Logan Super Sniffer Dog Animals at Work

Hi and welcome to the show Animals At Work.

All over the planet, there are millions of animals that have jobs.

Oh!

We bring you the funniest, coolest and most bizarre...

animals at work.

Here's what we got for ya.

Logan's training to have the finest nose in the dog world.

Midge The Athlete faces the toughest race of her life.

And Wally The Worm stands up to the cows on the Fanimals farm.

But now it's...

show time!

Get... no, don't eat the rocks. Get the keys.

Come on, find, yeah, find them.

Oh, hi everybody. I'm in the middle of a bit of a manhunt.

It's a key hunt because I've lost my keys and Jack's

trying to find them for me.

Jack, come on. Find the keys, find the keys. What? No, no.

I said keys, not cheese.

While we keep looking, check out this career canine

who enjoys the sweet smell of success... or sewage.

First, we're travelling to Michigan in the USA.

This is Logan,

a two-year-old collie mix hoping to qualify for his dream job...

helping to save the planet by sniffing out pollution.

Logan is in training and has been for several months

to be a environmental pollution sniffing dog.

Ever since he was adopted as a rescue dog

by Karen, Scott and Ashleigh,

he's been in training,

under the close supervision of his boss Sable.

Sable's a role model for sniffer dogs everywhere.

Sable is Logan's mentor.

Sable, let's get to work.

For the last two years, he's been protecting the environment

by detecting raw sewage and detergents

flowing into the water supply by locating them with his nose.

Come on. Come on over here.

Make no mistake about it - this is very important work.

Human pee and poo contains dangerous bacteria that can spread disease,

so we definitely don't want it getting in our drinking water.

And detergents?

Well, they make fish ill, which can make us ill if we eat them,

so we don't want that in our waterways either.

The work that Sable and Logan are doing

are going to help people like me

because it won't pollute the rivers and the lakes

that we like to swim and fish in.

Sometimes due to illegal or bad pipe connections,

there can be a problem,

and when these problems arise, they need solving quickly.

Using machinery, it takes well-trained humans

three months to detect chemicals in the water.

But why spend all that time doing something

which Sable can do in as little as five seconds with his nose?!

He's been trained to identify the smell of pollutants brilliantly.

He's so good, his bosses say he gets it right

nearly 90 per cent of the time.

Yes! Good boy.

So Sable's sniffer is in enormous demand to find the bad chemicals,

and more chemical companies turn to him when they have a problem.

All this work means that Sable's been rushed off his paws.

So now, to make life a little easier, he wants an assistant,

which is where Logan comes in.

Yes, under the supervision of Sable,

Logan's become an apprentice pollution sniffer.

It's a dream come true for Logan,

who's had his share of problems.

Sable and Logan are rescue dogs. We got Sable from a shelter

and we got Logan from a family

who was having of trouble with him

cos he was just too high of energy for them.

Logan! No, no. Logan! That's for Blitz.

His new family gave Logan something

to put that extra energy into,

and he's determined to follow in Sable's footsteps

and make it as a sniffer dog. There's a problem.

Things aren't always perfect

so some days their little sniffer's off a little bit or something

so it may be that he could bypass something.

That's right. Sometimes Logan's nose just isn't, well, on the nose.

But the time has come for him to get his sniffer in gear.

He's been booked for his first job,

a genuine call-out with a real sewage threat.

Important officials will be there so it's vital that Logan performs.

Since there'll be potential clients there,

we want to show them how good we've been doing with the dogs

so we want the dogs to do a good job so that they go,

"We'll call them next time we need something."

This is serious stuff.

To make sure he's ready, Logan will undergo

the final stage of his training...

..the contamination assault course.

Here he'll have to prove that he's able to identify pollution odours.

The stakes are high. With his dream job in the balance,

Logan can't afford for his nose to let him down.

This is the last session before your big day.

Will he qualify as a super-sniffer?

Is everybody ready?

Later - Logan attempts the contamination assault course.

It's those kids who love animals. It's the...

Fanimals. Yes!

And here they are, our animal detectives.

Sophie,

Ben,

Georgia,

and Martin.

Today, the Fanimals face their toughest assignment yet -

helping their new friend, Wally The Worm.

Wally is a farmer at this farm in Kent.

He shares his field with these cows.

Wally gets on OK with the cows,

but he wants to prove that he and his fellow worms

are the real heavyweights of the farm,

rather than the cows, who get all the credit.

Wally's really proud of his job, and so he should be.

He and his earthworm mates plough the farm's soil

by tunnelling through it.

This means that the soil can circulate water and air better,

which is brilliant for the plant roots,

they love water and air.

Of course, better plant roots mean lovely, tasty plants...

which is just what the farm wants.

In fact, worms are so good for the soil

that even their droppings make it better.

