Episode 12 Dick 'N' Dom Go Wild

Listen up. This show features highly trained professionals

working with potentially dangerous, unpredictable animals.

Please do not try anything you're about to see yourselves.

BOTH: Got it?!

'Did you know that now, right now, there are people all around the UK

'who are working their socks off

'to help wounded wildlife and poorly pets?'

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

'to get stuck in at the busiest vets,

'wildlife sanctuaries and rescue centres.'

Rats!

'It's tough and dirty work, but somebody has got to do it.'

'On today's show,

'Caira and Aiden work to get a saved seal back into the ocean.'

Three, two, one, off you go, Tiger Lily.

'Reanna and Semeenah prove they have what it takes to be vet assistants.'

If you don't like it, don't look.

'And Dom takes on Thomas the tearaway parrot.'

Can't wait. Off to the seaside today to help some seals.

Oi! Stop.

Whatever you do don't walk along the beach holding a bucket in one hand,

holding a spade in the other thinking it's a microphone

singing, "I do like to be beside the seaside."

-As though I'd do that.

-You do it every time.

-You look ridiculous. No singing into spades, got it?

-No singing. Got it.

# Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside... #

Particularly when I've been given access to a place

that rescues and looks after abandoned baby seals.

Now, if only I had someone to share the experience with.

'These two will do, Aiden and Caira.

'Aiden loves exciting animals.

'But sadly, he only has his ageing hound for company.'

I've got a dog,

but he's kind of old so he doesn't really do much any more.

He just lays on his bed all day.

'Caira loves all things aquatic

'and is desperate for a seaside adventure.

'But Dad keeps pouring cold water on the idea.'

I keep asking him and asking him if he could take me.

He's going, "we'll go next weekend, we'll go next weekend".

He hasn't taken me.

-'Dad!'

-Sorry.

'Let's draw a line under this.

'You want exciting animals, you want a seaside adventure?

'Consider it done.'

Caira, Aiden, welcome to sunny Skegness,

home to miles of golden beaches and the Natureland Seal Sanctuary,

which is where you two will be working today.

-Caira, your dad promised to bring you to one of these places?

-Yeah.

Go Wild has done it for you today.

-And Aiden, are you a sucker for seals?

-Big time.

Right well, let's get started.

'This place isn't just about showing off fancy fish and marine life.

'For nearly 50 years, it's rescued, rehabilitated

'and released close to 700 injured or sick harbour seals.

'And it could also be a life-changing experience for our team today.'

Ah, Simon here's your two big time seal suckers, Caira and Aiden.

What have you got them doing first?

Well, breakfast time for the seals.

What are they going to be eating?

An eggy buttie? Sausage sanga? Bacon vol-au-vent?

-Afraid not. It's fish, lots of it.

-Do you like the smell of fish?

That's not good. Over there is two buckets with your names on them

and I mean quite literally.

So you best get started because we've got some hungry seals out there

and while you do that, I'm going to hunt for the caviar.

'They need to fix breaky for the five harbour seals who live here.

'It's normally Simon's daily task,

'but he isn't going to turn down some keen help like this.'

If you can get your hands in and mix those fish up,

we're going to wash all the scales off.

It smells.

Ooh, it's all slimy.

-Ooh.

-Churn them around in the water. That's it.

Wash all those scales off.

I bet you didn't think you'd be doing this this morning

-when you got up, did you?

-No.

-No.

-No?

Come on.

I can't even put up with the smell now, never mind every day.

You get used to it.

All right, guys. I need you to lift all those fish out now

and put them in this tub for me.

Nice big handfuls. That's it. You're doing a great job.

'That's the fish de-slimed,

'now to slip in some important energy-boosting vitamins

'to make them just as nutritious as freshly-caught fish.'

'What we're going to do then

is I'm going to make a little incision in each one of the fish

and you're going to put one of the tablets in.

Each seal is going to get two of these special vitamins.

Why do they need vitamins?

It keeps them nice and fit and healthy.

So we're actually going to shove those inside the fish?

-That's right, or rather you guys are.

-Oh.

-Oh.

'Watch your fingers there, Aiden. Careful. In with the tablet.'

-Ah, that's disgusting.

-'All done now.

'That's five breakfasts sorted for five famished harbour seals.

'And yes, they look like they've spotted their nosh already.'

There you go, seals.

-So we're feeding them?

-That's the plan.

'Later, Aiden and Caira give their handiwork to an insistent seal.'

-LAUGHS

-What's he doing?

He's trying to get my attention.

'But first, Dom's in the big city helping cute little pets.

