Episode 5 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 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 have a sort of core following, the ones that read it every day.

Our love for them appears to have no bounds.

Later, we're in Cork, expecting a new baby.

This is a good way to show them good things happen when the baby is

crying, so they feel good when they hear the sound of the baby crying.

In Belfast, our Chihuahuas face the snip.

There is a possibility the dog can also become more aggressive.

But first, we meet Taylor-Rae and her valentine.

Spoilt rotten.

Big smile.

In Banbridge, beauty queen Taylor-Rae Hamilton

is preparing young hopefuls for the ultimate beauty pageant.

Straighten your back up, Abbie, just a wee bit more.

But, for Taylor-Rae, there is one girl more beautiful than anyone.

Beautiful.

Meet Taylor-Rae's Pekinese, Coco Chanel.

This little beauty never fails to turn heads wherever she goes.

Oh, she's got a wee dress!

She's got a wee dress on and she's got her slippers back at home.

She is absolutely ruined.

She gets bathed three times a week,

she has Coco Chanel perfume sprayed on her, she has her nails,

-her hair done...

-Could I swap places?

She's ruined, I swear to God!

She has a better wardrobe than me, I'm not even joking.

-She loves the attention.

-Does she?

-Loves the attention.

In the last year, Taylor-Rae has spent more than £5,000 on Coco.

And today, the pair are attending their local beauty parlour.

-Where did you get Coco?

-I had seen Coco on Gumtree

and she was over in Yorkshire.

So I had to get a friend to bring her over on the boat

and I had to collect her. She was just a wee bundle of fluff.

That was it, I fell clean in love.

She took sick two weeks after I had got her.

The vet had said, "It's up to the wee dog if it's going to make it

"through the night or not,"

and that whole night, I sat up screeching.

But she got through it and she's sturdy and strong now.

She's just grown up so quick.

People think I have a child in the pram and then they come over and see

Coco just sitting there. Probably thinking, "What an ugly baby!"

But to me, it's like a child. I see her as my baby.

I know a lot of people say that about their dogs,

but I really do see her as my child.

God forbid if I never had children or anything,

I'd be happy enough just to have Coco.

She's everything to me, like.

The other love of Taylor-Rae's life is boyfriend Gediminas.

This muscle-bound fitness instructor has a bone to pick with Coco

and her lazy ways.

She just doesn't walk for me. She wouldn't walk up the town,

she wouldn't walk up the stairs, she has to be put in her pram.

She's a complete diva, like.

Come here.

He says he'll try to get her out of the habit of not walking,

but I don't think he will.

She's too ruined. It's too far gone now.

Coco...

I think he's a bit mortified cos she's sitting there

with her tiara on in a pink dress and the pink lead.

But, no, everything is pink in her life.

Pink dresses, pink hair bobbles,

pink hair dye, pink nails, sometimes.

-Aw.

-She's a designer dog.

But she's spoiled rotten.

-She's mummy's girl.

-Aw.

I know, but it's hard not to spoil them, like,

I just think they're there to spoil

and I know some people think it's quite controversial,

that she should be walking or not wearing her clothes,

but I enjoy it and she enjoys it and...

I just think if everyone treated their animals half as good

as I treated Coco, there'd be so much less

animal cruelty in the world. Would you be jumping, Mrs?

-COCO BURPS

-Oh, big burps!

She's an awful burping habit too.

Meanwhile in Cork...

Come on!

..Gillian is preparing her dogs for some earth-shattering news.

Quick!

Good boy.

So this is Arthur, our older Basset.

He is going to be ten in December.

And then this is Nero.

So he is a little bit of

the wilder of the two.

He's just a bundle of energy.

A gentle giant who believes he is about the size of a Chihuahua.

He gets really excited.

He's really excited around noise, he gets excited around kids,

which obviously is a little concern.

Nero and Arthur's rural bliss is about to be turned upside down

by the arrival of Gillian's first child.

Good boy!

So I'm just gone the eight months.

So three weeks left.

So kind of in the last stages of preparation

and kind of getting prepared for bringing baby home.

You know, how we're going to handle all that,

how baby fits in with our life, with the lads and stuff.

Because, up to now, obviously, there's just been them.

