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(Image: Archie Banal)
(Image: Archie Banal)

Pet WeekMarch 31, 2022

How to choose the right pet for you

(Image: Archie Banal)
(Image: Archie Banal)

Fancy a feline friend? Pining after a pooch? Got a hankering for a hedgehog? Charlotte Muru-Lanning talks to four experts about what you should keep in mind if you’re thinking of welcoming a pet.

See the bottom of this post for the chance to win some cool pet things.

Aotearoa is a country of pet lovers – in fact there are almost as many pets as there are humans living here. And even those of us who don’t have pets love ’em, with a 2020 Companion Animals in New Zealand report finding that 59% of people who didn’t have a pet fancied one. That’s around 375,000 households longing after a furry, or not so furry, friend.

For those of us considering diving into pet ownership, there are a bunch of things to chew over before you make the decision, says Rachel Haakma from Pound Hounds Rescue, a charity that works with animal control teams to rehome unclaimed or surrendered dogs. “The right pet in the right home brings so much love and joy into your life,” she says. The wrong one, on the other hand, “not only brings unhappiness, it risks ruining pet ownership for your family and risks messing up that animal for the rest of its life”. 

Craig Williams is manager at pet store PETstock, which is running its annual national pet adoption month – an initiative run by stores to help find homes for rescue animals. Gone are the days of kittens and puppies being wrapped in bows and given as out-of-the-blue Christmas presents, he says. “It’s not a decision that you can or should make on a whim,” he says. “Animals in this equation certainly deserve for us to all do our due diligence when we go through this process so their lives aren’t messed around too much.” Here’s what you need to consider.

A young woman lies on a couch with her back to the camera, while a cute Golden retriever dog lies over her.
Photo: Getty Images

Time

Ask yourself if you and your household have time to spend with a new pet to acclimatise them to you and your home for the period after they move in. “You need time to build that bond,” says Haakma. Beyond that, some animals will take even more time for training. “Nobody gets a perfect dog without putting in the work,” says rescue dog owner Rachael Brady. It takes regular hours and patience. 

And with some of us still working from home, Williams reckons this could be an ideal time to adopt. Even if that doesn’t last forever, he says “it’s a significant amount of time that you can spend building a bond with an animal while you’re working from home”. 

Sometimes it’s just about timing, says Adeline Le Cocq, adoption manager at cat rescue organisation Lonely Miaow. You should ask yourself “is this the right time to adopt?”. Animals like cats can easily live around 15 years, so if you’re planning on moving countries, homes or relationships – consider how having an animal will play into your long-term vision. 

Gone are the days when kittens and puppies were wrapped in bows and given as out-of-the-blue Christmas presents (Photo: Supplied/ PETstock Assist)

Money

The initial cost of buying and desexing an animal is really just the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately, with the rising cost of living, pet ownership will be financially unrealistic for many. For example, general care (meaning food, flea and worm treatments and vaccinations) for a cat costs more than $600 a year, and a dog is about three times that. On top of that are the unexpected vet bills that crop up from time to time, and grooming costs if need be. “You have to be aware and confident that you’ll have the financial means to look after your pet,” says Le Cocq.

Family

Is the animal you’re looking at a good fit for your whānau? Do they match your energy levels? Your family’s personality? Will they be OK around your kids? Are you prepared to teach your kids how to behave around a pet? Will they fit in your car or on the couch or on your lap? 

You don’t want to adopt a border collie if you live in town and aren’t going to take it for long walks every day, explains Haakma, “It’s a highly intelligent, working breed dog that needs a job to do and if it doesn’t have the right stimulation, you may end up with a dog that is a neurotic mess who barks all the time, potentially chases cars and herds everything in sight,” she says. 

If you’re looking to get an animal because your kids have been nagging you for one, make sure you’re ready to commit to taking care of it if they happen to get bored.

