Anybody watch it?! I found it very interesting and informative. Some lovely shots of dogs and pups captured too, especially the ones in slow motion

I keep staring at my dogs now wondering how I find the patch of hair that is either going clockwise or anti clockwise! Any idea?

I watched it with my springer sitting on my lap watching it all avidly too.  Round the chest and stifle is generally the best places to look for whorls also on the elbows and back of knees, but if you have fluffy dogs it will be harder than with a smooth coat.

Loved the slow motion of the dog drinking!

I thought it was a sweet program and beautiful filmography. Especially liked following the puppy through to being a guide dog.

we watched it too .... our dog was snuggled down by our feet but when the puppies came on she shifted herself up between us like a baby as if to say "oi, I'm your puppy, stop looking" it was hilarious.  Can't quite tell if she is left or right footed as seems to not favour any side ... I will keep a watch :)

I loved it until the Guide Dog was mated at only 18mnths old which is far too young for any large breed dog. I've said before if that is what they do then so be it but to out on national TV where stupid people copy, bad move!!!

The guide dog section was quite inaccurate at the end. Guide dogs do not breed their dogs until they are at least 2 years old and they either work or become broods. The only way a dog can do both is if they are selected for  sbreeding and for some reason are not suitable them they are spayed and go into advanced training. A working guide dog would never have pups. A pup that is marked for working is taken into training at just over a year then they can spend up to a year in basic and then advanced training before being matched with a new owner. They then go 'on class' and have training together. So the dog wouldn't start working until they were at least 2. If a dog is set to become a brood then they are puppy walked as normal then have all the health tests and things like hips and eyes tested. They take them into training to assess them and then are place with volunteers who live near the breeding centre.They are treated just the same as family dogs but still under the guidance of a supervisor. They are mated with the selected gd stud dog and have their pups at home. In the documentary they used a different pup to the one that was scanned to the one that was working.

I think it must be the single whorl on the point of the chest, because all the paired ones (on the elbows etc) are mirror images of each other - the one on the right elbow is anti-clockwise and the one on the left elbow is clockwise.

I can't work it out. Looked at my pup yesterday and she definitely has two whorls on the point of her chest, opposite to each other. In the film they all seemed to be looking at the dog's NECK.

ch 3 ?  Is that ITV?

> I can't work it out. Looked at my pup yesterday and she definitely has two whorls on the point of her chest, opposite to each other. In the film they all seemed to be looking at the dog's NECK.

I didn't see the programme. whats all this about whorls?

>Looked at my pup yesterday and she definitely has two whorls on the point of her chest, opposite to each other.

Mine have got a ridge on the point of each shoulder at the front where the hair growing downwards on the shoulder meets the hair growing upwards to meet it, and a single whorl between them right in the middle on the point of the breastbone; the centre single one is anticlockwise on both Daisy and Piggy.

Please, can anyone tell me where I might be able to see this programme?  I have tried searching ITV without success.  Have I got the programme title wrong?  Is Ch 3 some sort of satelite jobbie?  A link would be wonderful :)

OK, I've found it on STV. Here :)

The Secret Life of Dogs, shown on terrestrial ITV.

It was a well filmed programme with some great slow shots. Such a shame that the first litter of Golden Retrievers changed to become Labradors and that the puppy which they "followed through" to become a guide dog was at least 6 different puppies. Wouldn't have minded these anomalies if they hadn't tried to pretend it was one puppy and one litter. I detest inacuracies and misleading the public.

> Wouldn't have minded these anomalies if they hadn't tried to pretend it was one puppy

They didn't.  Right from the outset they said it would be several different puppies.