.
But what looks like a farce could become a tragedy.
No!
He's had four operations on his stomach.
Four operations? Wow. Four.
They said they cannot operate again.
If he did swallow something like a piece of brush,
it would be the game over.
The pressure is on Graeme to get a fix
and kill two birds with one stone.
No! Oh. TROY GROWLS
If Graeme can fix the broom issues,
it will hopefully fix the parrot issues
because Dwayne will find it boring.
Therefore, he will keep his seeds in his cage,
and I won't have to sweep them up, and then it's... everyone's winning.
Graeme's theory is simple -
Troy loves the attention and excitement of the game with Mum.
Anybody who knows dobies will tell you
they form a really strong bond with their person.
They just love being together with them.
Why don't we use that to help us fix the problem?
Oh, you've got budgies as well. That's Pearl and Dean.
The plan is to use a new game with new rules.
Staying calm scores attention, but go for the brush and game over.
If he doesn't react, or he looks and goes "no",
all of those things will be a reason to say "good boy".
If he makes the wrong decision,
we're gonna say game over, and then we take him out.
He's out there, thinking,
"No, I wanna be with my mum, and that's what I'm bargaining on."
Graeme's gambling on one more thing -
if Troy ignores the brush,
Dwayne loses the entertainment and should stop dropping seeds.
So, let's just see what happens if I...
Good boy.
With Dwayne keeping watch from his perch across the room...
Oh, nearly, so, if he does that again, you know what to say.
...Troy has everyone's attention.
TROY BARKS Game over.
Oh, well done. Blimey.
I nearly went out myself then. Don't mess with that, do you?
Good tone of voice.
TROY BARKS
Tempting, though, it is, we gotta wait for a pause.
Troy can only rejoin Mum when he's calm.
Good. I think you can let him back in now.
Yeah. On lead.
Good boy.
Is he gonna...? No? All right. Game over!
And we just keep repeating this.
If Troy loses his cool...
TROY BARKS Game over.
...he's sent out before the brush game even starts,
much to Dwayne's disappointment.
But now Troy appears to prefer the new game.
He's taking himself off to bed.
Fine. All right. OK.
I'll crack on and do a bit of...
Good boy.
One nil to Team Graeme.
Good. Well, this is different.
But will he play ball when Mum takes control?
Now, word of warning, don't go bananas.
He's like, "Oh, now that's interesting."
TROY BARKS All right. Game over.
Come on. You've blown it now, lad.
Troy is trying to restart the game...
Let's try again, young man. Come on, then.
No! TROY BARKS
All right! Game over.
You know the score.
...and keeps getting sent off...
He's a bit like a teenager. He's like, "Aw!"
GRAEME LAUGHS Right, shall we try again?
...but instead of calming down...
TROY BARKS All right. Game over.
...each time, he's coming back more determined
to put on the show Dwayne's desperate for.
Now, this is unexpected.
He's barking his head off at the minute,
and he's not showing any signs of stopping.
TROY BARKS Right. Game over.
'And I didn't see that coming at this stage.
'So what's going wrong here?'
But Graeme's spotted something...
TROY BARKS
Hang on a minute. What is he looking at?
TROY BARKS
'He's not looking at the brush.
'He's barking his head off and looking at Mum.'
And there's the clue. TROY BARKS
In a minute, when he calms down again,
I'm gonna let him get nearer to you.
Good boy. There we go. No. Down.
Yeah, look, see.
He's not focused on the brush right now.
He's like, "Mum, Mum, Mum, I don't wanna be apart from you."
...so Graeme wants to flip the focus.
If he behaves, he can stay near Mum.
So, I can keep a hold of him. Yeah.
And we can do a little bit of brushing
while he's at your side, maybe.
Let's just see how we get on. No.
Good boy.
OK, a tiny bit of a brush... and pause.
Good boy.
All right, a bit more brushing.
Troy is learning that staying calm...
And p... Oh, lovely. That's good.
...keeps him close to Mum... Good boy.
...and that the brush is no longer a toy.
That's really good. Ooh, hello. OK.