Space

Take stock of your living situation when choosing what type of animal to bring into your home. Most animals will need a smaller room to settle into new environments at the start. Some animals will need outdoor spaces with secure fencing. If you’re planning a house move soon and thinking of adopting a pet, consider waiting so your pet has more stability.

Some animals need more room than others so take into account your living situation when choosing (Photo: Supplied/PETstock Assist)

The 2020 Companion Animal report found living in rented accommodation was one of the biggest barriers to getting a pet in New Zealand, as renters still don’t have an automatic right to pet ownership. So, if you’re a renter, it’s important to ensure your landlord is OK with pets before taking one on.

Allergies

A pet may be cute, but it also might make you wheeze and sneeze, so it’s important to figure that out before you take them home. Le Cocq says their shelter has regular instances of cats being returned because people didn’t realise they – or someone else in their household – was allergic. She recommends getting exposure to animals before adopting. Hanging out at a cat cafe or letting kids spend time at the house of a friend who has a pet is a good way to test the waters.

Consider rescue animals

While Le Cocq says there’s high demand for rescue cats, Williams reckons most dogs that people bring into their family come through breeders. “There are so many adoptable dogs out there,” he says.Williams would like to see people take a slightly different approach to shopping for a pet, even if they are set on a breed. “Go and see some adoptable animals as part of their process and just see whether there’s one in there”. 

Adopting any dog is a huge decision and deciding between rescue or bred is also a huge decision. “Rescue dogs aren’t broken, they’ve just been through some hard times,” says Haakma. “Haven’t we all?” Rescue pups come in all shapes, sizes and personalities and there’s a right fit for most people, as long as you’re committed to being a good owner. While a rescue dog may take more work, she reckons it’s worth the effort. Love breeds love and rescue dogs “love their people stronger”.

Haakma believes there’s a place for both rescue and bred dogs. “It comes down to the best fit for your family and for that dog,” she says. Brady wishes there was better legislation around breeding and more transparency around ethical breeding in New Zealand but, in the meantime, she says you should ask breeders questions like “how old are the mother and father?” or “how many litters has this dog had?” Looking at the conditions of the breeder’s place can also be a helpful way to ensure your animal has been bred ethically. 

Rachael Brady’s mixed breed pups Charlie and Ziggy (Photo: Supplied/Rachael Brady)

Think outside the box

“Keep an open mind,” says Williams. Atypical rescue pets like hedgehogs and rats can make for excellent animal companions, he says. “We’ve had people that hate rats completely turn around and now they love a pet rat,” he says.

Oftentimes mature animals are overlooked in favour of their supposedly cuter whipper-snapper counterparts. Le Cocq says it’s worth thinking about whether an older pet might be a better fit for you. For slightly macabre reasons, they’re less of a long-term commitment. They’ve also likely developed a full personality, so you can see how snuggly, independent and playful they are. Those that are less friendly or confident tend to struggle a bit more to find forever homes, but they’re worth the effort to build trust. 

When choosing an animal, look beyond cuteness, says Haakma. “You wouldn’t knowingly get into a long-term unhealthy relationship with someone just because they were ridiculously good looking when you have nothing else in common,” she says. Brady points out that breed-specific legislation in New Zealand has created a stigma against “bully breeds” of dogs like pitbulls and staffies which are considered dangerous, and are often put down when impounded. But don’t dismiss them, she says, as they can be gentle and loving dogs..

If you love animals, but it’s not the right time to adopt

So you’re not ready to adopt yet, or want to see if long-term pet ownership is right for you without the long-term commitment? Become an animal foster. “Rescues are always crying out for good foster homes,” says Haakma. Beyond that, many shelters operate almost entirely on a volunteer workforce. You could volunteer to help walk or train dogs, clean enclosures, trap cats to get them to foster care or healthcare and drive animals to the vet. “Puppy or kitten cuddles are often included,” adds Haakma.