Nero, he is probably the main concern.

I think the crying could upset him.

You know, as they say, new noises and stuff,

he doesn't react terribly well to.

And that's a nervousness we have,

whether that is knocking over the Moses basket with his tail,

which is ridiculously strong,

or whether that's trying to lick the baby and, yeah,

it's a bit... It's scary, right?

Gillian has decided to get some professional help

and has called in Nanci Creedon, a dog behaviourist based in Cork city.

Today, she has brought along her assistant, George.

Hi, Gillian. Nanci Creedon.

-Nanci, nice to see you.

-How are you?

-Follow me.

-Thank you.

When there's a new baby coming home, to your dog,

they are not tiny little human beings.

They're just a funny-smelling little toy that they don't know what to do

with. So the main risk is that first of all the predatory side of things.

Because we all know that our dogs will chase cats.

So when it comes to a new baby,

because they smell funny and because they sound funny,

sometimes it can trigger the same kind of behaviours from dogs.

And then, the other big risk is they start guarding the baby.

And while some people think it's cute to see their dog

protecting their newborn baby, it's highly dangerous.

When your dog guards something, like a sock, and they feel

they're being threatened, they pick up the sock and they run away.

What we want is your dog to just not care about the baby.

We have our baby, George.

You can call your baby George if you want to!

So we want to teach the dogs what to do the very first time

they greet the baby.

Arthur, Nero, come on!

Come on in.

-You, too. Good boys.

-Good boy!

Now... So that's perfect.

That's what we want. We want them to be aware, but not to care.

And if they come too near the face...

-Good boy!

-..you've got the area protected and when they move away,

-good dogs.

-Good boy.

Ah!

Nero, uh-uh! So what we're going to do now is the sound.

RECORDING OF BABY CRYING

So what's really important now is that when they hear these sounds...

Good boy. ..you want good things to happen.

It's treats or praise.

Good boy!

Good boy.

Now...

So this is just a good, subtle way to show them good things happen

when the baby's crying so they feel good when they hear the sound

of the baby crying. So, good boys!

Every dog is different, so I don't know how they're going to respond.

Good boy.

But what I want Gillian to do is to practise, practise, practise.

So what I have here is a smelly, old nappy.

And what I want to show you what to do then

is when you are walking around with this smelly baby,

with the doll with the nappy,

you can slowly bend down towards the dogs...

Good dog. ..and move away again.

-OK.

-If they jump, you need to turn your back straight away on them.

-OK.

So I'm going to let him have a sniff. Good boy.

-Nero, uh-uh. So, when he jumps, turn your back.

-OK.

I don't like to say I'm ready,

'but I've seen it happen with people who've had to get rid of their dogs'

and that is definitely a concern.

Later, we will find out how the new arrival is met by Arthur and Nero.

Previously in Belfast, we met two small dogs

who were giving their housemate Chris a big headache.

I nearly have to mop the floors every night I get in

before I can get my dinner. I don't know what it is they pee,

but it's very acidic.

Down round the bottom, there's a definite yellowy tinge

that is gradually creeping up and up and up.

Are you proud of it? Are you proud of yourself?

At his wits' end, former model Chris decided

to enlist the help of a dog behaviourist.

Just anywhere they can lift their leg, they will.

Do they do a proper puddle in the house?

Only if they've been like locked... If they couldn't get outside.

And then you would see, like...

So it's not really a house-training issue, it's more marking.

-OK.

-The most relevant things at this moment in time are hormones

and habit. There is an order of the pack...

And I'm not at the top of the pack!

Problem is me, cos I'm far too soft with them.

However, after teaching Chris a number of techniques...

Out.

I just want him to make eye contact.

-Out.

-..she left him with some tough advice.

In you come. There is an implant you can get.

-OK.

-It's a little bit like a microchip.

It's an implant that goes underneath the skin.

If that doesn't show a definite improvement in behaviour,

I would then be thinking about neutering.

Today, Chris is meeting vet Ian Miller to discuss

giving the Chihuahuas the Chihua-ows.

Castration itself, it is a surgical process

and that surgical operation would be removing the testicles.

You're removing the main source

of the hormone testosterone completely.