GRAEME LAUGHS I'm honoured.
Right, this is good.
GRAEME LAUGHS
And just like that, Troy turns a blind eye
to Amelie's sweeping up...
Good boy. That's brilliant.
...much to Dwayne's great disappointment.
PARROT SQUAWKS Well, what do you reckon?
I'm super impressed.
Until now, Troy's brush obsession has been the spark
for Dwayne's favourite trick -
making a mess so Mum has to clean up.
Oh.
But if Troy sticks to the new rules,
it could put an end to the dangerous fun and games
once and for all.
Let's see if you can sweep up some seeds,
cos you definitely couldn't do it this morning.
That's it. You carry on sweeping.
Well, he's watching intently, but he's not doing anything about it.
Mission accomplished. Nailed it.
Brilliant. Fantastic.
Good boy. Well done, Troy. GRAEME CHUCKLES
Who's a clever boy, then?
I'm actually quite speechless
cos I didn't think that we'd be able to sweep some seeds up
without it going crazy.
'Sure, there's work to do.'
The family's got to do this training down at the yard as well,
but I think the future's really bright for them all now.
Good boy. You are clever.
Graeme's taking a break from badly behaved dogs
to stop the next generation ending up on his books.
For the last four months,
he's been running puppy classes in the Cotswolds,
giving these young pups
the milestone skills they'll need for life.
So far, they've studied socialisation...
Good boy, Toddy. Good boy.
...basic commands... Sit.
Good. Come on, then.
...and loose lead walking.
Yay! Good girl.
And today's milestone is recall.
Today's training is, I think,
one of the hardest things you can teach a dog,
whether they're young or old, frankly.
But it's really important.
Back in class are Mary and Colin with farm dog Mr Todd...
Are you excited?
...Charlotte with future office dog Boo...
A bit more learning today.
...Lorraine with daughter Sian,
helping for the first time with Loki,
and Karen with daughter Orla and rescue pup Winnie.
Let's go inside.
Morning, everybody. Hiya. Morning.
Welcome back. They're a bit bigger than last time.
THEY LAUGH They're enormous.
So, today's lesson is something
that's gonna give the dogs a bit more freedom.
Are you ready? Yeah.
Yeah? Come on, then. Follow me. Let's start.
Are you ready, Loki? Come on, then.
When it comes to getting your dog to come back to you when called,
Graeme wants to give the owners the best possible foundation...
Dot!
...because one of the biggest mistakes
is letting dogs off lead too soon...
Dot!
...then expecting them to come back when called...
Stormzy, come back.
...turning walks into muddy chases...
No! Come back.
...vanished dogs... Travis!
...and near misses you don't want to think about.
Oh, BLEEP! Jasmine!
The problem is dogs don't speak human,
so first, they need to learn exactly what you're asking.
And Graeme's first rule of recall -
make coming back the most exciting game in town.
First of all, I'm just gonna demo something.
So, maybe we get Mr Todd.
I'm gonna pop him on a long line. There we go.
Have you got any treats that you use with him? I have.
So, I'm gonna let him know what I've got,
and then without saying very much...
Hey. What's this? What's this?
Yeah. Good boy.
Cos everything we've done so far at puppy school
has all been about keeping a lid on excitement, staying calm,
but recall, you can be as excited as you like.
Yay!
'That's the very beginnings of the system.'
But I'm bedding in this,
"Hey, look, if you run to me, it's great, isn't it?"
What didn't I do? Say, "Come here," or, "Come on."
Yeah, there was no recall command at this stage.
Before they can introduce the command,
all the pups need to learn the game.
So, all you've got to do, get your dog in position,
and you're gonna run backwards that way
and see if you can get your dog to follow.
And remember, excitement.
First up is Loki.
Getting him excited is easy.
Hey! Look at that.
GRAEME LAUGHS "I'll catch you!"
The problem is, he always takes it too far.
Calm down. Calm down. Calm down. All right. OK.
Hey! No! Oi!
You know I said "fill your boots with excitement",
that didn't refer to you.