Today on Dick and Dom Go Wild, I'm in fancy London town.

Yes, at the Blue Cross Animal Hospital.

Who knows? Today we might even meet the Prime Minister's fat budgie

or even, or even, the royal corgis.

Probably not though.

'Two people we are definitely going to meet are Reanna and Sameenah.

'Sameenah used to have a house full of pets,

-'until she developed an allergy to fur.

-SNEEZES

'Fill us in on your previous pets, Sameenah.'

I used to have guinea pigs and a hamster

and before that, I had dogs and cats and birds and parrots.

'Not now though. Shame.

'Reanna, what have you got?

'Looks like you've got your hands full with that lot.

'Any other pets you require?'

I want a penguin.

I don't know why. I love penguins. I think they're so cute.

I just want to freeze my whole back garden and set the penguin in it.

Or I can keep it in my freezer.

'It seems there's only one animal that makes Reanna really jumpy.

-Reanna's scared of cats.

-I hate cats.

They have like really, really big eyes.

They get small and they have, like slits.

I don't like the way their eyes glow in the dark. That's just strange.

Why would they do that?

'A bit of work to do here.

'A busy city animal hospital should do the trick.'

Reanna, Sameenah, welcome to Dick and Dom's Go Wild.

-Are you excited?

-Yes.

-Yes.

Good. We are working in an animal hospital.

It's not good for you, is it?

-The chances are you're going to see a couple of moggies.

-Eurgh.

What about you, Sameenah?

-You've got some serious allergies, haven't you?

-Yeah.

What's going to happen if you get too close to a small furry animal?

-I might sneeze a bit.

-You might sneeze?

No blotches or redness? That's not too bad.

We can deal with that. That's for you and that's for you.

Go and get changed and you lot, watch this.

'This place is dedicated to fixing sick and injured animals.

'It even has its own animal ambulance service.'

OK, girls, come on.

Morning, mate, how are you? What have we got in here?

We've got Bailey in here.

-Bailey is a...?

-Bailey's a staffy. Female.

-Lovely. Friendly?

Yeah, friendly enough.

Come on, Bailey. Let's go in. This way. No, this way.

So Wendy, what's Bailey in for today?

Bailey comes in on the van every two or three months.

She's got a couple of ongoing problems

and she needs medication all the time.

So we need to check her over and make sure she's fit and well.

'Three year-old Bailey is sensitive to flea bites.

'They make her really sore and itchy.

'She also suffers with arthritis, which makes her joints stiff.'

-Is having arthritis painful?

-It can be.

The kind of arthritis that Bailey has comes and goes a bit.

At the moment, she's fine and she's not sore.

But sometimes she gets a little bit of what we call a flair up

and she'll go two or three weeks where it's quite sore again.

Staffordshire Bull Terriers get quite a bad press,

but Bailey's as soft as custard.

She's lovely, isn't she?

They make fantastic family pets and what about you guys,

-would you take her home?

-I would, definitely.

'And later we get to the bottom of this itchy dog problem.'

Come on, get stuck in. We want a good rummage round her bum.

Rummage.

DICK: 'Back in Skegness, Caira and Aiden have prepared a feast

'fit for a seal, which is quite handy because it's for this lot.'

-What kind of seals are they?

-These are harbour seals.

-Harbour seals.

That's right, yes.

'There are more than 25,000 of these amazing creatures

'living off the shores of the UK.

'Luckily for Caira and Aiden though, only five need feeding today.'

We're going to show them the fish

and see if they're interested in having any breakfast.

These are the greedy ones.

Shall we go feed them then?

What I need you to do is we're going to give each seal one fish.

That makes sure they get some breakfast

and they're also going to get their vitamins,

which are very important to make them fit and healthy.

'Healthy male seals can live to around 35 years-old in captivity.

'30 year-old Sammy is an old lad,

'but that doesn't stop him flinging himself into his fishy treat.'

-What's he doing?

-He's trying to get my attention.

That's it, Sam. One fish. You know the rules. Back in the water.

'Caira and Aiden have filled five fish with a vitamin supplement,

'one for each of these hungry seals.'

Do you want to throw one of the fish over there?

'Good shot, Aiden.

'That's Fergie fed. Your go, Caira.'

We need to give another fish to Frannie, who's over there.

'And with final pair Tish and Victoria fed,

'it's time to see if the harbour seals have the seal of approval

'from our hard working duo.'

I was quite excited, because I'd never been up close to a seal.

I really wanted to get stuck in.

I've never seen a seal before.

Now I have and I was feeding them. I think they're really cool.

