Episode 2 Pet Island

Pets, don't you just love them?

In this series,

we're going to meet plenty of people who really, really do.

It's like having more children.

It's as easy to have two or three as it is to have four or five.

Our obsession with them has even turned some pets into celebrities.

The internet love her. She always gets loads of compliments.

We even have a core following, ones that read it every day.

Our love for them appears to have no bounds.

Later, we follow Martin to Italy, shopping for a new puppy.

Here he is. He likes you.

Yes, of course he likes me.

Belfast Pug Club have a Halloween party.

Pugs are hilarious, and dressed-up pugs are even better.

But first, we're in Donegal to meet internet sensation Hummus.

-Hummus means the world to us.

-She's our fur baby.

-Yeah, she's become our child.

-Yeah.

In Letterkenny live Jason and Karen -

a couple in love with all things animal.

I think the two of us, we're kind of obsessed with animals.

This was a present that my sister got me recently.

It think she understands that we're very animal-orientated,

because it is a fox penis bone.

-It kind of suits us, I suppose.

-Crazy animal people.

We totally are, yeah.

Through Karen, Jason has learned to love cats.

And, in particular, her cat Hummus.

Hummus is my cat, first and foremost.

I think even just her day-to-day things, like feeding her

and stuff like that. I want to feed her.

A lot of men, especially here in Ireland, they're very anti-cat.

They're like, "This cat is over-pampered, it's fat."

Yeah, it should be outside hunting and bringing back catch.

Yeah, but Jason wasn't like that, which I liked.

I first met Hummus three years ago.

I never had a cat, though, before Hummus.

So, Hummus would be my first cat. I think it's a pretty good first cat.

It's really docile, its easy-going. Before that, I was a big dog person.

Cats? Who has time for a cat?

I'm the cat mum and he's the cat dad.

We don't take anything too seriously.

We've lived together this entire time,

we never spent much time apart, really.

-It's a testament to how much our personalities match.

-Yeah.

I suppose that's why Hummus has taken quite kindly to me, as well.

It wasn't too much of a transition.

You know, if someone came in with a different personality type,

it might be different. He might say, "Hey, whoa! Who's this guy?

-"What's his agenda? Get out of here!"

-Yeah.

She barely goes anywhere.

You can see a couple of little patches, that's her bed.

The minute she comes out, she knows where she's going.

She doesn't really have the skills to survive out there.

Maybe I'm just being a really overprotective mum.

Like, "She's not ready yet!"

But I just feel if she came up with another cat,

-that would be the end of her.

-Yeah.

She's a diva. Isn't that right, Hummus?

HE LAUGHS

See, this is her favourite time of the year.

Do you want some milk?

Having passed the cat test, Jason started taking

photographs of Hummus and soon was letting his imagination run wild.

The couple are planning another photoshoot for Hummus

and are in town looking for inspiration.

It is literally like doing fashion photography on a small scale.

It's like you have the studio, but it's just a smaller scale.

-You have the model, as a smaller scale.

-Yeah.

-You know, Hummus is like a model.

-She's as fussy as a model.

She's as fussy as a model, yeah.

When I talk to certain people, they get taken aback by it.

-Mm.

-If I mention it to older people, they don't really get it, do they?

We're very old, we're very traditional back here.

The vibrancy is never really a bother,

-I can edit and make it a bit more vibrant.

-Yeah.

There's one I've wanted to do for a while, which was an astronaut,

but I couldn't put her through putting that much on her.

You know, I don't want to scare the cat or anything.

So, always the costumes are very minimal.

The headpiece is the most extravagant.

All the other hats and things - like we had a sailor hat on,

with a little bands going round it - she is happy enough with that.

Yeah, it just depends on her mood. That hat that you put on her,

the sailor hat, she was totally OK with that.

Then, another day, you put it on her and she'd be like, "No."

-She'd get the paw.

-She's fussy.

We had that issue with the Jedi costume.

He just wanted to drape it on her and kind of let it sit,

but she wasn't into it at all.

I think when she feels the material moving all over, she thinks,

"Get off me."

Yeah, she gets very agitated sometimes, so we just call it quits.

Yeah.

-This one is more regal.

-It's a regal cat, is it?

-Oh, yeah.

-A regal, regal cat.

-She is a bit of a diva.

-Cats are all about regal, I think, aren't they?

I don't know, I'm not feeling that one.

I like this more. Gold always brings out the yellows on her.

The couple are planning an historical photoshoot

for Hummus, which will cast her as one of Scotland's greatest heroes.

