Episode 13 Sport Relief's Top Dog

72 dogs, 24 teams,

12 incredible heats.

There's been dashing.

There's been splashing.

And a whole kennel load of doggy drama.

Now it's down to four teams.

On tonight's show it's Team Sally versus Team Louise.

Welcome to the first semifinal of Sport Relief's Top Dog.

APPLAUSE

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Gaby Roslin.

Hello and welcome to Sport Relief's Top Dog, where we have reached

the all-important semifinals.

Just 30 minutes stand between our teams

and a place in Friday's grand final.

So, without further ado,

let's meet our first semifinalists captained by Louise Minchin.

Hi, Gaby.

You look so thrilled to be back.

I'm absolutely amazed and Holly was just brilliant.

It's such a joy to have you all back.

Would you like to introduce us to your team, please?

My team, we have Matt.

Lovely Matt with Pepper, who is a fire investigation dog,

and we have Christina and Flight,

who is the fluffiest, most beautiful Border collie that I know.

Wonderful. Thank you very much.

APPLAUSE

So, let's remind ourselves of how Team Louise got here.

In her heat, Team Louise took on Team Martin.

Christina and Border collie Flight made a splash by winning

New Balls, Please.

But Louise and her Labrador Holly weren't so lucky

and failed to resist the temptations of Take It Or Leave It.

Matt and fire dog Pepper missed out on a win due to an unplanned

toilet break in Sherlock Bones.

Despite the time penalty,

Team Louise thrashed their opposition in the Bark Off to win their heat.

Well, now we saw how you all got here.

Just to remind everybody, this actually isn't your dog,

-it's your niece's dog.

-This is my niece's dog

because my lovely golden Labrador, Waffle, who's sitting at home,

is going to be very upset because she's currently in season

and we couldn't bring her, obviously.

-She's going to be very jealous.

-She's going to be so upset.

Let's come and meet the other dogs, then.

Now, I remember when you were here, Matt. Were you nervous?

Were you worried?

Nervous and worried and it turned out to be quite founded

when Pepper took a unscheduled...erm...

-comfort break, I suppose.

-She took a little pee break.

-That's absolutely fine.

-She may have done, yes.

That doesn't matter. You still won. You're here at the semifinals.

-Did you enjoy it?

-Loved it.

OK, Christina and Flight. Look at you two.

How much would it mean to you to get through to the final?

Lots. I want to prove that a little dog can do well.

She might be a collie but she's little.

So I want to prove that she can do well.

OK, well, I wish you all very, very best of luck. Team Louise!

APPLAUSE

OK, now let's meet their competitors,

captained by Sally Gunnell.

-Welcome back, Team Sally.

-Thank you.

APPLAUSE

Now, you said about your poor dog that your dog wasn't going to do it.

I didn't. Honestly, we've never been to one puppy class or done anything

and she amazed me. I was a very proud mummy, I was.

-You really were at the end.

-I was.

I was just astounded

and I don't think I've stopped talking about her.

She's just been brill.

Well, could you introduce us to your team-mates, please?

Yeah, we have Tom and Tara. Lovely, lovely doggies.

-And we have Nicky and Leo.

-Wonderful. Thank you very much.

OK. Let's remind ourselves how Team Sally got here.

Team Sally took on Team Peaches.

Nicky and her Border collie Leo spelled out victory in Pooch Puns.

Sally and her chocolate Labrador Diggy scored a bull's-eye

by winning Spot On.

But Tom and avalanche rescue dog Tara didn't bowl over their competition

in The Dog's Bowl.

In the end, though, the team pulled together

to get the fastest Bark Off time of the series.

Tom and Tara, it must be quite something to have an Olympian

-and a sporting hero as your team captain.

-Inspiration.

Does she get behind the scenes,

"Come on, we're going to win, we're going to win."

No, that's her!

So what does it mean to you to be through?

Cos you were quite nervous, as you said, you admitted.

Yeah, and I think that's why we blew our first game.