It was just really exciting doing it.

'An excellent start, team.

'And later, Caira and Aiden get a chance to bath a rescued seal pup.'

It's not like you can just do this any day, is it?

DOM: 'Back in London,

'Sameenah and Reanna are ready to exam Bailey,

'the itchy, achy staffy.'

What we're going to do to start is give her a general health check.

-I want you guys to help with that. Is that OK?

-Yes.

-Yes? Excellent.

The first thing to do is have a listen to her chest

and make sure her heart's working properly.

We'll put those in your ears. They'll feel a bit un-comfy.

We're going to pop that on Bailey's chest.

Can you hear that?

What does it sound like?

Sounds like her heart is beating really fast.

-Do you want to have a listen as well?

-Yes.

You might have to just swap places and come in a bit closer.

-It's going quite fast.

-It is quite fast, isn't it?

'Hey, you're not kidding.

'Your average dog's heart beat's around 30% faster than a human's.'

Next, our team needs to focus on finding fleas

as Bailey's skin is especially sensitive to them.

The neck is the best area for them isn't it?

The neck, and down around the bum area is a good one.

Listen, I am not doing that. This area is a Dom free zone.

Go on then, Sameenah.

-You have a good rummage round her bum.

-Rummage.

-Get stuck in there.

Fleas can leap over 150 times the length of their own body.

That is like Sameenah jumping over 2½ stacked up Big Bens.

Thankfully, it looks like none have landed on Bailey recently.

So we move onto checking her aching arthritic bones.

-We are having a little feel of your elbows.

-What are you feeling for?

Just feeling for any clicks and clunks in the elbow joints.

There is a little click in there. But she's not reacting at all,

so that's not causing her a problem at the moment.

Lovely, Bailey gets a clean bill of health and is flea free. Phew!

Later, somebody gets all squeamish, and it ain't Sameenah or Reanna.

-Are you not finding this quite disturbing to watch?

-No.

-No.

That's why you two could be vets.

But first, Dom tackles Thomas the winged fury.

I'm really looking forward to today's job.

-I'm really looking forward to today's job.

-Are you?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-I thought you didn't like parrots.

-I thought you didn't like parrots.

-I see what you're doing.

-I know what you're doing.

I am a pint sized curly haired wonder of little talent.

-I'm a pint sized curly haired wonder of...

-Little talent.

-Hey!

-I suppose you want me to tell you why parrots mimic.

-I do.

Is it believed that one of the reasons they do it is to show off.

When they hear sounds they mimic them to try and attract other mates.

-A bit like you do when you are pretending to be me.

-Exactly. What?

-Why am I putting these on again?

-Well, Dom, please meet Thomas.

-The Senegal parrot whose claws you are about to trim.

-What?

Say hello to him.

Hello!

Thomas was found dumped outside a bird sanctuary.

These parrots can be a little nippy. Best of luck, Dom.

PARROT SQUAWKS

We need to calm tetchy Thomas for this procedure

so he's given an anaesthetic gas to make him all sleepy.

There he goes, sound asleep.

-See where they curve round here?

-I do, yeah.

If left untrimmed these claws could grow long and curly

causing damage to Thomas's feet, and making it difficult

and painful for him to walk.

In the wild they would be worn down naturally by rough branches.

For a parrot who lives on a perch though,

a good toenail trimming is the next best thing.

-This one.

-This one?

-There we go.

-That's the last one.

-Good. Well done.

Right, let's get Thomas carefully back into his cage.

Come on, grumpy Tom. Are we ready?

All right.

Go on.

SQUAWKING AND SHOUTING

I think he likes me.

Over in Lincolnshire, Caira and Aiden

are moving behind the scenes to help poorly pups.

This is the seal hospital, guys, and this is Curtis.

Who are we meeting today, Curtis?

We are meeting Sandy, who is just down here.

She is a rescue seal pup that we rescued about two weeks ago now.

She is here because her mum unfortunately

left her all alone in the sea.

Young seal pups like Sandy rely on their mums for milk and protection.

If she hadn't been rescued and brought here,

the poor pup would have died.

Seals are protected from the cold ocean

by a fatty layer called blubber.

So Sandy needs to pile on the pounds

if she's ever to swim free in the wild.

And today, Caira and Aiden need to check her progress.

-Happy about that?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

I'm going to pick her up, and if I can have one of you just to help me.

You come and help me.

The best way to pick up a seal like this is to slip your hand under her

and hold her shoulder and then also hold her pelvic bone as well.

If you can just support her belly for me,

that's it, and then gently walk over with me.

