Episode 20 Dick 'N' Dom Go Wild

This show features professionals working with dangerous animals.

-So do not, I repeat, do not try this at home.

-Mmm.

Did you know that now, right now, there's people

all around the country who are working their socks off

to help wounded wildlife and poorly pets?

And we've managed to get VIP passes for some willing helpers

who are going to get stuck in at the busiest vets,

wildlife sanctuaries and rescue centres.

Oh, wah!

Argh!

Yah!

On today's show, Jamie and Izak dig up a porker of a problem

and get dragged into helping giddy goats.

Jamie, he's walking you at the moment!

Kat and Phoebe face up to a one-eyed horse!

But will they enter the ring and take on Gladiator the pony?

-How are you feeling up there, Kat?

-This is really awesome.

And we get geared up for an "owl-er" of an animal assignment

and learn a bit about bird control.

Oh!

'It's tough and dirty work.'

He's beating me!

'But someone's got to do it.'

When I was told I was coming to Wareham to visit Margaret Green,

I thought I'd find a little old lady,

living in a little old house with loads of cats.

What I actually found was Dorset's oldest animal welfare charity.

Margaret Green Animal Rescue cares for all sorts of unwanted, abandoned

and ill-treated animals until new owners can be found for them.

And joining me here today are these chaps.

That's Jamie there in the green, and that's his mate, Izak.

When it comes to pets, Izak is the man to know.

I have a hamster called Hammy, I have a dog called Tinkerbell

and I have a cat called Beckham.

Jamie dances to a very different beat, though.

His house is an almost pet-free zone.

I say "almost", cos he does have a tank full of fish,

but if we're being honest, that don't impress him much.

They're quite boring to look at, you know?

In fact, Jamie thinks most animals are boring,

but there's one kind in particular that he really doesn't like one bit.

HE GRUNTS

Pigs. The worst thing about pigs is probably the smell of their poo.

Yeah, I don't like it.

The ideal pet for Jamie would be a dog or a shark, apparently.

-Tinkerbell!

-And as their aren't many sharks in Ipswich,

he's happy playing with Izak's dog.

-I'm a trained professional.

-Yeah!

Boys, prepare yourself for a day

at a very, very busy animal rescue centre

home to hundreds of animals, including...pigs.

Hi, Helen. These dudes are Jamie and Izak.

They've both got different opinions

when it comes to animals, especially pigs.

Jamie thinks most animals are boring.

Today we've got to make him realise animals aren't boring.

-So what have we got them doing first?

-First of all, it's goats.

We've got lots of goats here, and lots of goats means lots of poo.

-So first thing I need you guys to do is clear up the poo.

-Lovely.

This is Kinder and dad Buttons. Buttons arrived here two years ago

after his owner could no longer look after him properly.

Goats are curious animals

who love to nibble away on woody shrubs and trees,

which come out the other end looking like...this.

Thanks to Kinder and Buttons, here, there are plenty of poo pellets

to be cleared up today,

so time for Jamie and Izak to get picking plops.

Let's have a race and see who can get the most poo in their pan.

-I've got more poo!

-Oh, here, there's loads! Fresh.

Oh, yes, I found the big blobs!

-The big blobs! He's got the big blobs!

-Yes! In your face, Izak!

Poo Wars, Coming to a games console near you very soon.

-Oi, what you... No!

-Jamie!

Oi, there's a little bit of cheating going on there!

Gentlemen, please!

Well done!

Yes!

Time is up, boys. Bring your poo over.

Well, there's a little bit of straw in Izak's,

but then there's a little bit of grass in Jamie's.

So all in all, I reckon, by a whisker, Izak is the winner.

Right on!

'Ten out of ten for effort from both boys.

'All they need to do is simply pop the poo in to the wheelbarrow.

'Simple. Ha!

'Carefully does it. Oopsie!'

You just put it all back over the floor!

You spent ages picking that up!

'Hey, come on, no need to look down at your dumps, Jamie!'

'There's a full-on task to get stuck into later

'when the boys have to handle the grumpiest goat in town.

'First, let's catch up with Dom,

'who's riding into a Norfolk with two horsey helpers for company.'

I'm at Redwings Horse Sanctuary near Norwich.

Now, none of the horses here are red

and none of them have wings.

But they're still grateful to have the sanctuary,

and it's going to get a couple of helping hands.

Redwings is one of the largest horse sanctuaries in the UK

and has nine UK centres that look after over 1,000 horses

that are down on their luck. Help is always welcome.

Meet Kat and Phoebe, great mates who love a bit of horsing around.

