Dog

VHS cover

*Dog* is the fourth episode of the first season of Eyewitness. The topic of the episode is about both wild and domesticated dogs, including their lives, behaviour and physiology as well as how humans view these animals. The episode aired on 29th August 1994.

Dog is based on a book that was first published in 1991, and has been republished in 2004 and 2014.

## Episode

### Introductory sequence

A collage of red rubber bones spin across the screen before the episode’s hero, Connell, jumps up so his head disappears off the top of the screen; he comes down with a red rubber bone in his mouth and, once he leaves the screen, the title sequence begins.

### Episode outline

Click here the full transcript of Dog.

Wolves are dogs by nature. These fearsome wild animals have become what we think of as our best friend. Are there still things in common with wolves and domestic dogs? Wild or tame, all dogs retain the instinct for the hunt, the muscle power to pursue and all thrill at the sport of the chase. Wild dogs need these skills for survival and are among the most successful predators. Dogs were first tamed for hunting and they have entered human culture in many ways, from ancient Egyptian gods to advertising music. We remain wary of wild dogs.

Whether wild or tame, all dogs are from the same family, the canids. All have long powerful jaws and sharp teeth for feeding and fighting. In a pack of African wild dogs, each individual has its own coat pattern. Solitary hunters like foxes can be plain, but each hunter in a pack needs its own identifier. Coats also identify pet dogs. All dogs have clawed toes for digging. Jack Russell terriers dig to hunt rabbits, while wild dogs such as fennec foxes and dingoes dig for food.

Dogs follow three main senses, the first of which is sight. Hearing is the second sense, with sound used to make long-distance calls. The most important sense is smell, which often leads the dog until sound intervenes. Dogs can get a message even when a human is whistling. The origin of this communication system stems from the evolution of our present-day pet.

Thirty million years ago, a dog-like creature was the origin of all dogs. It gradually evolved, growing longer legs, a short tail and losing a fifth toe on each foot but keeping the same powerful skull. This was a familiar animal, the wolf. But 18,000 years ago, some wolves joined forces with humans and wild dogs became human pets. Some legends tell of human babies raised by wolves, like Romulus and Remus. Human adults reared wolf pups, before taming and training them to join in the hunt. Throughout history, dogs have been bred to hunt different prey alongside human huntsmen. Both wild and tame hunting dogs all follow a leader and have a specific role that helps them bring down large prey. By working together, they can all share in the spoils.

Such teamwork breeds fierce loyalty, and dogs perform amazing feats on behalf of their owners. The fictional Rin-Tin-Tin starred in movies, but is matched by real hero dogs. Airedale terriers were used to carry messages in World War I trenches, dogs are used in riot control, sniffing out drugs and helping blind people. Dogs know instinctively how to stalk their prey, so we have used this for herding as well as hunting. A sheepdog is sensitive to the tone of the shepherd’s whistle and can hear it from great distances. The most challenging thing a sheepdog has to learn is to drive the sheep away from the shepherd, which goes against all instinct. This relationship works because the wisdom of one is allied to the obedience and supreme senses of the other.

The best of the dog’s senses is smell. They have forty times more smell-sensitive cells than a human. A scene shows how a dog scents what looks like an empty kitchen, detecting the different smells that give the dog a unique view of the world. The wild coyote uses its sense of smell to detect lemmings under snow. Some dogs have their senses attuned for sport hunting; foxhounds have a heightened sense of smell, with drooping ears to channel scent to the nose. The sound of the hounds and horns tells the fox to run for its life. Foxes are solitary, listening for the tiny squeaks of mice. The bat-eared fox also listens for its prey, which are mostly termites.

Dogs have adapted to many conditions. Fennec foxes have large ears that not only listen for prey, but also radiate heat. Arctic foxes have short ears and thick fur as protection against the cold. Huskies have been bred for the ice, with fur so thick they can overheat even in the arctic and the ability to sense hidden dangers in the ice.

The finest athletes among dogs are greyhounds, with two-thirds of their body weight being muscle they are able to run at sixty kilometres an hour. Dogs have received awards for bravery, helping rescue their trapped owners. A devoted terrier called Greyfriars Bobby sat by his master’s grave for fifteen years. Dogs were parachuted behind enemy lines in World War II to help in raiding and spying missions. In 1957, the Russian dog Laika became the first animal to travel to space. The brightest star in the sky was Sirius, the dog star, worshipped by the ancient Egyptians for its fertility-bringing powers. The Egyptians also worshipped the jackal-headed god Anubis. In myth, dogs often play the role of guide and guardian. Cerberus guarded the Greek underworld, stopping mortals entering and souls leaving.

The superior senses and instincts of dogs are often respected but have also sometimes been feared and in recent times led to the story of werewolves. These stories were probably warnings about real dangers in a time when the forest was full of wolves. Once a wolf was tamed, its aggression could be put to use – since Roman times dogs have been trained to deter burglars and the Abruzzi Mountains the Maremma sheepdog is raised alongside a flock of sheep to guard them from attackers.

As with all creatures, survival lessons begin in infancy. Puppies learn through play but also, in the case of street dogs, a pup must learn when to fight for its food and when not to fight. A dog knows instinctively to wolf its food down, so that the risk of losing a meal to scavengers can be averted and also to carry food back to hungry pups. Arctic foxes store food by burying it in the deep-freeze. Under their fur, all dogs are warm and dry – Mexicans bred hairless dogs to use as hot water bottles.

Today, dogs are mostly bred for style. Sometimes styles change – a modern poodle has a highly cropped coat, while the original poodle was bred to hunt ducks and geese in swamps. Living as a companion is the easier life, and dogs make people happy. There are at least six million pet dogs in the UK and over fifty million in the United States. It is natural for dogs to mark their territory, which doesn’t always coincide with local hygiene regulations. Laws demand the leash but a fully-trained dog would rather walk alongside us. Dogs can and do survive without us – coyotes have entered the urban landscape while the dingo has made the opposite journey and become a wild dog. Most dogs keep their wild instincts well-hidden, having joined the human pack. We have gained a loyal, affectionate and obedient companion, while the dog has someone to play with, a comfortable home and a regular food supply. We may think we’re the masters, but who really is top dog?

## Animal species filmed for the programme

### Studio footage

* Domestic dog, *Canis familiaris*
* Grey wolf, *Canis lupus*
* Domestic cat, *Felis catus*

### Stock footage

* European rabbit, *Oryctolagus cuniculus*
* Domestic dog, *Canis familiaris*
* African hunting dog, *Lycaon pictus*
* Blue wildebeest, *Connochaetes taurinus*
* Dingo, *Canis familiaris dingo*
* Red fox, *Vulpes vulpes*
* Coyote, *Canis latrans*
* Grey wolf, *Canis lupus*
* Black-backed jackal, *Lupulella mesomelas*
* Ruppell’s griffon vulture, *Gyps rueppelli*
* Arctic fox, *Vulpes lagopus*
* Fennec fox, *Vulpes zerda*
* Ethiopian wolf, *Canis simensis*
* Plains zebra, *Equus quagga*
* Domestic pig, *Sus domesticus*
* Domestic sheep, *Ovis aries*
* Collared lemming, *Dicrostonyx sp*.
* Eurasian harvest mouse, *Micromys minutus*
* Bat-eared fox, *Otocyon megalotis*
* Spotted hyena, *Crocuta crocuta*

## Stock footage sources

Inura the Dingo (1993) – Dingoes digging

Pets in the Wild: The Wolf in Your Living Room (1988) – Wolf howling in front of moon, domestic dogs running

Wildlife on One: Trivial Pursuit - The Natural Mystery of Play (1988) - Sheepdogs herding sheep

Lifesense: Partners for Life (1991) – Balinese street dogs, dogs helping hunt for pigs, Maremma sheepdog

The Natural World: The Cat that Came in from the Cold (1991) - Red fox

## Credits

* Producer - Emma Peddie
* Graphics Director - Alisa Robbins
* Writer - Paul Thomas
* Script Supervisor - Brian Meehl
* Camera - Dominique Grosz, John Waters and Jeff Goodman
	+ Assistant - Andy Shillabeer
* Set Design - Ben Scott
* Production Manager - Peter Thornton
* Production Secretaries - Cathy Wilkin and Caroline Elston
* Unit Manager - Grant Dean
* Researcher - Jenna Hall
* Picture Researcher - Martin Wills
* Graphics Design - Richard Higgs
* Editors
	+ Offline - Chris Gooden
	+ Online - Sharon Stiles
* Dubbing Editor - Julie Mitchell
* Dubbing Mixer - Andrew Wilson
* Music - Guy Michelmore
* Executive Producer - Michael Bright
* Unit Manager - Felicity Jones
* Special thanks to:
	+ Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery
	+ Somerset County Council Museums Service
	+ Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries
	+ 'Peanuts' character Snoopy © United Features Syndicate Inc.
	+ Paul Mellon Collection, Upperville, Virginia

## Making this programme

The making-of documentary shows how the filming with dogs was done – only Connell, the episode’s hero, and Whisper the poodle are trained actors, with all the other dogs being pets that were eager to please. Perseverance was required to get all the footage needed for the dog dance sequence. The documentary then shows how the werewolf sequence was filmed, combining an outdoor graveyard scene with splicing together footage of an actor and a wolf filmed in front of green-screens in the Eyewitness studio.

## Home media releases

As well as being released on VHS, Dog was also released as part of the DVD release in the USA.

Dog America-release DVD cover

**Writing staff**: Anne MacLeod • Ben Southwell • Ben Steiner • Brian Meehl • David Hanson • David Stafford • David Helton • George Bloom • Lynette Singer • Mike Tomlinson • Paul Thomas • Stan Cullimore
**Directors**: Gavin Maxwell • Justine Kershaw • David Hutt • Andrew Jackson • Justin Hardy • Ludo Graham • Jerry Foulkes • Derek Hall • Sanjida O'Connell • Caius Julyan • Bonni Cohen • Leanne Pooley • Edwina Vardey • Alexandra Beazley • Sam Hodgkin • Karen Walsh • Jack Weber • Richard Simkin • Alex Hearle • Brian Cummins • Ben Southwell
**Composers**: Guy Michelmore (season one) • Guy Dagul (seasons two and three)

**Season One**: Cat • Fish • Horse • **Dog** • Jungle • Bird • Amphibian • Insect • Shark • Elephant • Reptile • Dinosaur • Skeleton
**Season Two**: Desert • Tree • Ape • Mammal • Butterfly and Moth • Volcano • Rock and Mineral • Seashore • Pond and River • Weather • Arctic and Antarctic • Prehistoric Life • Shell
**Season Three**: Flight • Bear • Sight • Island • Survival • Mountain • Monster • Human Machine - Plant • Ocean • Planets • Life • Natural Disasters