Watch: From Telford to New Zealand - TV flying dog Reggie jetting off to a new home
Meet Reggie the labrador, who flies planes in his spare time. It might look like a late April fool, but the loveable 18-month-old has genuinely been trained to take the controls of an aircraft.
What's more, his adventures have landed him a new home – with his trainer in New Zealand.
Reggie, who used to live at Telford's Hilbrae Rescue Kennels, was one of the stars of the Sky TV show Dogs Might Fly.
It aimed to show that ordinary dogs taken from a rescue centre could be trained to perform remarkable acts.
Enter New Zealand animal trainer Mark Vette, who turned Reggie into a stunt dog and loved him so much that he has kept him for himself.
He trained Reggie to perform manoeuvres by command, allowing him to take control of the joystick and fly the aircraft unaided.
Mark said: "Seeing Reggie fly was unbelievable. But most of all it shows how incredible the bond between people and their dogs is."
Reggie will now swap Hilbrae Rescue Kennels for Mark's Auckland home. Hilbrae owner Marty Burrell said: "They came and said goodbye to us before they head to New Zealand – but I don't believe Reggie will be flying that plane."
Dogs Might Fly, which was aired last month, followed nine rescue dogs and the training they went through before three of them were chosen to take to the skies.
Reggie was one of the lucky dogs, who took over the controls at the end of the programme.
The show was even featured on Gogglebox and clips have had millions of views online.
Now Reggie is preparing to jet off to New Zealand to start his new life with Mr Vette.
Reggie returned to his former home at Hilbrae to say goodbye to staff.
Reggie, along with dogs Shadow and Alfie, completed training exercises that simulated different aspects of flight, and practised the delicate manoeuvres and motor actions involved on several advanced rigs designed by Mark for the project.
The documentary explored dog cognition, with the eventual aim of finding out whether canine companions could be trained to fly a plane.
Mark was approached to help design the show and lead the team in training. He says seeing the dogs fly was unbelievable but says it shows how incredible the bond between people and their dogs is.
"This bond has co-evolved over 30,000 years from the wolf and is the unique basis from which we can achieve these remarkable feats with dogs," he said.
"We built a deep connection to the dogs we were training, and that formed the basis for why we were able to achieve this feat. The crucial element was communication – we needed to understand the dogs, and the dogs needed to understand us and what we wanted them to do. By building a shared language I call Dog Zen, we were able to guide the dogs through the flying process.
"Most importantly, this exercise has proven that shelter dogs are not second-hand goods. They are smart dogs that deserve a chance at life. Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about dog welfare and rescue, and I feel that's the entire point of what we did – to bring attention to the fact that there are thousands of dogs abandoned every year that are good dogs that need to find good homes."
Mark adopted Reggie, a German shepherd-labrador cross dog he personally trained, and will be helping to settle him in to his new Auckland home.
Marty Burrell, owner of the kennels in Cold Hatton, says Reggie's story shows all dogs can find a loving home – even if it does take a TV show to land them a new owner.
Marty said: "On the show Reggie really shone at the end and he was able to fly the plane.
"He wasn't on his own of course, there was a pilot in the plane as well as the trainer, but you saw the pilot raise his hands and Reggie was in full control.
"The trainer was in the back of the plane and she was telling him what to do.
"It was great watching him, and he was put up in a hotel with the other dogs and really loved the high life during filming."
