Balancing Dogs Who Let the Dogs Out?

This is the Dog House -

home to the best dog training competition in the UK.

And look who's leading the mission to find the top young dog trainers -

the awesome Ashleigh and Pudsey.

Welcome to Who Let The Dogs Out?

Hundreds applied...

but only 27 teams made it to the Dog House.

And today,

three of those teams battle it out for a place in the semifinals.

Well done.

The amazing Ashleigh Butler will be joined by expert dog trainer

Steve Mann

to teach them a totally impressive stunt.

So who will get hot under the collar?

And who will tip the balance in their favour?

Good girl, yes.

It's time to find out.

# Who let the dogs out?

BARKING

# Who let the dogs out?

BARKING

# Who let the dogs out?

BARKING

# Who let the dogs out?

BARKING

# Who let the dogs out?

BARKING

# Who let the dogs out? #

We've scoured the UK looking for the best young dog trainers

in the country

and the three I've chosen for today's challenge are some of the best.

For this trick I'm guessing you've picked all small dogs

as they're awesome at balancing.

You're absolutely right.

For today's challenge, I have chosen Lucas and Mollie...

Imogen and Millie...

and Esme and Pippa

as I reckon they're going to be amazing.

Let's take a look at why they were so good at the try-outs.

At the try-outs, dozens of dogs and their trainers

were hoping to impress Ashleigh to get to the Dog House.

Woo. Well done.

And get their paws on the ultimate prize...

..the Top Dog Trainer trophy.

The competition was fierce.

That is amazing.

The first team were among the chosen few.

Can you tell me both your names please?

My name's Lucas and my dog's name is Mollie.

Good luck.

Wait. Wait.

Lucas is ten years old.

His dog, Mollie, is two.

They are from East Sussex.

Go through.

-Well done.

-Good girl.

They really impressed Ashleigh.

-Good girl.

-That was brilliant.

Tunnel.

Over. Weave.

-Very good, well done.

-Yeah, good girl.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Can you tell me both your names please?

I'm Imogen and this is Millie.

Go ahead.

This team from West Sussex took it all in their stride.

That was really good.

-And she's quite fast as well, isn't she?

-Yeah.

Wow, that is high!

And Ashleigh was really impressed by their dance moves.

Up and over.

She's not even that big and look how high she can jump.

-Hello.

-Hello.

Can you introduce yourself please?

-I'm Esme and this is Pippa.

-Good luck.

Sit. Stay.

12-year-old Esme and her Jack Russell Pippa

are from Bedworth

and they balled Ashleigh over with their toe-tapping tricks.

It's so cute.

Aw, that is the cutest little thing I have ever seen.

I think you have some amazing tricks.

Brilliant. Well done.

Day 1 of training and time for Ashleigh to introduce

the trainers to our dog expert, Steve, who will reveal their stunt.

-Hello. ALL:

-Hello.

This is Steve our wonderful dog trainer.

How do you do?

Are you looking forward to seeing what we have in store for you today?

-ALL:

-Yeah.

-It's a pretty cool trick.

It's not the easiest one in the world,

but I think you can conquer it.

Today, you're going to teach your dogs how to balance...

..on a barrel like this.

For this trick, your dog will have to jump onto a barrel.

And not only balance there, but to travel forwards or backwards.

At showtime, the winner will be the dog

that travels ten metres the quickest.

How do you feel about teaching the barrel?

-LUCAS:

-Scared.

-Scared?

-Quite nervous.

-Why are you scared, Lucas?

Her balancing.

You don't think she's got very good balance?

-No, especially not when it's moving.

-I'll tell you what,

that's a really good point that Lucas has made there.

The whole idea is that we're not going to let your dogs

get scared of the barrel at all. Stage one,

is just to get your dog comfortable with going on the barrel.

We're going to keep them on the stands here.

Not let the barrel move at all.

Encourage the dog up onto the barrel.

As soon as they're on it, reinforcement.

Treat, fuss, whatever your dog most likes.

Only when they're hopping on and you can see that they're very

comfortable about it, remove it from the stands,

just move it millimetres, tiny little bit.

Start rolling the barrel a little bit more.

When your dog takes a step, good, treat.

When your dog takes a couple of steps, good, treat.

-Does that make sense?

-ALL:

-Yeah.

When I come back, I want to see lots of wobbly barrels,

but I want to see lots of solid dogs.

-See you later, gang.

-ALL:

-Bye.

Let's grab a barrel for you and then open up,

get into your own space and then start.

When I found out what trick we're doing I was quite nervous

because I'm not sure how Millie is about balancing on things.