Nice work, Aiden. Gently does it, and onto the scales.

-What does she weigh then, Caira?

-22.9 pounds.

That's very good. She's put on 1.3 pounds.

Remember, Curtis here is an expert.

If you ever come across a seal in the wild, stay clear,

because they can be a bit bitey if they feel threatened.

-What does it feel like Aiden?

-It's just all soft and everything.

Now this seal might look cute, but it don't smell cute.

It reeks, doesn't it? Yeah.

I suppose I'd reek if I noshed two kilos of stinky fish every day.

All very natural for a seal though.

Why are you giving her a bath?

It's just a good way to enrich here a bit.

She belongs in the water and doing this keeps her nice and clean

and keeps her nice and healthy

and stops any other infections or anything like that.

-And it might get rid of the old nits as well.

-Yes!

-It will make her nice and clean.

-Does she enjoy having a bath?

Yes she will. She absolutely loves it.

-It will be like going back to the sea.

-In she goes. Whoo hoo.

It's a bit cleaner than the North Sea, isn't it, Sandy?

-You can tell she needed a bath!

-What's that stuff coming off her?

-That is actually seal poop.

-Oh!

I bet when you two were having a shower this morning

you never thought you were going to be bathing a seal pup

this afternoon, did you?

-No.

-It's not like you can just do this any day, is it?

You are not wrong, Aiden.

Access all areas, this, and with Sandy happily splashing away,

our team takes the chance to give her pen a nice scrub and brush up.

Nice work. Perfect work, team.

Sandy, let's get you back into your clean pen.

So Sandy is a healthy weight.

Nice and clean and back in her sparkling pen and hopefully

she will be ready to be released in just a few months time.

So have you enjoyed the opportunity of helping out all this wildlife?

-Would you like to do some more?

-Big time.

-Bring it on.

And later, can Caira and Aiden lead Tiger Lily to freedom?

-Nearly there, Tiger Lily.

-Soon to be free.

Back in London town

Sameenah and Reanna are working at a busy animal hospital.

The next patient is Coco, a male Shiatsu who has been brought in

for an operation to stop him becoming a dad to any unwanted pups.

Scrub up, team, it's time to operate.

Right then, girls.

This is Coco and today we are going to neuter Coco.

First of all we will give him an anaesthetic

because he needs to be asleep for the operation.

He's already had a pre-med which is why he's so sleepy.

What we are going to do is to pop this tube down his throat

and he's going to have some anaesthetic gas to breathe.

Do you see two flaps a bit like curtains?

The tube has got to go down between those.

OK, did you get a good look down there?

We are just going to pop that in there like that.

-In you go, that's super.

-Why are you tying that knot?

I've got to tie the tube so that it stays within the windpipe.

Will this completely knock the dog out or will

he still be a little bit awake during the operation?

He's going to be completely asleep so he won't know anything about it.

The next thing he will know is when he wakes up in his kennel.

With Coco completely out for the count,

the girls treat the target area with an antiseptic spray.

This will help protect him from any infection.

And with the op underway the incision is made.

Girls, quite clearly I'm finding this

slightly more traumatic than you are.

-Are you not finding this quite disturbing to watch?

-No.

-No.

Now that's why you two could be vets and I couldn't.

If you don't like it don't look.

Thankfully, for me, the op is over in less than ten minutes.

After a few cuts here and a few snips there

and the removal of the odd body part, vet Wendy is almost done.

We take the part of his body out that basically stops him

making any more puppies and we just tie off the blood vessels

so it's nice and safe and he doesn't bleed.

A few stitches finish the job off

and Coco is ready to return to his kennel to recover.

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

I thought there would be loads of blood and it would be grosser.

Later, Sameenah and Reanna get to care for little orphaned kitties.

I don't normally like cats but they are cute.

They are absolutely adorable, aren't they?

But first somebody leaves us in charge of their pet,

which is not a great idea.

Ah, nothing like giving a dirty old pet cage a scrub-a-dub-dub.

There is more to gerbils than you might think,

their hind legs are perfect for leaping through the desert.

And they don't drink much water, because they don't sweat.

Pass me that ball.

See the beauty of these things is they are nice and safe

and they get plenty of exercise.

Right, right.

-Watch this.

-Whatever you do don't lose that gerbil.

-As if I would!

-Don't forget the food.

-I'm putting it in there.

-Right, get Houdini back in his cage before the vet gets back.

-Houdini?

-Everything all right, boys?

-Fine. And you can't prove otherwise.

Freedom!