Most animal rescues rely solely on donations and fundraising to survive and so helping to fundraise or donating money, time or items (like bedding, quality food, flea and worm treatments, leashes and toys) is always helpful. Even just sharing a post from rescue shelters is helpful. “The bigger reach we get, the more people see our posts, the more likely we are to find that dog the right home or get the money for that vet bill we need to pay,” says Haakma.

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Image: Tina Tiller
Image: Tina Tiller

Pet WeekMarch 31, 2022

The day the dogs drove

Image: Tina Tiller
Image: Tina Tiller

Pet Week: In 2012, a couple of pound pooches captured the world’s attention by driving a car on Campbell Live. But that was just the beginning of the story.  

All week we are examining and celebrating our relationship with animals in Aotearoa. Click here for more Pet Week content.

Porter the dog puts the car into gear beautifully as his human passenger, Tristram Clayton, watches in awe. “Oh my god, we are off,” Clayton whispers, his body unusually stiff in his seat as the Mini begins to career down the Avondale racetrack. Porter holds both paws at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel, gazed fixed on the road ahead – there is a corner fast approaching. As the track begins to bend and the car veers off on the grass, Porter scratches frantically at the wheel to turn it back on track. “Oh my god,” says Clayton breathlessly, “he’s corrected it”.

2012 was a pivotal year for driving in Aotearoa. As Toby Manhire reported last week, the year saw a historic change made to the give way rule, a decision that caused moral panic and headline chaos but turned out to be pretty much fine. Secondly, it was also the first time, anywhere in the world, that a dog drove a car on live television. “This is a story that has travelled as far and wide as any other New Zealand story we can remember this year,” John Campbell said at the beginning of the Campbell Live broadcast. “It’s been everywhere.”



But before Driving Dogs became a global, viral success, it was just an off the cuff thrown out during a meeting at advertising agency Draft FCB. Creative Peter Vegas remembers they had a brief from their client, Mini, who were doing some work with the SPCA. “We needed a cool idea that linked the two and I’d been sitting around and said ‘I reckon it would be really funny if we got a dog to drive a Mini’.” He didn’t think anyone would actually take it seriously. But the room warmed to the idea, rationalising that the gag would also show that SPCA dogs are really smart. They just needed the right trainer to say yes.  

Animal psychologist and trainer Mark Vette remembers his first meeting with FCB. “When they said ‘can you get a dog to drive a car?’, being an animal trainer, my first thought was ‘no problem, we can cheat that easily’.” In the past, Vette had worked on a commercial that featured a sheep “driving” a truck and he knew exactly what was needed to make the illusion work. But as it dawned on him that they actually wanted the dog itself driving, Vette needed a moment to think. “Their question was ‘can you do it?’ and my answer was ‘who knows, it’s never been done before’.”

Vette took the idea to his small team, the same people he had worked with on the likes of The Last Samurai, Lord of the Rings and countless other New Zealand productions. They decided that they could do it and began developing a training programme with the support of the SPCA, with which they had a close working relationship already. “From the SPCA’s point of view and from our point of view, the gag was really that rescue dogs are smart dogs, and of course the exercise was to drive home the rehoming of rescue dogs. From there, we just got stuck in.” 

Mark Vette meets the rescues (Image: YouTube)

The first step was to head out to the SPCA’s Māngere shelter and choose who would be best suited to driving from what Vette calls a “motley crew” of about 150 rescue pooches. “We were after a dog who was around 18 months old, they needed to be big enough to reach the steering wheel – so the jack russells were out,” he laughs. “We got it down to a shortlist of 10 and from there we chose the best. We were looking at how quickly they picked up the clicker training in particular, because that is what we use for shaping sophisticated behaviour.” 

Monty, Porter and Ginny made the cut. Chosen for their size, trainability and confidence, they were well on their way to becoming Aotearoa’s next pooch petrolheads. The dogs were brought to their new home in Coatesville, northwest of Auckland, where Vette’s team – himself, daughter Jasmin, Maureen Manderson and Rosie Miles, began developing the training programme. “This was the hardest job we’d seen by far,” says Vette. “On Narnia we had taught mice to chew through ropes and taught hawks to attack minotaur, but none of that had the complexity of this.”