Phoebe is a bit of a bookworm

and has more than happy with slimy, wriggly things and creepy critters.

And while Kat likes a bit of cricket, a duck isn't her worst nightmare.

No, there's an animal that they are much less in love with,

and I think we can draw our own conclusions.

Yep, they really don't have time for all things horsey. Why's that, then?

Not every girl really likes horses,

just as not every boy really likes football.

I don't know, I've never been close to horses

but they're just kind of disgusting.

They have big lips, so more slobber comes out.

Right, let's see if a massive horse rescue centre

can make you think a little differently.

Ah, yes, girls, girls, girls. Come in. Now, you are girls, right?

-Yeah.

-Good, cos all girls love horses, right?

-No.

-No?

-Right, so you don't, Phoebe, but Kat, you do?

-No.

-Ah.

-Well, what animals do you like?

-Fluffy things.

-Fluffy things, like?

-Cats.

-Rabbits.

-Lovely.

I've got some news, there are no cats or rabbits.

This is a horse rescue centre.

The great news is we've got lots of work for you today with horses.

-So are you happy spending the day with the horses?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Really?

-No.

-No.

Brilliant. See that? That's a horse.

I know it's a horse.

-See her?

-Yeah.

-This is Emma. Hello, Emma.

-Hello.

A small problem, these girls are working here at Redwings all day

-and they don't like horses.

-Ah.

What have you got for them?

Well, we've got some mucking out,

and we'll give the horses their breakfast.

-Mucking out?

-OK.

How do you feel about that?

Not too good.

At least you won't have to be touching the horses,

but you just have to touch their... Their... You know.

Their poo. Lots and lots of poo.

And that really is a lot of poo from a little horse, Tinker.

-So who wants to do what?

-I'll do breakfast.

-I want to muck out.

You'd rather muck out, you'd rather give them breakfast?

You get one end, you get the other. Sounds all right to me.

Good luck, I'll smell you later. Bye.

Fear not, girls!

It gets better...eventually.

Will Kat and Phoebe cope with tiny Tinker's big clean-up later?

Jamie and Izak are mucking in at an animal rescue centre in Dorset.

They got giddy with goats...

Nice one. Hey, they're controlling these goats.

But now it's time to try to help the baddest boy on the block.

OK, guys, so the goats you just met, Buttons and Kinder,

are friendly, quite tame goats.

But we have lots of goats here

and we have some quite naughty goats as well,

and you're about to meet Pippin, who's a rather naughty boy goat.

And we've had him a few years.

He had a very unfortunate start in life

as he was tied up and didn't meet other goats,

so he's a bit naughty, a bit boisterous.

-So are you looking forward to meeting him?

-Yeah!

'Pippin here is getting his hooves trimmed,

'and it's our job to get him to the stable...

'Which is not as straightforward as it sounds.'

Three against one - come on, guys!

THEY ALL LAUGH

Jamie, he's walking you at the moment!

'Yes, Pippin is a match for anyone!

'He's worn out a few owners

'and has returned to the sanctuary three times after being re-homed.'

I'm going to grab him.

'Eventually with Pippin under control and calm,

'it's time to do some trimming.

'Like our toenails, goats' hooves will keep on growing,

'so it's important for Pippin's health and comfort

'to keep them clipped.' How often do you do this?

Every six to eight weeks -

six weeks in the summer and eight weeks in the winter.

-There you go.

-Can I let go now?

-Yes, you can.

-Thanks.

See, that was easy, boys. Not a problem at all.

So, Jamie, earlier on you played Poo Wars,

you successfully got the goat here and seen its toenails being clipped.

Now you can't say it's boring. Are we winning you round?

-Yes, unfortunately.

-Izak, we're doing our job.

Ai!

'And the jobs just keep on coming later...

'And there's no chickening out, believe you me.'

-They look quite excited to be here.

-They do, don't they?

Kat and Phoebe are buckling up for a barrow of Tinker the pony's

poop scooping at a horse sanctuary in Norfolk.

They're not keen but they're up for a shovel.

How are you feeling, Phoebe?

Horrible!

Go on, Phoebe, dig in.

It smells funny!

Funny?! I'm not laughing! That much.

How many horses do you have here?

We've got just over 1,100 horses here.

How many poos do they do a day?

Well, horses do between eight and ten poos a day.

OK...

That's like 8,800 a day altogether.

At least! Probably nearer 12,000 poos,

and that's over four million per year.

And we're done. Brilliant.

So that's a barrow for the heap.

Hang on, that's about the same size as Tinker!

What on earth have you been eating, young man?

HE BELCHES

Pardon me!

All the way to the top.

We're going to tip it up.

