Episode 8 Sport Relief's Top Dog

72 dogs...

..24 celebrity team captains...

AUDIENCE: Aw!

..and one big tournament to find...

..Sport Relief's Top Dog.

On tonight's show - Team Matthew.

Matthew Wright, TV presenter and journalist,

and his Miniature Schnauzer Wiggie are joined by -

Tanya, a housewife from Essex,

and Max, a Border collie working as a cynophobia dog,

Marie, locum technician from Hampshire,

with Blaze, her pet Lakeland Cross.

They're taking on Team Charley.

Charley Boorman, a TV presenter and travel writer,

and his springer spaniel Ziggy are teaming up with -

Jenni, a college lecturer from Coventry,

and her Labrador Lillie,

who is a working demo dog for students,

Adam, a structural engineer from Bishop's Stortford,

with Hugo, his pet miniature wire-haired dachshund.

It's time for our two teams to go head-to-head.

It's Sport Relief's Top Dog.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Gaby Roslin.

Hello and welcome to Sport Relief's Top Dog -

the show where talented pets upstage their owners.

We'll be putting our four-legged friends through their paces

with a series of skilful challenges.

In tonight's show, our dogs will be ducking, diving, bringing

home the bacon and going for a cycle ride, all in aid of Sport Relief.

So that's the show, now let's meet our first team.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

And for Team Charley we have Charley the captain.

-Captain Charley.

-Captain Charley.

Introduce us to Ziggy.

-Yeah, well, Ziggy is an English springer spaniel. He's 12.

-He's not.

He is. He looks a lot younger. Like his dad, a lot younger.

-Just like you.

-Just like me.

Does he ever get on the back of the bike with you?

He does sometimes, but he's not so keen on the bike thing.

Welcome, team captain Charley and Ziggy.

There we go.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Hello, Jenni.

Now tell us about this incredible dog Lillie.

Well, she's a demo dog on my lecture in animal behaviour,

so she helps to teach students how to look after dogs, basically.

-She's also a blood donor.

-She's a blood donor?

That's the thing.

Are there many dogs that do this?

There's a fair few, but they'd like more.

It's something that any dog can do as long as they're over 25kg.

Do they get a cup of tea and a biscuit afterwards?

They get a nice bowl of food and a nice bandanna to wear home.

Well, it's wonderful.

Thank you very much. What a good, good dog you are, Lillie.

Thank you for the lovely service that you do.

Thank you very much.

APPLAUSE

-Adam. Hello, Adam.

-Hello.

-Hugo.

-Yes, this is Hugo.

-Tell me about Hugo then.

-Hugo is four years old.

He's a miniature wire-haired dachshund

and he loves nothing more than going for a run.

-A run.

-Yeah.

-But not far.

No, we're training him for CaniX, so he's up to 3.5km at the moment.

-Walked that dog?

-Yeah, he'll walk for 14km as well.

Sorry? How, with those legs, how does he walk for 14km?

He's just got so much energy. I don't know where he gets it from.

Well, I hope he enjoys tonight. I hope you do as well.

Let's hear it for Team Charley.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-So team captain Matthew from Team Matthew.

-Hello.

Hello. Introduce us to your dog.

This is Wiggie-Wiggie-Woo-Woo HRH Prince of Wiggleness.

You can call him the Wigster, Mr Wiggles, Wiggie-Wee-Woo-Woo.

LAUGHTER

Oh... You... Yes.

Shall we leave it there?

How was Wiggie when you were in the jungle?

I don't know whether he missed me as much as I missed him.

-Did you enjoy yourself?

-I had a wonderful time.

The best thing was coming out of it less afraid than

when I went in with a whole lot of new friends.

Do you have fear about today?

I expect Wiggie to disgrace himself,

because that's what he does best, really. He's a very wilful animal.

-So he's just like you then, Matthew?

-He's just like me.

-Well, I wish you the very best of luck.

-Thank you.

-Team Matthew.

-Thank you.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Hello.

-Hello.

Now this is a very special dog, isn't it, Tanya?

Yes, he's a cynophobia resistance dog,

so he works with children that have a morbid fear of dogs.

He does it once a week.

We just introduce them slowly to play with the dogs.

-Can I get down and talk to him down here?

-Yes, of course.

So, what do you do, then?

We play games and get the children to make them sit

-so they gradually learn that dogs are safe.

-Oh.

You clever, clever dog. Thank you very much, Tanya and Max.

CHEERING

-Hello, Marie. Hello. Introduce us to your dog, please.

-This is Blaze.

-He's a Lakeland cross Jack Russell terrier.

-He's like this, "I'm ready!

"I'm ready!" He looks like he could cope with absolutely anything.

Oh, yeah, he's got a smashing character.

Always full of it, always on the go. He keeps me going.

He's helped me through an illness a few years ago as well. He was

there for me, by my side the whole time. Yeah, he's very special.

-Do you think that bond, that's brought you even closer?

-BLAZE WHINES

Oh, absolutely, I'm so sorry. Was I ignoring you? I'm so sorry.

We were talking about you, though. OK? We were talking about you.

-Yeah, our bond's inseparable.

-That's so wonderful.

Let's hear it for Team Matthew.

CHEERING

So, introductions over, we're ready for our first game of the evening.

Let's bring on our first round of players.

Team Charley have put forward Jenni and Lillie

and Team Matthew have chosen Tanya and Max.

So, let's play Duck Down.

Welcome to Duck Down.

Now, the aim of the game is simple - the handler must aim to

throw the duck into the water in our pool.

The dog must leap into action to retrieve the duck

and return it to the handler who then drops it in their box.

The team that collects the most ducks in the box

are declared the winners.

Now, we flipped a coin to see who's going first so, Tanya and Max,

if you'd like to go off and get ready.

Thank you very much indeed.

And we can now say hello to our canine experts

standing by in the pool. Give us a wave, Dave.

CHEERING

Give it some welly, Ellie.

CHEERING

OK, here we go. Time to get the competition under way.

Good luck, Tanya and Max. On your barks, get set, go.

So, Max is a cynophobia dog

and that means he spends time with people who have a fear of dogs.

He looks a bit hesitant

but all our dogs are paired up with games that suit them by our

animal experts and Dave is there for some friendly encouragement.

Well done, Max. That's the first duck down.

Hopefully that's given him a bit more confidence for the next one.

Very gentle, Max. Having a think about the water.

Tanya tells us that she takes Max to the hydrotherapy pool

-for regular swimming lessons that he loves.

-Come on then.

-Good lad. Good lad.

-He's certainly got that shaggy shake down.

Ready? Steady? Go!

Well, he's wagging his tail for the next one

so he's clearly enjoying himself.

Max doesn't want to make people wet.

CHEERING

Some more encouragement from Dave and that looks like duck number three

but is he going to get it back in time?

BEEPING

Oh, well done, Max.

A much more gentle approach to this game than we'd seen before

but, with a little help from his friends, Max brought home the goods.

APPLAUSE

Congratulations, Max. He'd like to take it gently.

-So, Max, very well done. OK, are you ready?

-Ready.

On your barks, get set, go.

Now it's Lillie's turn.

A lot of other Labradors we've seen on this series,

they absolutely love to fetch and retrieve, especially in the water.

Lillie giving us a masterclass in that old favourite, the doggy paddle.

A great technique.

Go get it. Good girl.

That's duck number two. She's going pretty fast.

Lillie's a very strong swimmer.

Her legs are working really hard under the water to power her home.

Go get it, go on.

CHEERING

A super-quick turn from Lillie.

-That'll save her extra time getting that duck back.

-Lillie, go on.

CHEERING

Come on.

There's that interesting front paw paddle again.

She looks a bit like me in the pool on holiday.

15 seconds.

She's only got a few seconds left. Will she get that duck back in time?

CHEERING

BEEPING

So Lillie raced through that game,

pulling on all her Labrador skills to doggy paddle her way to the finish.

Well done.

Let's just remind ourselves that Max managed to get two,

so well done to you, Max.

And Lillie managed to get five. Congratulations.

CHEERING

So, that means, after our first game,

Team Charley leap into the lead.

Now, before we go on, let's just take a moment to appreciate

man's best friend in all their finery.

It's time for us to enjoy Lillie and Max's wet dog shaggy shake.

MUSIC: "Shake Your Groove Thing" by Peaches & Herb

# Shake your groove thing, yeah, yeah

# Show 'em how you do it now

# Shake your groove thing Shake your groove thing, yeah, yeah

# Show 'em how you do it now. #

As ever, we want to keep all of our dogs happy

and we've assembled five wonderful experts to do just that.

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.

It's time for our second game, which involves our dogs taking orders

but not the ones you'd expect.

Our celebrity team captains will be treated to a king-sized meal

by a dog-sized waiter in our special Sport Relief Top Dog Diner.

The dog must run across to the buffet

and retrieve as many food items as possible in the allotted time.

Team Charley have nominated Adam and Hugo

and Team Matthew have chosen Marie and Blaze.

So, please, take your positions and we can play Dog's Dinner.

OK, Charley, welcome to the Top Dog Diner.

Any food allergies, anything you don't like?

No, pretty much everything. I like everything on there.

OK, we'll see what he can do.

-Are you ready?

-I think so.

-On your barks, get set, go.

Here goes Hugo.

Oh, dear. He's smelt something which has sent him the wrong way.

That's not a great start. Adam just reminding him of the job at hand.

He's back on the right scent.

Now, that is a big toy for a small dog but he's managed to pick it up.

Come on. Good boy.

Go on, then, next one.

-Go on. Hugo.

-What does he keep smelling over there?

Whatever it is, it's clearly more interesting than our game.

-Go on. Good boy.

-He likes the egg.

-He likes the egg.

Come on.

He's just going, "I'll just take my close-up now."

Now, dachshunds are known for having strong teeth and a powerful jaw

but that doesn't help much if you can't fit the egg in your mouth.

Is he going to pick it up and get it back in time?

Come on, you can get it.

BEEPING

No, he's just missed the timer. Bad luck, Hugo.

Seeing him carry that egg across! Thank you very much indeed.

Let's see how many things. Here we go.

I think we've got a feeling we know.

So, I can reveal the bottle of pop was brought over

so you got one point.

CHEERING

Well done.

Poor Hugo. He had an eggs-tremely tough time with that game.

-OK, Matthew, you... No food allergies either?

-None at all.

-None at all.

-You like a nice buffet?

-Everything.

-I'll eat anything.

-OK, Blaze, on your barks, get set, go.

-Blaze, get it.

-So, let's see how Blaze gets on.

He's a Lakeland terrier Jack Russell cross. So he's quite an unusual mix.

He is so quick. He seems to know exactly what to do.

Come on, come on, come on.

Well, this is egg-citing.

Looks like Blaze is going to have a CRACK at the egg.

Come on.

Marie and Blaze compete in quite a few dog shows together

so they are already a strong team and you can really see that here.

-Come on, Blaze. Good boy.

-Quickly.

Looks like he may be losing his bottle.

Blaze, good boy. Come on.

CHEERING

-Blaze.

-Good boy.

-Go on.

-Come on, Blaze.

Now, I don't want to give the game away here

but I think Blaze might win this one.

Come on. Come on.

-Blaze is going to do the whole lot.

-Go on. Go on.

Quick.

CHEERING

BEEPING

-Good boy.

-Blaze. Yes. Yes. Let's have a look.

I'll throw you one to play with in a second. OK.

I think we all know the answer to this. You have...

Shall we count your points?

One,

two,

three,

four,

five,

six,

seven

and a sausage. Eight points.

CHEERING

That means that Team Matthew are the winners. Well done.

So it's now after two games one all.

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

a really great cause.

The best way to fund-raise is by getting sponsored to enter

an event at the Sport Relief Games

but there are all sorts of ways you and your dog can make a difference.

The first ever Sport Relief Games take place

from Friday the 21st to Sunday the 23rd of March.

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

to run, cycle or swim.

We beat the Sport Relief marathon!

But there are lots of other ways you can take part

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

How about charging a fee for colleagues to

bring their pooches to work?

Or you could ask for donations in exchange for walking people's dogs.

DOG HOWLS

For more ideas and to get your own fundraising kit,

visit bbc.co.uk/sportrelief.

Please do get involved. Every donation makes a vital difference.

Now, it's time for our celebrity captains Charley and Ziggy

and Matthew and Wiggie to play the next game.

So, let's explain the rules. The game is called Pooch Petrol

and requires each team to ride a tricycle.

Thankfully, it's the humans who'll be doing the pedalling.

The course consists of four boxes containing plastic balls.

As they go around, they must collect as many balls as possible

but only one at a time. Sounds simple but there's a catch.

Their vehicle can only move

while their dog is sitting on the back in their very own petrol tank.

If the dog jumps out, the celebrity must stop,

get them back in place before they can continue.

The winners will be the team that collects the most balls within

the time limit, so let's get the wheels in motion for Pooch Petrol.

Matthew and his miniature schnauzer are standing by.

-Are you ready?

-Yeah.

-On your barks, get set, go.

You wait there, Wigs.

Daddy might be a little while. Wait there. Wait.

A shaky start from Matthew but he's off. The first ball in the basket.

Wait there.

-Wait there. Wait. Wait there.

-I think Wiggie's quite enjoying himself.

He seems pretty content.

Oh, nearly lost the ball. Wait there. Wait there. Wait there.

He's looking quite regal now.

-Oh.

-Oh, bit of a wobble. Now he's back in control.

Here we go, Wigs.

Wait there. Wait there.

BEEPING

Well done.

A flawless round from Wiggie there.

Not quite so flawless from Matthew, though.

-Well done, you got seven balls.

-Well done, Wiggie. Yeah!

Now, Charley, remember, it's not the sort of bike you're used to,

-I know, but... OK, on your barks, get set, go.

-Stay there. Good boy.

-Good boy. Is he still there?

-Yes, he's still there.

-Oh. OK.

So, Charley is famous for his travels around the world on his motorbike.

This should be a fairly easy round for him as long as Ziggy stays put.

-Is he still there?

-Yes.

-OK.

Don't worry, I'll let you know if he's not.

I almost put the doggy treat in my mouth then.

I didn't know what to do with it. Oh, look, oh.

-Careful on the corners, please.

-OK.

Charley's moving pretty fast.

He is clearly a lot more comfortable with speed than Matthew was.

-It's Ziggy against Wiggie.

-There we go. Right. Here we go.

-Oh, I missed it.

-Looks like faster isn't always better.

Charley sped past that and missed the ball.

-He doesn't look very happy, does he?

-He's got the wind in his ears.

I'll go faster. See how fast we can go, Ziggy? Come on. Here we go.

Oh, I missed another one.

BEEPING

Speed demon Charley zoomed round that course

while Ziggy enjoyed the wind in his hair.

Charley and Ziggy, you managed to get 11 balls.

CHEERING

Which makes you the proud winners of Pooch Petrol.

OK, let's see what that's done to the overall score.

Team Charley have the upper hand now

with two rounds to one.

And that 2-1 lead will earn them a very handy time

advantage in the final showdown.

It's time to play The Bark Off.

Now, in front of our teams are some classic British landmarks

and each team must make their way from Land's End to John o'Groats.

Now, this is a relay race.

The course will be completed one dog at a time and if an obstacle

is refused or incorrectly cleared then they'll hear this sound...

BUZZER

They'll only get two attempts at each obstacle

and they cannot move on until they hear the sound...

BELL

So, the team that completes the course in the fastest time

will take overall victory

and be in with a chance of going through to the grand final.

Team Charley are in the lead which means that

Team Matthew have the pressure of going first.

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

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

It's time to play The Bark Off.

OK, Team Matthew, good luck.

On your barks, get set, go.

Through, through.

It's Blaze for Team Matthew going first on The Bark Off.

They compete in dog shows together, so expect a fast round.

A lightning-quick start, as expected from Blaze,

as he races over Tower Bridge.

Straight through Barking Tube

and up onto Swindon's Magic Roundabout

for a three-second sit and stay.

CLOCK TICKS

BELL

-Good boy.

-Nicely done, Blaze.

Straight over Sherwood Forest and into the tunnel for both of them.

Come on, up. Good boy.

Good scramble over Mount Snowdon

and onto the Royal County Down Golf Course.

Weave, weave, weave.

Lovely concentration from Blaze on the weave there.

Not taking his eye off Marie for a second. Time for a ferry ride.

Blaze just needs to stay on board.

Now, the ferry ride across the Mersey.

MUSIC: "Ferry Cross The Mersey" by Gerry And The Pacemakers

-Wait, wait.

-Very nice gentle ride.

-Excellent stuff.

-Wait. Good boy. Come on.

Last two jumps over Hadrian's Wall and the Forth Bridge

and he's made it to John o'Groats.

-OK, it's time for Max, our lovely, quiet Border collie.

-Forward.

Forward. Quickly. Quick. Come on.

A solid stroll over the bridge for Max, taking in the sights of London.

And further down the course now, Max completing the sit and stay

-and cleanly over Sherwood Forest.

-Quick.

-These two are great together, aren't they?

-Over and up the mountain.

Weave.

-Weave. Weave.

-Oh, beautiful.

A lovely weave from Max through the golf course.

-Now, I think there might be a few bribery biscuits in that ferry.

-Stay.

MUSIC: "Ferry Cross The Mersey" by Gerry And The Pacemakers

Stay. Stay. Stay.

CHEERING

Max, this way. Over.

The last few jumps for Max and a nice, clean round.

Now it's time for Matthew and Wiggie. This could be interesting.

Quick, quick, quick. Come here. Come here.

-Did Matthew just kick Stonehenge?

-Now over Tower Bridge.

Come on, Wigs. Come on.

-Good boy. No.

-He made it over Tower Bridge. Now Barking Tube.