Well, let's she how she's going to do.

Come on.

Come on then. On.

Millie seems to jump over the barrel instead of onto it.

What about if you stood in front of the barrel

because she can't go anywhere else.

-Do you want to try that?

-Yeah.

Millie, come here.

Come on. Touch.

Good girl.

Give her loads of praise for that.

Good girl.

Does she know to jump on things, or on your back?

Just on.

Try saying on then.

On.

BOTH: Good girl. Loads of praise.

Good girl.

That's more like it.

Well done, Millie.

Keep doing exactly the same as that.

And just carry on doing that for the time being.

I wonder how Esme and Pippa are getting on with their barrel?

Let's have a look.

When the trick was revealed, I was a bit worried cos

I didn't think that she would do it.

Has she actually jumped up there before?

No.

Maybe just try placing her on there first of all.

Giving her loads and loads of praise whilst she's on there

so she knows that's what you want.

Well, that's one way of getting Pippa onto the barrel.

She'll need to learn how to jump up there by herself come showtime.

-Good girl. Give her a treat.

-Good girl.

Next time you do it, I want you to say your stay

and as soon as she's there, give her loads of treats,

and then I want you to work it up until she actually jumps up.

Good. Carry on.

Lucas and Mollie.

How are you getting on?

-Well.

-Good, let's take a look.

-Wait. Go barrel.

-Good.

Stay.

Wow, Mollie was straight onto that barrel

-and looked pretty happy up there.

-Good girl. Get off.

That was absolutely lovely, wasn't it?

That was perfect.

Do you want to try and take it out of the base then.

Out of the base already, this team are flying ahead.

Stay there.

You've got to make sure to hold it steady straightaway.

Maybe stand either side like that.

-Just in case she gets scared, OK?

-Sit. Wait.

Hold it still with your hand as well.

Wait. Barrel.

-Good girl.

-Yes, good girl.

Stay. Good girl.

Carry on doing that cos that is perfect, well done.

Mollie is getting on the barrel really well

and she's balancing well on it.

I think one of the most important things

when training your dog is to reward on time.

You have to reward while the dog is on the barrel.

If you reward off the barrel, all they're learning is

they jump on then jump off then get the treat,

which is not what we want.

Next time I come back I want to see the barrels out of the bases.

Good luck and I'm sure you'll be fabulous.

-Bye. ALL:

-Bye.

Well, it looks like Lucas

and Mollie are well on their way to becoming great barrel balancers.

But Imogen and Millie and Esme and Pippa need a lot more practice.

Stay.

I live with seven dogs

and I've noticed that dogs either love or hate water.

But these dogs we're about to see take paddling to a whole new level.

Some dogs just love water sports

and sliding is definitely one of the most popular.

Jumping comes a close second.

And paddling is definitely up there.

It seems like nothing can go wrong

when we're running through the water on a sunny day.

Life just doesn't get any better.

Whoops.

Surfing is one of the most exciting and exhilarating water sports,

but it's clearly not for everyone -

goodness, these retrievers look positively bored.

Maybe they should have tried waterskiing.

Surely one of the best water games out there for dogs

is swimming with the ducks.

Still to come - Ashleigh

and Pudsey reveal one of their tricks of the trade.

And everything hangs in the balance as the teams battle it out

for a place in the semifinals.

Training is in full flow

and Ashleigh's back to see how the teams are getting on.

Hello.

And it looks like Esme is still having trouble

getting Pippa onto the barrel.

She won't jump up by herself.

Maybe it's a little bit too high.

-Shall we try and give her a little bit of a boost up?

-Yeah.

Take this off a minute.

And we're going to turn this base upside down.

And it's going to be a little step for her.

Oh, clever.

Good girl. Come on.

Good girl.

Yay, well done.

The bases worked a treat,

but Esme will need to teach Pippa to jump up there all by herself.

When you think she's more confident, just try

and hold her there a little bit longer.

But good, well done. Carry on.

Ashleigh gave us another step for Pippa

and it helped because it was lower for her to jump up.

How is Millie getting on?

She doesn't like staying on the barrel.

Let's take a look then.

Millie, on.

Stay.

I'll tell you what,

never be afraid when you're training your dog to take a step back.

We're just going to bring back the base here.

Oh, dear, Imogen will need Millie to stay on the barrel

if they have any chance of wining.

There we go.

Do exactly the same as you did with the base.

Come on.

Millie, on. Good girl.

That's more like it.

Good girl. Well done. Keep her there.

Give her loads and loads of praise.

Wait until she solidly stays on there on her own

for at least three seconds until you start moving on.