Next up is Winnie, and for this rescue pup...
Come on, then!
...recall training couldn't come sooner.
It looks like you're doing the handling, are you? Yep.
Well done.
So, my partner took Winnie to the field behind us
and let her off, and she bolted.
She did not come back to her name.
It was just absolute panic.
Right, then, give it your best shot. Right.
Ready?
OK, let's go, let's go. That's it.
Good girl. Ooh, that was interesting.
Do that again for me, cos she looked a bit ploddy there, didn't she?
Mm. Wasn't as keen.
No, and there might be a reason for that.
SHE WHISPERS
Right, I've spotted something.
If I'm your dog and I'm... I'm being pulled this way,
what am I gonna do? Resist.
Correct. Try that again but without the tension in the lead.
OK. Yeah? OK.
Off you go. Let's go.
There you go! Keep going, keep going, keep going!
That's it. Brilliant.
Clever girl. There you go.
Now all the pups are excited to chase their owners for a treat.
Great.
Lesson two - connect that chase with a command.
So, if I can borrow him again.
Now each time...
Toddy, come. Yay!
...Graeme marks the action with a clear command.
There we go.
Let's try a bit further away.
Toddy, come.
There you go. Good boy.
Let's get you back to your mum.
Graeme wants everyone to use their dog's name
and a command they'll remember.
I might choose "come back".
That is what I say when she goes really far.
Naturally, I say "come back". Brilliant.
If that comes naturally to you, that's fine.
It's key to use the exact words every time.
Off you go, then. Sit.
Boo, come.
I thought you said you were gonna say...
Oh, yeah! "Come back."
GRAEME LAUGHS Try again.
The theory is that by using the same command...
Boo, come back. Yeah, I love it.
...during the chase games... Boo, come back.
...Boo should connect running to Charlotte with those magic words.
Now she knows the game now, you see? Good. You've got the idea.
Now over to Loki,
but will his excitement get the better of him?
Loki, come.
Yeah! That's it.
There you go. Didn't think he would move.
Understandably, Lorraine tries to keep a lid on her excitement...
And if you possibly could make your voice a bit louder, brighter,
that would work even better.
...but for this to work, Loki must learn the command.
Right, then. Loki, come.
Hey! That worked. Good boy.
Cos your voice was a bit louder, a bit brighter.
Yay! Well done.
Now Loki knows what's expected, he's a little less excitable.
Graeme's built recall in stages - the chase game...
GRAEME LAUGHS Good boy.
...then the command. Toddy, come!
Now comes the real test - will they come back on words alone?
So, welcome to the recall arena.
What I'm gonna do is ask you all to come in one by one,
see if you can recall your dog
from one corner of this to the other, off lead.
First in is Loki.
He's done well with Lorraine,
but Graeme wants daughter Sian to try and recall him.
But can he focus?
Sian, you up for it? Yeah. Yeah, I think so.
I do know that Loki can struggle with distractions,
so I think this is gonna be a real, real test.
OK, so, remember, really bright, happy call, yeah?
'I was really nervous
'about whether he was gonna actually come back to me.'
Off you go.
Loki, come! Come! Yay! Fantastic!
That's it. Yeah. Loki.
Good boy. Hello, Boo.
Now little Boo, but will Charlotte remember the command?
Boo, come back. Right. Lovely.
Good girl. Like a shot.
Never seen such a little dog run so fast, have you?
Next, Mr Todd...
Toddy, come. Yeah!
...is a natural.
Good boy. Good boy. Fantastic.
Hey, I'm loving that.
And last to enter the arena is Winnie.
How are you feeling now? Yeah, all right.
Still a bit nervous. That's OK.
Orla has good cause to be nervous.
Last week, Winnie bolted when off lead
and wouldn't come back.
Leading up to the very last part with the recall,
I was really worried due to Winnie not really having any.
So Graeme wants to really test Winnie
by adding a distraction.
I've got food, and she knows it.
Right, try call her now.
Winnie, come.
Winnie, come. Come on.
GRAEME LAUGHS
Winnie, come.