Would it affect their personality? Cos at the minute, like,

they are quite boisterous wee dogs, and I like that.

They do have their own personalities and I wouldn't want to change that.

In all sort of interference with hormones,

there is a possibility that the dog will either become gentler or it can

also become more aggressive. So it's a bit of a lottery, you know.

-A bit of a roulette.

-This is the older one.

He would definitely be sort of the more dominant one.

Will they miss their bits?

We don't have the information to say yea or nay on that.

They don't seem to because they don't analyse life

just as much as a human being might, you know?

But from what I can see, no, they don't miss them as such.

But castration is for life, you might say.

It is decision time for Chris.

Well, at least I do know the option is always there.

I would not like to go down that route...

-No, that's fair enough.

-I just feel, like,

I think I can cope with the odd wee yellow mark

on the skirting boards and things.

One of the interesting side issues in all this is that it's usually

the male owners that would have more resistance to that operation

than their spouses, so...

I can definitely understand that, cos I wouldn't do it to myself.

The thought of it... Just if it was peeing around the house,

chop off my...

Back in Banbridge, Taylor-Rae is dropping Coco at her day-care.

I know who this is!

Hello, Coco.

Hello, How are you? OK?

-Yes. How is she?

-Not too bad.

Granny Ann looks after Coco while Taylor-Rae runs her glamour empire.

You're a good girl, aren't you?

She says, "Give me food.

"Give me food, Granny!"

There's Ryan, look.

But it is Uncle Ryan who spearheads the five-star treatment.

What time are you working to?

Half five today.

OK, say bye-bye to Mummy.

Kisses? Kiss? No kisses?

You don't love me, do you? Right, see you later, darling.

See you later. Have a good day.

See you! Bye!

There's your little woman.

My little woman.

Ryan is also a devoted fan of Coco.

Here we go, baby.

Ryan loves Coco.

-Don't you, Ryan?

-Yes.

Here, here!

She makes me laugh.

The socks on, and the wee dresses she has, and coats and everything.

I keep telling her, "Taylor, it's a dog, remember it's still a wee dog."

The only thing is, she gets so attached to them, you know?

As well as bringing her out for exercise,

Ryan prepares her gourmet meals...

Chicken, I suppose.

Coco?

Are you coming in for your chicken, Coco?

..much to the disdain of Coco's cousin, Stanley.

She gets treated big-time.

Again, she sits on my knee and I have to give her the treats

separate from the other two. Daren't feed them together.

Food. And Coco, she's spoiled rotten.

Look at the spoiled face on her.

Spoiled rotten.

She really, really is.

Come on, Coco.

On today's menu is boiled chicken.

She'll love that.

-Good baby.

-Good baby girl.

-You're good.

-She's a great wee article, isn't she, Ryan?

Of course she is. She's one in a million.

Good girl.

You have a full belly now. You're not going home hungry anyway.

-Sure you're not.

-You're a good girl, aren't you?

She says, "I want pudding now."

Look at this lovely collar.

Look at the diamonds on that.

They say that diamonds are a girl's best friend.

Spoiled rotten.

Meanwhile, back in town,

Taylor-Rae is preparing a group of hopefuls

for the ultimate beauty pageant.

Who wants to jump up?

I love taking part in pageants and especially Taylor-Rae's

cos she makes them so fun.

Let me see your smiles.

-TAYLOR-RAE GASPS

-Gorgeous!

The pageant brings in beauty queens from across the world.

I'm representing Tunisia.

I'm representing Romania.

I'm representing Dublin.

And I'm representing South Armagh.

But, for these queens, the beauty is not just skin deep.

It's not just about looking pretty, like a normal girlie girl,

but actually having a cause to be able to go out and do things.

It's all about the experience really. It's not about winning.

Not for me anyway, maybe for a lot of people, but not for me.

Going to make sure there's no spider fingers and nice neat hands

and we're going to go into our wee T stand as well.

Well, what we do is T stands so it makes your legs look longer

if you put your feet into the shape of a T.

I'm only five foot one, so I need to do this.

And it's all about the smile.

You have to make sure you have a good, big smile on your face.

Look like you're enjoying yourself

and it's bringing personality to the camera too.

-What am I like?