I thought, "Well, you know, I'm nervous, I better not let

"the dog get nervous." I just didn't know that was in my little dog.

-I could've kissed her in the end.

-Aww!

-Well, I wish you good luck as well.

-Thank you.

Now let's meet Miss Competitive.

They're the ones that are saying it, not me. Nicky and Leo.

-No idea what they're talking about, Gaby.

-Are you very competitive?

-Maybe a little bit.

-Leo, you love the crowds.

Do you want everybody to shout their name?

-If you all shout out "Go, Leo," this dog loves it.

-Ready...

Go on. One, two, three.

AUDIENCE: Go, Leo!

That's known as timing. Thank you so much for doing that. Let's hear it.

Good luck for Team Sally.

APPLAUSE

Now with the tension mounting, we're ready for our first game,

which involves a leap of faith and an almighty splash.

Let's head off now to the pool to play Buoy Zone.

Yes, this is Buoy Zone.

As you can see, the pool has been divided into three different areas.

The handler must throw the buoy to score points.

The further the buoy is thrown, the higher the score.

But of course, the further the dog has to travel to retrieve it,

the more time it will cost them.

Points will be banked once the dog has brought the buoy back

to their handler. The team with the highest score is the winner.

Now, we flipped a coin to see who's going first and Christina

and Flight can go and get themselves ready.

It gives us a chance to say hello to our canine water experts

standing by in the pool as always.

Give us a wave, Dave!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Give it some welly, Ellie!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

OK, they're in place and ready to begin.

Good luck.

On your barks, get set, go!

'Wow! Now we know why Christina called her Flight. Look at that!

'She's positively aerodynamic as she takes off across the pool.'

You can take that ball. It's there. It's there at the top. There we are.

'Another fine jump by Flight.

'You can see the point markers at the edge of the pool.

'The further Christina throws the ball,

'the more points they'll score,

'but it will take Flight longer to return it.

'Comfortably into the 20 zone there.

'Big points, but Flight has a long swim back.'

Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on!

'Come on, Flight!'

Go, go, go!

'Take off! She's flying through this challenge now.

'Back on dry land. But immediately heads off to grab the next ball.

'Slightly shorter throw and Flight's going to be back faster this time.

'Quick shake.

'Good jump.'

This way, this way, this way! Come on!

TIMER BEEPS

'No, she didn't get that ball back before the time limit expired,

'so that one won't count.'

Good girl!

Good girl!

'Now Flight is a flyball competitor

'and she certainly flew after those balls, living up to her name.'

APPLAUSE

-That was great. Congratulations. How did it go?

-Very well.

-A lot better than early runs so I'm very pleased.

-Wonderful.

Cos you had a couple of rehearsals. OK.

-Would you like to know your points?

-Yes, please.

90 points!

Really good.

-Well done, Flight. OK. So you know what you have to beat?

-Yeah.

-Are you ready?

-We're ready.

On your barks, get set, go.

'And Nicky started the game with an amazing long throw.

Get it, get it, get it!

'Swimming all the way back from the 30-point zone now.

'This is going to be a good score but a long swim.'

Ready... Go!

'Leo's showing no fear as he dives headfirst into the pool.

'Another long swim, but Leo is quick in the water.'

Go, go, go, go!

Ready... Go!

'Nicky's scoring high points with those powerful throws,

'but they do take Leo longer to get the ball back

'so she can make fewer of them in the time limit.'

You have 30 seconds left.

'Most of the way down the 20-point zone.

'Such a long swim, she might as well just gone for 30.'

Go! Get in there! Go!

'Leo clearly not afraid of getting his paws wet.

'In fact, Nicky tells us he can even empty the washing machine.'

-Come on, come on, come on!

-He has to bring the ball back to you.

'Nicky had better think tactically if they want to get any more points.

'That's a very short throw. It could be ten points.'

TIMER BEEPS

'No, time's up, but Leo's not going for it anyway.

'Leo really threw himself into that challenge, but did they do enough?'

OK. So we know that the score to beat was 90.

-How do you think you did?