Vette’s team worked out that the dogs had to learn about 80 new behaviors before they would be able to get their paws on the wheel of an actual car. “It was all these little things that you probably wouldn’t even think about, like desensitising them to seatbelts and getting them used to commands like ‘push left’ and ‘push right’. They perhaps had underestimated how long it would take. Vegas remembers his first visit to Vette’s house and having one clear thought on the ride home – “oh well, I’m going to get fired, this shit is never going to work.” 

Monty learning one of 80 different behaviours needed (Image: YouTube)

Across the city, Campbell Live reporter Tristram Clayton had received a rather curious press release. The 7pm current affairs show would seldom pick up stories that came from PR as they were “rarely relevant”, Clayton explains, but this one was different. Campbell Live was known for striking a balance between meaningful, in-depth campaigns around the likes of Pike River and the Christchurch earthquakes, as well as finding time to have a bit of fun. “We were pretty proud of how well we found that mix of the hard and the soft,” Clayton remembers. 

Dogs learning to drive certainly seemed like a bit of fun. “When we first saw this one, it wasn’t that we thought it was too commercial, it was that we just thought it was too ridiculous,” he says. Nonetheless, Clayton convinced producers to let him travel out to Coatesville with a camera to “get a vibe” for the dogs and see if it was worth revisiting as they progressed through training. “It was obviously going to be a bit of a longer one,” he says. “A longitudinal study.” 

Back in Coatesville, Vette and his team had built a series of rigs, increasing in complexity, to help the dogs adapt to everything from pressing a gear stick to sitting upright in a harness. “There were different rigs, starting easy, becoming difficult,” recalls Vette. The more serious rigs were attached to wheels, so the dogs could be gently pulled along and get a better understanding of the motion of driving. Using a steering wheel without fingers was an initial challenge, so a series of metal lugs were attached to give the dogs something to grab onto. 

Porter’s epic training rig (Image: YouTube)

Over time, Vette began to notice that the dogs were beginning to realise what they were actually doing. “Initially they are just doing what you are asking them to do, one thing at a time, and then you chain the behaviours together into a sequence that has meaning.” For humans, Vette explains, we understand instinctively that we have to not go over the line on the road, but a dog is just thinking about what it is doing to get its next treat. That is, until they weren’t. 

“That was the interesting thing – as you do it more and more, they start to build a picture of what they are doing and you see them start to make decisions that you didn’t think they’d be able to make.” One of the big things Vette noticed is that the dogs began anticipating corners, knowing when to start turning the wheel and later straightening up. “It’s something I didn’t think would happen that did happen. We started to see them get in the groove of it, so to speak.” 

Clayton returned several weeks later to check on how the dogs were tracking. “I remember the dogs were making serious progress on those little fake car things with the fake levers and everything,” he remembers. “The dogs were getting used to all the manoeuvres  and from then on I knew: this is going to be good.” His colleague Lachlan Forsyth remembers hearing Clayton return to the office and “knocking on for ages about these driving dogs”, to which he simply said, “what on Earth are you on about?” 

Monty hoons the rig

Soon, the world would know what he was on about. A few weeks later, the dogs had graduated to practising in a real Mini, specially kitted out with dog-friendly controls by a company that works with amputees to make driving more accessible. Crucially, there was an auto-controller on the speed, so the car could not go over 30km/h even if the dog was flooring it. The Campbell Live team returned once more, and Clayton remembers being blown away by what they captured. “I saw them sitting upright in a car seat, turning the wheel, pressing on the accelerator and I thought ‘OK, they are making progress’.” 

They now had what they needed for the story, and got together putting together a package for Campbell Live that included sequences of Monty and Porter cruising to the likes of ‘Who Am I (What’s My Name?)’ by Snoop Dogg. “I remember those amazing shots with rap music of this really gangster dog sitting there, resting one arm on the car window sill and the other on the steering wheel, just looking totally gangster,” says Clayton. 

