01x10 - Snake Search Dogs & Hawaiian Conservation Dogs

[bunniefuu]

BILL:
Hello. Welcome to It's A Dog's Life.

You already know that dogs can be
our best friends,

but did you know
that some dogs also have jobs?

It's true.

All types of dogs do all kinds
of incredible things

to make our lives better.

There are dogs that rescue people in need,

dogs that use their sense of smell
in amazing ways,

dogs that entertain us,
and believe it or not,

there are even dogs that work with cats.

- [CAT MEOWING]
- BILL: And who am I?

I'm Disney legend, Bill Farmer.

As the voice behind
Disney's Goofy and Pluto,

and dozens of other
animated characters,

I'm stepping out from behind
the microphone

to learn about my favorite
real-life characters, dogs.

Come with me as I explore
how each dog learns

to develop its special and unique talents,
and how the magical relationship

between dog and human
makes life better for both.

So, join me and our canine pals
on It's A Dog's Life.

[BARKING, PANTING]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

BILL:
Today, in a very special episode

we're off to the islands of Hawaii.

Hawaii is one of the most famous
vacation spots in the world,

featuring a rich history,

incredible people,

and the beautiful landscapes
are national treasures.

People call it "Paradise".

And you'll never guess who's helping
to protect this magical place

and all of its wonders.

[BIRDS CHIRP]

BILL: Our first stop,

the rugged East Coast
of the island of Kauai.

It has hidden beaches...

tropical forests...

and the busy Lihue Airport.

Planes land and take off all day
here in Kauai, and that's a real problem

for the Hawaiian state bird,
the nene bird.

[BIRDS CHIRP]

BILL:
Nene birds exist only in Hawaii,

where they have lived
for thousands of years.

Unfortunately, for a while
they became an endangered species.

Only in recent years have their numbers
begun to bounce back...

but that doesn't mean
the problem is solved,

especially here in Kauai.

You see, the nenes like to hang out
near the airport

and that is just not safe.

Luckily, there's a couple of well-trained
Border Collies

that are helping
to protect the nene birds.

- Hup, hup. Okay.
- BILL: Every morning...

these two Collies
and their USDA certified handlers

patrol the 450-acre Timbers Resort,
where hundreds of nene nest

right next to the airport's busy runways.

This is Quade and his handler, Cliff.

- And Quinn and his handler, Cesar.
- Good boy. Here.

CLIFF: Go, go. Okay.

BILL: Two teams who work together
to steer nene birds away from the airport

and toward somewhere safer on the resort.

[BIRDS CHIRP]

That'll do it. Here. Good, good.

Load up.

Good boy. Good job.

BILL: Together, the two teams cover
the entire 450 acres in a single day.

What kinda personality does Quade have?

Well, Quade is an older dog,
but he has the personality of a puppy.

He loves people. He's kind of a ham
when he gets around people.

He loves to play.
And when we are at work,

he thinks he's the boss,
he always wants to take the lead.

- Oh, he does?
- CLIFF: He does.

Well, I'm ready to get to work.
Let's go relocate some nenes.

- Are you ready, Quade?
- CLIFF: He's always ready.

Let's go. Good boy, good boy.

BILL: Border Collies are famous
for their herding skills,

especially on a farm.

- CLIFF: All right. Go, go, go.
- [BIRDS SQUAWK]

BILL: So here on the island,

Quinn and Quade follow
traditional sheep herding commands...

- CLIFF: Away to me.
- BILL: ...like "Come by" and "Away to me,"

to safely encircle the nene
and move them toward safety.

CLIFF: All right. Go, go.

BILL: As I watch Quade work,
it's clear he's a total pro.

CLIFF: Lie down.

BILL:
He must be stern and gentle with the birds

while following Cliff's verbal commands...

- CLIFF: Look, look, look.
- BILL: ...and using his speed

to shoo the birds in the right direction.

Come here. Heel.

BILL:
Meanwhile, across the resort,

Quinn spots a gaggle of nene
dangerously close to the airport.

Trouble is, they're on an island
surrounded by a lagoon.

CESAR:
While walking along this edge,

he noticed that there's a couple of nenes
on the island right there...

Get in. Get in. Go! Go!
Get in, get in.

Go, go, go! Walk, walk, walk! Good boy!

...and he knows what to do, his job is
to move them away from the islands...

- BILL: Uh-huh.
- ...and come right back here.

Good boy!

- Good job!
- Now Quinn doesn't touch the birds at all,

- does he?
- CESAR: No, he doesn't. He's just gonna

move the birds away and...

Walk up.

He made it.

CESAR:
He's gonna locate the birds.