-SHE LAUGHS

I could talk... See when the camera's on me...

But Taylor-Rae also has her eyes

set on a beauty pageant of a different kind.

I have actually, before, considered having a pageant for dogs because

I know how many people love their animals as much as I love Coco.

So therefore, with Coco having the wardrobe that she has,

and everything that she needs,

I think a pageant for dogs would be fantastic.

So are you going to tell us your ages?

-Gracie, do you want to go first?

-Five.

-You're five.

-Six.

-Six.

-And Amy?

-Six.

Six as well. Oh, my word.

Guess what age I am.

59.

-59?!

-LAUGHTER

Oh, my goodness! I haven't had that one before!

Oh, my goodness. I love it.

Back in Cork, and Nanci Creedon is returning to collect baby George...

-Hi, Nanci. Come in.

-I'm back.

How are you?

..and also to see how Arthur and Nero

have taken to their new brother.

So, congratulations.

-Thanks a million.

-So, baby George is no more and now we have James.

-Yes.

-Brilliant.

So, how did it go

when you introduced baby James to the dogs?

We practised quite a bit.

-Great.

-I'd practise walking around with George and stuff

so my neighbours probably think I'm insane.

When he came home, it was definitely

awkward when I introduced them at the start.

We came in, he stayed in the car seat.

Brought the dogs in then.

They had a good sniff and it went really, really well.

Both of them were very much in your slogan of

"We're aware, but we don't care."

So really, the first introduction was excellent.

With James in the house, Mum's old routine has gone out the window...

..and the boys are no longer getting their share of attention.

OK, so we're feeling a little bit guilty because you don't have

as much time for them as you'd have had in the past so we really needed

to find exercises and things for you to do that aren't massively

time-consuming, without leaving the house, but could still tire

the dogs out while you're still tending to the most important thing,

which is the baby.

Nanci has devised an exercise programme for the dogs

which can be easily done in the comfort of their own home.

So the first thing you want to do is a little bit of nose work.

So we use our eyes to read books and really entertain ourselves

and dogs use their nose to do the same thing,

so grab a few dirty tea towels, a couple of treats.

Put the treats under the towels so the dogs can't find them.

That way then, they can use their nose and really sniff things out.

Really tires them out, really good exercise for them.

Come on.

Now...

He's going to be very good at this game.

Good boy. What you do then is you progress by just hiding the treats

in more difficult places. You can wrap it up in balls of newspaper.

And you don't need to be involved. Took two minutes to set up

-and then the dogs can have ten minutes of fun.

-OK.

Another thing that you can do then is mental stimulation.

So anything that gets your dog thinking and makes them use

their brain, kind of like us doing a crossword, tires them out.

So this is a video game for dogs.

Get an old box and just empty toilet rolls

and then dropping loads of treats into it.

The dogs then can see them, they can smell them,

but they can't get to them so the dogs have to problem solve.

Good boy.

So his brain's really working now.

And what you can do then, to make it more difficult next time,

because a lot of these toilet rolls are a little bit more squished,

by putting more toilet rolls in but less gaps,

it will be harder next time. Exactly.

And just get your husband then to clean up the mess afterwards.

Gillian is doing brilliantly and the dogs are getting on really well

with James, which is so important.

She's clearly still very committed as well to being a good dog owner,

making sure the dogs are happy.

I think she is well equipped now to go forward

and make sure that everyone stays safe and stays happy.

I think it's gone really good, you know.

The dogs are just accepting that James is just another member of

the family and they are completely at ease with one another.

Like, the three of them now are asleep.

Back in Belfast, it has been a close call for Bruiser and Pablo.

The training is definitely improving.

They are not piddling as much as they were.

It's like watching them all the time, giving them new boundaries,

but it is hard work.

KNOCKING

Hi, Chris. How are you?

Today, dog behaviourist Elaine Power is checking in

to see if her training tips have paid off.

How are you getting on, Chris? How's things going?

They've definitely improved. The house smells fresher,

you might have noticed.

There's less yellow stains on skirting boards.

I'm cleaning a lot less.

All in all, the pain has gone down so much.

I wouldn't say it's perfect yet, but there are definitely

-a lot less puddles round the house, which is good.

