They have learnt to sit up and beg for food, and any white rabbits are revered and afforded special treatment. Released here 30 years ago and, not surprisingly, there are now hundreds of them. Disco the budgie has memorised over 130 phrases – even reciting them in his sleep. Hugely social birds in their native Australia, pet budgies love to ‘chat’ as they do in the wild. At speeds of 600 strides a minute, the hamster gets a runner’s high.Ĭats may be our favourite pets, and dogs a close second, but budgerigars come in at number three.

Russian hamsters need to run, and in captivity they take to their wheel and run on the spot, covering up to six miles a night. But if you’re preyed upon, the rules of the wild are very different. Now kittens use their lightening skills to catch imaginary prey – but it’s purely for fun. Wolves can doggy paddle to cross rivers and chase prey, and many pet dogs seem to take to the water with gusto.įarmers first domesticated cats as perfect pest controllers.

And when faced with other city-dwellers, dogs must learn to rub along. When puppies tumble and play they’re actually in training for life as a predator and are busy creating their own ‘wolf pack’. They’ve taken well to domestic life and make perfect companions, but their natural instincts remain and they’re ‘wired’ to survive. Our pets have been tamed for thousands of years, but they were wild for millions more. From a marathon-mad hamster, wall-climbing cat and swimming dogs to an island ruled by rabbits, Pets – Wild at Heart, narrated by David Tennant, reveals how the pets we share our lives with are just a whisker away from their wild side.

Wild at heart filming with animals