Well done.

And then you're just going to throw it up.

So you make a nice, neat...pile.

Not on the cameraman!

When the cameraman can dig himself out of those droppings

it's time to give a hungry horse his breakfast,

and he's slobbering at the very idea.

Eww!

Did he slobber on me?

He's going to be your friend forever now, girls.

So what do you reckon?

Has Tinker made you want to have your very own pet pony, girls?

Erm, no, not really.

I wouldn't want to clean them out, either...

-Still very smelly.

-Like, every day.

Having to get up really early, like at five, to feed them.

And clean up the poo.

-Urgh.

-Yeah.

Maybe they need to put in a few more horse hours

before they're completely won over.

And with Tinker back in his nice, clean pen,

he can fill it up all over again.

Girls, spell it out!

Will Noel the one-eyed pony begin to win over Kat and Phoebe later?

Can we stroke him?

Absolutely, yeah.

I like horses now.

But first we learn how to make owls go all horizontal.

Tawny owls, a great big Great British bird of prey.

These rescued birds arrived here injured or unwell.

They are now in recovery and need a health check,

and we've come prepared.

-Hi, Les.

-Hiya, Dom.

How are you doing?

Hi, Les, twit-twoo.

We are here to help you. Yes, even that.

I don't think oven gloves are going to do.

So get rid of those, get rid of the goggles.

-What's wrong with them?

-It's not very practical.

Now, this is definitely not one for you lot to think about trying.

But with Les's help, if we can net them,

then we can check them for a possible return to the wild.

I'm going to go down there out of harm's way

and make them come this way.

Can you catch one as it comes through

and I'll show you how we go through checking them over?

-Right, simple as that.

-In the net?

-Yes.

Get it!

There's no way out.

Got you! And Les has an interesting way of safely checking that health.

An ear tickle?

Put him down there and tickle him down here.

He'll go to sleep.

That is absolutely bizarre.

All about survival, this.

Birds of prey can play dead when feeling threatened in the wild.

It stops predators attacking them.

-If you want to do that one, Dominic...

-Yeah, absolutely.

-Just tickle him under his ear, right?

-OK, here we go.

How utterly bizarre this is.

You've got the touch, haven't you?

What we are looking for is a perfect healthy feather plumage.

It's a clear indicator the bird is in good shape.

He's looking all right at the moment

and he's got no parasites and things like that, so he's coming on OK.

Now just one more to check, and it's my turn.

On his back.

You see?

Shhh, shhh.

No, come on.

Not very long!

And that was that!

Pet-lover Izak and less keen Jamie are spending the day

at an animal rescue centre in Dorset.

Barely a day goes by without a new animal turning up here

needing help, and today's delivery has just arrived.

These five chickens have been recovered from a battery farm,

a place where hens are kept to lay eggs.

Until today these birds were living in dark, cramped conditions,

so I bet they'll enjoy their new home.

They look quite excited to be here.

They do, don't they? Well, you know what it is?

Imagine if you'd been living your whole life in a little tiny box

and you'd never seen the sunshine and you'd never seen grass,

and suddenly you were outside and you could see and smell

all these things, you'd be excited, wouldn't you?

First up, the boys help Helen to check the chickens' health.

Do you want to check their wings? We pull her wing out like that.

Make sure there's no horrible lumps or bumps.

Then the birds need treating with a spray that will get rid

of any nasty mites.

I'm going to hold the chicken and you're going to spray,

but I want, first of all, boys, put your masks down

so you don't breathe any of this in.

It's not an easy job to do on your own,

but luckily for Helen, our dynamic duo are keen to lend a hand.

Can you do one squirt from about six inches away?

There you go.

And we're going to let her go, OK?

Thank you, my love.

-Is she excited?

-Yeah, look at her.

This is the first time she's ever seen grass.

She's coming to say hello.

Am I allowed to touch her?

Yeah, you can touch her, you've got your gloves on.

One down, four more to go.

And then, thanks to Jamie and Izak, these feathered fellows

are free to check out their new open-plan surroundings.

-They are lovely.

-They are, aren't they?

What will happen to the chickens next?

These chickens, they will stay here for a little bit

and get used to being outside and having their own space,

and then we're going to move them to a bigger enclosure

where the public can see them, and then re-home them.

And here's one Helen prepared earlier, this rescued

and recovered hen is now in great health and ready to be re-homed.

But before she can check out, she just needs catching.

Boys, over to you.

Let's see if we can get her in this corner now, come on,

we can get her in this corner.

All right, lads. Lean down. There you go. There you go, good boy.

-There you go, well done.

-I've got her!

-Well done.

