Meet the real-life Gromit taking over motorcycle tours - by hopping in the sidecar - video Dailymotion

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Meet the real life Gromit taking over motorcycle tours - by hopping in the sidecar with the tourists.  Brody, 10, a rescue pup, enjoys accompanying tourists sat upright in the sidecar - just like Wallace's favourite chum.  Owner, Tim Clarke, 68, introduced Brody into the sidecar tour world when he was just three months old.  Now, as soon as Brody hears the jangle of Tim's keys or sees him grabbing his bag, he is up and sitting dutifully in the sidecar.  Tim, a tour guide for Cape Sidecar Adventures in Cape Town, South Africa, said: "You can tell he knows when it is going to happen.  "He will hear the keys moving or a bike starting or see me grab his bag for the road, which includes some treats, poo bags and water bowls.  "As soon as he notices any of these, he's in the back seat of the sidecar ready to go."  Tim rescued Brody over 10 years ago when he was just five weeks old.   He spent the first two months enjoying the sights and sounds of the motorcycle tours' workshop, before jumping in the sidecar one day to join Tim on an outing.  Since, he has joined Tim on all of his city tours.   The pair get booked up well in advance with Brody being a particularly popular addition to the sidecar tours.  And who wouldn't want their very own Gromit while being swept through the South African city's vistas.  Brody does have a "stunt double" in sweet Valentine, who was brought into the sidecar workshop more recently.  She isn't as much of a natural for the gig as Brody is but she provides a solid backup option for when Brody is unavailable.  Both dogs spend their days in the workshop, providing a helping paw to the riders and motorbikes alike.  Tim said: "Brody only lasted a couple month being a workshop dog, which is what we initially adopted him to be.  "He disappeared on a bike one day and that was how it all started.  "We realised his value was much better on the actual tours instead of in the workshop, so I started taking him out all the time.  Brody is both a co-tour guide and a therapy dog for nervous tourists along for the ride.  Tim said: "Tourists can get anxious on the bike so he will cuddle them and rest his snout on their shoulders to help calm them down.  "He has a really calming, gentle presence generally.  "Nothing really phases him, be that big bangs, loud noises or whatever."

Transcript

00:00He hears a bike starting, or he sees me grab his little kit bag, he's got a little bag

00:15that he takes with him on the bikes, which is his doggles and a little bandana and poo

00:20bags and water and leashes and drinking bowls and some snacks, and as soon as he sees me

00:25grab those he comes and he gets on the back seat and this is his main seat here.

00:46This is his sort of main sort of pose that he has, every now and then a dog wanders by

00:53and he barks like crazy because he has to tell all the other dogs how cool he is and

00:57how sort of less cool they are.

01:00He interacts with people, other animals, and yeah he's just quite a spectacle and everybody

01:07will see them as pedestrians and guests as we walk down the road, they'll be waving and

01:11smiling and taking pictures and stuff of Brody.

01:17About ten years ago we decided we needed a workshop dog, or a meet and greet dog as

01:23it were, so we picked up Brody, he was a little four week old pup, he arrived at the depot

01:29and he then did his meet and greet duties, ran around the workshops and we used to have

01:34a lot of fun, grew up the first couple of months in the workshops and then all of a

01:38sudden one day he disappeared on a bike and we realised then that his value was more on

01:44the bikes than in the workshops, so from there onwards he was our famous Brody sidecar

01:51pooch that still does all the rides with me and rides wherever.

02:03Brody came along and he's got a wonderful personality, very laid, very chilled back,

02:09very sociable and a very calm and relaxed animal so nothing really phases him, you know

02:14big bangs, loud noises and we found that with him in the back seat as you can see right

02:19now with a guest in the front, he not only is a great companion, makes it a lot more

02:24fun, he actually doubles up as a bit of a therapy dog so every now and then we'll get

02:28somebody anxious on the side and he'll come along and cuddle them and put his snout on

02:32their shoulders and calm the guests down so he has a wonderful disposition in that respect

02:38and as I say he now has a situation where he's overbooked and we have to sort of cut

02:45back on the rides that he goes out on.

Meet the real-life Gromit taking over motorcycle tours - by hopping in the sidecar

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