William D the Donkey My Pet and Me

Hello! Welcome to My Pet And Me.

-I'm Ferne.

-And I'm Rory.

-We've just been walking D'Artagnan here.

-Isn't he gorgeous?

We like to make sure that all the animals get plenty of fresh air and

-exercise.

-And lots of water, too.

-Yes, very important.

Lots of animals make excellent pets, and we love meeting you and yours.

And, on that note, I'm off to meet some new friends now.

You can come too if you like.

-Bye, guys.

-Bye.

Come on!

# My pet My pet and me

# My pet My pet and me

# Down every street Are pets to meet

# Some big, some small Some scaly, some furry

# Some keep very still Some are always in a hurry

# Some have four paws

# Some have sharp claws

-# Some quack

-Some bark

-# Some purr

-Some moo

-# Some grunt

-Some squawk

# Some cock-a-doodle-doo

# My pet My pet and me

# My pet My pet and me

# My pet My pet and me

# Have you met My pet and me? #

Today, I'm just outside Leeds

to meet Darcy and a very special donkey.

Come on, let's go say hello.

Hello. You must be Darcy.

-Yeah.

-And you must be Mum.

-Hello, Ferne.

And who is this?

That's William D.

Oh, hello, William D.

He's a beautiful donkey.

Lovely to meet you.

-And what's your favourite thing about William D?

-Brushing him.

Brushing him. Why do you like brushing him?

-He's so soft.

-He is very, very soft.

I love big cuddles.

Super-cuddly donkey!

I see lots of other donkeys.

Yes. It's a donkey centre.

A donkey centre?

A donkey centre, or sanctuary, is a place where donkeys come if they

don't have a home any more or if they haven't been looked after very

-well. So how often do you come to the visit William D?

-Once a month.

-That is great. And you help to look after him, don't you?

-Yeah.

He's gorgeous. I love him.

And what are these big things?

His ears.

-They are massive, aren't they?

-Yeah.

Sometimes donkeys spread out very far away from each other, but they

can always hear the other donkeys by using their nice big ears.

-It's very clever.

-Yes.

Donkeys love company and often they have other donkey best friends.

-Does William D have a best friend?

-Yes. Tinker.

-Tinker.

Oh, this is Tinker, here.

-Hello, Tinker.

-He is lovely.

-And are you William D's friend, too?

-Yes.

-That is great.

Donkeys are very gentle animals that make special friendships with

people as well as other donkeys. Rory, can you tell us some facts

about donkeys like William D here?

Of course, Ferne.

A male donkey is called a Jack,

a female donkey is called a Jenny,

and a baby donkey is called a foal.

They are very social animals and usually like to live in

a group called a herd.

All donkeys make a sound called a bray,

and this is how they communicate with each other.

Donkeys are very strong and they are often used to help pull

or carry heavy things.

William D is one of many donkeys here at the sanctuary,

and each and every one of them need lots of love and care.

Darcy, what do you do to help look after William D?

-Brush him.

-OK.

And why do we need to brush him so much?

-He'll get messy.

-Does he get a bit dirty?

-Yeah.

-And brushing helps to get the dirt out?

-Yeah.

-OK.

-Well, should I hand you a brush and we can start?

-Yeah.

-OK.

So, if you brush him along there...

This is great.

-We have to make him nice and fluffy.

-Nice and fluffy.

Brushing is also good for a donkey's skin, and it helps

keep their coat nice and shiny. Do you like brushing William D?

He has to be nice and shiny.

He likes that. Don't you?

He definitely does.

I can see patches of brown on his white coat.

-Can you tell me what that's called?

-Skewbald.

That's right, it's called skewbald. There are lots of different

coloured donkeys here. We have some skewbald ones, we've got

chestnut brown, we've got white and we've got grey. There's lots!

Well, I think we're done brushing. What else do we need to do to

-look after William D?

-Check his hooves.

Yes, that's really important.

How's that looking, Darcy?

Good.

There we go.

-Very mucky, Ferne!

-Yeah.

Well done, William D.

Darcy, what else do we need to do?

-Drinking water.

-That's right. We need to get him some water.

-Should we go?

-Yeah.

-Right. There's good, isn't it?

-Yes. Let's put it on.

And turn it off.

Go!

Here you go, William D.

So William D has been munching on straw all morning,

he's got lots of yummy grass to graze on

and now he's got some water.

But one more thing, Darcy, where does he sleep?