-OK.

-Well done.

-Good girl.

Come on. Off.

Millie's not quite confident about standing on the barrel

while it's out of the stand.

We'll practise and hopefully she'll get better.

How has Lucas and Mollie been getting on?

Well, cos we've started to move it a bit now.

Let's take a look then.

Wait. Go barrel.

Good girl. Walk.

Wow, Mollie is already walking on the barrel.

There's no stopping this team.

-Good, well done.

-Yes, off.

Even though you are teaching her the walk command,

still give her loads and loads of praise, so when she jumps up,

"Good girl!"

And then walk. That's perfect, carry on. Well done.

Today my training went really well

as she was the first dog to get all four paws on the barrel.

She was the first dog to get the barrel out of the stands

and she was the first dog to move the barrel.

Right, guys, I'm going to leave you to it.

You can take your barrels home.

And I will see you right here next week.

Good luck and I know you'll be brilliant.

-Bye. ALL:

-Bye.

After Day 1 of training, Lucas and Mollie are steam-rolling ahead.

But luckily there is still plenty of time for others to catch up

if they work hard enough.

Stay.

I chose Millie, Mollie and Pippa to do the same challenge,

but let's look at their Mutt Measurements

to find out what makes them different.

Mollie is a two-year-old

Jack Russell

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel cross.

She has a really cheeky personality

and competes in agility.

The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

got its name

because they were the favourite dogs

of royalty in the olden days.

Well, Mollie gets the royal seal

of approval,

but will she earn a place

in the next round?

Millie is a three-year-old

miniature Labradoodle,

which is a Labrador crossed

with a Poodle.

Millie loves to perform

dance routines

and wear matching outfits

with Imogen.

Hm, sound like anyone we know?

Labradoodles usually enjoy agility,

so if Millie is true to her breed

then this dancing duo should have

no problems with this challenge.

Pippa is a one-year-old

Jack Russell.

Jack Russells are small dogs

with BIG personalities,

and Pippa is no exception.

Her coolest trick is to limp

and she can do an excellent

impression of a meerkat.

Jack Russells tend to be athletic

and fearless,

but will Pippa be brave enough to

balance on a barrel?

One week on and the teams are back

for some more training with Ashleigh.

And Steve will be on hand to take them to the next stage.

Hello, gang, how are we doing?

-Hi.

-Imogen, you doing well?

-Yeah.

Good. Now, Millie was struggling with the barrel a little bit, wasn't she?

She didn't quite want to stay on there.

But they've made quite a lot of progress.

Let's have a look. No pressure.

Millie, on. Good girl. Come on.

Good.

Wow, Imogen's hard work has paid off and Millie is now

balancing on the barrel.

Come on. Good girl.

Great. Stop there.

She's doing awesome, but she's quite tall dog,

so it's hard to balance on that.

I think if you lower her head a little bit lower,

she'll have a lower centre of gravity.

-The lower we can go...

-Oh, we're going low.

It's like we're doing the limbo.

If you want to balance, lower centre of gravity.

Other than that, spot-on.

Lucas and Mollie, if you want to come over here to the middle.

Mollie last week was the first dog to actually get on the barrel

all by herself and started moving it a little bit.

How has she been getting on?

She's got better at the balancing,

but it's just her walking that I'm struggling with.

Shall we take a look?

Show us your magic.

Barrel. Barrel.

Good girl. Walk.

Mollie is walking well on the barrel,

but Lucas is having to move the barrel for her.

Walk. Yes, good girl.

Maybe try and lure the treats a little bit lower

so she's having to move her feet.

If she's moving her feet she's got a better chance of moving the barrel.

Esme and Pippa, do you want to come out to the middle.

Last week Pippa was a little bit too small

and she wasn't making it up to that barrel.

-Have you been working on it?

-Yeah.

That's good. Shall we take a look?

Up.

-Come on. Good girl.

-Excellent.

Wow, is that the same dog?

-That is amazing.

-Very impressed.

Considering a week ago she wouldn't even get up on that barrel,

-that is perfect. Well done.

-Good for you.

-Come round for us.

-Gather in, gang.

Steve, what is the next step?

You're doing really, really well.

So I want you to start working on a little bit of distance

to really get the dogs working the barrels underneath them.

But it's all about balance.

This trick from start to finish is all about balance.

What you're going to do is balance your distance.

Close enough that they're confident enough to want to work towards you.

Not too far...

that they're going to think,

"If I need to get to you I'm going to hop off the barrel and run."

Good luck. Work with Ashleigh. Work hard.

-See you later.