Monty behind the wheel in the first Campbell Live story

The first Campbell Live story went “ballistic” as soon as it aired. “I was getting calls from people around the world,” says Clayton. “It went absolutely mad. Millions of hits. But it was fun seeing all the American, Australian and British networks picking it up. It’s always good to see a story like that, that you’ve been crafting for a few months, take over the world.” But the fun wasn’t over yet – the year was nearing its end and Campbell Live wanted to do something even better to farewell 2012.

 “That’s when we started putting together a plan for a global first: a dog drives a car live on TV, and I’m in there with him,” laughs Clayton. 

For Vette, doing it live was initially a “horrifying” idea. “Animal trainers normally have the ability to manipulate lots of variables behind the scenes, to effectively semi-cheat the situation if they need to. We didn’t have that opportunity with this.” There were also some last minute curveballs – the location changed from a straight residential road to a curved race track. “That added another problem because they are angled in, which adds a complex factor to the dogs because you have to compensate for the angle of the road.” 

They rehearsed at the Avondale track for a week before the live broadcast to get the dogs used to the terrain. “We settled on having a trainer on the walkie-talkie outside the car saying the commands, and someone at the end of the track with the emergency stop if need be. But, at the end of the day, the dog would be doing all the work by itself.” 

Monty, live and unplugged (Image: YouTube)

On the day of the broadcast, more curveballs were thrown into the mix. Marie, one of the trainers who had been working closely with the dogs, became violently ill. Luckily Jasmin, Vette’s daughter, had been training alongside them and stepped into her place. “That’s just normal last minute drama you get with these types of things.” says Vette. “There’s nothing like a live scene and a world first to keep you somewhat focused and frightened.”

Forsyth, who was roped in to be the “straight” reporter and do the live links back to the studio, remembers there “was a weird air of trepidation and excitement and absurdity” on the day. “There was a lot of the boring serious stuff happening, like needing to check all the comms was working, but then every once in a while you’d remember what we were planning this around. It’s just a guy being driven around a race track by a dog, what’s the worst that could happen?”

What’s the worst that could happen? (Image: YouTube)

First up was Monty, who would be driving without a passenger. In the footage available on NZ On Screen, he can be seen yawning as Clayton announces that “in just a few moments, Monty is going to be the first dog ever to attempt to drive around a race track”. When he’s given the go ahead, Monty puts the car into gear and accelerates. “Basically he’s now in driving mode,” Vette explains. “He’s got his right foot on the accelerator, he’s steering with his left hand.” A mere 70 metres later, he comes to a stop after the finish line, met with a chorus of “good boy” coos. 

“I don’t know why this makes me so happy,” says a beaming Campbell, back in the studio. “The paw position is just beautiful.”

Next up, it was Clayton’s turn to be hanging out the passenger side of his doggy friend’s new ride. In the footage he appears tense, sometimes even white-knuckled, as his driver Porter starts up the car. “It was really quite bizarre sitting there, looking out the front windscreen as a normal passenger in a car and then you glance across and there’s a dog in the driver’s seat, sitting vertical,” he recalls. 

Just two guys going out for a drive (Image: YouTube)

Throughout the journey, Clayton attempts to commentate in a breathless whisper, muttering “oh my god he’s in gear” and “oh my god we are off”. At one point, Porter takes his eyes off the road and stares into Clayton’s soul. For a moment, they both look terrified. “I didn’t want to give him a fright and I didn’t want to put him off,” says Clayton. “But at the same time it’s a live cross and you’ve got to sort of be describing what was going on, without distracting the dog from this vital task of getting me around the corner.” 

Alas, the corner posed somewhat of a problem for Porter and he needed a little assistance from Vette to get back on track. At the finish line the car lurched to a stop, Clayton momentarily rising out of his seat due to the momentum. “He’s good on a stop,” he laughs, a little too loudly. 