BILL: Once on the island,

Quinn must carefully circle
behind the nene,

making sure
he doesn't accidentally frighten them...

CESAR: Away to me, Quinn.

BILL: ...until he's in position
to shoo them away

from the airport and the planes.

CESAR: Walk up!

Away to me.

- [SQUAWKS]
- Oh, there goes a nene.

CESAR: Good boy!

- He's moving them out.
- CESAR: Good job!

- Good job!
- [BIRDS SQUAWK]

- He's a very polite dog, isn't he?
- CESAR: Yes, he is.

Away to me.

- Good boy!
- [BIRDS SQUAWK]

That'll do it. Here.

Good job, good job. Here, boy.

BILL: His mission complete,
time for Quinn to take a quick dip...

- CESAR: Good job!
- BILL: Good job!

- CESAR: Whoo-hoo! Shake, shake, shake.
- BILL: Whoo! [LAUGHS]

- CESAR: Here. Good job! Good boy.
- BILL: Good job!

BILL:
...and celebrate a job well done.

Yeah, very good! Way to go, Quinn!

[MUSIC PLAYING]

BILL: With their daily patrol now over,
time for me to meet the trainer

who taught Quinn and Quade
the art of nene herding.

- Hi. You must be Kody, right?
- Yep.

- And you're the trainer?
- Yep. Yep.

Started with these guys
when they were puppies.

- Did you train them here on Kauai?
- No, back at our farm in North Carolina.

BILL: Kody trains Border Collies
to herd lots of animals,

but when it comes to nenes,

the dogs must learn to move quickly,
but with a delicate touch.

How do you train the dogs
to stop short of the nene?

In the training pen, we have birds
that don't fly, but they do run very fast.

They learn the pressure that it takes
to move birds onto a different area. So...

BILL:
They learn how to herd these birds

- without getting too close.
- KODY: Yep.

Well, I wanna see some training.

What kinda things
are we gonna see today?

So, have you ever heard
of a radio-controlled nene?

[WHIMPERING]

BILL: Watching the dogs work
with a robot nene

shows just how well-trained
Quinn and Quade are...

and how closely they follow
Kody's commands.

BILL: All right, here we go.

- Okay.
- Come by. Come by.

KODY:
The dog will try to bring it back to us.

Lie down.

BILL: If that was my dog, Boo,

he'd grab that robot nene bird
like a doggy toy.

I'm sure most dogs would.

- KODY: Lie down.
- BILL: But Quinn is a professional.

Lie down. Lie.

Walk up.

Lie down.

- BILL: That's amazing!
- KODY: Yeah.

BILL: Wow! The dog does everything
except touch the nene.

KODY: Yep.

BILL: What a fun session
with Kody and the Collies,

but the program is less than a year old.

So, I wanted to find out
just how effective it's been.

Dr. Brian, I know
that you have been instrumental

in this program
and that you have been actually

banding or tagging the birds.

- What's the purpose for that?
- Last June,

right before we got the dogs here,
we attached satellite transmitters

to ten of the male nene
that were here on the property.

- We use a little harness that we built...
- BILL: Mm-hmm.

DR. BRIAN:
...and they're very small and very light

so it doesn't bother the birds,

and they allow us to track the birds
everywhere they go.

We found out with Quade and Quinn here,
we were moving the nene

- from the resort to a much safer place.
- BILL: Mm-hmm.

Nine out of the ten actually went up
to the mountains,

at the base of the mountains,
to a reservoir.

- So, the...
- BILL: That's amazing.

DR. BRIAN: ...impact of the program
has been very successful, very positive.

So, it's not a wild goose chase,
after all.

- Not at all.
- [BOTH CHUCKLE]

Good boy.

Good boy.

BILL: Hey, everyone!
Time for some pet friendly pointers

told with a help of a very special friend.

[PLUTO BARKING]

If we could do it, we'd take our dogs
everywhere with us, and they'd love it.

But there are lots of times
we have to leave our dogs home and alone,

and that can sometimes spell trouble.

So, here's some pointers
on how to train your dog to be by itself.

BILL:
Start with a simple exercise.

Leave your dog in the house
for just a few minutes...

- [DOOR OPENS]
- BILL: ...and then come back.

BILL: Do it again.

And again...

staying out a little longer each time.

Soon, your dog will learn
that no matter how long you're gone,

you'll always come back.

Another pointer.

Dogs are good
at putting two and two together.

Repeated routines just before you leave
can make some dogs feel anxious.

So, put on those shoes,
or pick up those keys...

then don't leave.

- Your dog will get used to it...
- I'm not going anywhere.

BILL: ...and stop them from feeling
sad or anxious.

Finally, when you do have to leave

give your dog something else
to focus on...

- Do you like it?
- ...like their favorite toy.

And don't make a big deal
about heading out the door.

Just leave calmly
without drawing attention to it.

Soon, they'll learn that you'll be back
in no time at all.

- [MUSIC PLAYING]
- [DOG BARKING]

BILL:
For our next Hawaiian adventure,

we're headed to Honolulu,
on the island of Oahu...

to catch up with a very special
group of dogs

who protect the island
from some surprising visitors.

- Hello, how are you?
- LISA: Hello.

But who are these good-looking guys?

Well, this is Raines.

- BILL: Raines.
- LISA: Raines, say "hi."

- THERESA: This is Joffrey.
- BILL: Joffrey.

- CINDY: And Kai.
- BILL: And that's Kai,

and what kind of dogs are they?

Well, they're Jack Russell
or Jack Russell mixes.

Uh-huh. What do these guys do?

Well, they're specifically trained
to find snakes.

Snakes?

BILL: You heard that right.

These dogs are snake sniffers.
This triple threat works

to track and capture any snake
that makes it onto the island.

Snakes don't live anywhere on Hawaii,
it's too remote.

But that doesn't mean they might not try
to take an all-expense-paid vacation here.

So it's Kai, Joffrey, and Raines' job
to track them down.

LISA: Good. Good boy, Raines.

BILL:
Snake hunting is nothing new to me.

I've loved snakes and reptiles
since I was a kid.

But on Hawaii,
snakes aren't found in nature.

So, if snakes ever took hold
on the island,

they might turn Hawaii's ecosystem
upside down.

Wow, we have snakes!

Yep, one of the only places
you'll see them in the state.

- Hopefully, yes. [CHUCKLING]
- JONATHAN: Yes, I hope. [CHUCKLING]

Now, if these guys got out,
what would happen? Why is that bad?

They can climb up power lines
and power poles,

they cause a lot of blackouts,

and then they would also eat
a lot of native birds and their eggs.

There are places in the world where snakes
have, uh, caused the extinction of birds,

and Hawaii, and islands in general,
are very susceptible

to the introduction of new animals,
such as snakes.

It's better to prevent them
from getting out in the first place

than having to round them up

- when they get out there.
- It's essentially looking for a needle

- in a haystack...
- BILL: Mm-hmm.

...and the needle's running away from you.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

BILL: At the port of Honolulu,
tons of goods and materials

enter the island every day.

There's countless places
for snakes to hide.

- Find it. Good boy.
- BILL: So that's where our team

of Jack Russell Terriers
do their snake sniffing thing.

THERESA: Yeah, good boy!

Find it.

- Here.
- BILL: Here, Kai inspects

a shipment of cars
that have just arrived on the island.

- THERESA: Atta boy!
- BILL: With lots of nooks and crannies,

cars are one of the easiest places
for a snake to hide.

THERESA: Hey, Kai, let's go.

BILL: But these dogs aren't just
up for the challenge, they love it.

- Is it a game to them, you think? Yeah?
- THERESA: Mm-hmm, it is.

Yeah, they like the hunt.

It's like hide and seek. Yeah.

Up! Yeah, atta boy.
This is the grill area,

we're gonna go underneath the engine.
Good boy!

Find it. Up!
Wheel wells, under. Good boy!

BILL: Kai can inspect hundreds of cars
in a single day.

THERESA: Good.

BILL:
But while there might be lots of cars

coming into Hawaii,

there are thousands of packages
that might hold a slithery stowaway.

This looks like the inside
of a post office.

Yes, it's supposed to simulate
what we work with in our live environment.

Uh-huh. Joffrey looks like he's ready
to go to work.

BILL: To meet the challenge
of so much mail,

Joffrey must keep his snake sniffer sharp

- with constant training exercises...
- CINDY: Sorry! [CHUCKLES]

...at this make-believe post office
where one of the hundreds of decoy parcels

- contains the scent of a snake inside.
- CINDY: Good boy!

BILL: Joffrey's sense of smell
is 100 times better than you or me.

So, this snake sniffer can process
a package in an instant.

CINDY: Easy, Joffrey. Find it.

BILL:
All he needs is one quick whiff,

- and he's got it.
- CINDY: Good boy!

- [CHUCKLES] He found it!
- Good job! Good boy!

- Way to go, Joffrey!
- Good boy! Good boy!

Get it! Get it! Get it! Get it!
Good boy! Good job!

That's a snake sniffing dog
if I've ever seen one.

- Way to go, Joffrey! Oh, yes!
- [CINDY CHUCKLES]

Oh, you did a good job!

