April 10th 2010

It has been a hectic and hilarious week. I spent two days at Stoneleigh with my fellow judges Jodie Prenger and Gerry Cotts auditioning around 600 dogs for the part of Toto for a gala performance of the upcoming production of The Wizard of Oz, which is all part of the Andrew Lloyd Webber Over the Rainbow TV series.

We all had a brilliant time and met some wonderful people and amazing dogs. I was totally stunned to see two Beagles performing a synchronised heelwork routine. Beagles, as many of you will know, are notoriously difficult to train as they are independent and have a naturally high hunting drive. (Frankly it was no surprise to me that the space probe named The Beagle completely disappeared! It just kept going on its own journey, ignoring the frantic calls of its creators back on earth. Had it been called The Collie, it would have shot off, done its job and returned at high speed.)

I also met an ‘assistance’ dog named Bumble that had Jodie and I in tears. The bond she has with her owner Demi is just fantastic. Bumble was trained by Dogs for the Disabled, and has transformed Demi’s life on many levels. For me, they were the epitomy of what dog ownership is all about. A deep and glorious relationship based on appreciation, respect, love and trust.

I returned home on Wednesday night and then left for Northamptonshire on Thursday evening to film a segment for Sky One. I arrived home this afternoon and am now organising my trip to South Africa. Time is running out as I have more filming to do.

This entry was posted on 28. April 2010 at 15:59 and is filed under Sarah Fisher. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.