Nice one, guys,

so that's one chicken in a basket ready to take away.

Our hen is on her way to a new life.

It looks like our boys have had another fab

hands-on animal experience.

Bye-bye, chickens!

And Jamie even looks like he's getting round to the idea

that animals are ace.

And we dig ourselves a right hole later,

but can Jamie get unstuck and finish the pig of a job we've started?

Can't take him anywhere, can you?

Phoebe and Kats are working hard at a horse sanctuary.

Nine-year-old Noel has been in and out of Redwings since 2003 when

his failing eyesight meant his first owner could no longer care for him.

His bad eye was eventually removed and he was re-homed

but he returned here again two months ago

after suffering an infection.

Hi, girls. Everything going well so far?

-Yeah.

-Good, good, good.

Emma, what's the story behind this horse here?

This is Noel, and he has come in to our vet centre to make sure

he's healthy so he can join the other horses.

OK. And there's another problem as well?

Well, he's only got one eye, as we might see, girls.

-Do you want to come and say hello to him?

-Go over and say hello.

Now you can see, obviously,

there is a massive great hole where Noel's eye used to be.

-I heard Noel likes to be tickled where his eye was?

-Yeah, he does.

He likes a little tickle in there.

Well, if he likes it and it's not weird,

then I suppose I should have a little...

A little... Little go doing that.

It's just weird!

Now it may look gross,

but Noel really does love the inside of his eye socket being tickled.

But please, don't poke any other animals in the face, all right?

If Noel's on the mend he'll be able to join the other horses here,

so the girls need to give him a health check.

Nick the vet goes into sedate Noel, which will help calm him.

They've just given Noel horse's tranquillisers,

which is good, so he's now sedated and very relaxed

so they can do the examination. Fingers crossed.

I'll leave them to it.

With Noel nice and relaxed,

the girls come in to help with the procedure.

They'll be using a special camera to look for signs of a dangerous

flu-like illness called strangles.

What we are going to do - Ray is going to pass this tube

into his nose. This is the bit that's the most sensitive for him.

-It's like a worm!

-It is exactly like a worm, yeah.

You know the drill by now,

don't even think about putting anything up your own animal's nose.

The virus is highly contagious,

which means other horses could easily catch it,

so fingers and hooves crossed he'll get the all-clear.

-Is it hurting him?

-No, It doesn't hurt, because we do it very gently.

The scope is designed not to cause any discomfort or pain.

But we do put the sedative into Noel so that he doesn't get anxiety,

because you imagine if a fly or a wasp

tried to fly up your nose, you would panic a bit.

But once it's in the nose, because you're not sliding it up

and down, he can't actually feel it.

The girls are well and truly getting stuck in here.

It's really slippy and it's, like, really easy to do.

They're only controlling Noel's nosecam now!

It's so slippy! It's bogies!

And vet Nick has some brilliant news.

All right.

So, that looks fairly positive because there's no signs of any pus

in there, so hopefully that means from what we've seen today

that he'll be out of quarantine in a couple of days' time.

What happens after he's out of quarantine?

Well, the good news for him is that he can then go

and join his friends on the field or in the paddock

because he might be fit to be re-homed again.

So it just depends on what is best for Noel really, now,

but the best thing is he will get to be with his friends.

-Can we stroke him?

-Absolutely, yeah.

Hey! What's this?

Our girls look like they're developing a passion for ponies.

-It's good that he can see his friends again.

-Yeah.

I like horses now.

Oh, yes! What a turnaround!

Phoebe and Kat didn't give a hoot about horses earlier.

But there is one final hurdle. Later, they will meet Gladiator.

As a reward for your hard work,

you're going to have a little ride on him.

-How do you feel about that?

-Yeah.

-Excited?

-Yeah.

Before that, dragons!

You hear me? Real life sea dragons.

These leafy sea dragons are amazing creatures, aren't they?

Yeah, awesome!

Their whole bodies are just covered in these leafy attachments,

which makes them impossible to spot,

cos they just blend in with all the seaweed in the background.

Why do they need to do that?

Because they move so slowly they'd be really easy to catch,

but because they look like seaweed, predators can't even spot them.

They don't do much, do they?

That one doesn't... because it's a plant.

Oh.

Jamie and Izak have spent the day at an animal rescue centre

in Dorset and are about to meet the animal that Jamie thinks

is the most boring in the world.

I just do not like pigs. They've got fat noses, they are not fashionable.

I don't like their smell.

There are three kune kune pigs living here,

and first up is the biggest of them all.

Right, lads, so this is Matilda. She's blind, she can't see at all.

