Episode 7 Pet School

Good morning, goats.

Hello, I'm Luke Franks, welcome to Day Seven at Pet School,

and as decision day gets closer and closer, our Pet Heads

are getting more and more nervous whether they can prove

to their parents they should get the pet they've always wanted.

Nothing is guaranteed, except for the fact that this lot

are going to make sure our Pet Heads are put to the test.

Nine pet-crazy kids.

I'd like to have a dog.

I would really like a rabbit.

I really want a pet rat.

101 animals needing care and attention.

Two incredible weeks.

But have our Pet Heads got the animal know-how...

Ugh! they poo! Ugh!

..to persuade their parents they've got what it takes

to have a pet of their very own?

Has she proved to you she can be a responsible pet owner?

Is she getting a pet?

Previously on Pet School.

Chloe's feathers were ruffled.

This is such a horrible task, I actually give up.

..and things got all shook up with the pet buddy swap.

I've got Meadow!

I've got a snake and I'm very angry.

Coming up, Pet Practice is a game of cat and mouse.

Whoa. Aww.

And there's a smelly surprise for Lauren.

Don't look at me with them puppy eyes. I have to clean that up now.

It's a new day and it's time for morning assembly.

Hello, Pet Heads!

ALL: Hi, Luke.

William, grab a seat. Chloe, next to me.

So, as we start every day with our Pet Practice challenges

chance to prove yourselves, shall we put you into your groups?

-Yes.

-Yes! Group one -

Courtney, Sam, Faramaz,

you are with the guinea pigs.

MIXED RESPONSE

Group two, Thomas, Tommy, Chloe,

-it's bearded.

-Oh, yay!

-It's a dragon.

The bearded dragon.

Everyone seemed pretty happy about that, Tommy not so much.

No, I don't like the Reptile Room.

Going to help him out? Yeah, all right. Good luck, Tommy, good luck.

Group three - Ananya, Lauren...

You have the girls, William.

-You are with the cats. Good, yeah, with the cats.

-Yes!

And make sure you do complete them,

cos we've got another special guest coming in today.

If you don't complete your Pet Practice, you're going to miss out.

Two out of three completed properly yesterday,

-what's going to happen today?

-The hat trick.

-The hat trick.

-You're all going to do it, yeah? Feeling it?

-Yeah!

Good, Marie is going to be checking up on you,

making sure you're looking after the animals properly.

They are waiting, go and see them.

Making sure your pets are well cared for is important

no matter how much time you have,

which is why our Pet Heads finishing their tasks on time,

really shows they're thinking about their animals.

So will they work together in teams

or will they just waste time rabbiting about?

Yeah, it's a good joke. High-five?

And hopping to it in the feed room are Sam, Faramaz and Courtney.

Today you need to give Max, Molly

and Star a bath.

Sam, you are team leader, good luck.

We don't want this team to get into a lather,

so Marie, I think they're going to need your help.

If we pop them into the sink.

-Individually.

-OK, he's going to be a bit wriggly,

so what we need is one of you to hold on to him.

Just brush round his face a little bit.

Faramaz is eager with the shampoo. Right, Sam, let's swap over.

Guinea pigs are really prone to parasites, lice, mites, fungal

problems. They need to be bathed at least three or four times a year.

So a nice line from his head right down to his bottom.

So parasites normally start around their bottom area, because

they're always going to be quite low when they're in the bedding.

Parasites on the bottom? That'd be a bum deal.

I've got this little bucket down the side here.

Let's pop him in so he can sit on a towel and be nice and cosy.

Support his bottom. Good job.

-Are we drying him?

-We're going to leave him.

we've got to make sure the shampoo's working in.

We've got to rinse him later.

So we need to get the other two to shampoo.

-Then we'll towel them off?

-Exactly. Exactly.

Our Pet Heads' guinea pig salon may be a cut above the rest,

but our piggies weren't always so well pampered.

When they're not at Pet School,

our guinea pigs live at this rescue centre.