-Brilliant.

It takes a while. It's the habit of a lifetime, Chris.

It's not something that just changes overnight.

But what we've done, you do have to

maintain and continue long-term,

like for the rest of their lives really.

It does get easier though.

A lot of people do believe that once they see improvement, they think,

"Well, that's that done and we're sorted."

And it's really not. As soon as you revert back to what you used to do,

they revert back to what they used to do.

The house isn't stinking, which is always a benefit.

I don't feel embarrassed bringing people into the house.

But, as Elaine said, it is keeping it up. It's just me struggling

being stern with them, especially with this one here

cos he just looks up at you with his wee eyes and he looks like

he's crying and puts his tail between his legs and it's just

so difficult and so I have to sort of force myself...

..to be mean, which I'm not very good at.

Meanwhile, life is not all rosy for Taylor-Rae and Coco,

who have parted ways with someone special in their lives.

Well, unfortunately, I don't have a man in my life any more.

So on Valentine's Day, it was just me, Coco Chanel and a glass of wine,

so it's been like that for a while now.

She's my baby. My number one.

If I was to settle down and meet a nice man,

they would obviously have to

come aboard as a step-daddy for Coco Chanel

because Coco Chanel is my number one so they have to love her.

It's love me, love my dog.

In Ballywalter, siblings Niamh and Ethan

are on their morning training session with miniature horse Ray.

Went down to the horse show in Cavan and didn't pay attention

but then when it came to the miniatures, I was sort of going...

"Come on, come on, I want that one to win!"

I was really into them.

Good boy.

When I eventually talked my mum and dad into getting me one,

we went to look at them and I sort of fell in love.

They are definitely class.

I didn't think they were that good until we got him, to be honest.

-Didn't really like them.

-You were against it.

You were really against it.

Like, Niamh was like, "What's the point in a miniature horse?

"You can't ride them, you can't do this," but now she's like,

"They're the best!"

Loads of people that we know that have them have said

they're really addictive.

We're like, "No, they're not."

But they are. We could get loads more.

Ray needs all the practice he can get for a forthcoming competition.

I'm the one that works Ray the most cos Ethan won't jump him.

Ethan's scared to jump him cos Ethan jumped him once and he fell.

Ethan just goes out for the glory.

As well as his daily training regime,

Ray also has his own mini superstitions

which even include dancing.

MUSIC PLAYS

Ray, come on.

He likes to dance to Derek Ryan songs.

# It's a heartache

# Nothing but a heartache

# It hits you when it's too late

# Hits you when you're down... #

It is competition time, and today Ray will be competing

against some of Ireland's finest mini-horses.

I'd sleep in a barn with him if they were sick.

I love them, they're family.

We spend all our spare hours doing this.

They are funny to watch. They've great personalities. They're just...

For the lack of a better word, they're just giant dogs.

For Ethan, it is his first time against some of the seasoned pros

of the miniature horse world

who today are pulling out all the stops

so as to catch the judges' eyes and ears.

This is Butters and this is Babs.

That's Jacksy. Jack The Banner Lad.

Celticmist Absolut Devotion.

This one is...

Anything to catch the judges' eyes, that's the whole idea.

It's make-up eye gloss.

It just makes them look larger and blacker.

And for these guys, they actually get their manes and forelocks

all straightened with a normal hair straightener

before they go to a show in the morning.

Sue always wins.

She's very competitive.

-No, I don't!

-We hate her.

The mini-horse scene in Ireland is a hugely growing society.

This show is going to be, in three to four years' time,

a huge, huge national championship show.

It is Ray's time to shine.

It went clear. Which was good for his first ever jumping competition.

Very proud of him.

-TANNOY:

-'We have our result, and in third place

'is number 73.'

And Ethan's chance to get the glory.

APPLAUSE

When you take him to shows, I think he quite likes

seeing horses his size rather than having to look up at everything.

Everything is looking down at him.

He's very brave.

Next time on Pet Island, we learn to talk to the animals...

Let's see if Lynne can tell us what they're saying.

..we meet a Dublin woman with some snappy snakes...

He went straight for me.

..and in Bray, love is in the air for Martin and Jennifer.

Mummy and Daddy getting married.