Greatest American Dog Expels Brandy and Beacon
The challenges last night were really stepped up on the Greatest American Dog. I think the competition was really starting to get to Brandy. She had some tough times getting Beacon to listen to her. At one point she had a total melt down. Travis found her crying on her bed and tried to give her some encouragement to keep going and not give up. Being away from home was becoming a challenge to Bill and Star. Throughout the competition he was trying to win a dog bone challenge so he could get to spend a night in the Suite. Along with getting the suite you get to see photos of your family and read letters from them. We were also treated to a real good example of a friend helping someone in need.
The theme for last night was “Coordination”. The “Dog Bone” challenge for last evening was called the “Mud Dog” challenge. For this challenge the each owner was timed on how long it took them to get their dog to walk across a beam to the owner. The bigger dogs would walk on the high beam while the smaller dogs took the lower beam. The twist to this challenge was if the dogs fell off the beam, they would land into a mud pit. Only two of the contestants were able to get their dogs to walk across the beam without falling into the mud pit. Bill was able to get Star to walk across the beam in 16 seconds. The time was not good enough to beat the 5.5 seconds from Theresa and Leroy. Although Theresa and Leroy were going to receive a “Leg Up” in their elimination challenge she gave up the suite to Bill and Star. Along with that came the “Leg Up” too. Most of the contestants were a little shocked over this, but she could tell that Bill was becoming very sad and wanted him to see some pictures of his family and read some letters to cheer him up. To me that was a great example of helping a friend in need.
In the spirit of the “Coordination” theme, the “Best in Show” challenge was called “Dancing with the Dogs”. For this competition each owner had to come up with a dance routine with their dog. They were able to choose from a pre-defined set of dance themes. We also learned that the “Leg Up” for Bill and Star was that Kashaya a celebrity choreographer who has worked with celebrities including Jessica Simpson and 50 cent was going to help Bill come up with a dance routine.
Laurie and Andrew started off the challenge with their theme being “Ragtime”. Andrew was very good in following along with Laurie and the judges absolutely loved it. JD & Galaxy did a “Hip Hop” routine. I thought his routine was a little faster and really tested out Galaxy’s ability to follow along. The judges commented that they really liked his routine. Beth Joy and Bella Starlet performed a very boring “Broadway” dance. The judges all agreed that anything that Bella Starlet did was challenging. Teresa and Leroy danced to a “Disco” theme. During the routine you could see Teresa getting annoyed as Leroy pretty much barked through the whole routine. The judges were a little luke warm about it. They agreed the technique was good but felt that Teresa let her emotions get the best of her and Leroy. Brandy and Beacon did a very un-energized “Classical Ballet”. She obviously did not listen to the criticism about putting clothing on dogs because she was immediately criticized for putting slippers on her dog. Victoria Stilwell had a suspicion that Beacon suffered from “Learned Helplessness” because of possible overtraining from Brandy. Our “Leg Up” recipients Bill and Star performed the “Rockability” dance theme. Star was awesome and the judges could tell that Star just simply had a lot of fun. One thing that I noticed about the better dogs was that their owners always talked to them with a consistent voice. Always the same level and never pitches lower or higher. Travis and Presley did a “Country” dance or at least Travis did. The performance seemed to highlight Travis and anything that Presley did get to do was nothing that would challenge the dog. The judges too felt the performance had no degree of difficulty and were disappointed because they felt that Travis and Presley went backwards. Flora and Preston did a “Latin” dance. They only thing said by the judges was that they thought it was “horrific”. Preston looked totally distracted and did not move along with Flora.
For the challenge, the judges gave Laurie and Andrew a “Special Recognition” for their performance. The bottom three were:
- Flora and Preston – The judges were let down. Preston was not enthused.
- Brandy and Beacon – Poor decisions were made from the slippers and the training.
- Travis and Presley – Presley lost focus and Travis lost control
I think Brandy knew it was coming and you could see it on her face before it was announced that they were getting expelled from the Dog Academy.
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August 8th, 2008 at 5:49 am
I was surprised to see Travis and Presley in the bottom as well but let’s face it, they really didn’t dance. I didn’t get the whole Andrew and Laurie dance routing - I thought JD and Galaxy and their routine was so much more complex and Bill was just adorable. Andrew just kind of walked around following Laurie. Now maybe he did more but it was hard for me to see with his hair because it covered up his short legs. If that’s the case then we should have had more close ups on the dog. I think Tammy survived elimination and the bottom three because the judges found out what she did for Bill. I teared up watching that because I thought what a great woman she is for doing it, and what a great guy Bill must be to inspire this kindness from someone he didn’t even know a few weeks ago.
August 9th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
You didn’t get it because you don’t understand about canine freestyle. The dog and handler are supposed to move to the music together, not the handler dance or the handler just have the dog do tricks while music is playing. Laurie and Andrew were the best, hands down. JD was showboating and made it all about him. Bill and Star just did tricks to music.