-Over to the sit and stay at the Magic Roundabout.

-Wigs, come here.

Slight lack of coordination between the pair at the moment.

-I don't really think Wiggie's listening.

-Come here. Come here.

-OK, now the sit and stay.

-Sit. Wait. Wait.

CLOCK TICKS

Wait.

BELL

-Over the jump.

-He did listen that time. Very good, Wiggie.

-Through the tunnel together.

-Come on, Wigs.

Down on all fours for Matthew as he gets a dog's-eye view

of the train tunnel.

Wigs. Wigs. What's this here? Up you get.

Yeah, looks like the biscuit bribe trick is coming out again.

MUSIC: "Ferry Cross The Mersey" by Gerry And The Pacemakers

Wiggie doesn't even know he's going anywhere.

What's this? What's this? What's this here? Wigs, come on.

-Just the last two jumps.

-Wigs, Wigs, Wigs.

And he's home. BEEPING

CHEERING

So a sneaky snack for Wiggie means a quick trip across the Mersey

and hopefully a good time for Team Matthew.

-Well done, Team Matthew, would you like to know your time?

-Go on.

A very respectable four minutes 53 seconds. Well done.

CHEERING

Team Charley,

you now know what you have to beat.

On your barks, get set, go.

So, it's tiny Hugo off first for Team Charley

and straightaway we can see a lack of concentration from the dachshund.

Adam needs to get him focused to get round the course.

Looks like he's back on track, speeding across Tower Bridge.

Oh, dear, that strong sense of smell is getting Hugo into

all sorts of trouble.

Just when we thought he'd come to the end of the line, Hugo does a U-turn.

-Up.

-You can pick him up and put him on there. That's fine.

Good boy. Sit. Sit.

CLOCK TICKS

Wow, excellent.

BELL

-Well done.

-Come on.

-On to Sherwood Forest.

That jump is twice the size of Hugo. He just bounds straight over it.

-Come on, Hugo. Yeah, good boy.

-Making easy work of Giant's Causeway.

Up.

I'll tell you what,

it must be like a dog buffet in the bottom of that ferry by now.

MUSIC: "Ferry Cross The Mersey" by Gerry And The Pacemakers

-Come on.

-You can pick him up, that's fine.

-Ready? Keep going.

Come on. Over.

And a lovely flurry of jumps to finish off from Hugo.

It's Lillie's turn and Jenni's going to have to work hard

to keep up with her.

-Look at the speed.

-She is really fast.

A bit too fast there. She's overshot Magic Roundabout.

CLOCK TICKS

BELL

Good clean jump over at Sherwood Forest from Lillie.

Further down the course now.

Let's see if Lillie can find herself a snack at the bottom of the boat.

MUSIC: "Ferry Cross The Mersey" by Gerry And The Pacemakers

No, she's not going to need that snack.

Wait. Wait.

CHEERING

BELL

-OK, Charley, off you go.

-Here come Charley and Ziggy.

-Now, remember, Ziggy is 12 years old, which is 84 in human years.

-Got it.

-Got it.

-So, he might take things a little slower than those young pups.

Further down the course to Sherwood Forest and a jump from the old boy.

-Oh, followed by a little scratch.

-Sorry. In your own time.

Take your time, Ziggy. No rush. Time for our last trip across the Mersey.

Ziggy. Stay.

MUSIC: "Ferry Cross The Mersey" by Gerry And The Pacemakers

Ziggy.

BUZZER

Oh, Ziggy's out. One more try.

Stay. Stay. Ziggy, look.

No. Never mind.

BELL

Last two jumps.

BEEPING Good effort, Ziggy.

A great round from our oldest ever competitor. Well done, Ziggy.

OK, now, the time to beat was four minutes and 53 seconds.

I can reveal that you managed it in a time of

five minutes 25 seconds.

Huge congratulations to Team Matthew for winning tonight's show,

which means each of their dogs get a dog toy.

And, interestingly enough,

that's the very first time that the team with the time penalty has won.

-Hey.

-There we go.

But, was it fast enough to qualify for the semifinals?

Only the top four winning times of the series will make it through

and your time of four minutes and 53 seconds

puts you in eighth position, I'm afraid.

-But still, well done for tonight.

-Yeah.

-A really good time.

Now, remember, if you want to take part in all the Sport Relief

fun and games then please sign up for an event near you.

You can find all the details, fundraising ideas

and buy Sport Relief treats at bbc.co.uk/sportrelief.

Thanks to all our dogs and owners for taking part

and thank you for watching.

See you tomorrow. Until then, good night.

CHEERING