Daisy and Zuri - Bridgewater, Somerset
Daisy and Zuri - Bridgewater, Somerset
Published: 30 March 2017
I wanted to understand why Zuri often doesn’t listen to me. I’m not sure if it’s the breed or my training techniques!
How did you choose Zuri?
I have always been a dog lover and grew up with Cocker Spaniels. After sky-diving for charity I spotted a white fluffy dog in the airport car park. Not knowing the breed, I decided to Google ‘big white fluffy dogs’ and discovered Samoyeds and fell in love!
Why did you want to take part?
I wanted to understand why Zuri often doesn’t listen to me. I’m not sure if it’s the breed or my training techniques! I also wanted to discipline Zuri and improve her obedience - I just needed to find a way to work with her so she will do what I ask her to do. Zuri is a very stubborn dog and I wanted to learn the best way to communicate with her and to get the best out of our relationship.
What was your favourite exercise/challenge?
I think my favourite was the parkour as Zuri really enjoyed it.
What did you get out of the contest?
I learnt to work with Zuri and understand her better. She still has her moments but she certainly improved a lot since we’ve been on the programme. Another bonus is that I met lots of lovely people (and their dogs).
Do you have any funny stories from filming?
There were loads, it was so much fun. I think the best moment has to be when Zuri ran off when I let her off lead on the first day; she refused to come back and when she eventually did, she was covered with poo... how embarrassing.
Biography
Naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham has had a long and successful career on TV, beginning with The Really Wild Show in 1986 and more recently Springwatch, Autumnwatch, and Winterwatch, Nature’s Weirdest Events, World’s Weirdest Events, Inside the Animal Mind, Operation Iceberg and Secrets Of Our Living Planet.
In 2010 Chris was awarded the Dilys Breese BTO Medal for his outstanding work in promoting science to new audiences. He was voted Conservation Hero Of The Year (2014) in the Birders’ Choice Awards (Birdwatch magazine). In 2015 he reached second place in The Wildlife Power List featured in the BBC Wildlife Magazine. In October 2016 Chris earned the top honour at the Wildscreen Panda Awards - The Christopher Parsons Award for Outstanding Achievement - in recognition of his significant contribution to wildlife filmmaking, conservation and the public’s understanding of the environment.
Earlier in 2016 he was made honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Southampton, where he had graduated 30 years before.