-Come on, I'll show you.

-OK. Come on.

He sleeps here.

Sometimes he sleeps here, in this grassy paddock?

What a lucky donkey! Come on.

He sleeps here.

He sleeps here as well?

In this sandy bit?

I bet he rolls around in here too.

Let's go this way.

OK. Come on, come on.

And he sleeps here.

He sleeps here too? Wow!

Lots of places for him to choose from.

-And there's lots of shelter for him.

-Yes.

It's very important that donkeys have access to shelter

in case it's cold and wet outside. One last question, Darcy -

-what do we need to do?

-Wash our hands.

It's important to exercise your pet, and William D is lucky because

there's a huge field here for him to walk around.

But what else can we do to make sure he gets exercise?

-Ride him.

-That's a great idea.

What do we have to say to get William D to walk?

-Walk on.

-OK. Walk on, William D.

Darcy, what other commands does William D know?

-Whoa!

-Whoa!

-That means to stop, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

Donkeys have very wide backs so they need their own special saddles and

bridles if you want to ride them.

-William D has a blue one.

-Yes.

-How do we get him to move again?

Say walk on.

Walk on, William D.

Good boy. He's great!

Yes.

Donkeys have very good memories and they often remember places

that they've been before.

Do you think William D remembers this walk?

Yes.

You are one smart donkey, William D.

-I had a lovely time out on our donkey ride. Did you?

-Yeah.

It's fantastic that William D can remember all the places he's been.

If William D could do absolutely anything, what would he do?

If William D could do anything

he'd make a cake.

First, he would wash his hooves...

and put on an apron.

He'd make lovely carrot cake -

his favourite -

and help with the washing up.

Myself and Darcy have a big secret to tell you.

Come here! Come here!

What's the secret?

-It's William D's birthday.

-Yeah.

It's William D's birthday so, to celebrate,

-we're going to have a surprise party for him. Aren't we?

-Yeah.

-But shhh!

-Shhh!

-It's a big secret.

-Big secret.

-Shall we get ready?

-Yeah.

-Come on.

I'm going to check your tummy.

Donkey tummy!

And what about your tail?

-Tail.

-Looks good.

Can't forget your...

Ears!

Yeah. Here we go.

Party, party! Ee-aw!

Ee-aw!

Let's go decorate.

Come on.

Let's fix the balloons on.

-How's it looking?

-Good.

-Yeah?

What do you think? Hmmm...

Come on, Ferne.

Come on!

FERNE SIGHS

Good.

Happy birthday!

CHEERING

This is a special donkey cake that the sanctuary made, and it's

got high-fibre chaff, some pony nuts and their favourite biscuits on top.

It's going to be yummy.

-Hi, Billy.

-Hi, Billy.

Welcome to the party.

Hi, Tinker.

Hi, Cloud.

Welcome to the party.

Wow! This looks great!

-We are definitely ready for a donkey party, aren't we?

-Yes.

But who are we missing?

-William D!

-The birthday boy! Shall we call him in?

-Yeah.

Come on, William D!

There he comes.

-Surprise!

-Surprise!

Here's your cake. Enjoy it.

We hope you like your party.

-Shall we leave them to enjoy their cake?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, OK. Have fun!

-Have fun!

I think they're having fun.

They're eating the hay.

Yeah, they're eating everything.

Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum!

I think Cloud's coming to say thank you.

Thanks for coming!

Good job. High five.

This has been such a great donkey party.

I've had a really fun day.

Thank you very much for inviting me.

You're welcome.

Ooh!

-Hi, Rory.

-Hi, Ferne.

Hiya, Hector.

-How was your day?

-Oh, it was fantastic.

-I had a great time with my friends. It was really fun.

-Great.

I've been catching up on some cuddle time with Hector.

I can see that. He's loving it. Pets are great but, remember,

you shouldn't touch an animal unless the owner says it's OK first.

Two pets you CAN play with though are ours - go to the CBeebies

website and play the My Pet And Me game.

What a fantastic time we've had. We just love meeting you and your pets.

# Today we met

# A lovely pet

# We see how much you care for them

# Thank you so much for sharing them

# Time for us to Just remind you

# After you've played with your pet

# Wash your hands!

# Don't forget!

# It doesn't matter what pets you've got

# You might have one You might not

# It's still fun finding out What having a pet is all about

# My pet, my pet and me My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me Come back and see

# My pet and me. #

-Bye...

-Bye!