TV expert visits marina to help train ‘dogs boating badly’

Channel 5’s hit TV series Dogs Behaving Very Badly has visited Mercia Marina to help a couple train their two rescue dogs.

Renowned dog behaviourist Graeme Hall recently visited the award-winning marina, near Willington, to help liveaboard boaters Alison Millward and Trevor Bascombe, and their two Romanian rescue dogs, Ralph and Doug, whose anxiety and reactivity around other dogs had begun to dominate everyday boating life.

Alison and Trevor adopted Ralph in 2018 and Doug the following year while working full-time for the ambulance service in Hampshire.

Ralph had been abandoned at just two days old outside a Romanian shelter, while Doug had spent his early life living on the streets with his mother and siblings.

Although initially sociable, the dogs’ behaviour gradually deteriorated after Doug joined the family, becoming increasingly reactive to other dogs.

It was a challenge made all the more complex once the couple retired and relocated to Mercia Marina in 2021.

With boating life bringing frequent close encounters with other dogs, towpaths, locks and passing boats, the issue became impossible to ignore.

After exhausting local training options, Alison stumbled across a call for contributors to Dogs Behaving Very Badly and before long, a film crew arrived at Mercia Marina in early December.

Filming took place both around the marina and at nearby Stenson Lock, with local boaters and their dogs bravely volunteering as “stooges” to help recreate real-life boating scenarios.

The crew then returned in mid-January with Graeme himself, capturing further footage along the Trent & Mersey Canal, near Willington, including scenes featuring narrowboats and day-to-day life on the waterways.

Graeme worked closely with Alison and Trevor to better understand the dogs’ history and behaviour, offering practical advice tailored to the unique challenges of canal living.

Rather than rushing away from confrontations, he encouraged controlled exposure, helping the dogs learn that passing boats, towpaths and other dogs are not something to fear, a strategy the couple say has already given them renewed confidence and hope.

Many hours of footage were filmed across the two visits, and while final edits are yet to be revealed, the episode is expected to air as part of the new series later this summer.

In a statement, Mercia Marina said: “For canal boaters, liveaboards and dog-owning cruisers alike, this promises to be a rare and fascinating glimpse of Britain’s waterways through a very different lens – proving that even on the cut, dogs can sometimes behave very badly… and still find their way back to calm waters.”