And she had a very sad story, she was left in some one's garden.

When they moved out of their house, there was no-one there,

and there was no one there to look after her, and someone used

to feed her once a week, and they'd give her an enormous

amount of food for the whole week, and she'd eat it in one go.

Look at this, Jamie's not only helping feed Matilda,

he's even giving her a massage now.

Looks like Matilda is now as happy as a pig in muck.

Well, she will be when her new wallow is ready,

which is where I come in.

-It's about time, boys, where have you been?

-Er...

Get your spades in here and let's get it shovelled out.

Unlike humans, pigs don't sweat,

so they wallow - roll around in wet mud - to cool their bodies down

and when it's got some water in it the hole we are digging

for Matilda will also protect her from insect bites and sunburn.

And all's going well until...

Dick, my finger's got stuck in the spade.

Can't take him anywhere, can you?

It really is well and truly stuck.

Fear not, I'm on hand to sort this one out. Easy does it.

He done a fart!

He done a fart!

Oh, yes, the old "pull finger" fart trick. Very impressive.

Apart from the fact that the spade is still on Jamie's finger. Yes!

Success, which means we can get back to work.

Right. I think that's deep enough, boys.

I like it, but what's this one needs now is water.

-Helen, the hose, please.

-Maestro.

And I'm holding it, you're not going anywhere near it, boys,

because I know what will happen if you hold it.

All right, guys, I think that might be enough water in there now.

And with the wallow ready, it's time to bring on Matilda.

But will she want to go in her newly-dug mudbath?

Nice one!

-Sorry.

-She is going in the wallow!

-She's in!

She's loving her new cool wallow. Our porker of a project is complete.

-Enjoyed your day?

-Yeah.

-What's been the best bit?

-Erm...

-Picking up the goat poo.

-You liked that?

-And Izak, what has been your favourite animal?

-Um...

-Do you like the goat, the mad goat?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

But, most importantly, do you have more of an interest in animals now?

-Yeah.

-It's been fun, there's been laughter, there's been tears.

And that is a pig in a wallow, ladies and gentlemen.

Phoebe and Kat arrived at the horse sanctuary as horseaphobics -

well, they didn't like them much, at least.

Even a pint-sized pony didn't win them over.

But now there's a big horse that needs their help. This is Gladiator.

16-year-old Gladiator arrived here four years ago.

He was a top show pony but after becoming lame

his owners decided they'd have to put him to sleep.

Thankfully, Redwings weren't having any of that,

and now he has a nice home and still loves to relive his riding days.

So, what we're going to do now, if you fancy it, as a reward

for your hard work, is you're going to have a little ride on him.

-How do you feel about that?

-Yeah.

-Excited?

-Yeah.

Are you scared about it?

A little bit, but I'm excited, really excited.

Good boy. OK, lead the way.

Check this out -

the girls actually look like they are up for riding a horse!

They head into the ring with Gladiator.

This is going to be a massive step up for them.

That's it.

Who wants to have a go first?

Phoebe plucks up the courage to get into the saddle

for the first time in her life.

Right hand over, good girl, and Tom's going to guide you in,

and over you go.

Don't land on his back. That's a good girl, into the saddle.

So we're going to say to Gladiator, "Walk on, Gladiator." Ready?

-Nice and loud.

-Walk on, Gladiator.

You're absolutely fine, you are doing brilliantly.

It's amazing, really.

I mean, at the beginning of the day they were literally horse haters,

they couldn't bear them.

They thought they were slobbering, smelly, rubber-lipped animals.

And now they are really getting into it. They look really happy.

No long faces here. Apart from the horses, of course.

Ready? And jump.

Now it's Kat's turn to pick up the reins.

Walk on, Gladiator.

Good boy. Well done.

-How are you feeling up there, Kat?

-This is really awesome.

Wow, she's even managed to break into a trot!

Brilliant! Brilliant job!

Forward, and off.

That's really difficult.

Well done, Gladiator. You've completely won the girls over.

Thank you.

-Probably the best horse out of today.

-Yeah. Really nice horse.

Girls, girls, girls, what a turnaround, eh? I mean, look at you.

All your riding gear, next to a horse.

Do you remember what you said about them at the beginning of the day?

-Yeah. Slobbery... Smelly... And wobbly and stuff.

-Yeah, OK.

Now what do you think of them?

I like them a lot more now, but I still don't like their mouths.

Their mouths freak you out?

Their mouths are yucky, but they are nice.

They're quite affectionate, too.

-So, you're not horse haters any more? No.

-No.

I consider that a success. Well done, girls.

Well done to you as well. Give us a kiss. Mwah!

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