BBC: Pets - Wild at Heart

Haven't seen it, looks good tho!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...yful-creatures

Azz, I watched most of it, they got a few facts wrong, like saying all dogs had a sense of smell 100.000 times greater than humans, yes some dogs do but a lot have between 1,000 and 99,000 why can't they get this fact right.

Mind you it seemed the producers like the 'pack' theory and they showed film footage which seemed to support that.

As we've seen on Dogsey the 'pack' theory, not to mention the 'dominance' theory always provokes heated discussion so best pass over that quickly

Some nice footage of cats too but began to loose interest when it went onto other animals and birds, can't be expected to like everything

Yep we all pick the 'bones' out of what we watch. Fascinating seeing the xray pics of the bones though in hamsters and the thermal images.

Yes modern technology has some amazing applications, but I sometimes feel we are 'intruding' into the animal world, if it helps then I guess it's a good thing, but humans being the kind of creatures they are sometimes it feels like modern technology is being used as a kind of peep show.

For example those xray pics, in six months or a year will we (You & I) ever be able to remember, let alone make use of, those pics and how many humans watching will want to go out and get a wheel just to see the hamster exhaust itself, as you know I am a sceptic and tend to believe that many people are horrible and untrustworthy

Not you of course (or any of the Dogsey gang )

Some knowledge is good but too much can be a dangerous thing. Only if I buy a hamster.

Have to disagree about the"pack" mentions, it was stressed that the groups of dogs were NOT like wolf packs & were unrelated dogs. Also them showing the most "bold" male being "chosen" by the in season bitch & him chasing off the other dogs, which is what does happen in street dogs in the UK.

Thought it was a refreshing change from other "pet" programs

Sounds extremely interesting. I will watch it tonight in bed on OH's i-pad, if we can get a strong enough broadband signal.

Thanx Azz !

A big thank you to Azz for telling us about this fascinating and excellent programme.

I've just watched it in bed on hubby's I pad and I thought it was brilliant. Extremely interesting was to see the semi feral dogs in Peru. Whilst not having lost any of their natural wolf behaviour in terms of dominance and submission, clearly they have lost their natural pack instincts in that although you could clearly see the natural pack behaviours emerge when all the dogs converged together in that playground, at the end of the day they were happy to go back to their human pack for security and nourishment.

Aside from the undesirable issue of entire males and females, what a wonderful life these dogs have, the best of both worlds. I loved the way they respected humans on the pavements, giving way to them and generally being respectful. It was fascinating that they learned road sense on busy streets. They all looked so natural and above all healthy.

Seeing the puppies on the bed was extremely enlightening ... You could clearly see how the dominant pup would gently pin a subordinate, and the subordinate would submit by exposing his vulnerable belly. The bowing and posturing is fascinating to watch in slow motion, and one can clearly see how dogs are still very much the wolf inside.

Excellent programme and cannot wait to see the next one

I wish I could see it. Oh, well. I do enjoy the spelling of the word as "programme". We omit the last two letters and spell it only as "program". Another reason I sometimes like reading around this site. Still wish I could see the program, though

O bless you! You guys never could spell ...!

What with your color, hemoglobin, fetus, and fanny packs!!!