Martin Bailey is one of Ireland's most successful dog handlers

and, along with Old English Sheepdog Guapo,

has won many green stars and rosettes.

Turn.

Martin lives with fiancee Jennifer Duggan and their five Maltese.

Cuddles!

Martin has decided to extend his line of Old English Sheepdogs

and has resolved to get another puppy.

Jennifer is kind of in two minds about a new dog, aren't you?

Well, let's get it straight now, Martin.

There was no discussion, it was just, "I'm getting a new dog.

"That's it."

You can't give the same amount of attention to every single dog.

It's just so, so hard. And I just didn't want one.

He is travelling to Italy to meet a puppy who

he feels could be Ireland's next top dog.

Can you spot Martin?

Having arrived at the competition,

it is not long before Martin is recognised.

What are you doing here? It's so nice to see you.

-You too, yes.

-OK, I go on.

-Thank you, Martin. Ciao.

-Ciao.

It's a small show, but I like these small shows,

cos you just focus on the breed itself.

You meet the people and it's nice to meet the people

and how much they love the dogs. I prefer this type of dog show.

Most of these shows, you'll see the dogs running round the fields

and relaxing with their owners and having a good time, which is

very, very important for dog showing.

Going into the puppy class and it looks like there is one entry

and the dog is called Shag On The Road,

which sounds interesting.

HE LAUGHS

Martin is here to meet Nicholas Kanalas,

one of the world's top breeders of Old English Sheepdogs.

I met Nikolas earlier on this year, when I was here in Milan.

So, it was nice to meet him and have a good chat with him.

We spent the day together talking.

He discussed with me the chance of me maybe

taking a pup from him and showing the dog in Ireland.

This was the uncle of the dog, that I'm here to have a look at.

So, I'm liking the uncle, that's very impressive.

Back in Ireland, this dog would have no problem being made champion.

I'd say quite easily. He is beautifully presented.

He's exactly what I like in an Old English. He's quite square,

nice coat and movement is beautiful.

This is Best In Show.

So, this is Best In Show at an Old English specialty.

So, this is the one you want to come home with

and get a trophy for, Best In Show.

It is another win for Nicholas

and time for Martin to meet his potential new puppy.

Shall we get him out for you to see him then?

Yes, yes, take him out. Let me see him.

Here he is. He likes you.

Yes, of course he likes me.

Well, to me, the most important thing is to actually be able

to make the dog be part of your family and have it trained.

-Yes.

-It think it is a way of communicating with dogs

more than anything.

And this is how you establish a wonderful relationship

with your dog and your family.

Martin is impressed by Theron

and decides to bring the puppy home.

Now, he just needs to remember to drive on the right side of the road.

WHEELS SKID

HORN BEEPS

In County Down live a couple who are pug-mad.

Stitch is two-years-old and is looked after

by dad Jay and mum Andrea.

I was about 13 years old, I was sitting in a car park

at the shop and a woman pulled in

and she had a wee black pug in the car.

I made my mum wait until the owner of the car came out,

so I could go over and see what kind of breed the dog was.

And from then, I always said my first dog is going to be a pug.

So, I waited 13 years and finally got him.

Snoring 24/7

Well, 23½/7. That's what he does. If he's sleeping, he's happy.

STITCH SNORES

Andrea simply can't get enough of pugs.

This is SOME of her collection.

We've got slippers.

That's another cushion.

We've got a hat.

And this is her onesie.

I would say I'm more pug obsessed.

I'm getting there.

If I see anything that's pug-like, I have to get it.

T-shirts, socks, everything.

I always said I wanted to get a tattoo of Stitch,

because he means so much to me and I wanted a memory of him

on my body that I'll always be able to cherish.

I wanted you to do it, because he's our wee family.

She wanted me to do it.

It means a lot more and I'll always be able to look down on it

-and remember why I got it.

-See him.

Andrea and Jay are members of a nearby pug club

and, together with Stitch,

are attending the annual Halloween party.

-I can't wait to see.

-Oh, it'll be hilarious.

Pugs are hilarious, and dressed-up pugs are even better.

It'll definitely make everybody's day.

# I was working in the lab late one night

# When my eyes beheld an eerie sight

# For my monster from his slab began to rise

# And suddenly to my surprise

# He did the mash

# He did the monster mash...#

This is Archie, he's Count Dracula.

And this is Audrey, she is the bride of Frankenstein.

This is Iggy, he's dressed up as Michael Jackson.

-Michael Jackson.

-He's got a wee Thriller jacket on.