-Bye.

Good advice from our expert Steve.

Let's see if the teams can put it into practice with Ashleigh.

Millie, on. Come on.

Good.

Come on. Good girl.

Come on.

Good girl, give her loads of praise for that.

What I did notice then, Millie actually decided

when she was going to stop.

If she stops, just keep encouraging her.

She may jump off, but she's got to work out that you're in control,

not Millie.

This team have made good progress, but it looks like Imogen

will need to find a way to stop Millie jumping off that barrel.

At home I'm going to work on Millie to go faster

and getting her to go further so she's prepared for the ten metres.

Go barrel. Good girl. Walk.

Let go.

She's got in the habit of you moving it for her,

and you don't want that, so you want to break that habit right now.

Good girl.

-Yes, give her a treat.

-Yes, good girl.

Well, that's a step in the right direction,

but Lucas has a lot of work to do.

It's difficult when your dog isn't understanding. It's like,

"Oh, she's never going to get it,"

but it's all down to you at that point

to be really enthusiastic and help her through it.

But brilliant, well done.

Ashleigh said to me, "Don't push the barrel,"

and obviously Mollie had got in the habit of it

and she kept coming off the sides, going sidewards and falling off.

This time I want you to stay a little bit further away from her.

So maybe she wants to go that little bit quicker,

-but because you're there...she can't go anywhere else.

-Up.

Good, there we go. Giver her a treat. Yes, well done.

Fantastic progress again from this team.

Just got to be a bit quicker with that timing,

but that's what you want.

I'm feeling confident because Pippa's really good at it

and we just need a little bit more practice.

Guys, so you've done really well.

I am so proud of you.

The amount of progress that you and your dogs have made is amazing

and you should be proud of yourselves.

Well, I will see you in a week's time.

-Bye. ALL:

-Bye.

Balancing on a barrel takes real skill and a lot of training.

Here are five steps to teach your dog how to do it.

Step 1.

Encourage your dog to jump onto a stable barrel.

Only reward when your dog is on the barrel.

Step 2.

Take the barrel out of its base and begin to wobble it very slightly.

Step 3.

Encourage your dog to move the barrel very slowly.

Every time they take a step, reward big.

Step 4.

Gradually increase the movement

so your dog needs to take more steps to stay on the barrel.

Step 5.

Leave a small gap between you and your dog

so they learn to balance and travel on the barrel

without you holding it.

I think we have a good chance of going through to the semifinal,

but we might have to train a bit more.

When I go home I'm going to work on my distance away from Pippa.

I think our main competition is Esme and Pippa

because Pippa's going really well.

There's lots of really cool tricks out there

that you can also use as dance moves

and today we're going to be showing you one of them.

Here is how you train your dog to jump over your leg.

You have to make sure you don't try this trick

unless your dog is over 12 months old.

Come on, Puds, you're going to have to sit down for this one.

All you're going to do,

you're not going to have your legs much above the ground,

just so that your dog slightly steps over them.

Ready? Good.

As soon as they're over the other side you give them their treat.

And when they seem confident with that

then I might start raising my legs ever so slightly.

Good. Over.

Yay, good. Well done.

Once they're quite confident, you can start moving up to

one leg at the moment.

Good boy, well done. Ready, steady, over.

Good. Well done.

And again gradually building it up.

Over. Good. Well done.

And the final stage is totally standing up

so your dog jumps over your leg like so.

Over. Good. Well done.

That's so good. Good.

Make sure you try that one with your dog

and maybe you could use it in your next dance routine.

Good luck.

Pudsey here is a really fast learner

and he's quite a clever clogs.

But have you ever wondered how smart your dog really is?

Take a look at this.

This is Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest.

And it's the world's first research facility dedicated to

studying the relationship between dogs and humans.

Scientists used to think that dog barks were just random noises

that didn't mean anything,

but Dr Adam Miklosi is doing experiments to see if this is true.

First of all he records dogs barking for different reasons

then he asks people to try and guess why the dog is barking.

DOG WHIMPERS

That sounds like a dog asking for attention.

HIGH-PITCHED BARKING

This is a sound that she would make

if she saw somebody behind the fence walking along.

There's a stranger encroaching on territory.

LOW SINGLE BARKS

That one's playful.

Excitement.

The results of Miklosi's research are amazing.

It seems to show that people understand what dogs are saying

when they bark.

And because dogs' wild ancestors don't bark

it's possible that dogs learned to bark

just to communicate with us.

How clever is that?

Two weeks of intensive barrel balance training is over.

And it's time for our three trainers to go head-to-head.

But who has got what it takes to make it through to the semifinals?

At home the training has been going really well

as Mollie has been going on the barrel really fast

without falling off.

Who will keep their balance?

I'm quite confident about making it the semifinal

because Pippa's really good and I think she'll do it.

And who will drop out of the competition?

I'm feeling quite nervous about showtime

because I don't know how the other dogs have been doing.

It's time to find out.

It's showtime

for our barrel balancing dogs

and this is where it's all going to take place.

One by one our dogs will get on their barrels

and roll their way along our course.

And whichever dog travels the ten metres in the quickest time

will be our winner and will go through to the semifinal.

Steve, this is a really difficult one.

These teams are going to need good balance,

good momentum,

good stamina and most importantly a really good line of communication

between trainer and dog, that's what I want to see.

Who do you think's going to win?

Lucas and Mollie, going to do it for the boys.

There's only one more thing to do now.

-Come on, let's do it.

-Let's go.

First up, it's Lucas and Mollie.

At the start of training, this team were the ones to beat,

but Lucas got into a bad habit of moving the barrel for Mollie.

Now time has run out, can Mollie move the barrel on her own?

Come.

The tactics for today are I'm just going to try and go for the time.

And they're off.

Walk.

And, wow, Mollie is walking on that barrel all by herself.

But it looks like Lucas is using the treat to help push Mollie along.

Hm-mm, well, at least he's not pushing the barrel.

This is turning out to be a very steady performance from this team.

Can Lucas keep Mollie going to cross that finish line?

Walk.

Yes, they've done it.

Lucas manages to avoid touching the barrel

and they completed the course in a super speedy 28 seconds.

That steady performance will be hard to beat.

Next up...it's Imogen and Millie.

This team have made steady progress.

But at the start of training, Imogen struggled to get Millie

to stay on the barrel.

Have they managed to overcome this problem?

And can Millie stay on the barrel long enough to complete

the ten metre course?

Hmm.

The one thing we're struggling with is Millie going too fast

and slipping off the back of the barrel.

Imogen's got Millie up onto the barrel, so that's a good start.

Wow, Millie's moving fast.

Look at Millie go.

They're too quick, Millie might fall off the barrel.

Can they keep this quick pace up?

Yes, Imogen manages to keep Millie on the barrel,

and they completed in an unbelievable 14 seconds.

They've beaten Lucas and Mollie and done it in half the time.

Well, can Esme and Pippa top that.

This doggy duo have made unbelievable progress

and have gone from strength to strength throughout their training.

Good. There we go, give her a treat. Well done.

Surely they will be rolling their way straight into the semifinal.

I'm feeling a little bit scared about showtime,

but confident at the same time.

And they're off.

And it's a super quick start.

Oh, she's gone too fast and fallen off.

But they made a good recovery.

Can they make up the time?

Quick.

Look at the speed of Pippa now.

Wow, that was the fastest finish ever.

But was it fast enough to beat Imogen

and Millie's quick time of 14 seconds?

Guys, you've all done absolutely fantastic.

-Are you proud of your dogs? ALL:

-Yeah.

-Good.

That's what I like to hear. Did you have fun as well?

-ALL:

-Yeah.

-Well, that is the main thing.

Well, I can reveal that the winner of today's challenge is...

..Imogen and Millie.

Very good. Well done.

Imogen and Millie whizzed their way to victory

and won by a full six seconds

to beat Esme and Pippa's time of 20 seconds.

Well done, but you all did absolutely fantastic,

so you should be so proud of your dogs.

Imogen and Millie are through to the next round.

My prediction was correct.

What?

You fibber.

Move on.

Anyway, join us next time on Who Let The Dogs Out?

where we have three more trainers

and their dogs going head-to-head for their place in the semifinal.

-See you then. Bye.

-Bye-bye.

Next time will Max and Boycie, Alesha and Ellie

and Oliver and Squid have Ashleigh jumping for joy...

He's got a good spring in his step, hasn't he?

..when she sets them a classic Who Let The Dogs Out? challenge.

Don't you dare miss it.

I'm really proud of Millie

because no-one thought she'd be able to do the barrel

and she has.

I'd like to say to Imogen and Millie, good luck

and it's been a great experience

and I do hope that you get through to the final.

I'd like to wish Imogen good luck and I hope she wins.

We saw some amazing dog trainers

and brilliant barrel balancing dogs today, eh, Puds?

PUDSEY BARKS

It always amazes me how well our teams do come showtime.

What was your favourite part today, Pudsey?

PUDSEY BARKS Lunch?

Pudsey, you're unbelievable.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd