Episode 5 Ronnie's Animal Crackers

As a nation, we are just potty about our pets.

Lunchtime!

We are unashamedly animal crackers, and I'm just the same.

What do you think about that?

But you'll be amazed at the sometimes baffling lengths we go to for our pets...

ALL: Hi!

Dirty! That was silly, wasn't it?

-..the time...

-Oh, that's lovely. Yay.

..the money...

-She looks like a princess!

-She does.

-..not to mention the love.

-Oh, yes, that's nice.

So join me as I enter the extraordinary and often bizarre world

-of our pedigree pals.

-Hello!

-Come on! In you come!

-This week,

the couple who gave up high-flying city jobs

to breed alpacas.

They are gentle animals.

They're happy to come right up to you and just snuffle your face, have a good sniff.

Come on. Come on.

We meet the UK's most passionate champions

of these curious hairless cats.

They're so intelligent, so clever.

I could never go back to having a cat with fur.

And with my new dog, Baz, still rather troubled,

I call in a pedigree expert.

Good boy.

I'm hoping this last-ditch attempt

will help me understand what makes him tick.

-He's got quite a Collie-ish look, with his nose down, as well.

-I know.

-He's a big sniffer.

-Yes.

-Good boy.

The world of alternative therapy is well known in humans,

but you may be surprised to find

that there are complementary therapists for pets, too,

and they claim to be able to heal even relationship problems.

We're in Brighton and the home of Ruth,

a secretary with the RSPCA.

Ruth just couldn't help bringing her work home with her.

She owns a rescue parrot and a rescue dog,

but the parrot and the dog really don't get on.

# War! Huh! Yeah! #

PARROT SQUAWKS, DOG BARKS

-# What is it good for?

-Absolutely nothing... #

The whole situation with the two of them does worry me

because I want it to be a happy, calm,

relaxed environment for all three of us,

and it isn't like that. PARROT SQUAWKS

Okey-Dokey, the orange-winged Amazon parrot, was rescued first.

I've had him for about 11 years. He is disabled, he can't fly.

He's very much in love with me

and he lets me stroke him and just do a little bit of grooming,

which is what he'd be doing if he was in the wild with a female parrot.

He thinks that I'm his wife,

but I know that I'm just his carer.

But recently, Rafiki,

a five-year-old Tibetan Spaniel cross,

came into their lives.

He was found in a Spanish killing station,

where stray dogs go into and unfortunately don't come out of.

He was very lucky to be rescued and brought over to the local RSPCA,

where we made friends.

On his paw, there's an obvious round scar, and he also has one on his other paw.

We don't know exactly what caused it, but they look like cigarette burns.

We don't talk about the past, though. He doesn't want to hear about that.

Ruth's two damaged pets now compete for her affection

and feathers fly when they're together.

Stay there. Good boy. That's a step up.

What a good boy. Nobody's going to hurt you.

PARROT SQUAWKS Nobody's going to hurt you.

Okey's definitely not as relaxed as he normally is.

PARROT SQUAWKS Are you OK?

Rafiki's showing a lot of interest. He's licking his lips, yawning, showing frustration.

I know that if I put them very close together,

there would be an altercation.

-Ow!

-Oh, dear!

-And that's part of it.

-Who's a naughty boy?

He doesn't ever bite, erm,

and he's obviously very upset about Rafiki being in the room.

Things would end tragically if they ever fought,

and Ruth will try absolutely anything to improve matters...

-Get over yourself.

-..even something that might be considered quite controversial.

That hurt.

She hopes the answer to the relationship problem lies here,

at the home of Elizabeth,

who calls herself a complementary animal therapist.

Plants are one of the techniques she uses,

like the herb catnip here, that helps calm anxious cats.

It's got a wonderful aroma. He's just relaxing with the catnip,

and that's what we want for all our animals, to feel really relaxed.

Elizabeth uses other novel methods to control animal behaviour...

-Hello, Ruth.

-Good morning!

Hello, Rafiki! How are you?

..and Ruth desperately hopes that these will do the trick.

'It would be really lovely if the two of them could be having cuddles

'and not be worrying about what each other's doing'

and just be chilled out.

But can Elizabeth's unusual methods

heal the rift between Rafiki and Okey-Dokey?

-We'll find out later.

-# Sail away, sail away, sail away. #

To Northumberland next, and the home of Mel and Mike.

Both were high-flying professionals,

but gave up their careers to breed, of all things,

these South American alpacas!

When Mel suffered a serious injury 13 years ago,

life changed forever.

I was in a really low place with my back.

I could hardly walk at the time, two lots of surgery,

so it was a reason to get out of bed in the morning.

It was real therapy, if you like, for me,

and a challenge to just get myself from the back door to the barn,

just to be able to look at them, or to the field.

What started as a hobby soon took over their lives.

Breeding these unusual animals

only caught on in the UK in the early '90s,

but Mel and Mike have fallen in love with the alpacas.

They now have 50 of the darlings.

Everybody's attracted to alpacas just by... They look so cute, don't they?

A lot of the attraction is their characters. They are gentle, intelligent,

they're happy to come right up to you and snuffle your face, have a good sniff.

In the breeding world, it's important to win competitions

because a breeding alpaca with a string of rosettes to its name

can be worth over £10,000 to a buyer.

We'll start with these two girls.

One of their herd, Gallica here,

has a particularly prestigious pedigree

and could hold the key to their future fortune.

This girl is an Australian import called...

Fallowfield Grand Flowerdale Gallica.

Her sire is one of the top stud males in Australia.

In just three days' time, Gallica and others

will be competing at the prestigious Northumberland County Show.

Now, I don't mean to be rude, and I'm no expert,

but this lot look a bit scruffy to me!

This is the show team from hell at the moment, the way they look.

They got caught in a very heavy storm yesterday and have rolled in the mud.

They can only look better on show day than they do today!

I'll keep my fingers crossed!

To get them competition-fit, they're going to need an awfully big makeover.

Up! No, Leonore, it's not your turn yet.

God, she's wet!

Steady, steady, steady!

There are only some 30,000 alpacas in the UK,

but Mel and Mike will be up against many of the best breeders.

The standard will be exceptionally high.

Chop, chop, chop.

-That's one eye done.

-Gosh, yes, they do look better already.

This will be Gallica's first appearance in the showring.

She's never been on a lead before,

but her walk will be a key part of the judging.

Gallica, she looks great when she's standing still,

but walking, she'll pull, she'll not stand up straight.

The quality of her fleece will also be really important,

but she's going to have to behave well, too.

There's a lot of work to be done here.

Gallica's always been a bit nervous

so she may not walk well on the day, she may lie down.

It might be a case of the wheelbarrow treatment.

Oh, dear, Gallica! You've got no chance if you do that at the show.

-Well, this is going swimmingly well, isn't it?

-Come on!

-Come on.

-Off you go. Keep going.

-Come on. Obstacle course.

It's just a matter of practise,

but we're running out of time before the show.

We've got about three days left to train her,

so we'll be out there every day with the halter on, trying to get her to walk straight!

We keep our fingers crossed, we stay positive.

SHE LAUGHS

You have to, otherwise there's no point in doing it!

She's still got to hold her head up, but at least she's walking a lot straighter.

We'll see how Gallica fares at the County Show later.

Now, in the cat world, there's little that divides taste more

than the subject of hairless - or Sphynx - cats.

It's definitely a case of love 'em or loathe 'em.

# Black and orange stray cats sitting on a fence... #

It's fair to say that although Sphynx cats are now an established breed at cat shows,

some people just find them singularly unattractive.

They look like a cross between a rat and an English bull terrier.

I don't particularly find them good-looking cats.

-I think they look like ET.

-He's got his cover off so you can see his head.

ET, come home! And it wouldn't be my home, either.

But meet Sphynx cat breeder Gary,

who's devoted his life

to convincing doubters that bald is beautiful.

Give her a cuddle, just like you would a baby.

There you go.

I don't think he likes me.

THEY LAUGH

He's like a greased pig.

I prefer ones with fur.

Sorry about that!

Gary's wife, Karen, is even more passionate about these hairless felines.

They love having raspberries blown on their tummies and their bottoms smacked.

They're so intelligent and so clever.

I could never go back to having a cat with fur.

At home in Suffolk, Karen and Gary share their house with eight Sphynx cats.

All Sphynx can trace their ancestry

to just two North American cats from the '70s

that both had a rare but natural genetic mutation for hairlessness.

When they first came out, they were called devil cats

and people said they looked like defrosted chickens,

and then when they hold them and feel them they say,

"That ain't like we thought that was going to be."

Beauty's in the eye of the beholder.

CATS MEOW

The cats are everything in our lives, really.

They're spoilt rotten.

-We don't spoil them.

-They get spoilt rotten!

The cats found a special place in Karen's life

after a tragic suicide devastated the family.

Our children have grown up.

My son unfortunately died,

and they've just taken the place of the children,

and they just give us something to get up for every day and to get on with.

They helped me get through a very difficult time.

We've got to get on with life,

and we did.

Karen and Gary have poured their love into these cats for 22 years now.

As one of the first Sphynx breeders in the country,

they are passionately driven to pass on their love of them to new owners.

There's a growing demand for hairless kittens,

that typically can sell for £750,

and they've just had a brand-new litter.

They've only just been born. Within another couple of weeks, they'll be coming out of this box,

running around like headless chickens.

-I try not to get attached to them...

-You can't help it.

..because I know they've got to go at the end of the time.

Today, a potential buyer - Stella and her friend Lewis -

have come to see some of the older kittens.

-DOORBELL RINGS Hello!

-Hello.

-You must be Stella.

Come on in.

I have only had regular, domestic moggy cats,

which have been absolutely lovely, but I've always wanted a Sphynx cat.

That's the smallest one.

-He's one of the younger ones.

-Aww, so sleepy.

-He's little Redboy.

-Oh!

-This is Ben. He's very loving.

-Hello!

-He's also very playful and affectionate.

-This is Harvey. He's more of an outgoing boy.

-I like his little ginger ears!

But before Stella makes her choice,

Karen and Gary feel they should go through some of the small print

on the peculiarities of looking after bald cats.

If you're having your tea, you might want to look away now.

What you need to do, because they've got no hair in their ears,

is to get a cotton bud just delicately inside there.

That would be very, very black usually.

Still interested, Stella?

The eyes, you need to lift down

to see if they've got any sort of jelly mucus in there.

And there's worse to come.

The tail, he loves this...

They tend to get blackheads,

and you just squeeze them out, as you would with any blackhead.

-Like a perennial teenager.

-Yes!

-THEY LAUGH

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling queasy.

It's decision time for Stella.

But after hearing the downsides, will she still want one?

I really like the character of this one.

I think he's just got the most absolute gorgeous little character.

-I have to say I do really love...

-The ears.

-..the ginger ears.

It's really beautiful. So I'll have a think. Not sure.

They're both gorgeous, though.

# You better get back, honky cat... #

Stella can't make up her mind.

Or do you think the blackheads have put her off altogether?!

I'll expect to hear from you in the near future.

Sneezy cat!

Bye-bye.

I think they'd make a very good home with the cats.

I think if she has one, she'll be back for another, definitely.

She's going to be addicted to them.

-Thank you.

-That's all right. Been nice to meet you. Goodbye.

A few days later, Stella chose Harvey, the kitten with ginger ears,

and she's become their latest firm convert

to loving hairless cats.

MEOW!

Oh, look!

Daisy...

'Over the years, my wife Anne and I have looked after many dogs.'

-I mean, that is a divine picture.

-I know.

'But for two months now, our new rescue dog, Baz,

'has been baffling us with his troubled, edgy behaviour.

'He's very much at ease with Anne...'

-He's being slightly playful.

-Yes.

'..but I'm sad to say that, for some reason, he seems very wary of me.'

The dogs have always been MY dogs,

because I go out on the course with them, walking and golfing,

so he's the first one that hasn't been my dog.

Oh!

'As well as the suspected previous ill treatment,

'I'm starting to think that maybe there is something in his breeding that could explain his behaviour.

'It's not just looks, but character too,

'that's passed on in the bloodline.

'To help me identify Baz's pedigree,

'I've arranged to meet one of the country's foremost authorities on dog breeds

'at my local golf course.'

-Good morning!

-Hello!

-There we are.

-He's lovely, Ronnie.

-Yes, he is lovely.

'Caroline has been The Kennel Club secretary for 13 years

'and can spot a pedigree at 50 paces.

'Baz is a mongrel,

'but I'm hoping she can begin to deduce his ancestry by just looking at him.'

The initial look of him is very much the sort of standard schnauzer.

His running action and his legs and his tail and everything

say something more houndy.

Yes, that, erm,

-almost a sort of a Collie type of influence, as well.

-Yes.

But the other thing that I find interesting is his ears,

because that real tilted ear on there...

-Yes.

-..that's quite Collie-ish.

-Yes, that is. That's right.

The Collie breeds, of course, are very, very busy dogs.

-They want to be out, running, doing something.

-Yes.

-But largely, of course, their job is to round up animals.

-That's right.

-I can see that in him when he runs in the garden.

-Yes.

You know when a collie goes low

and then starts running around with the tail hidden underneath?

'I'm fascinated that there might be some collie in Baz,

'along with the more obvious schnauzer.'

-Good boy!

-'Time for us to take him for a walk

'to see if that gives Caroline any more clues.'

-He's got quite a Collie-ish look, with his nose down as well.

-I know.

-He's a big sniffer.

-Yes.

-Good boy.

And, of course, a lot of the hunting breeds use their noses in the sort of way that he's doing,

where he's really checking things out.

'There's now an exciting new way to confirm whether Caroline's hunch about Baz's pedigree is right

'and that's by testing his DNA.'

Good boy. It's literally a little mouth swab

-that takes some little cells from within his mouth.

-Right.

Good boy.

'The swabs have to be sent to the United States to be analysed.'

I think it'll be very interesting to see what comes back from this,

because there are just so many possibilities within this little dog.

I think we can all see the schnauzer in him,

but there are quite a lot of different possibilities that could be there, as well.

'I'm really eager to find out about Baz's ancestry,

'and whether there really is any Collie lurking in him.

'I hope it will help me to understand what makes Baz tick

'and how we can make him better,

'but we have to wait until next time to find out.'

It's the Northumberland County Show,

the biggest event in the calendar in these parts.

30,000 people are expected, many proudly showing off their animals

and hoping to win prestigious rosettes.

Going to get knocked over in the rush.

Former townies-turned- alpaca-breeders, Mel and Mike,

have brought some of their prized animals to the show.

All hopes are on Gallica, who has a top pedigree.

I must say, I barely recognise them

now they've had a rinse and blow-dry.

Right, so far, so good. We've got the animals in.

There are over 100 other alpacas entered into the competition,

so the pressure is on for Gallica's first show.

-Lots of competition.

-Lots of competition, really good.

I'm always nervous at this point. He doesn't do nervous.

-It takes its course and we will do all right.

-I do nervous for us both, actually!

It's Gallica's time to enter the judging ring in the Adult Female category.

She's got aristocratic breeding, but she's quite headstrong.

Right, listen, Gallica, you've really got to behave yourself in the ring here.

We don't want any of this Australian wildness.

It's very windy out there, so I'm slightly worried about how they're going to react to the wind.

Who knows, it could all go very badly wrong, actually!

I'm getting nervous now.

It's time for Gallica to be judged.

And that includes her unruly behaviour.

Judging today is Nick,

who was the first ever alpaca judge in the UK.

On his farm, he has 1,000 alpacas of his own

and is one of the biggest breeders in Europe.

When the judge sees the animals walking in the ring, he's checking their gait,

just checking that they don't have any conformational issues.

Next, Nick checks the quality of Gallica's well-bred fleece.

He's taking a fleece sample, they're putting it on their sleeves, comparing all of them.

So he's checking the density, the brightness and the character, the crimp in it.

-ANNOUNCER:

-And 10,000 years ago, when the ancient Incans first domesticated them,

they called this the Fleece of the Gods...

He's looking for a thick, uniform, spotless coat.

It's really important, because 60% of the marks in the judging

are for the fleece.

In the ancient Inca Empire,

only royalty could wear clothes woven from the wool of an alpaca.

I hope she calms down. Fingers crossed.

The rest of the judging is down to how the alpaca looks and walks.

Judge Nick's looking for a beautifully proportioned animal.

The problem I have with it is that it's slightly out of balance.

Not much, and in an intermediate, you'd cut it some slack.

They're making their decision. They're having their judges' conflab.

I don't think we're getting it, though.

Judging over, it's time for the results.

-Can you swap places, please?

-Ooh! Is that a good sign or a bad sign?

-Well done.

-And what's this?

That's red for first place and blue for second. Well done indeed.

My goodness, Gallica is awarded first prize!

-Well done.

-To me, she looks no different from the others,

but it's all in the fleece,

and her top pedigree breeding wins the day.

Gallica hasn't been easy, but she's quite chilled, she's calm,

so I'm actually quite chuffed, actually.

And she behaved, she walked.

-She was very good in the ring, after the concerns we had.

-All our concerns.

She walked really well in the ring. She stood beautifully, her head was up, her ears were up.

She looked the part in the ring, which is absolutely great.

Finally, we're back in Sussex.

Hello, my gorgeous!

And it's all-out war between Ruth's parrot, Okey-Dokey, and her dog, Rafiki.

Desperate for any solution,

she's brought them to see complementary animal therapist Elizabeth.

Okey really doesn't like having a dog jumping around him.

Does he attempt to open his wings up at all when he's in the house?

It is a bit of a sign of stress when they puff themselves up and put their wings out,

so he has been doing that a little bit more recently.

Nothing's happened yet, but I'm fearful that if we don't sort it out now,

something might happen.

'We all want our animals to feel really good about themselves.

'That's what I'm interested in,'

is allowing animals to express themselves

and be confident and be happy, because when they're happy, we're happy.

Would you mind looking after Okey-Dokey for me?

With Okey out of the way, Elizabeth starts with Rafiki's therapy.

So we're now just going to go into a relaxation session now.

I'm just very gently now, Ruth,

just stroking, building trust.

The techniques that I'm using now, even with Morris as he is sat here,

is that he's adapting to my relaxation as I'm adapting to his.

So we're blending, we become one, because we are building up trust.

We're building up this beautiful trust.

Here goes Morris, in the moment, he can hear something in the bushes,

and instinct now has taken over where he's just disappeared.

I don't think Morris was properly in the moment.

Rafiki, on the other hand, is being more receptive.

He's just gently closing his eyes now, just relaxing back.

-Looks like he's about to go to sleep.

-Just letting go...

-..and letting go.

-It's amazing how calm he is.

Balance in the body.

Elizabeth has no veterinary qualifications,

so, by law, she's only allowed to give massage-type therapies

and even then, a vet has had to give her the go-ahead

to massage Rafiki.

The greatest healer of all is the body itself.

I'm not sure exactly what sort of healing

is supposed to be going on here,

but Rafiki's had a nice, little lie-down.

Hello, Okey.

Now it's Okey-Dokey's turn for some alternative therapy.

There's a good boy.

-Here we go.

-Parrots can live to 75 years old,

and Ruth thinks Okey is around 45,

so what will this wise, old bird make of it all?

How are you, handsome? I think he can sense me

as we're just looking around, making contact.

It may not look as if I'm doing anything, but we're building trust.

I'm just enjoying this moment with your very, very special boy.

Hm... I wonder what he's thinking.

-PARROT SQUAWKS

-OK, I respect that.

He's gently taking this healing, which is really lovely.

This may seem strange, but normally Ruth is the only one

who can get this close to Okey-Dokey.

You like Elizabeth, do you?

-PARROT SQUAWKS

-I like you, too.

This is frankly a bit baffling to me,

but there's more to come.

-Good boy.

-I want to create a camouflage for Okey.

It's important that we have this beautiful foliage around him

so he feels confident, he feels secure when we bring Rafiki in.

It's time for the moment of truth when Rafiki is brought back into the room.

Goodness knows what's going to happen, but let's keep positive.

We're going to come in now and, erm,

-see how they get on.

-PARROT SQUAWKS

OK, Ruth, if you can just carry on being very relaxed.

I'm just going to give Rafiki some wholesome treats.

Oh, dear! Early signs aren't looking promising.

-How's Okey?

-He has had a bit of a flap.

He knows Rafiki's in the room, but, erm...

..I think he's doing OK. Good boy. PARROT SQUAWKS LOUDLY

I don't really want to turn around, if that's all right?

I'm just working with Rafiki here.

It's all about you.

But before long, peace resumes.

Sit. Come on, darling, down, down.

Well done, Rafiki.

And for the first time,

parrot and dog are in the same room without a big kerfuffle.

That's better, isn't it?

MUSIC: Clocks by Coldplay

I'm not sure that you can change millions of years

of predator-prey evolution quite so easily,

but Elizabeth and Ruth seem to think the session has been a success.

PARROT COOS It's OK.

Okey was really beginning to get very confident,

and you could see this because he was starting to

puff up his neck and his chest.

Good boy.

With Rafiki, I saw a side of him just starting to open up.

He's been through a very tough time. He's got a lot of armour.

'I felt that he was starting to...'

reveal himself as the real Rafiki.

-Are you pleased with that first session?

-Yes, I'm very pleased.

I'm feeling a little bit more confident

that we're going to be able to get through this as a family.

Say thank you.

'I'm thrilled with what we've achieved so far.'

Thank you.

Both those animals have gone away feeling good about themselves.

-OK, bye-bye now.

-Bye-bye, all of you.

-Come on then, Raf!

I think this could definitely be the start of a gentle friendship.