Max and Molly came in because their owner, unfortunately, was very

poorly and couldn't care for them any longer.

Max was a little bit thin,

so we've built him up in the weight and just varied

his diet a bit more, but otherwise Molly was in really good condition.

All of the guinea pigs have their own personalities, but Molly

really stands out, she is the head of the herd. She'll often be

out first of all to check it's safe, and really to eat the food first.

Max really keeps the peace in the group.

Guinea pigs are super-cute,

and they'll be a real hit with the Pet Heads.

So far, the guinea pig Pet Practice is going swimmingly.

And over in the Cat Room,

Lauren, William and Ananya are hoping for a purrrfect Pet Practice.

They will have to...

William, you are team leader, off you go. I'll do bedding.

You do the cat thing.

There should be instructions in here.

How to make a puzzle feeder.

It says bedding, so I don't think it's the litter trays.

-But this is the bedding.

-Bedding.

-The bedding's there.

Yeah, that is bedding, but I guess we're just going to leave it there.

Let's hope Ananya's solved the puzzle feeder task.

I'm just now trying to design this feeder...

Just trying to.

Oh, dear. It looks like the whole team is a pit puzzled.

William!

Yeah?

He's gone in. Just get him out.

It would be better actually if we just lift the whole lid off.

Oh!

William, he's lying down in it.

Out, out!

How's that?

Yeah, that's perfect.

Oh, look. Do you think we need to clean this out?

If it smells, I think the answer's yes, Lauren.

-I'm not cleaning that out!

-Just leave it, leave it. Do your jobs.

That is disgusting. Oh!

As this team gets in a stink,

over at the Reptile Room, Thomas, Tommy

and Chloe are ready to scale their tasks.

"Welcome to the Reptile Room."

The group will have to weigh and measure Leonard,

clean his tank, and feed him live locusts.

-Hi, Luke.

-Hello, hello.

-Tommy, how are we feeling?

-I'm hoping to have Marie in here,

because I want to fight my fear and weigh and measure...

You're going to step up, yeah?

What are you scared of, what is it?

It's just when they strike for their food and everything,

it's just, that's what freaks me out the most.

OK, well that's one of the challenges, isn't it?

How are you going to organise?

It says give the bearded dragon

one tub of hopper insects every other day.

They should be emptied into a clear plastic bag, which is there,

and a pinch of calcium powder added, then empty into their enclosure.

It's good, that's good.

So, locusts on the floor.

I'm sure it said they had to go in a plastic bag.

Oh, this is the worst idea I've ever done. Stop!

That was good. Well done!

Well, I hope Leonard likes locust mash.

He's still alive, he's still alive.

As Thomas dances around feeding Leonard, Tommy's preparing to

get hands-on with the beardy.

I just really don't feel happy with holding him unless Marie's here.

It's just, I'm scared that he's going to bite me.

Maybe if you knew a bit more about Leonard, Tommy,

you wouldn't be so scared of him.

He lives at a reptile centre,

where he is looked after by reptile expert, Gary.

This is Leonard the bearded dragon.

Sadly he came to us in a bad way.

We found that he was full of internal parasites,

which is not good at all.

If we hadn't found Leonard and treated him accordingly

he probably would have perished after a long struggle with this condition.

Leonard is a real charmer. If you give him the time

you can really bond with him, and he will show his inquisitive side.

What Leonard will bring to Pet School is that looks can be deceiving.

He may not seem to be the most beautiful of creatures, but once the

children get to know him, they're going to fall in love with him.

See, Tommy, you just need to give him a chance.

Over in the Cat Room, things seem to be going well.

Ah! A cat toy drawer, yes!

William, do you need this one?

Yeah, that one. Whoa!

I did say SEEMS to be.

-What have you done?

-It's gone through there.

What the...?

Do you think you want to check some other drawers to see

if it's gone into others?

We need help with this.

I think it's Effy the cat that needs help, Lauren.

That's better.

These Pet Heads haven't been cat-napping,

and think they've got Pet Practice licked.

I think we've done everything.

