Greatest American Dog Show

While many people said they were done with the show the only measurement that I could see was in our site’s visitor count. This week’s visitor count exceeded all other weeks. As far as I could see the number of views has increased.

Overall I thought the last show was anti-climatic the interviews were boring, the obstacle course was a re-run and final exam had nothing new in it. I would have like d to see more comments from the other contestants. That would have been much more interesting.

This week two Best in Show Challenges with two eliminations.

The Best in Show Challenge #1: Interview

Lori & Andrew: Andrew showed just how much he is attached to Lori. He really does not have much independence.

JD & Galaxy: The only part of this interview shown was about JD not bathing Galaxy

Travis & Presley: Presley was the only dog that was tested.

Sent Home: JD & Galaxy. While JD was a poor looser I still don’t understand why JD & Galaxy.

The Best in Show Challenge #2: Part 1: Obstacle Course; Part 2: Final Exam

There was no winner or loser in the obstacle course. The Final Exam really did not tell us much. The deliberation was also boring.

The Greatest American Dog is: Presley

Overall I think Travis’ final comments were right on when he described the most important part of the show as demonstrating the bond and love between owner and dog.

TR

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

Last week’s show resulted in a lot of fans stating that they were done with the show after Bill & Star were sent home. They were a favorite from the very beginning of the show. Maybe those reality shows that depend upon call in results have it right. The voting public never would have let something like this happen.

This week’s Dog Bone Challenge: How to overcome boredom. Tree stump sitting? What were they thinking? The winner: Theresa & Leroy, when Travis called Presley off from his stump sitting task.

The Best in Show Challenge:

Best in Show: Lori & Andrew

I have no idea about the value of this exercise. Rather than training with your dog each of the competitors got to bond with the other dogs. The higher the dog’s energy level the more difficult it was for the dog to stay. The judges decided who lost based upon how threatening (?) an owner was in their actions. I liked hearing the judges deliberate but I still don’t understand what they were thinking. The judges decided to send Theresa & Leroy home. The Judges decided that Leroy only stayed because of fear. I really don’t understand how they determined that.

Next week we find out who will win the title of the Greatest American Dog. Unfortunately I really don’t understand what will make any of these dogs the winner.

TR

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

I liked the elephant challenge. I was very impressed by Andrew. I didn’t think Presley would stick it out in the first round.  Winner Andrew & Lori.

This week’s task: Stunt Dog. The leg up earned by Lori and Andrew did not help this week. I’m not sure I would want to train my dog to jump off of a tall tower or out of a window. Fear is nature’s way of keeping us safe. I was surprised to see three of the five dogs actually do it.

Best in Show: JD & Galaxy

Now it gets really tough. More than half of the group is in the worst category. The three worst performers were Travis & Presley; Lori & Andrew; and Bill & Star. The judges decision to send Bill & Star home I’m sure will disappoint the fans of the show. According to our poll 44% of our readers thought Bill & Star would win it all. Bill & Star also had the fewest votes for who will go home in week 8. It will be interesting to see what happens next week but without Bill & Star it will be less interesting.

No real excitement this week. I’m a bit disappointed that Bill & Star are gone but I’m not sure who the judges should have sent home.

TR

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

Has anyone noticed that the logo shown at the start of the show has a dog that looks like Presley (the boxer) jumping into the word dog? Is that a hint at who will be the winner of this competition?

I think both challenges were well thought out this week. These were tasks that dogs are capable of doing. The best part of the dog bone challenge was the parings which combined the pairs that did would have the most conflict. I liked it and the pairs rose to the occasion. The winners were Bill & Star and Travis and Presley.

This week’s task: The Maze. The leg up earned by Bill and Travis turned out not to be much of a benefit as both ended up as possible elimination candidates. Beth Joy and Bella Star were the poorest performers and they were sent home this week.

Best in show went to Theresa and Leroy (for the second week in a row) who were truly amazing at getting the puppies through the maze.

The most interesting part of the show was the melt down of the judges. I liked seeing them display a little personality. Unfortunately the kiss and make up scene after the commercial took all of the energy out of the moment and seemed rather staged and artificial. Last week I mentioned that I thought that the judges may have had it in for JD, well this week it appears that Victory Stowell (the judge with the English accent, and my least favorite) really does have a strong objection to JD because of the way he trains his dogs. I think that she is out of line and just plain wrong.

My least favorite part of this weeks show? The editing. It looked like it was done by some high school kid who was editing his first home movie. The cut just before the announcing of the winner of the dog bone challenge was so poorly done that I thought my TV set turned off. The timing of that cut was really lame. I also thought the cut during the argument between the judges was also poorly placed and the way it was picked up with a make nice moment was very disappointing. Is it any wonder why cable is doing so well in the ratings battle.

TR

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

I liked this dog bone challenge. It was interesting to see how the dogs were able to figure out how to get around the walls so quickly. Winner was Bill & Star who returned a good turn by giving the Dog Bone Suit to Theresa & Leroy.

This week’s task: Dog painting. I started off thinking that this would be another lame contest. I liked the results much more than I thought I would. I’m still not thrilled with the contest. I was also disappointed with the judge’s commentary on the paintings. I felt that the judges were really looking for something to evaluate and comment on. They are not art critics, they are dog trainers and editors.

Best in show? Theresa & Leroy (also the one with the leg up).

Did you believe that Beth Joy treated Bella Starlet poorly?

The three worst paintings: JD & Galaxy; Laura & Preston; Lori & Andrew. I think the judges do not like JD & Galaxy Their painting was actually pretty good. Lori & Andrew may have belonged in the final three but in art, isn’t beauty in the eye of the beholder? Laura & Preston did do the worst painting and they were sent home. A big part of this may have been the last minute effort on their painting.

Finally I think that Travis may have blown his opportunity with Laura. Silence is golden.

TR

Human or not? I thought the opening was right on target. Dogs have dog feelings and trying to project human feelings will only lead us to be disappointed by our pets.

I was surprised at how many dogs did not make it across the balance beam. Although it looked like most choose to visit the mud I still thought that the dogs would have better discipline. Theresa giving up the dog bone suite was a great human touch. The question on everyone’s mind is will it come back to bite her. Watching Brandy and Beacon made me realize just how little some of the owners know about dog training.

Dancing with your dog? Where do they come up with these things? So many losers in this one. And probably the biggest loser was the person who came up with this idea.

What happened to best in show? Lori & Andrew I thought JD & Galaxy did a much more amazing and difficult performance.

I don’t think the judges picked the three worst performances but they did send the worst team home. Three worst were: Travis & Presley; Laura & Preston; with Brandy & Beacon going home.

TR

(Oops I messed up I forgot about the day change. the show has now been moved to Wednesday. Sorry for the late posting.)

This was an interesting week. I found the new sexual tension to be amusing and it added a little edge to the show. The Take It or Leave It challenge was great. I was surprised how quickly the teams were eliminated. I would have thought that the owners would have been better at predicting their dogs likes and curiosities. Results: JD & Galaxy go to the Dog Bone Suite then JD sends Travis and Presley to the Dog House. You can just feel the testosterone battle growing here.

The photo shoot was a very tough contest. It was random in the selection of the word and this randomness, some words were easy some were tough must have made it very difficult for the teams. Best in Show went to JD & Galaxy (this was their week to shine). The Judges probably picked the three worst performers for the final selection but even the judges had very mixed reviews about the pictures. One loved it and one hated it. One thought that a picture was too common while another thought it captured the word perfectly. I need a little more black and white structure to be comfortable with this stuff. Maybe that’s why they was using the shades of grey type challenges.

Worst Three: Ron & Tillman; Theresa & Leroy; Brandy & Beacon. I personally did not think that the snarl bands were unfair or cruel. I thought that they were appropriate. It is getting tougher each week to select bad teams. Unfortunately Ron & Tillman got sent home. I would have like to have seen more from them but they delivered the worst results and as a result they are out.

TR

In my opinion the show continues to improve. I liked both tricks again this week and the personality of the contestants continues to grow on me. The Dog House has now become an interesting source of conflict and while I did not like it at first it has grown on me.

I am a little disappointed by the editing of the show. While we heard a lot about the conflict between Elvis and the other dogs we really have not been shown any of the controversy except for the one battle between Tillman and Elvis. If there was so much conflict why wasn’t it captured on film?

I thought the judges were spot on when they called Lori on her attacks on David and Elvis. Even though this week was called Team Work, and Lori back stabbed one of her teammates, they gave her a pass. I probably would have sent her and Andrew home rather than David and Elvis. I think that the personality brought to the show by David and Elvis will be missed.

TR

I like the new opening to the show. I like the drama of the Tillman-Elvis battle. The increase in conflict between the people also increased my interest in the show. I also liked this week’s dog bone challenge as it reflected the talents of the dogs and the skills of the owners. I even liked the dog related commercials that were on this week.

The three worst this week were good selections again this week. I thought that the expulsion of Alon & Kenji was also on target. I was concerned about the show after the first episode but I’m back to being a fan. I’m looking forward to week 3. Let’s see if I’m still a fan then.

One complaint that I have, or maybe it’s just a suggestion: I’d like to see the show include training tips to help us all learn how to better train our dogs.

TR

I just watched the first episode of Greatest American Dog.  I love the concept and I like the pairs on the show.  However, I was very disappointed with the tasks assigned to the pairs.  They were lame and not very interesting.  Finally in the end I thought the judges voted off the wrong pair. 

I thought the three worst pairs were good choices (Beth Joy & Bella Starlet; Brandy & Beacon; Michael & Ezzie).  Beth Joy & Bella Starlet were much poorer performers than Michael & Ezzie.  Beth Starlet the “actress dog” could not follow a single command.  I thought Michael & Ezzie should have been around for another week.