-Oh, I'm not quite sure.

I can tell you that you actually managed to score...

-..100.

-Yeah!

Well done. So the first game goes to Team Sally.

APPLAUSE

OK, guys, off you go now and get yourselves all dried up

and while they're getting a towel down and a blow dry,

let's see Flight and Leo in action in glorious slow-mo. Oh, yes.

It's the wet dog shaggy shake.

# Shake that groove thing

# Shake that groove thing, yeah, yeah

# Show them how we do it now

# Shake that groove thing

# Shake that groove thing, yeah, yeah

# Show them how we do it now... #

Now, as ever, it's the dogs that take centre stage,

and we have five dedicated experts looking after them.

Reena Patel is our resident vet

and senior clinician at her local practice.

Roy Dyer is our canine consultant.

He's been training dogs for over 50 years.

Kristina Glover is a veterinary approved pet behaviour counsellor.

David Pugh trains dogs to swim and save lives.

And alongside him is his apprentice Ellie Bedford.

OK, now it's time for our celebrity team captains to battle it out

in our second game.

They're going to need a steady arm and a good aim.

Each owner has to knock down as many coconuts as possible

within the time limit.

However, they will only be given one ball,

so the number of throws depends on how quickly the dog retrieves it.

Each coconut is worth one point,

but if they knock down the dog toy, that's worth three points.

So, take your positions, please. Let's play Canine Coconuts.

-OK, Sally and Diggy, are you ready?

-Yeah, we're ready.

She's hypnotised by that ball.

On your barks, get set, go.

'Oh, Sally's missed the coconut, but Diggy gets the idea. Back she comes.'

Good girl!

'Time for Sally to throw again. Second time lucky?'

Fetch!

'This isn't what we expect from an Olympic champion, Sally!'

Good girl! Fetch!

Fetch! Good girl!

'Oh, another miss! Sally really isn't having much luck here.'

Quick, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick!

'Diggy's doing her bit, though. She's dropped it a bit early.

'She'll need to get it back for Sally.'

Good girl! Good girl!

'Oh, come on, Sally! Another miss!'

Fetch!

'No, looks like Diggy's gone on strike.

'She'd rather scratch than fetch the ball.'

Go on! Don't like that thing around my neck. Go on! Fetch!

'Diggy really doesn't seem interested any more.

'Perhaps she's a bit miffed at Sally's aim.'

Diggy, get the ball!

Fetch! Fetch the ball!

She doesn't like that...

'Diggy really has gone rogue. More scratching now.

'I think she's trying to take off her team bandana.'

TIMER BEEPS

'Yeah, Diggy started the game admirably,

'but she was rather let down by her human partner there.

'Nil points.'

APPLAUSE

You know what, I know you got no coconuts

-but I think Diggy did really well.

-She was brilliant. It's just me.

-I let her down.

-Oh, which means I'm afraid you got zero.

-But we won't go on about that.

-Thank you.

Louise, you have no points to beat. So if you get one coconut...

-I still feel quite a lot of pressure.

-OK.

On your barks, get set, go.

Ready? Good girl. Ready?

'Louise starts off with a miss. Holly fast to react, though.

Good girl. What a good girl you are.

'She seems quite attached to that ball.'

Good girl.

'Second shot for Louise.

'Oh, there you go!'

Good girl, Holly!

Get the coconut, I don't care!

'Holly's more interested in the coconut than the ball.

'This won't get them any more points.'

Good girl. Drop it. Well done.

What a brilliant dog you are. Ready?

'Oh! That will, though. Another point. Great aim from Louise.'

Good girl! You're brilliant!

Holly, here, here! Good girl. Drop it. Good girl.

Well done, Holly. Good girl.

'And another! Well, they're on fire.'

Holly! Holly! Holly!

'I think Holly's trying to pick up that coconut.'

-Holly, here. Here.

-She wants the coconut and the ball.

'She'll need to bring it back if they want more points.

Here. Good girl, come here.

TIMER BEEPS 'Oh, no, time's up.

'Well, despite the occasional distraction,

'a great team effort from Louise and Holly.'

APPLAUSE

The dogs are having a little conversation there.

Well, you had no coconuts to beat,

and you managed to get three coconuts,

which means you won that game.

-Well done, Holly!

-Well done, you.

So after two games it's one-all. There we go.

Congratulations! Well done.

APPLAUSE

Now, all of tonight's competitors are here to support

a really great cause.

Sport Relief aims to get as many people as possible

up on their feet and raising money for those that need our help,

both here in the UK and across the world's poorest communities.

The first ever Sport Relief Games take place from Friday 21st

to Sunday 23rd of March.

The best way to join the fun and games is to sign up to run,

cycle or swim.

-ALL:

-We just done the extra mile with Sport Relief!

But there are lots of other ways you could take part

and raise money for Sport Relief along with your faithful friend.

How about getting sponsored to go on a group dog walk?

Or you could set up your own dog obstacle course

and ask for donations to take part.

For more ideas and to get your own fundraising kit, visit...

Please do text if you can. We really appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Now it's time for the next challenge which requires a good nose

and a fast set of legs.

Our celebrity team captains will be padlocked inside this cage.

There are four sets of keys attached to four balls just like this one,

which are hidden beneath these mounds of leaves.

To free their celebrity, the dogs must retrieve one key at a time

and return them to the handler who will pass the key to the celebrity

to try and unlock themselves.

The winners will be the fastest team to free their celebrity.

Let's get ready for Leaf It Out.

So we have Louise locked up

and Matt and Pepper ready to come to the rescue.

Everybody's getting very excited about this game. OK.

On your barks, get set, go!

'And Pepper heads straight for the leaves. She's uncovered a key.

'Doesn't look like she's seen it though.

'Investigating another pile of leaves.

'Ah, no, she's seen the first one.'

Good girl, Pepper.

'That's it. Pepper sent off on her way again.

'Now as a working fire dog Pepper's used to using her amazing sense

'of smell to root out evidence of arson while wearing protective boots.

'So this challenge shouldn't pose too much of a problem.

'Pepper yet to work out a firm plan of action for this game.

'She seemed uncertain of where to find the keys.

'She's found something now.

Yep, that's another key.

'Prospect of an early release is looking very possible for Louise.

'Only one more to find.

'Where's she off to now?'

What's this? Ready?

'Right, we're back on track.

'Has she found it?

'Yes!'

Good girl!

Good girl, Pepper!

'Pepper's done her bit,

'now Louise has to free herself as quickly as possible.'

-She's free!

-I can't get out!

'Come on!'

-Just push. There we are.

-Yay!

'And a classic fireman's lift from Matt.'

And she gets a fireman's lift from a real-life fireman.

'Yes, Pepper wasn't immediately clear on her purpose,

'but she managed to free Louise in the end.'

APPLAUSE

Well, well done.

Pepper managed to free Louise in a time of one minute 59 seconds,

-which is very good.

-Well done, Pepper.

OK, Tom and Tara and Sally there, you know what you have to play for.

You have to do it in faster time than one minute 59.

And of course it's one game all going into this one.

So I wish you the very best of luck. OK.

On your barks, get set, go, Tara.

'Tom and Tara setting off to rescue Sally.'

Good dog!

'And Tara's got the first key straightaway. Lovely!

'Tara's trained to find people trapped beneath avalanches,

'so a tennis ball and key trapped beneath leaves

'shouldn't be too much of a challenge.

'Aah, there's another one.'

Bring it here.

Sit. Good dog.

'There we go. Tom's pointing her in the right direction.

'Sally busily securing her own freedom there.

'She's unearthed a third key.

'Future's looking brighter all the time for the incarcerated

'Sally Gunnell.'

One last lock to get.

'Straight to the final key and she's bringing it back.'

Now Sally just has to unlock the last one.

The dog's in there with you.

The magic of television!

'Not one to be outdone, Tom's giving Sally a fireman's lift as well.'

APPLAUSE

Yeah!

'Tara's well trained rescue dog nose made short work of rescuing Sally.'

OK, so the time to beat was one minute 59.

You did it in one minute and one second.

APPLAUSE

Oh! That was good!

OK. Let's see what that does to the overall score.

Congratulations, Team Sally.

That means they're in the lead by two games to one. Well done.

APPLAUSE

And that 2-1 lead of theirs will earn them

a very handy time advantage in the final showdown.

Brace yourselves, people. It's time for The Bark Off.

Now before you is the familiar Bark Off course

with a few minor alterations.

For example, Barking Station has now the distraction of food inside it.

We've added a chair to Swindon's Magic Roundabout

so that the owner as well as the dog has to sit and stay

for three seconds, and there's a surprise inside the train tunnel.

As ever, the course will be completed one dog at a time,

and if an obstacle is refused or incorrectly cleared,

they'll hear this sound.

BUZZER SOUNDS

They will only get two attempts at each obstacle

and they cannot move on until they hear this sound.

BELL DINGS

The team that completes the course in the fastest time will take

overall victory and go through to our grand final.

Team Sally are in the lead,

which means that Team Louise have the pressure of going first.

And because they're lagging behind two games to one, they'll be

starting their run with 15 seconds already added to their clock.

Let's play The Bark Off.

OK. The very best of luck to Team Louise. On your barks, get set, go.

'So Christina and Flight beginning the Bark Off here.

'Soaring over Tower Bridge.'

Through Barking Tunnel.

Oh, ignored the sausage.

'At the end of Barking Tube, we now have an extra challenge -

'a hanging sausage they have to resist.

'For the semifinal, Christina needs to sit down too.'

BELL DINGS

'Good job!

'Over Sherwood Forest and Mount Snowdon has gone from the semifinal,

'so it's straight onto the ferry.

'Now we're at the business end of the competition.

'The Bark Off is a shorter, faster course.

'And they've done it.

'Now for the Welsh train tunnel.

'Not as simple as it used to be with those two large balls.

'Flight slips between them

'but Charlotte has a bit more of a struggle to get through.

'Straight over the Giant's Causeway.

'Now they have to circle the flowerpot.'

Here! Here!

'Oh, he's gone under Hadrian's Wall there,

'round the daffodils and back over the last two jumps

'for a clean finish.'

BELL DINGS

'Matt and Pepper make a strong start. Up and over.

'Will Pepper resist the sausage on the tube?

'Yeah, she put her head down and knocked it out of her way. Lovely.

'Pepper's on the ferry now.

'And she's going to take it standing up.

'Great crossing. Now into the tunnel.

'Matt knocks away the ball to open the way for the two of them.

'Pepper briefly distracted but Matt's got her back on track.

'Giant Causeway doesn't slow down Pepper.

'Over Hadrian's Wall, over the Forth Bridge and they're done.

BELL DINGS

'Wow! Look at that!

'What a magnificent couple of leaps from Pepper.

'Team leader Louise up next with her Labrador Holly.

'Now for the underground. Louise rolls the ball straight through.

'And that was enough to keep Holly's mind firmly off the sausage.

'Louise knocks the ball out of her way. Holly's waiting for her.

'Over the causeway now.'

Round the daffodils...

'Louise kicks away a stray ball... Oh, no, Holly's following it.

'No, she's coming back. Oh, but they've missed the jumps!

'They'll need to go back and do those.

'Oh, Holly wants to do the sit and stay again.

'They're losing vital seconds there.

'Over the last jump and that's it all over for Team Louise.'

TIMER BEEPS

Well done. OK.

With the 15 seconds already added, your course time was...

Three minutes and one second.

APPLAUSE

That, I think, is a course record for the whole series.

So congratulations for Team Louise!

OK. So you've got three minutes and one second to beat.

I wish you the very best of luck. On your barks, get set, go.

'OK, Nicky and Leo. Very fast over Tower Bridge.

'Shoots through the Tube like a rocket.'

Sit! Sit! Sit. Stay.

'Leo doesn't seem fazed at all by Nicky joining her

'in a nice sit down.' BELL DINGS

'Off they go. Over Sherwood Forest.

'Leo's taking a roundabout route into the ferry.

'OK, now he's sitting comfortably.'

-Stay.

-She knows what she wants!

'Great cruising over the Mersey.'

She wants to win!

'Into the tunnel. Wow, Leo went over the ball. That's one way to do it.

'Leo's gone straight for the weave. Incredible.

'He really looks like he loves that challenge.'

Beautiful! Wow!

'Leo, barking for joy as he completes the final stretch,

'and they're home. BELL DINGS

'Tom and Tara off to a speedy start.'

I've got goose bumps! This is amazing, he's so fast.

'Gaby's not the only one. We're really seeing every dog

'and human upping their game in this spectacular semifinal.

'Tara's showing she has real staying power on the Magic Roundabout.'

BELL DINGS

-You need to go over the jump.

-'Oh, no, she missed that jump.

'Let's try that one again.'

That's it. Onto the ferry.

'OK, she's in position.

'And a fast crossing.

'You can tell it's not Tara's maiden voyage. Totally unfazed.

'Tom heroically forcing apart the balls in the tunnel

'to allow Tara to pass.

'Oh, no, Tara's left the Giant's Causeway early. Tom beckons her back.

'Shows her the way.'

Come on, Tara. Come on, Tara.

-Good dog, good dog, good dog. Well done.

-Good girl.

'And she's over the last two jumps,

'but they did lose some time for the team in that run.'

-Through the end.

-BELL DINGS

Sally, off you go.

'OK, Sally will have to keep Diggy moving at top speed if she's going

'to have any hope of beating Team Louise with their incredible time.

'And Diggy's certainly moving. She smashed that sausage out of the way.

'Talk about beating temptation.'

Stay!

'Lovely sitting from Diggy and Sally, too, of course.'

OK, over the jump.

'Diggy gets a treat.'

Come on! Come on! Quick, quick, quick, quick, quick!

'OK, over the forest jump and into the ferry.'

-What's this? In you go.

-'Sally's lifting Diggy on board.

-'She is clearly not taking any chances.'

-Stay!

Stay!

'Oh, Diggy! She's in the Mersey. This is eating up precious seconds.'

Come on! Here we go.

Stay! Stay. Stay.

'Oh, no!'

Move on. Through the tunnel.

Come on then. Here we go.

'Sally knocks both balls clear of their route

'and they're safely through.

'Diggy follows her nose over the Causeway.

Back round the daffodils and the last two jumps.

Over Hadrian's Wall, over the Forth Bridge

and a dramatic dive through the final obstacle by Sally.

Very close!

Wow.

Now, the time to beat, as we know,

was a new course record of three minutes and one second.

-How do you think you did?

-I really think...

We're just analysing it here. I think it's just really close.

I can't, I think... I can't shout... I really don't know.

You'd like to be in the final.

I'm going to reveal now that your course time was...

two minutes 55 seconds. You're through to the final!

Well done!

APPLAUSE

That was so fast!

-Well done, doggies!

-Another new course record.

Amazing, amazing time.

Well, huge congratulations to Team Sally for winning tonight's show

and a place in Friday's grand final.

So the question remains - who will be joining them?

We'll find out tomorrow when celebrity team captains

Jenny Falconer and Gail Emms square up in the next semifinal.

Remember, you and your dog can support Sport Relief in many ways.

You can sign up to the Sport Relief Mile which you can walk

with your dog at various locations right across the UK,

details of which can be found on the website.

And you could also do your bit by buying the special

Sport Relief dog toy which is available online or in store

with all profits going to Sport Relief. Just go to the website

for details of how to get involved with the fun and games.

Thanks to all of our dogs and the owners for taking part.

Thank you so much for watching.

We'll be back at the same time tomorrow for the second semifinal.

Until then, good night.

APPLAUSE