BILL: But sometimes, a snake finds its way
to the island,

and that can mean trouble in paradise.

[MALE OVER RADIO] We have
a possible snake sighting in Kahana Bay.

- LISA: Good.
- [MALE OVER RADIO] Possible snake sighting

in Kahana Bay,
I need you to head out now.

BILL: All right!

BILL: Because most Hawaiians know
to keep their eyes open

for possible snakes,

our squad of Jack Russells
receive many calls.

So every time there's a report,

Raines puts his highly-trained nose
to work.

Good boy!

BILL: Snakes have two glands
in the back of their tails

that emit a musky smell,

the kind of odor that alerts Raines
that a snake is there.

Good boy!

BILL: But fortunately, only rarely
do they come face-to-face with a snake.

Hey, all clear, no snakes at Kahana Bay.

- So, we're gonna monitor the area...
- BILL: Uh-huh.

- LISA: ...for a couple more days
to make sure

- there really was no snake.
- BILL: Right.

But what would we have done
if there had been a real snake?

LISA: Well, I'll show you.

Fortunately, we don't have
a real snake to use.

- BILL: Snake toys.
- LISA: So, we'll use a rubber snake.

So this is what we use
to maneuver him into position...

- Uh-huh.
- ...to get them out of trees...

out of bushes, but mainly
what you want to do, secure their head.

- BILL: Mm-hmm.
- LISA: You wanna go down...

and make sure that you grab them.

- BILL: And that's so he doesn't bite you?
- So he can't turn around and bite me.

All right, so he'll be wiggling.

- BILL: Okay.
- Gonna put his tail in the bag first,

then put his head in.

- BILL: Okay, we're gonna throw him.
- LISA: And we're gonna flip him, tie it...

and he's secured.

- And one snake safely in a bag.
- Yes, and you hold above the knot.

- Yeah. Correct.
- So he can't bite through the bag?

Well, what do you do with the snake
once you get him in the bag?

- Well, we safeguard him...
- BILL: Mm-hmm.

...until we can find him
a home somewhere else.

IN DEEP VOICE: One snake in a bag.

BILL: And remember, unless
you're chasing down a rubber snake,

never approach a real snake in the wild
without supervision,

and make sure you contact
the proper authorities.

Well, Lisa thanks so much and one more
question, can I borrow this?

- I want to scare my wife.
- Okay.

BILL:
So, it's up to Kai, Joffrey, and Raines

to prevent snakes from taking unplanned
Hawaiian vacations.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I've had an incredible time
here in Hawaii,

and I want to thank everyone
who made me feel so welcome.

I've learned a lot about the islands

and the phenomenal hardworking dogs
who are keeping the way of life here safe.

But right now, I'm late for that luau.

BILL:
So far, we've met some incredible dogs.

Now, it's time for you to show us
your special pets.

GOOFY: Now, time for
Goofy's Hometown Heroes. [CHUCKLES]

[CHUCKLES] Unconditional love.

Hi, I'm Maureen.
I'm from St. Augustine, Florida.

These are my two girls, Sadie and Bella,
and they saved my life.

Sadie was a rescue. She was living
on a farm and being mistreated.

Bella is a chocolate lab,
and she was my Valentine's Day present

from my late husband.

They love each other and they love me.

If I'm upset, if I'm sick, my dogs,
they're there for me.

- Say, "I love you."
- [BARKS]


these dogs saved my life.

I had gotten up that morning,
and when I got out of the shower,

I blacked out on the floor.

I had had a severe stroke.

Both girls came in there,
and I said, "Get help,"

and... they were gone.

It wasn't until we reviewed the camera
at the front door

that we really knew what was going on.

Bella, who can open every door
in the house,

managed to get the front door open
and ran to a neighbor's house...

- a neighbor's house...
- [BARKS]

MAUREEN: ...barking and making
all kinds of noise until she came out.

In the meantime, Sadie was posted
at the front door guarding it.

When the neighbor came over,
she asked the girls, "Where's your mama?"

and they brought her to me.

She immediately called rescue,

and rescue put me on a stretcher
and took me.

And when I got to the hospital,
they took me immediately into surgery.

I was very lucky, very lucky
that I had the smart dogs that I had.

They knew I was in trouble

and they didn't want anything to happen
to their mommy.

I'm a firm believer that if you show a dog
respect and love...

they're gonna return it twofold.

And they have. They're my heroes.

GOOFY:
For thinking fast on their paws,

those dogs are real hometown heroes.
[CHUCKLES]

[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]

- [MUSIC CONCLUDES]
- [BARKING]