So clearly Wally's job is important, but is he right in thinking

that makes worms greater farming heavyweights than cows?

He's got a theory that the combined weight of him

and the other worms in the field

is heavier than the combined weight of all the cows.

It's a big claim that needs some serious investigation work...

There's one on this side!

..which is why Wally's drafted in the Fanimals.

The Fanimals have really got their work cut out.

It's been a dry season, and as worms need moisture,

there may not be many of them around.

Today, the Fanimals, alongside the worm professor, Chris,

will be doing the sums for Wally.

When we find them, put them in this water.

They'll be happy in there.

-Another one!

-They'll weigh all the worms

and compare it to the weight of the cows.

He kind of tickles.

OK, it's down to business.

First, the Fanimals measure off a one-metre-squared plot.

Next, they dig a hole in the plot.

Loving your hole, Fanimals!

Next, the Fanimals find all the worms in the hole.

So pull it apart with your fingers Have a look close to the roots.

There's one!

And another one! And another one!

The Fanimals have finally picked out all the worms,

so it's on to the next stage - weighing the worms.

Put them in. There's a lot there.

-40 grams.

-40 grams! That's quite a lot.

40 grams! That's not bad.

Still got quite a few worms there from one metre.

But hang on.

They weighed a small section of worms.

To get the weight of the total amount of worms in the field,

the Fanimals need to apply the worm professor's formula. Here goes...

OK. So if we've got 40 grams of worms from one metre squared

and the field is 44,000 metres squared...

So 40 grams multiplied by 44,000? That comes to...

That makes 1,750 kilograms of worms.

Thanks, worm professor. Now that's a fair old weight.

In fact, that's more than an average car.

So Wally now knows the total weight of all the worms in the field,

but is his theory right?

Who weighs more in the field... the cows or the worms?

In this field there's 25 cows

and they weigh 11,650 kilograms.

So that means the cows are the winners!

That's awful news, Wally.

So the cows have won.

So the cows have won, but just for today.

Hold on. There's some consolation.

So that's really because it's dry.

If it had been a wet year, I'm sure there'd be more worms.

So when it rains, there'll be more worms, and Wally's theory

is more likely to be correct,

which is good news indeed for our wiggly friend.

Thanks, Fanimals, and well done, Wally.

Keep ploughing, safe in the knowledge

that you weigh more than the cows.

As long as it's raining!

And now it's back to Michigan, in America.

Two-year-old Logan dreams of being a sniffer dog.

He wants to help put a stop to water pollution

by locating contaminated waterways.

He's been training under the supervision of his mentor, Sable.

But Logan's got a problem -

sometimes his super-sniffer isn't so...super.

Some days their sniffer is off.

Maybe he could bypass something.

And time is not on Logan's side.

Tomorrow he's got his first job,

where he'll have to find a pollution leak.

Tomorrow really is a big day.

Um, Logan is going to get his first opportunity to be actually

out in the field and do a field trial.

This is big, so to try

and make sure Logan's ready for work,

this afternoon, he'll do the final stage of his training.

This is the contamination course.

It might look like a sunny field with plastic things in it,

but it's much, much more than that.

It's here that a pollution sniffer's career is made.. or broken.

The course is dotted with various types of water pipe,

some of which contain yucky pollutants.

This one right here is, uh, has human sewage in it.

This one here is laundry detergent.

The dogs should give us an alert there is something there.

It's the trainee's job to identify which pipes are safe...

This one is empty. There is nothing in it.

..and which contain harmful stuff.

Yes! Good boy!

They're looking for detergents, wee and poo.

And how's Logan going to find them? That's obvious.

It's all in the nose.

Dogs have one of the keenest senses of smell in nature.

It's 1,000 times stronger than yours or mine.

Scent is the way that dogs recognise the world, which is why

amateur dogs do lots of sniffing in their leisure time.

It's also why dogs are perfect for a pollutant-sniffing job

if trained properly.

But is Logan up to scratch? Well, we're soon going to find out.

This is what Logan's up against - amongst all the pipes

are three containing common pollutants -

To complete the course successfully, Logan will need to ignore

all the other pipes and pick out the ones containing the pollutants.

He's been trained to sit to show

that he thinks he's found something bad.

Good boy!

OK, students, this is your last chance before your big day

to get it right, OK?

So this is it. It's the big moment.

Some words of luck from Sable, and he's off.

Immediately he's faced with a line of decoy pipes

leading up to the first smell.

He's doing well so far.

There are no pollutants in this section,

and he's passing straight by without distraction.

He's reached a manhole cover, but will he pick up a smell?

He's stopped, and he's sat down... that's it!

He's identified the first pollutant, the human poo.

Sable knows there's no time for congratulations.