Right, take a step forward.
When she looks at you, go backwards, yeah?
OK. So, try again.
Winnie, come. Come on. Good.
Yes! There you go! Yay!
Good girl.
Well done. GRAEME LAUGHS
I pushed you there, but I thought you could both do it.
'When Winnie came back, I was so relieved,
'because it's such a big thing for her.'
So now to see that she has a bit more recall is absolutely amazing.
Well done, everybody. I thought that was great.
You've got to keep it up.
You wanna get to that stage where they hear the call, it's automatic.
"I'm off." You know?
If there's one thing I would want you to remember about recall,
make it fun.
Give yourselves a round of applause.
Well done. Yay! Whoo!
Good girl, Boo.
Coming up, Graeme might have got Ernie and Walter to welcome people
into the shop...
Three, two, one, off we jolly well go.
...but dogs prove to be a far tougher challenge.
I don't think I've ever seen Ernie react like that.
He's always doing somersaults.
DOG BARKS
Graeme's heading back
to see Louise and Mark in Norfolk.
They run an antique shop
where passing dog walkers should mean passing trade...
DOGS BARK
...but their two-year-old boxer-cross-basset hound brothers
Ernie and Walter are scaring customers off.
No!
I think we've definitely lost business because of them.
And with five kids between them
and a business that supports three families,
this needs to change.
Last time, Graeme used desensitisation training
to bring their excitement levels down...
DOORBELL RINGS
Did you hear that? Nothing.
Exactly. GRAEME LAUGHS
...and taught them how to meet and greet people nicely.
Hey, this is good.
But when customers have dogs... DOGS BARK
...their excitement explodes into aggression,
and that's the problem Graeme needs to fix today.
Now, that's a problem because a lot of people do walk in with dogs,
and then, well, they do behave in quite an aggressive way.
'It's not very nice.'
To get Ernie and Walter used to socialising with other dogs,
Graeme's brought them to neutral territory.
Graeme's helped us previously with the doorbell issue we had,
and that worked so well.
I'm hoping he can work his magic on this one, but I'm not sure.
Today, French bulldog Dexter is bravely volunteering.
'With these two, they sort of rile each other up, you know?'
So I think what we're going to do
is put some distance between themselves,
as well as the other dog.
DOGS BARK
Right. Just wait for it.
DOGS BARK
Ernie, no.
Walter, no. All right. Just wait for it.
The principle is let the excitement pass...
...and do nothing, but mark the behaviour you want...
...the moment they settle.
Right, you know what to do. I'll go and see Louise.
DOG BARKS
Good boy. That's it. Good boy. That's better, Walt.
While Walter is calm, Ernie isn't. ERNIE WHINES
All right, let's wait for him to calm down again.
But by remembering the principle of ignoring the bad
and praising the good...
Good boy, good boy. Good.
Good boy. Well done, Ernie.
Oh, my goodness. Look at him. Yeah.
...Mark quickly turns it around.
So far, so good, Mark. That's really good.
We're getting there, I think. Yeah.
'I don't think I've ever seen Ernie react like that.'
He's always doing somersault.
Three, two, one, off we jolly well go.
LOUISE CHUCKLES
Yep. That'll do us.
Fantastic. Hey, I'm happy with that.
Time to get closer. Are you ready?
Yep. Right. Come with me, Louise.
We're gonna split the difference.
Now the storm has passed,
Graeme is confident the dogs know what's expected.
Well, this is interesting because Ernie kicked off to start with
but he's calmed down, so let's see if he can keep calm
when we move the dogs closer together.
'That'll be the big test.'
Oh-ho! This does feel a lot closer, doesn't it?
I reckon we'll do ten paces, everybody, eh?
Three, two, one, off we go.
Lovely. And we'll try and keep abreast of each other.
Good boy, Walter. Super.
Really nice. Good boy.
By walking together, the pressure drops.
That's it. Good boy, Ernie, good boy.
I'll tell you what, we could squeeze in a bit tighter, you know.
Both dogs are settling.