He had glasses, too, but cos his face is flat,

-they wouldn't go on his nose.

-There was no mission.

No mission for the glasses.

Trick or treat, the two boys. And Lucy's the witch.

They'll don't mind, they love to party,

they love mixing with all the other pugs.

They just love it.

When pugs and their owners come together, it's called a pug-nic.

It's a great sense of fun, because people like to dress the dogs up

and put nail polish on them. You know,

it's just really, really fantastic.

-One, two, three...

-Pug-eese!

Pugs are fantastic wee dogs for anybody with children.

There is not once ounce of badness in them.

There are so, so placid. And they're a wee bit silly.

I would say a lot of them aren't too bright, really, you know?

Bah hum-pug!

But, thankfully, Stitch has had a great day.

As long as everybody enjoys it, that's all that matters.

Have you enjoyed it? I think he's busted already.

He partied too hard.

Martin is now back in Ireland with his new dog, Theron.

It is time to introduce Theron to Guapo.

Introducing two male dogs can be tricky,

and Martin hopes they will get on.

I thought it was the best place to introduce the two of them together,

because it's not his territory and it's not Theron's territory.

I have a friend of mine, Fran - she's my neighbour and she's

going to come down with Theron and we're going to introduce them,

as if we're just going for a walk. We'll take it from there

and see how it goes. It should be fine, because he's with Old English

all the time and he's with other dogs all the time.

I don't see any problem with it. I'm interested to see how the reaction

is with the two of them. I don't see any problems.

Look, he's trying to mate him. Get down.

Oh, no. Not according to plan.

THEY LAUGH

No, he's trying to mate him. Get down, get down. It's a boy.

He's trying to be dominant, obviously.

He's used to meeting Lucy, which is another girl that lives in the town.

And she's a bitch, which he's mated before. So, he could think

it's her for a moment. But, it'll be interesting to see when we go

back to the house, what happens, because normally,

the Old English wouldn't go back to the house. He's quite relaxed.

He's more interested in having a walk and sniffing around.

So, you want to mount again. Look, get down, stop.

-He's definitely putting him in his place.

-Which is good, yeah.

I'm looking forward to walking two. I think it'll be just as easy

to walk two as it is one. But I could never walk the Maltese

with Guapo, because he's so big he stands on him.

It'd be easier to walk two of the same size.

Guapo and Theron appear to be getting on better than expected.

And now, it is time to bring him home to Jennifer.

DOGS BARK

No, get down, get down.

-No, don't, get off.

-Get down.

I think he's gorgeous.

He's a lot different to Guapo, because Guapo has the white head.

It's a different look. It's good to have a different look,

instead of having all the same.

He's a lovely temperament and he's lovely with people, which is great.

-He's quite gentle.

-Maybe I could try.

Yeah, I'd say you'd be well able to walk him, because I'm going to

be stuck bringing the two of them into the ring.

So, Jennifer is going to bring Theron into the ring for me,

-when we have the challenge.

-No, I'm not.

-She doesn't know it yet, but she's doing it.

-No way.

He's gorgeous, yes. Aw!

DOGS GROWL

He's going to be a Daddy's boy, though.

I think so, yes, because I'm the only one he knows.

And he's just come across Europe with me.

Even down walking with Fran, he came straight to me,

when he came out of the car. He knows nobody else like me.

In Letterkenny live Jason and Karen with their cat, Hummus.

In the last year, her modelling work has found her a global following.

Hummus has also battled with health problems, something which Mum

and Dad often reflect upon.

I don't know much about the disease itself.

It's not really a death sentence.

I remember when she was diagnosed, I had had her already for a few years.

Out of the blue, she went off her food

and she started losing lots of weight.

So, I took her to the vet anyway. And they were like,

"We're not really sure what's wrong with her, but we'll do blood tests.

"It could be feline leukaemia." And I was like, "What?"

You don't just spring this on someone.

I was like, "OK, so, what does this mean?"

And they went, "Well, she's an indoor cat.

"Being indoors is a good thing for someone with her condition

"and she shouldn't be around other cats."

And I said, "Right, well, this kind of suits her lifestyle anyway."

-Her day-to-day life hasn't been affected.

-Yeah.

Sometimes she might take a little bit of a mood,

where her energy levels will dip and we'll just know.

Or you'll tell she's really tired,

her eyes lose a bit of the glint in them.

She's usually so giddy and stuff like that, but as soon as the

weight came on and she started drinking, I spoiled her rotten.

After she was diagnosed, as well, I had cans of expensive tuna.

I was like, "Here you go." I gave her everything she wanted.