It's off to find the next stinky pipe.

Logan's headed straight over to the white pipe. Is he on to something?

He clearly can't make up his mind.

Sable looks on with his heart in his throat.

This is not the time for Logan's nose to let him down.

What's it to be? He's made a decision. He's sitting...

but is he right?

Yes, yes, that's good.

Unbelievable stuff! He's done it.

He's picked out the detergent!

That's a big sigh of relief from Sable.

Two down, one to go, and it's going to be a tricky one.

But there's no stopping Logan now.

He ignores a decoy pipe and it's straight over to the stinky one.

He's got it! It's the human pee!

Three out of three. Top marks.

You guys did really well.

Logan hit on all of the ones with pollution in them. A nice job.

Not only has he passed the course, he's made it look oh, so easy.

And that suspect sniffer? Well, it didn't let him down once.

Sable couldn't be prouder.

Our hero gets a wash to make sure that he's clean

from all pollutants he's had contact with.

If they got any pollution on them, we wash it off

so that it doesn't make them sick.

Then Logan's mind turns to the real test.

Tomorrow, he will learn

whether he's cut out for his dream job.

Later... it's Logan's first day at work.

Will his sniffer be up to the challenge of a real call-out?

Oh, hey there. I'm just waiting to get some make-up applied

because even good-looking presenters like myself

need a bit of make-up.

Very funny.

Anyway, here I go.

I just sit back, close my eyes. Make-up artist, I'm ready.

OK guys, I'm ready.

What? Give me that mirror.

What?

What is going on here? "Hope you like the make-up.

"Love, Cheeky Monkey"?

I hate that cheeky monkey!

And now we're off to Shipley in England.

Within this quiet town, on this unassuming street,

behind this one eye

and within this furry coat,

beats the heart of a champion.

Meet Midge...

the racing cat.

Midge is a 13-year-old moggy

who has one eye and a need for speed.

And this is Martin, her trainer, agent and number one fan.

I think she's got the spirit, you know, of competing

like an athlete does.

Midge's street races against Martin have earned her fame.

She's appeared on TV, in the news, even in a movie.

And Midge's career has reached a crucial point.

She's looking to take her racing to the next level.

Today, Midge will compete in the biggest race of her life

against a top human athlete.

But before that, it's a warm-up race with Martin.

We're getting ready for a race between myself

and Midge and it will be tremendous.

It's man against cat. You don't often see this.

As part of Midge's training routine they race here, in the street,

almost every day.

This is where we'll start from.

This is our usual starting line

and once I put Midge down, I can tell you, the race is on.

See if she'll go for it. All right, let's go!

Uh-oh! Looks like Midge is off her game.

Clearly distracted by the thought

of taking on a real competitor.

Sorry, Martin, but it's true. She deserves more.

Finally, Martin has Midge in the zone. Here we go.

Go on. Come on!

Come on.

Wow! That is insane! Midge is one speedy cat.

She completely left Martin in the dust.

She's in top form at the moment. I can't get near to her.

Having proved that her eye IS on the prize, it's time to give Midge

what she wants by putting a real competitor by her side.

She's about to face the biggest challenge of her racing career,

and that challenge comes in this very athletic package.

I'm the fastest under-15

at sports hall athletics two lap in the UK.

I can do the hundred metres in 11.3 seconds.

That's fast!

Looks like Midge finally has some serious competition.

And as if things couldn't be more thrilling, guess what?

Today's race will be taking place on a real running track.

Midge needs to stay in the zone.

There can't be any shenanigans like when she races Martin.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.

Record holder Matt will be racing on the outside lane

while Midge - meow - will take the inside.

Matt's off like lightning.

Midge wanders out of her starting box.

Matt storms down the straight.

Midge has a little look around.

Matt's crossed the line... a great performance.

Midge is going sideways. This is a catastrophe!

Nice run, Matt, but the big event got to Midge

and, well, she bottled it.

She didn't sprint the whole 100 metres

but there are other times.

Oh, well.

Some day Midge just might be the first cat to win Olympic gold or...

just finish the race.

But until then, she still has her dreams and her races with Martin.

It's not just today that animals have had jobs.

History reveals that in the past,

they've had even more amazing jobs than today.

And here are those History's Heroes.

Hello. Bumbleman here, Professor John Bumbleman,

world-famous animal historian and part-time inventor. Oh, yes.

I'm an inventor and I've had a new idea.

Eureka! It's a light bulb that turns on when you say "eureka".

Brilliant.

Now for some animals who have invented

some pretty clever things too.

Electric lights, phones, even electric cars...

modern society is more than a little reliant on electricity.

And it's an American with a bad haircut who gets all the praise.

Benjamin Franklin is considered the master of electricity

after discovering it by conducting experiments.