Pass.

-Yep, I hope we have passed.

-Yeah.

I don't see why we shouldn't have, because we've done everything.

Or have they?

Meanwhile in the store room,

Faramaz is scrubbing up on how to bath a guinea pig.

I've actually never bathed a guinea pig.

I have actually never bathed anything.

Sorry, Faramaz?

-Except for myself in my whole life.

-Phew!

Hold it close to you, don't squeeze it.

That's it.

It was the first time ever, and I'm really proud of myself.

You're going to impress the ladies.

-HE LAUGHS

-Nice work, Faramaz,

but there's still one piggy needing preening.

Come on, we haven't got time to argue about this.

Courtney, do you want to grab the next one?

Yeah, so you're going to put this one back in.

Aw, he looks so pretty.

It's a bit frantic. Put some food in, guys.

Is the door ready to be opened?

Yes! Three guinea pigs have had a bath.

Back at the Reptile Room,

Tommy is struggling to get a grip on Pet Practice.

-Do you want to give it a try?

-I don't want to hold him.

I'm not comfortable, I'm not comfortable doing it.

-Lift him out. That's really good.

-You've got him!

As shown in the photo. You're doing really well.

Put your arms towards your body, line him horizontally

-with his head in your palm and his body running along your arm.

-Oh, God.

Give him a good stroke. A stroke.

I need these tweezers.

Remember, hold him firmly.

Can you move him away so I can quickly get some of these?

Hold on, hold him a second. 0.42/43.

That's really good, and you've held him.

Look how well you've done it.

Great support, Chloe, good work.

-What is he?

-16.

-16 centimetres?

-Inches.

Inches. I didn't even want to come in the Reptile Room.

And now here I am.

I think my mum and dad would be quite proud of me.

See, Tommy, Leonard's just a big softy.

Now how about feeding him his lunch?

I don't remember making it snow in the tank being on the task list.

I'm not sure about how much calcium powder's in there either.

-What?

-Is that how much...?

-That's far too much.

-It said a pinch and he poured it in.

What?

You weren't meant to.

It's just a tiny pinch will do all of them.

Well, unless you've got giant hands, that's definitely more than a pinch.

This might be a Pet Practice fail team.

Our Pet Heads now only get half an hour to complete Pet Practice,

but they'd better not have only done half the job.

Have they finished their tasks properly?

Or will they be doing extra time

and missing out on meeting our special visitor later?

Still to come - Chloe gets gruff with the guineas...

You're worse than the goats!

..I try my hand at bonding with the rats...

Oof!

He did not like me there.

..and the Pet Heads meet our special guests - hearing dogs.

Aww!

-So cute!

-So sweet!

We're halfway through Day Seven,

and one Pet Head is feeling a bit under the weather.

I'm really disappointed that I've actually fallen ill,

but hopefully I'll get better and the doctor will say that I'm all right.

I hope trying to figure out the cats puzzle feeder didn't give her

a headache.

Get well soon, Ananya.

So how did the teams do at Pet Practice?

Sam, Courtney

and Faramaz successfully bathed the guinea pigs, but in

the reptile room things are all white, but they are not all RIGHT.

The rock is covered in calcium.

In fact most things in there are covered in calcium.

If he has too much calcium is that a bad thing?

The locusts are just not going to appeal to him.

That's not what he's used to. Well...

He needs to get the powder out. You do the food.

Right, boys, stop ordering each other about.

I'd say you've got it under control...

I'm not sure you have.

Marie's the expert.

I'm going to leave you guys to attack the situation.

Team, crack on.

We need to get this rock out.

We need to get the rock cleaned, and do the water bowl,

because the water is filled with calcium.

As this lot scramble to finish Pet Practice,

over in the Cat Room the sweet smell of success is a bit whiffy.

Well, on paper you've passed,

but looking after a pet isn't about doing just the minimum.

The litter tray!

But it didn't say on there to clean out the litter tray.

But if you get your own pet,

you're not going to have any tasks written down for you.

You're going to do it all yourself, think what you have to do.

So what do you think's going to happen now?

-Scoop it.

-Gotta clean it out.

-Get scooping.

I'm suffocating. Suffocating.

What have you cats been eating?

That is disgusting.

Ananya's lucky to have missed out on this.

-Get a whiff of that, Lauren!

-No, no!

-Get a whiff of that.

-I'll scoop it.

How can people live with this in their house?

That is disgusting.

Having freshened up the Cat Room, William and Lauren are off to join

the other Pet Heads in the field to sound out today's special guests.

Pet Heads, get over here.

Line yourself up next to our guests.

Say hello to James and his dog Kurt.

ALL: Hi!

And Jay who's from the Hearing Dogs for Deaf People charity

-and your dog Cedar as well.

-Hi guys!

-Say hello, guys.

-ALL: Hi!

12-year-old James has hearing difficulties, and has

Kurt, his specially trained dog, to help him with everyday things.

So what kind of things does Kurt do?

Alarm clock, squeaker, cooker timer, call name and smoke alarm.

And Jay has brought Cedar in to demonstrate what these

amazing hearing dogs can do.

If you want to go and set the smoke alarm off,

-she'll show you what she does.

-OK.

BEEP Good girl. What is it?

Good, so you see that was really quick.

She lay straight down on the floor. I know that means danger,

and if that was at home in James's house, Kurt would do

the same for his sound, and then we'd have to get out the house.

Hearing dogs can also let people know that someone's

looking for them. Over to you, Lauren.

Cedar, come on!

Good girl, what is it?

Yeah!

Yeah, well done, good girl!

Back in the Reptile Room, the team is finally cleaning up their act.

Use some dry tissue just to dust some of that powder off as well.

That's better, looks much better.

Brilliant. Let's get him in, pop him on his favourite place.

Where have you seen him most of the time?

Well, when I got him out he was kind of there.

-Bring the tub out.

-Bring it out.

-Pop the lid back on.

-Still got a few in there, though.

-Much better work, team.

Good job.

Next time, slow down, you know we're a bit a bit...ahh!

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

It proves you can do it once we put our mind to it.

Back outside, the Pet Heads are getting the low-down on how

hearing dogs learn to help people.

I actually trained hearing dogs, a little while ago at home,

and anyone can do it because the dogs need to be

socialised in different situations?

It's a good way for people to have a dog and have lots of support,

and training themselves on how to look after a dog.

So we've got a challenge, to simulate what it would be like being

a puppy trying to learn for the first time.

-So Sam, you're going to be our puppy for today.

-Thanks.

I'm going to explain to Courtney what she's got to do

and she's going to try and get Sam to do one little thing,

and we're going to see how well you get on with it.

What's that you're trying to teach Sam, Courtney?

Make sure your shoes are on the right feet?

Find a four-leaf clover?

See, that's exactly the sort of look our puppies give us.

You're being a good puppy, Sam. Oh, sit!

That's it!

That was really good. Well done.

Why was that difficult, though?

Because we weren't allowed to talk or move my hands.

-So you can imagine, as a puppy, quite hard to understand.

-Yes.

You tried really hard, but puppies are difficult.

Yeah.

You have to do it lots of times, you have to be really

patient, and if you'd got a bit chocolate or something when you

sat down then, you'd be wanting to sit down again and again.

And that's how we teach the puppies what the word means.

But enough pretending, how about some real puppies?

-Aww!

-Let's bring the puppies in!

They're so sweet!

So what you guys are going to do is help us to start teaching them

how to sit when we ask them to.

If I show you first with Cedar.

Pay attention, pups, this is your starring moment.

So then they know, when you pull your hand up and say "sit",

if they put their bottom on the ground they're going to get a treat.

Show her you've got that treat.

Brilliant. There you go. Perfect, that was really good.

-So rub her nose.

-Perfect.

-Tell her to sit, Faramaz.

-And then he can have that treat.

You've got to be quick. When he puts his bum on the ground, give him

the treat straightaway, otherwise he'll try something else

because he thinks, "It might not be that that you want me to do."

Sit.

-Sit.

-Good, excellent!

-Nice!

-Well done.

-Good job. Well, thanks so much for coming in.

James and Jay, awesome to meet you.

Thanks for bringing your dogs along as well. Say thanks, guys.

-Cheers.

-Thank you.

-You're welcome.

And you've got your own animals to tend to,

your Pet Buddies are waiting. Off you go, go see them.

Pet Buddy time is a great way for our Pet Heads to show they can

bond with an animal, and Lauren is loving spending time with Meadow.

Just so long as she doesn't poop. Meadow that is, not Lauren.

If Meadow does her business this afternoon,

I am going to attempt to try and pick it up. I'm 50/50 with it.

But I've got to have guts if I want a dog.

And if you want change Mum and Dad's mind too!

Lauren is ten years old and lives with her mum and her dad.

She likes playing guitar, football...

Yeah!

And horse riding.

One of the pets I'd love to have would be a dog.

Lauren bought a friend's dog. We know how much she loves dogs.

-So what's the problem?

-She doesn't pick up the poo.

And that's the biggest thing.

I go to it, just refuse. I'm just like, ugh!

And the weird thing is, she'll pick up horse poo.

She'll get that in there with a shovel.

Dog poo, not a chance.

When you pick up dog poo,

all you've got is a plastic bag to protect your hand.

Whereas in horse riding, you can have a shovel.

OK, so what's the plan for Pet School?

I need to overcome my fears of picking up the poo,

because that's the main reason why I'm not allowed a dog.

Clearing up after a dog is a big issue. She has to learn to do it.

-We can't teach her that. Only Pet School can.

-Yeah.

Hope so.

Meadow, paw.

So you know what you've got to do, Lauren,

but I think you might be missing something.

Poo bags! That's it.

Yes poo bags, and I think you're going to be needing them

right about... now.

Meadow! When did you do that?

Don't look at me with them puppy eyes, I have to clean that up now.

Ugh! It smells disgusting.

OK, come on, Meadow.

Oh, my gosh, I picked up dog poo, I'm so proud of myself.

-Oh! I picked up dog poo.

-See? So easy, Lauren.

What was all the fuss about?

I'm really pleased with myself,

because I've just picked up Meadow's poo, and I've never been able

to do that before, so I am really happy and proud of myself.

Good work, Lauren! Over at the guinea pigs,

after struggling to bond with the goats last week...

They're like kids at a theme park!

..Chloe is trying a new approach to bonding with her buddies.

Any of you going to be nice and tame today?

You're not going to run away from me?

Because I want you outside.

I didn't say it was going to work.

There's one.

Going to leave the door open, because you guys need to come out.

It wasn't what I thought it would be, because

they didn't like to be handled,

but I've heard that apparently

when they squeak it's just been them.

I was scared that I was hurting them.

I wasn't too happy that they kept running away.

It does not like that, it does not like that.

OK, really do not like these guinea pigs.

You're worse than the goats.

You might want to change your tactics, Chloe.

Courtney, on the other hand, has found her way into Patch's heart.

Through his stomach and some tasty treats.

I'm going to scatter a bit of food around, so Patch can find it.

And then I'm going to take him out. Hi. Cheeky little thing.

They like to be supported a bit, and they like to be close to you

so they feel safe.

I do miss Clark a lot.

I'm quite happy that I have the hamsters,

because that was what I was trying to hope to get after Pet School,

and Patch is really cute and soft and I just love him to bits.

I think we've got a little romance going on here.

Meanwhile, in the furries room,

Sam is working on bonding with his new buddies.

-Hi mate, how we doing?

-Yeah, good.

-Good. The rats are all asleep in their hammock.

-Yes.

That means they're comfortable around you.

Yeah. Do you want to help me take some rats out?

-I mean, I'm here now, it seems silly not to. Yeah, sure.

-OK.

Hey, mate.

Down the back. Oof!

-He did not like me there. He doesn't know me.

-No.

Do you want to go?

Yeah, I'll go.

So if you don't want to get nibbled by a rat,

make sure you leave them alone when they are sleeping.

It's a good job Sam's being paying attention to what his buddies like.

What's the best things about them?

They don't like sort of to be held in your hand.

They just want to explore, walk round.

There's some dried pasta in there - get involved, missing out.

-Put the lid on.

-I've got these guys.

-Seriously, they jump.

-Do they?

Yeah, so you've got them in the cage. If you've got them out and

-you're going to hold it, come away from the cage. They'll jump.

-Really?

-They go for it.

-True story?

-Yeah. Seriously.

-Wow. OK.

So what pet would you choose?

Are rats on your list now?

Ask me that at the end of the week.

OK.

That's it for Pet Buddy time.

If you'd like to find out more about keeping your animals happy

and healthy, got to the CBBC website where we've got lots of pet

fact sheets to help you.

Our Pet Heads are hoping they can prove to their parents

they will be responsible pet owners.

But one person who's being struggling is Chloe,

so I've called her mum to come chat about how she's been getting on.

Just a few things that me and Marie have been thinking about.

Sometimes you're outside the cages,

either getting stuck in or working hard.

What we haven't seen is you bonding really well with any animal yet.

Sometimes I don't know if I spend enough time with them or something.

What animal are you hoping to have as a pet?

At first I wanted the rabbits, and I still do,

but I'm also now quite attached to rats.

-MUM:

-Mm! OK...

That's really not happening.

So what kind of things do you want to see, Mum?

I want to know she'll take care of it long-term, not just short-term

and give up after a few days.

If Chloe isn't able to prove this, will she have a pet?

Not if she can't prove it, no. Because I really don't have the time

to take on the care and responsibility of a pet.

You know, what we'd really like to see is just try and push yourself

a little bit more, and you know, just try get a bit more involved.

I'm going to try, but sometimes I'm left to one job,

while the others get to bond with them.

If you're in a team as well maybe say,

"Guys, I've got this, I'm going to bond with the animal." Get stuck in.

Yeah.

-Three days to prove it. Are you up for it?

-I can try.

You can do it.

-Good luck!

-Good luck.

It's almost the end of the day, but there's just one last thing to do.

Today, you've actually got a pretty important decision to make.

ALL: A decision?!

You don't know what it is yet.

Me and Marie have been having a chat.

We want one of you to be awarded Best Pet Carer.

I want you to go into the diary room, and say the name of the

person you think should be awarded Best Pet Carer, whatever you think.

So start mulling that over in your head.

One by one in the diary room.

I'm going to let you have a little think.

Oh, no.

-I think the Best Pet Carer is...

-Hard-working.

-Very kind.

-He doesn't put up a fight for it, he doesn't argue.

Even though it was really close between all the others.

-I think the Best Pet Carer is...

-Courageous and brave.

When I've been scared of animals or something,

she's just been really supportive.

It's hard for me to choose.

He's ready to get stuck in with any animal.

The person that I will be voting for...

-Never gets angry.

-She also helped me with my fear of guinea pigs.

He's just a really good team leader, and a really good person.

She's really proved that she can try her hardest.

He kept us quite calm, and told us not to worry about the time.

And I think that she should have a pet after Pet School.

That is Day Seven done, and our Pet Heads just have three days

left before the big decision is made.

Who is going to get their dream pet, and who needs to put more effort in?

Don't be late for registration tomorrow, where we'll have all this.

Thomas tries to get a grip on bonding with the snake.

Be nice and comfortable with her, chill.

The Pet Heads get a rather large surprise.

-Whoa!

-He is massive.

-He is huge!

-Oh, I like him.

And we find out who has been voted Best Pet Carer.

The winner is...

-So have they completed their...?

-HE SPLUTTERS

I think that the pest... Can I start again?

I think that the best...

So, um...we had diary session today, and... No, sorry,

we had somebody that was interesting.

Well, I think that's about it.