I was really afraid to bring her back to the vet after that,

cos I thought they're just going to tell me she has Aids or something.

Or she has cancer, she's going to die or something.

So, it took me for ever to bring her back to the vet.

But then, when I brought her back, they just told me she was a bit fat.

You'd stuffed her up.

I was like, "That's OK, she's fat. I can deal with that."

Back home, it is time for Hummus' photoshoot.

Well, sometimes, Jason will come up with an idea and then,

inadvertently, he has totally hit on a trend

or something like that. Some of the ones he picks

and he doesn't realise that he's picking a total team.

It just all comes together.

It's not as structured as people would like to think,

because, obviously, with Hummus and the leukaemia,

we don't want to force her to do anything.

Because if she is forced to do it, then she's unhappy.

And an unhappy cat is just not worth it.

-And it's about coaxing, not forcing.

-Yeah, coaxing, yeah.

We coaxed her into doing it with copious amounts of cat treats.

I actually got into photography about three years ago.

Ever since then, I haven't looked back.

We've done numerous different projects.

Almost a year ago then, we started doing Hummus' photos.

The internet love her.

She always gets loads of compliments and things. She enjoys it.

Getting out and interacting and doing things

and getting loads of treats. It keeps her mind going, too.

There's two ways that it can go -

we can either put on the clothes and then move her forcibly.

Then she'll sit there and then just try and distract her with things.

But I'm going to try it this way for now.

Just to use the treat to make her walk forward.

She gets into it, it takes her a little while.

-But the claws usually come out.

-Yeah.

HE LAUGHS

If you just feed them to her and I'll just throw this over her.

Tonight is Scottish themed, with Hummus playing William Wallace.

-Beautiful.

-Good. That's my girl.

Good girl. That's it.

She's finding it a bit easier today.

-Sometimes, she can be quite... I think I got my shot.

-Did you?

Yeah, oh, yeah.

It's a little bit more crooked. I'll crop in.

So, you know, I might go in a bit closer here.

You know, it's kind of like she's been caught walking past

a barn or she's... It's very, very candid.

I mean, you can see, the photoshoots happen in a split second.

-We don't hold her for too long.

-No.

-Hummus means the world to us.

-She's our fur baby.

-She's become our child, I think.

-Yeah.

It's brought the two of us closer together.

I think it's a really strong, positive experience for anybody

to have an animal, because it makes you wake up in the morning.

You have to feed someone else and you're responsible for someone

-else, you are there to give them care.

-Yeah.

Because she has an illness, it makes it even more important

that we're here for her. Cat Mum and Dad.

-Yeah, it's a nice responsibility.

-Cat parents.

-Yeah, we're cat parents.

-Yeah.

It is finally time for Theron to enter the showring

for the first time.

He is from one of the best-known breeders in the world, from

Greece. So, bringing him in here, the deal is he has to be shown.

That's the reason I brought him in.

He'll probably be shown at Crufts and the World Dog Show

as well in the future. This will be a starting point, here in Ireland.

We'll hopefully get him made up an Irish champion

and then take it from there. Today is quite slow, quite relaxed.

It's a good place to bring a young dog and spend more time

and relax and get him used to the environment

he's going to be in for the rest of his show career.

Also here is Martin's fiance Jennifer.

This is the love of my life, Millie. She's Mummy's little girl.

I've had her six years.

She was a total surprise, she wasn't planned or anything.

We started minding her for a friend of ours.

And then, the couple split and I got custody.

Yes, I did. And we have matching outfits.

We got this little dress in Crufts last year.

Then, I got this coat for Christmas.

And I was like, "Ooh, me and Millie can go out in the same colours now."

So, that's what we did today.

DOGS BARK

I don't particularly like going to the shows, but today,

I came to support Theron, cos it's his first show.

I did that with all the others. I was in two minds

when Martin was saying we were going to get one.

I was like, "Oh, no. I really don't want one."

But, I have to say, I love him, too. I really do. I really love him.

Theron just has the most wonderful temperament. He really does.

I love him. I really didn't want to love him, but I do.

I really, really do love him.

Thank you very much, Cheers. Thank you.

Brilliant. That's five classes I've done and he's won first,

second and third in four of them. So, I'm quite pleased.

Yeah, very well, yeah. This is his first time in the ring.

He's never done ringcraft, only for one hour. So, I'm really, really

-happy and pleased. Another third place.

-That was good.

Yeah, it's brilliant. His first day out.

Thankfully, Guapo has also taken to Theron.

He's been getting on great.

It's like he's always been part of the family.

Guapo has been fine with Theron.

My concern was, how would Guapo feel? But he's OK, isn't he?

Yeah, he's doing well.

And, without a doubt, there's a lot of jealousy between them.

Who's going to kiss me first?

Who's going to get attention off Daddy? So, like,

Guapo will jump up on me and then Theron will jump up

and knock him out of the way. I have to give as much affection

to one as the other. It's hard when you have two big dogs

jumping on you.

-Stop, stop. See, the jealousy.

-They have their squibbles, don't they?

Well, Guapo tried to dominate him the first couple of days.

-But other than that...

-But then after that...

-Yeah, after that.

-They're best of friends now.

The year has been brilliant here, this year.

Guapo was the top winning dog for Old English.

He had the most green stars.

So, coming close to the end of the year, the last show

was 28th December and he was

level-pegging with a female bitch dog.

So, on the last show, he got his green star dog,

but the bitch didn't get one.

Which made him Annual Champion again,

for two years in a row, which is absolutely brilliant.

-Very proud.

-We have next year to look forward to,

with the two of them, with Theron and Guapo.

-Watch this space, as they say.

-Yes.

Next, we're in Lurgan

to meet some very special dogs and their mum, Cath Southwell.

Cavaliers In Need started in June 2013.

On a day-to-day basis,

we look after Cavaliers that have been surrendered to us.

We've spent a lot of time on the road, travelling across Ireland,

collecting dogs from various places.

We have a great foster network.

So, our dogs all go to foster homes all across the country.

We're very passionate about our dogs. They're not just dogs.

We lovingly refer to them as our fur babies.

That's how we see them.

We don't see them just as dogs that live outside in a kennel -

they're very much part of our lives. Our lives revolve around them.

Recently, Cath and her friends have come in contact with Fred,

a bichon frise with a serious heart condition,

which she hopes can be rectified by an operation.

Hi, Fred. Hi, wee man, how you doing?

-How is he?

-He's doing really well.

He'll be in good shape for his operation.

It's a big day ahead of you, haven't you, Fred?

Fred has a condition known as PDA.

It's to do with a flap in the heart, that's supposed to close over,

but, unfortunately in some dogs, the flap doesn't close over.

It causes the flow of blood to go in the wrong direction.

It's to close that flap over.

Open-heart surgery, basically.

We feel he's quite lucky to live as long as he has.

Usually, if they have this, they need to be done before a year.

-At least.

-And he is just over the year mark

We don't have a lot of history on him.

He was picked up as a stray,

so anything prior to when we got him, we have no history on.

His condition was picked up by one of her own vets.

Fred's operation is going to cost in excess of £2,000.

To pay for it, the group have organised a fundraising event.

We're going to be raising funds for Fred on Sunday,

to fund his operation that he needs.

At the minute, our goal is about £3,000. So, yeah.

We've lots of fun activities planned. It'll be a good day.

-Fun for everyone.

-Yeah.

-And the dogs.

Hundreds of dogs and their mums and dads have come to help Fred

and take part in a variety of games and competitions.

It also gives Cath an opportunity to find homes for other strays,

like Fred.

A lot of it happens through social media.

We have a re-homing page and people contact us.

There, we have a general chat and then we'll go out

and do home checks and get know the family and match them

with the dog we think would be best suited to them.

Then, the family have to sign an adoption agreement.

We always keep an eye on them. We keep in touch with the families.

If anything was to ever happen, the dogs come back into our care,

rather than being re-homed again.

The dogs that have all been here today, they've had a great time.

Fred has had a wonderful time running about here

with all the dogs. He's a great nature.

He is very easy going. He loves company.

Everybody has been going, "Who's Fred?"

And they've been going up to him.

So, we're thinking of doing a book signing with him.

A wee autograph signing, yeah.

A paw signing.

It's finally time for Fred's operation.

Come on, Fred.

He's going in this morning for the operation.

He'll be in here for...

I don't know how many hours he'll be in surgery.

We will be keeping tabs on him, obviously.

We don't know how long he's going to be in, in terms of days.

So, we'll just have to... Fingers crossed, everything crossed

-it all goes well for him.

-That all is goes well.

Next time on Pet Island, we're in Belfast,

with a formal model who's been tormented by his Chihuahuas.

This is where a lot of the damage would be done.

We travel to West Cork, to meet a man who can talk to the animals.

I'm a small amount of cat and a small amount of pigeon.

And we're in Dublin with cat lady Roisin Mills,

as she prepares to move house.

Merlin, come on.