But one customer discovered electricity

long before any scientist was on the scene.

Meet our first animal inventor, the electric eel...

a freshwater fish from South America

which can produce an electric shock of 500 volts!

That must have been a bit of a shocker for Mr Franklin.

Our next animal invented paper!

Almost 6,000 years ago, Ancient Egyptian scientists

and their mummies started using papyrus as the first ever notebooks.

They made their paper out of reeds and used it to write records,

which were stored as scrolls.

But the animal world had once again trumped humans,

as the true inventor of paper is... the wasp.

Yes, since way back, this black and yellow fellow has been

creating paper out of the dead wood and saliva it uses

to build its nests.

And can they create some paper!

The largest ever wasp nest was found in New Zealand in 1963

and was a whopping three-and-a-half metres long.

Maybe the wasps were trying to write a novel!

Oh, you reeka.

PING! Oh!

In 1879, the world went crazy

when Thomas Edison invented the light bulb.

Everyone spent lots of time congratulating Mr Edison,

ooh-ing and ah-ing at the wonder

of not having to light gas lamps in their living rooms any more.

But Franklin wasn't the first to discover electricity.

It was invented even before 1879 and the real inventor was...

a glow worm, who invented a very efficient light bulb in its stomach

over 30 million years ago.

What's more, glow worms' lights

are also actually far more efficient than any of ours.

Typical light bulbs waste over 95 per cent of their energy as heat,

a glow worm produces cold light,

almost without wasting any energy at all.

Well done, Mr Glow worm!

So that's it for animal adventures through time.

Now, if you'll excuse me,

I'm going to invent something to make my socks smell better.

Finally, it's back to Michigan in the USA.

Earlier on, Logan successfully completed

the dreaded contamination assault course.

You guys did really well.

This is the last session before your big day.

And took one step closer to his dream job,

working alongside his boss Sable as a sniffer dog.

And now Logan faces the biggest day of his life.

City officials suspect that unwanted sewage is leaking into a water pipe.

If their fears are correct, then Logan's town is facing

a potentially serious health risk.

Logan's bosses, Sable and Scott,

have decided that this is going to be Logan's first call-out.

And the pressure's really on.

As Logan will be working in front of important clients, it's vital

that his sniffer is on the ball and up to finding any pollution.

There's lots of pressure

because there's a lot of new people here

and we want to see if he does a good job.

Wow, this is big. Can Logan's training and desire get him through?

We're about to find out.

As Sable looks on,

Logan leads the way through the fields

towards the potentially contaminated site.

He's clearly feeling confident today.

Logan's very excited.

We've got a few pipes that are coming up here in the distance

that he is going to be checking.

They finally reach the pipes.

Remember, this is a real call-out.

No-one knows whether the water in the pipes contains pollution.

This is Logan's big moment.

He'll tell us by sitting with the sit alert

if there's any stuff in the pipe. Logan, this is a big test for you.

No-one could be any more nervous than Sable,

who wants to watch his young apprentice pull it off.

Logan takes a sniff.

He gives it some thought and he sits down.

-Is that it?

-That means he thinks the pipe contains pollution.

-OK. I believe ya.

-But is he right?

In goes the old pro to find out.

Everyone awaits confirmation with bated breath.

And would you believe it? Sable says yes!

Logan's got it right. The pipe is polluted.

The pipe can be investigated

and fixed so the pollution is removed and no-one gets ill.

Looks like we've got a couple of positive hits

so we'll turn that over to our contact here.

All thanks to Logan, who's proved he has exactly what it takes.

In fact, the new clients are so impressed they whiz Logan over

to the other side of town to get his opinion on another suspect pipe.

If Logan does well on this, I think Sable's going to be very excited.

This one's trickier because the pipe's at the bottom of a manhole.

This means the water's further away,

so some extra special sniffing is required.

This is an open manhole.

Make sure they've got sure footing

and the dogs don't step over the edge.

But nothing's holding Logan back.

He takes a sniff...

and he sits.

Remember, this means his nose is telling him

there's unwanted pollution about.

Again, just to be sure, Sable double-checks Logan's work...

and confirms that he's right.

-Good boy. Good boy.

-Great work, Logan. Two out of two.

Everyone's really impressed.

OK, everybody. That was fantastic. Logan, excellent job.

They're not the only ones over the moon.

Sable couldn't be any happier All that training he's supervised

has finally paid off.

We got something in this manhole.

A real valuable tool.

I think probably we'll be using them again in the future.

For Logan it's a dream come true.

-He's finally made it as a sniffer dog.

-Let's go.

Congratulations, Logan.

Now you can enjoy the sweet smell of success.

He's getting a raise.

Hey, Jack, that looks like one smelly and messy job.

Do you want a position in that company?

No? I don't blame you.

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