Whether they nailed the corners or not, the live driving dogs quickly became an even bigger sensation than the first story. It was the top-rating episode for Campbell Live that month and one the five top-rating Campbell Live episodes of the year, reaching 513,718 people. Vette remembers there were about 100 million tweets on the topic the day following, and they became inundated with international media requests that took three months to get through. “Ireland, China, Letterman, Norton, you name it, they were there.” 

Clayton remembers travelling to Australia soon after the story aired – he was auditioning for the Wiggles for another story – and walking through Sydney airport arrivals to hundreds of TV screens playing the driving dogs story.

For Vette, driving dogs changed his life. Not only did he fall in love with Monty and adopt him for himself, it also opened up a whole new avenue for promoting the potential of rescue dogs. It inspired the local series Pound Pups to Dog Stars, where rescues were trained with a new skill, but the stage was set for even greater heights. 

One day, he got a call from the UK from some Sky TV executives. They were at a “boozy lunch” and had an even more outlandish proposal – flying dogs. “They told me they had just lost a huge sports gig and had £8 million to spend on a new show, and then asked me if I could get a dog to fly a plane,” Vette recalls. 

His first thought was “not again” – but he decided to play along as they were “tiddly”, ending the conversation with the casual offer “well, if you’ve got the budget, I probably could do it”. For the next 18 months he worked on the six-part series, which trained rescue dogs to do weird and wonderful things each week – play in a band, complete a maze – with the best contestants making it through to flight school. “You can imagine going into civil aviation authorities in the UK and saying ‘would you mind giving us permission for a dog to fly an aeroplane?’” Vette laughs. 

They were laughed out of the office “the first half dozen times” but, after securing permission in both France and Morocco, managed to convince the UK authorities to let Dogs Might Fly take flight. The six-part one-hour series showed in 100 countries – never in New Zealand – and culminated in the thrilling finale of rescue dog Reggie doing elegant figure eights over the British Isles. Vette ended up taking Reggie home with him too, so now he has a private pilot and driver. 

Nearly 10 years on, those who were involved in the driving dogs saga on both sides of the camera still think of it fondly. “What really jumps out to me is that is shows the absurdity and cheekiness of Campbell Live,” says Forsyth. “We would do these hard-hitting, important, agenda-setting stories, but at the same time we could absolutely have fun and partake in joyous nonsense when the situation called for it.” Clayton agrees. “It was such a joy to be a part of and a joy to create, but also just so lovely to be able to bring joy into other people’s lives.” 

Vette has gone on to many other impressive training feats, including teaching an octopus how to take photographs and powering a bike entirely with rats. Monty and Reggie are both still alive and thriving, both sleeping at his feet as we talk. Over the years, they’ve both done their fair share of stunt work in local film and television, and have become stars in their own right. Monty continued to drive until about a year ago, but was still very “cool” behind the wheel. “He started hanging his bicep out the window, he’s a bit of a dude.” 

Monty, Mark, Tommy and Reggie (Image: YouTube)

Driving dogs was a huge milestone in Vette’s career, one that sent him and his trainers across the world and raised awareness of rescue dogs internationally. Although he is proud of these achievements, he says the best part about the driving dogs legacy is that he got two new best friends out of it. “We’ve been involved in a lot of amazing situations since it, but at the end of the day, what we ended up with are these beautiful loving dogs,” he says. 

“I always encourage people to take on rescue dogs, you get that beautiful bond with them, plus you’ve saved a dog from a life of great difficulty,” says Vette. “If there’s one thing I hope people take away from this, it is that you can actually teach an old rescue dog new tricks, and get yourself a very special family member while doing it.” And who knows, you might even be able to teach them how to drive you home from the pub.

Pet Week is proudly presented by our friends at Animates. For more Pet Week content keep an eye on The Spinoff and watch The Project, 7pm weeknights on Three.

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