Channel 4 Opens Puppy School (w/t)

13 July 2018

 

As training centres for first-time dog owners spring up across the UK, a new Channel 4 series, Puppy School (w/t), will invite puppy parents to a bespoke school, to help them contend with the challenge of bringing a puppy into their lives. Set against the stunning backdrop of Chatsworth, its curriculum will include exercises to develop doggy IQs and social skills, and help the furry family members successfully settle into their new home.

Taking on a puppy is often done to meet a specific emotional or psychological need in the owner, at a key milestone in their life. As well as chart the puppies’ progress, the series will very much follow the stories of their owners, as they grapple with everything from setting up a new home, to bereavement, to the prospect of facing an “empty nest”.

Each episode of Puppy School (w/t) will chronicle the puppies’ first six months, covering the highs and lows of becoming a new puppy parent, as well as recording the moving, heart-warming and sometime tumultuous events in the lives of the owners as they face a challenging or exciting new chapter.

The school itself will be overseen by three expert trainers: Frenchman and pup trainer to the super-rich Oli Juste, canine behavioural therapist Hannah Molloy, and plummy-but-proud ex-social worker, Katie Patmore. The expert team will be working on the behaviour of the owners as much as their pets, as they help a diverse mix of people from across the U.K., in the melting pot precinct of Puppy School (w/t).

The series (4 x60’) was commissioned by Formats Commissioning Editor Lee McMurray and Head of Formats Dom Bird. It is being made by Glasgow indie, Red Sky Productions, and will be executive produced by Jane Rogerson and Ross Harper.

Channel 4’s Commissioning Editor for Formats, Lee McMurray said: “We’re thrilled to be introducing new, exciting talent to Channel 4, in the shape of Hannah, Katie and Oli, and equally delighted to be treating viewers to a host of fascinating, funny and moving human stories, in a series that is as much about people as puppies.”

Red Sky’s Jane Rogerson said: “This is a hugely exciting commission for Red Sky, born out of my own experience of puppy parenthood. Dogs aren't just man’s best friend; they’re often brought into our homes for a reason. Puppy School will be an entertaining and informative format but, at its heart, it’s a view into the lives of a diverse mix of people from across the country, at a challenging or defining moment for them.”