That's pretty good, innit? Look at that. Great walk.
It's great, innit? LOUISE LAUGHS
Hang on. ERNIE BARKS
Oh, you've let yourself down there, Ern.
All right, and we'll stop. It's all right. Don't worry.
But doing nothing and staying calm keeps Ernie's outburst brief.
Good boy. That's it.
Good boy.
And after a few more rounds...
All right. Let's go again, everybody.
...the plan is working.
For the first time, the brothers are with another dog,
and they're not kicking off.
Well, what do you reckon? Amazed.
I'll settle for amazed. Yeah.
I am. That's fine. Yeah.
Out here, it's working, but the real test is back on home turf.
We need to do the same thing again.
I think they're probably gonna kick off.
But what we learnt this morning was, yeah, you get a bit of a storm,
but after the storm, there comes calm.
For stage two, Graeme's brought in Paul and Labrador Max.
Good. Right, here we go.
If Ernie and Walter are going to accept dogs near the shop...
DOGS BARK
...they need to learn this -
protest all you like, nobody's leaving.
DOGS BARK
So, at this stage, we just wait for it, right?
DOGS BARK
Wait for it. Good lad.
ERNIE BARKS No, Ernie. Ernie, no.
There you go. Good boy, good boy, good boy.
That's right. Give him a moment. Good boy. Shh!
You see, by now, normally,
you'd have been inside and put the dogs away.
Yeah, we'd have put them away. Yeah.
The next stage is for Max to come through the gate.
I think it's probably gonna blow up again,
but you know what to do, don't you? Yeah, calm.
Nothing. Do nothing, yeah.
There you go, mate.
DOGS BARK Good. Here we go.
ERNIE BARKS
Good boy. Good boy.
As per, he's calmed down first.
Good boy, Ernie. ERNIE WHINES
So, it was definitely a lot shorter, that.
Yeah, that was. Yeah. Well, this is brilliant.
The obvious next move is to ask Paul and Max to walk in the shop.
And then whatever happens, we'll just go in.
Until now, any dog coming near the shop
has meant one thing - chaos.
DOGS BARK
Have they done enough to turn it around?
All right, Paul.
It seems so.
Right, we'll follow them in.
Good boys. This is brilliant.
Good boys.
Yeah. In you go. Come on.
Go on, chaps.
For the first time in two years...
Ha! Brilliant.
...the shop is well and truly dog friendly again.
Well, don't know about you,
but I thought that was quite surprising.
Having those two with another dog in here,
like this, is incredible. Yeah.
I think going forward, you know, if you've got customers with dogs
that you could ask to help out... Yeah.
...you just need the time to ride the storm. Yeah.
And you'll end up with a result like this every time.
Amazing. It's just gonna be life-changing for us.
If we can have calm dogs like this when people come in,
I mean, people might actually stay.
Yes. THEY LAUGH
And the longer they stay, the more they spend.
Today's gone amazingly well.
From knowing what they're like when they get super excited,
from that point,
to them basically laying on the floor has just been incredible.
It's been amazing.
I never thought we'd get to that stage.
I think that's been a great result today.
I'm chuffed.
I mean, we've got happy dogs, happy business owners
and happy customers as well.
That's gotta be good, hasn't it?
In Leicester, whilst Troy has stopped attacking brushes,
Dwayne is still hoping for a show.
I can manage to sweep Dwayne's seeds.
He still occasionally throws them out to annoy me,
but he hasn't gone for the broom,
and I haven't bought a new one since you've been,
which has been brilliant.
In King's Lynn, Ernie and Walter's staff training is going well.
They're definitely not as reactive to dogs
and definitely better with the doorbell, would you say?
Doorbell, yeah. We keep pressing it, don't we?
And they've definitely chilled out on that one.
And across the country,
our puppies have been doing their homework on recall...
Boo, come back.
...and there's real progress.
Sydney, come.
Although Sydney's a little too enthusiastic.
Agh!
If you think your badly behaved dog could do with Graeme's help,
then why not get in touch?
Details can be found at...
Ziggy, no!