Buffy The Vampire Slayer

The programme - Talking to the Animals - follows qualified practitioner Sarah as she visits rescue shelters and private homes around the South West, attempting to rehabilitate uncontrollable pets that their owners have given up on.

Tony, aged 48, who jetted out to Los Angeles this week to film episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, said: "Sarah is fantastic with animals.

"It’s fascinating watching the changes she can affect in them in such a short space of time."

Using a stroking technique developed in America, former masseur Sarah, 38, is hoping that the programme will show owners how to read their pet’s behaviour more accurately - a talent she says anyone can pick up.

She said: "It’s about looking at the posture of an animal, and reading its eyes.

"A lot of the time a pet is reacting to pain or stress, but people misinterpret its behaviour and discipline it, which reinforces the problem.

"You have to look at the whole picture - the behaviour, the posture, and the environment, and learn when to approach the animal and when to back off.

"The method involves stroking in circular movements all over the body.

"When I first tried it on our dog, she was asleep in 10 minutes, I couldn’t believe it."

The programme will follow the progress of animals including Safira, a maltreated horse who is afraid of human contact, and Lorenzo the llama who doesn’t like having his feet touched.

The nine-part ITV series is due to hit TV screens in June.

Sarah, who is the highest qualified practitioner in the UK, runs courses to teach the "Tellington Touch" technique from her home at Tilley Farm.

Her whole family is involved in the technique.

Daughters Emily, 13, and Daisy, 11, are both budding animal therapists, and Tony is hoping to take a practitioner course himself in between his busy filming schedule.

Talking to the Animals is being filmed at rescue shelters around the region, as well as at a race course in Cumbria, and an animal feng shui centre in London.