There’s not many TV shows where the producers risk having their legs humped and things taken out of their handbag, but everything is possible in Network 10’s Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly.
The show follows dog whisperer and Brit Graeme Hall as he seeks to help dogs, and owners, who have lost their way in life.
According to EP Sarah Thornton, Hall’s gift with dogs transcends the cultural difference between the UK and Australia.
“He is freakishly good with dogs. So it’s definitely a calling for him. He’s genuinely extraordinary – you know, he can walk into a room with a dog who’s been distressed or whose behaviour hasn’t been great and really change the tone of the room almost instantly,” she said.
As you’d expect with a show that involves lots of badly behaved dogs, there’s a “lot of health and safety measures” that need to be taken into account, Thornton said.
“We gave our entire field team training with an animal behaviourist on how to approach houses,” she added.
Despite the training there’s still “a lot of challenges like producer’s legs being humped and stealing out of bags”.
“It’s normal funny dog behaviour.”
The show was criticised for labelling dogs as bad, however Thornton said that (despite the name) this is not the angle that the show takes.
“The name is pretty tongue in cheek. I think that once you watch the show, it becomes clear that we don’t believe there are bad dogs. We believe that there are misunderstood dogs and owners who could probably do something slightly differently. That will make a big difference”.
Despite the shenanigans, the reasons behind the badly behaved dogs are a bit sadder, Thornton said.
“You know a lot of people get dogs because they’re lonely or because they’ve lost a loved one or they’ve been through some trauma as a family.”
“This [the dogs behaving badly] exacerbates whatever the initial reason was for getting it, and you don’t realise how much it means to those people to have the problem resolved”.
“I was really overwhelmed by what a difference it made to people’s lives genuinely,” Thornton said.
Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly is currently showing on 10 and 10 Play.
