Endearing tails: Meet the canine stars of new BBC2 series Six Puppies And Us
THEY'RE cute, cuddly... and surprisingly hard work!
It’s not a walk in the park bringing up a puppy – just ask the six intrepid families starring in new BBC2 series Six Puppies And Us.
Beginning this week, the two-parter follows the life-changing responsibility of dog ownership in a puppy’s first year – from the joy of cuddles on the sofa and playing in the park, to the frustration of sleepless nights.
It’s a challenging and exhausting task, one not dissimilar to looking after a newborn baby.
Among others, it follows Ralph, a beautiful gundog who has decided that the fluffy living room rug is a toilet, Labradoodle Lola, who keeps her owners up all night, and Stewie, a tiny Yorkie cross who thinks he’s bigger and more menacing than he is.
As well as exploring the highs and lows of ownership, Six Puppies And Us also looks at the fascinating science of puppy development, as they grow from needy babies to terrible toddlers and beyond.
Saturday meets the stars of Six Puppies and Us – and talks to their owners about the highs and lows of rearing…
From left:
PUPPY: Lola, a Labradoodle (Labrador and Poodle cross)
OWNER: Colette Emsley
“My hope for Lola is that she’s going to be a fully-fledged assistance dog.
"I know I’ve got to stay firm with her and that’s the hard bit.
"I’ve got to put the work in now to get her ready or she will just be untrainable at a later stage.
"It’s going to take longer than I was hoping, but I’m confident she can do it.”
PUPPY: Ralph, a Vizmaraner (Weimaraner and Vizsla cross)
OWNERS: Annie and Ian Loveday
“Ralph is a very gentle and sociable puppy.
"He loves other dogs and people, and is a great companion.
"But we’ve had difficulty coming to terms with Ralph’s size.
"We have only ever had small dogs before, and the amount of exercise he needs has turned our family routine on its head!”
PUPPY: Stewie, a Yorkie-poo (Miniature Poodle and Yorkshire Terrier cross)
OWNERS: Ryan and Joseph Sinclair
“Stewie is playful, smart and loving – everything we wanted him to be.
"This first year has been an incredible experience, more fulfilling than we could have imagined.
"We didn’t have too many challenges with Stewie, but getting him to recall properly is still difficult.
"I think he’s stubborn like us.”
From left:
PUPPY: Byron, a Poogle (Poodle and Beagle cross)
OWNERS: Jane and Mark Ryder
“He’s joyous and full of boundless energy, a friendly and social creature who always wants to play.
"His biting was the biggest hurdle to overcome.
"At first he was very aggressive and had temper tantrums.
"Training him how to interact with humans was challenging.”
PUPPY: Stan, a Mastweiler (cross between a Rottweiler and Neapolitan-Mastiff)
OWNERS: Julian and Linette Poole
“If he doesn’t want to go for a walk, he won’t go.
"He is so stubborn; he will just sit down and go on strike.
"We’ve really worked hard on that and we never have that problem any more.”
PUPPY: Jess, a pure bred Border Collie
OWNERS: Jack France and his dad, Mark
“Jess is very adventurous, playful and friendly, but also calm and collected.
"Her training to be a sheep dog is going really well.
"Over the last year our relationship has grown and developed.
"Starting her training on sheep was the most challenging part, but she took to it and wasn’t fazed by them.”
- Six Puppies And Us, Tuesday, 8pm, BBC2.