Back in London, Sameenah and Reanna

are getting to grips with life at the hectic animal hospital.

The next patients needing their help are adorable three-week-old kittens.

That's the cutest thing I've ever seen.

I don't normally like cats but they are gorgeous.

That's a turnaround, Reanna thought moggies were horrid before today.

The two strays are the only survivors from a litter of 4 kittens

brought in by a member of the public after their mum had deserted them.

-What are their names?

-They haven't got any names at the moment,

so if you wanted to name them.

-Think of a name each. What do you reckon?

-Honeycomb for that one.

-That's lovely.

-I'm going to call this one Glitz.

-Glitz, that's nice.

Lovely names, and Honeycomb and Glitz now get some much needed food.

A rich formula milk similar to what Mum would have given them.

-Today, vet nurse Jenny plays mum to fragile Honeycomb.

-It's adorable.

-Very, very thirsty. We are all done now.

-Bye, Honeycomb.

Come on then, Glitz. It's your turn.

-And next it's Glitz's turn to guzzle.

-Very thirsty.

When they are kittens are fit and healthy what will happen to them?

Honeycomb will go to one of the nurse's homes, already got a home,

and this one I'm sure will have no problem getting a re-homing centre.

That's what we like to hear, a happy ending.

Looks like our pretty kitties will have new homes in no time.

I can't take my eyes off them.

They are the most adorable little things I ever saw.

I didn't like cats when I first came in,

but now I've met the two kittens I love them so much.

Now that's a result. But the day is not over yet.

Old pal, Coco, is coming round from his op and he's ready to go home.

-Hello.

-Shall we take him down.

-Yeah.

OK, girls. Here is Coco's mother.

Hello, Coco's mother. This is for you.

-Thank you.

-He's quite drowsy, fresh from the operation

-but the vet says he will be better in time.

-Thank you very much.

-See you Coco.

-Bye.

-Bye! See you later. Speedy recovery.

Coco has gone and you guys helped out with all of that operation.

Pre operation, during the operation and afterwards. How does that feel?

-Excellent.

-But Reanna, for you, when we arrived you didn't like cats.

You didn't like felines. You didn't like those hairball coughers.

-And now have you changed your mind?

-I do like them a little bit better.

-I still think dogs are better.

-OK, but there is mild improvement here.

If that's one thing we've done on this show, then that's a good thing.

At the seal sanctuary in Skegness, Aiden and Caira

are ready to start their most important task of the day.

Tiger Lily is a harbour seal who was brought into the sanctuary

after she was found badly injured on a beach 30 miles from here.

It's been touch and go but after nine months of intensive care

it could be time to return her to the wild.

How long has Tiger Lily been here?

She's been here a long time. She has had lots of problems.

She's had an injury to the top of her head and she had a jaw infection.

In order to survive at sea, Tiger Lily must have gained enough weight.

If she's still too light,

her return to the wild will have to be put on hold.

-What do you think, guys? Do you think she looks healthy?

-Yes.

-She looks OK.

-Well, this is the moment of truth.

We are going to get her on the scales and see what happens.

It's a nervous wait for everyone

as Duncan subtracts the weight of the cage

from the reading on the scales.

The numbers are in.

-She's 80 pounds.

-She's over.

-She's done well good.

-That'll stand her in good stead out in the sea.

A right result, we are taking Tiger Lily back home to the open ocean.

-To the sea! That way?

-That way.

Aiden and Caira were desperate for a seaside adventure.

They have well and truly got one now. Nearly there, Tiger Lily.

Soon to be free.

After all that hard work, Aiden, the moment of truth.

-Are you excited?

-Yeah.

-Duncan, what do we have to do now.

Well, it's time to open the front of the crate

which Aiden and Caira can do

and then hopefully Tiger Lily

is going to go straight out into the sea.

-Do you think she will go?

-Yes.

-Let's find out.

Three, two, one, off you go, Tiger Lily!

She's sniffing it. Yes!

Go on, Tiger Lily.

Bye. It's a big wide ocean out there. Have fun.

-How do you feel?

-Good, because we got to let a seal go.

-We got to feed it earlier and it's been good.

-What about you, Caira?

I feel really glad for letting Tiger Lily back into the water,

like, letting her experience a life by herself.

-Bye bye, Tiger Lily.

-Bye bye.

PHONE RINGS

Hello? Hello?!

You still getting them funny phone calls?

I am. It rings and I answer it and there is nobody there.

Are you sure it's not all in your head? Come on.

-PARROT MIMICS PHONE

-'Silly Dom! Silly Dom!'

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd