Rasto Trekking Camel Animals at Work

This is Animals At Work, the show that brings you animals at work.

Around the world millions of animals have jobs.

When we say we've got animals at work, we're not kidding!

This show brings you the most extraordinary, bizarre

and unusual animals at work.

Coming up...

We go to Africa to meet a camel that has got the hump.

Mike, the special agent, has criminals quaking in their boots.

In far, Far East they say big buffalo

may be trained by smallest of masters.

Welcome to Animals At Work. One of the most extraordinary pro...

-Arhh.

-Animals At Work, John, take two.

On today's show. Arghh!

Animals At Work, John, take three.

Welcome to Animals At Work. Today...

GROWLING

WHISPERING: Listen, just watch the show.

First we're off to Laikipia, Kenya.

Kenya, Africa.

Miles and miles of stunning terrain under great big skies.

So peaceful, so tranquil.

CAMEL ROARS

Meet a crazy-haired camel by the name of Rasto.

Rasto is a six-year-old camel.

His job is carrying bags on tourist treks.

Rasto has a very distinctive look,

as the big mop of hair on his back

makes him stand out in the pack.

He lives with friends and family in Lakipia, Kenya

where they traipse tourists across the desert on treks

to show them the sights of Africa.

Fondly referred to as the "ships of the desert,"

camels have trekked long distances with humans as passengers

for thousands of years.

Rasto is in line for a promotion as he gets the chance

to upgrade from carrying bags to carrying the owners of the bags!

Rasto will get to carry human passengers,

but only if he can impress his boss, Verity.

Rasto is good for his job because he, as a camel,

can carry more weight than other animals, except,

of course, the elephant and they can go across deserts and mountains.

The only problem is Rasto is grumpy!

Very, very grumpy.

You could say this is one camel that HAS got the hump!

Camels communicate by grumbling and Rasto is not one to be silent.

If he has something to say, he won't be shy!

One-humped camels like Rasto come from the Arabian Gulf

but there are other two-humped camels that come from Asia.

Rasto's got all the makings for a great passenger camel,

from his camel eyes

to his camel toes.

He has long, powerful legs that enable him to carry

as much as 450 kilograms across long distances.

That's the same as not three men, not five men,

but six fully-grown men!

He can go for days without drinking water

and he doesn't sweat when it's hot.

When kneeling,

his belly doesn't touch the hot ground

which prevents him from overheating.

He has a thin, third eyelid which is see-through

enabling him to look without getting sand in his eyes.

Today is a very special day for Rasto.

He's already been trained to carry a pack

but he'll get his first crack

at training to transport passengers on a tourist trek.

This is a very big day for Rasto,

but everything will be fine if he keeps his mouth shut.

HE GROWLS

Uh oh!

Now we're sneaking over to Washington DC in the United States.

At the heart of the US capital sits this anonymous building

but this building looks plain for a reason.

It's the headquarters of the Secret Service

where it serves two all-important missions,

protecting the president and protecting the currency.

In their fight against counterfeit currency,

they deploy a very special agent.

An eight-year-old Dutch Shepherd

named Mike.

Mike and his handler Jaime

work under the supervision of Special Agent Robert Villanueva.

We consider Mike sort of a special agent himself.

He is part of our canine programme

and he's part of the Secret Service family

and he's a vital asset to our investigative mission.

The reason Mike is special is because he is the first canine in the world

trained in the detection of counterfeit US currency.

Mike's just flown back from six months in Colombia

where many fake dollar bills are made.

He uncovered 5 million in phoney bills

that led to the arrest of over 20 smugglers.

In fact, this snooping dog is becoming famous.

He's even had cartoons written about him in Colombia.

To show you how amazing he is we're taking a few fake notes.

They're sealed in a plastic envelope, hidden inside a book.

The book goes into a briefcase.

The briefcase then goes into a cabinet.

Will Mike detect the bills through all these layers?

It's time for Mike to go to work with handler Jaime.

So he starts sniffing when I give him the command

and that command is to seek, simply to find it.

Well, Mike will lead me while I'm working.

If there's any area that he does miss, I will redirect him.

Jaime directs Mike where to sniff by using hand signals.

What Mike does when he does detect counterfeit currency,

he'll simply sit. Oh, good boy.

When he finds a stash this way, he gets to play.

We have worked together for six years

and there's no other person I spend more time with than with Mike.

He and I have a bond like, like he is like my son,

that's the bond we have,

and in the Secret Service there is an adoption programme

in which after a service dog has retired,

the handler has the option to take the dog home and have him as a pet.

Right now he's a government-owned dog

but when he retires with me he'll be a personally-owned dog.

Good work super secret agent Mike!

We've been finding out what animals get up to on their days off!

Check out Viz the cat from Surrey in England.

Gotta keep that fluffy coat purr-fect.

This is one cat that doesn't need to clean up her act.

Now, we're heading over to Hollywood, California.

Hollywood, California!

The movies, the high life, the wealth.

From rags to riches for a select few

but not every Hollywood story is the same.

Take this unusual-looking pooch.

One minute Rowdy

was in the dog pound,

the next he's a doggy superstar.

Rowdy is a funny looking dog.

So funny that when he was in the shelter

nobody wanted to adopt him.

Rowdy was at a real low, but then trainer Christy Miele

saw something in Rowdy no-one else saw.

I thought Rowdy had potential as a movie star

because of his looks first.

He's very unusual looking, very striking.

He also just had a great attitude, very happy-go-lucky, very outgoing.

Rowdy was an exceptionally-fast learner.

Within a month he was doing all of what we call movie dog basics.

Rowdy even learned hand signals so he knows what to do on set

without noisily disrupting the actors.

Good.

Cover. Stay.

So smart, so charming, so well-trained.

So why wasn't the phone ringing?

Could it be his looks?

The truth was even with all his training

Rowdy was never going to be just another pretty face.

Neither Rowdy nor Christy gave up their hard work

to get a job in this tough town. They went to auditions, schmoozed

but not enough work to keep them in dog biscuits.

Rowdy didn't give up.

Finally, there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

Someone was looking for a dog for an entire film!

Rowdy got the part and what a part.

He landed the lead role in his own film, 100 Deeds For Eddie McDowd.

It is about a 15-year-old boy who is the meanest boy in town.

He was the bully that we all knew and one day

he turned into a dog and he has to do

100 good deeds before he can become a boy again.

Funny looks? Weird face? Whaddya talking about?

-The dog is beautiful!

-He became the right dog because of his eyes.

He has great eyes that stare at you.

they have knowledge and he has a sensitivity.

He always was watching everything that was going on.

Rowdy's funny face worked for the producers,

especially as it would have to do some extraordinary acting!

A dog's gotta do what a dog's gotta do.

I needed kids to feel it was talking and alive.

Obviously Rowdy doesn't really talk.

Instead of having to learn lines

Rowdy had to learn to keep his mouth shut

so a computer can make his mouth move.

So I ask him to hold this little stick. Ready?

Hold it. Good. Stay. Hold it. Stay.

Christy gets Rowdy to hold a stick in his mouth

-so he's not tempted to open it.

-Stay. Good.

Rowdy the master makes it look so easy.

He can keep his lips sealed, go to his exact spot

and turn in the right direction. All this for a piece of doggy snack?

He isn't being paid enough!

And then when he's very good, all right, he gets to play with his ball!

But how will Rowdy get on on the first day of his latest film?

We are back to Laikipia in Kenya.

Today is a big day for Rasto as he's up for a promotion.

He normally carries baggage across the desert,

but today he has the chance

to see if he will be any good at carrying people.

The problem is Rasto is very noisy and grumpy!

He'll only get his promotion if he behaves.

He certainly sounds like he's having a good moan, but don't worry.

The pack doesn't hurt him,

he just doesn't like change.

Lucas is one of the tourist trek rangers

who accompany guests walking, or riding with camels.

He is an expert when it comes to training them.

Rasto is used to a baggage saddle

but today he'll be trying on his passenger saddle for the first time.

If it feels funny...

CAMEL GROWLS

Yup, he'll let Lucas know it.

Time for a practise run. Is Rasto up for the challenge,

or will his rider be going for a nose-dive?

Lucas watches carefully.

Rasto seems to have taken to carrying the ranger well,

but the difficult part is kneeling for mounting and dismounting.

He has to do this with little or no complaining

when he carries tourists.

If Rasto sends someone flying, he certainly won't get the new job.

Under the watchful eye of boss Verity the training continues.

Ready for tomorrow?

-I will hope so.

-We hope so.

She has a group of tourists in for a trek tomorrow

and wants to make sure Rasto is ready.

Are you feeling ready, Rasto?

Rasto has to be comfortable with different passengers

and carry himself calmly, but he seems to be doing the opposite!

All this up and down is confusing Rasto. It's all very new to him.

I think we know what that means! Yup, more moaning!

After a hard day of training for Rasto,

he's given some time to relax and munch.

Rasto and the rest of the camels are led into their bomas,

an enclosure to keep them safe from lions and other predators.

Tomorrow is a big day for Rasto.

Will he impress in his passenger debut,

or will he miss out on his opportunity to get promoted?

Hi, just kindly giving a helping hand here on the farm.

In Thailand there are some farmers

trying to make the tractor redundant by reintroducing cattle.

I know what you're thinking.

Pull the UDDER one!

But it's true, and we've travelled across Asia

to give you the buffaLOW-down on some very big beasts.

Now moo-ve over darling!

Come on Bessie, let's get some good milk here.

Now we're trotting over to Chiang Mai in Thailand.

This is five-year-old water buffalo, Boonsoy,

and it's his first day at buffalo boot camp.

Bankwaithai is a farm animal training centre.

It's very important these big unruly animals are trained!

Months of intensive training here turns run-of-the-mill buffaloes

into phenomenal farmers.

If Boonsoy does well on his first day

he gets to stay to be trained properly.

Meet the mighty master who makes Bankwaithai so famous,

Boonlert, who has the strength of ten men.

This 22-year-old powerhouse

ploughs the rice fields for five hours every day,

but after 14 years in the buffalo business he'll soon be retiring

which means our hero, Boonsoy, will be taking over the task

and today is his first day.

The man behind the beasts, tough talking buffalo trainer, Boonying.

No other animals can quite do the work of the Thai buffalo

and not even machines work as well.

With the rising cost of fuel,

farmers are ditching the tractor and returning to traditional methods.

The centre is not only teaching buffaloes,

but also the next generation of farmers like these schoolchildren.

No, it's not playtime for the school's newest buffalo,

it's time to dip his hooves into the world of work.

TRANSLATION: Even though the buffalo are worried about swimming,

they put them in the water.

It builds up trust and they don't fight you so much after.

Being tutored by master Boonying is one thing,

but there is a final hurdle before Boonsoy can call himself a working buffalo.

The park's toughest master, meet the golden child, Boon.

Riding into work on his albino buffalo!

Boon will make sure that Boonsoy knows his right from his left, vital

if he's going to work the land.

TRANSLATION: It's important the buffalo get used to these commands

to go left or right or turn around,

because when we plough the field, we need them to be used to us saying

left or right and pulling a little bit of rope.

With that, we'll leave our novice Boonsoy.

That's the end of Boonsoy's first day. Good job!

He'll get to stay and what better reward for a water buffalo

than a nice shower!

We've been looking all over to find you the best stories

about the craziest critters.

Meet Dotty, she's a goalkeeping dog!

Wow, good save!

That dog should play for Wolverhampton!

Maybe this dog's a four-legged Beckham?

We're jetting back over to Hollywood, in the USA.

Rowdy was a dog down on his luck, but this being Hollywood, he got

the big break and now he's a movie star and getting the treatment

a celebrity canine deserves!

Christy is Rowdy's right paw woman.

She tells him what to do on the film set,

but Rowdy's day has started on the wrong paw.

Three big scenes to do and already something's gone wrong.

Somebody ate the prop food.

The scene requires Bill, father, to prepare a sandwich

and he loves Rowdy so much

that he gives him pastrami instead of putting it on the sandwich

and the food was in the refrigerator and somebody ate it.

It was marked, "Props"

so they're out buying more pastrami.

These humans just have no manners, do they, Rowdy?

Finally the scene can be shot.

Rowdy's part looks easy,

but it takes discipline to watch a piece of pastrami float by

and that's what being a professional pooch is all about.

And that's a cut.

Time for the next big scene.

This is a hard one as working dogs can't use computers,

not even clever ones like Rowdy!

So this is a very difficult scene to get right.

Are we close cos I don't want to put him up until we're ready?

Looking good.

It'll hurt his back to do it too long,

so if let him come down in between...

Dog trainer Tom Roach knows the shot is difficult,

but Christy won't make Rowdy do anything he doesn't want to.

If we're asked to do something for a shot that's not fair to the dog,

Christy will say, "We need to do this another way or compromise."

She never puts the dog in a position where he's uncomfortable,

so the dog will do whatever she asks, because he's got that trust.

With a carefully placed piece of food,

Christy gets Rowdy to look where the cameraman wants him to look.

Just a bit of movie magic that the audience will never see.

Perfection. And cutting.

He did it!

Now it's time for the day's hardest scene.

This one is going to take a really long time to set up.

He has to get it right or everyone's hard work will come to nothing.

This is the toughest challenge of the day.

Rowdy has to endure getting mud on his paws, then

jump through a window, find where he is meant to be and make it look like

he's being dragged out of the room.

Will he do it?

-Here we go. Roll sound.

-Rolling. Quiet please.

And action.

Stay.

Eddie has arrived but please everyone hold your applause.

And cutting. That's a cut.

Oh, the take wasn't perfect.

Rowdy didn't struggle enough when he was being dragged out.

They'll have to do it again.

And cutting. That's a cut.

Perfectly done! Such a pro.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much.

Working with Rowdy is working with Hollywood's finest.

Rowdy is...he's a champ.

He always shows up on time, he hits his marks and he knows his lines.

Not bad for the funny-faced dog who nobody wanted.

Rowdy proves that even in Hollywood looks aren't everything.

And we're back to Laikipia in Kenya.

Today is a big day for six year old Rasto, the grumpy camel.

Normally he carries cargo but today he will try and get promoted

with his very first human passenger.

Being a passenger camel is a lot more prestigious than baggage

and only the cleverest camels of the pack have that job.

The problem is that Rasto is a moaner

and yesterday he was having difficulty getting up and down on command.

Rasto did well in training yesterday,

but things are going to be different today.

He's going on a full trek with the rest of the camels

and carry a passenger the whole way!

Since this is the first trek on passenger duty, it's been

decided he'll be carrying Lucas the ranger and not a paying customer.

Rasto watches as his experienced co-workers saddle up for the journey.

Can he keep his cool and impress Lucas in front of the tourists?

Yesterday, Rasto had trouble with kneeling on command.

Let's hope today he's in a better mood and gets it right.

The camel train is off but Rasto hasn't even set off yet!

ROARS AND GRUNTS

Good lad, good lad.

Camel boss, Verity, is on hand to make sure Rasto is ready for the trek.

The caravan of camels gets going but the more experienced camels

know what to do and soon a gap opens between them and Rasto.

The experienced trekkers are getting further into the distance but poor old Rasto just can't keep pace.

# She told me to...walk this way

# Talk this way

# Walk this way

# Talk this way

# She told me to...

# Walk this way

# Talk this way

# Walk this way

# Talk this way... #

Come on, Rasto, you'll have to keep up if you want a new job.

Rasto may be lagging behind but he's carrying himself

and Lucas with pride and poise.

He just needs to get a move on!

# I'm on a rocky road

# Heading down off the mountain slope

# And as my steps echo, echo

# Louder than before

# I'll be home oh oh home... #

Success! Rasto catches up to the rest of the camels

and everyone is very impressed that he learned so quickly.

What a clever camel you are, Rasto.

Do you think you'll get the promotion, Rasto?

Oh, and he even kneels on command!

I'm very happy.

Rasto's done a big step forward

and his training programme is nearly finished.

Great job, Rasto! No more lugging heavy bags for you.

Welcome to the elite tourist transport team!

Thanks for joining us on Animals At Work.

That's all we've got time for so it's goodbye from me

and it's goodbye from him.

Adios amigo.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd