This week was the season finale of the Greatest American Dog. We were left with three teams: JD and Galaxy, Laurie and Andrew, and Travis and Presley. Who would come out on top?

The night was split into two best in show competitions. After the first, one team would be eliminated allowing for the final best in show competition of the night to decide the season’s winning team.

The first challenge? An interview. Yup, just an interview with the owners and their dogs. The interview was focused on what have you and your dog learned during the competition, and is the dog ready to interface with the world at large if selected the winner. Andrew was given a play test with Judge Diamond’s dog and Presley was given a one on one lesson by Judge Stillwell on restraint. Both passed. I guess Galaxy didn’t need any special attention since she’s such a well trained sweetie.

So who got booted? JD and Galaxy.

This showed that this competition wasn’t just about the dog but also about the relationship between dog and owner. I like that concept, however, there can be a great divide between what someone says in an interview versus what someone does. So this ‘competition’ was all about saying the right thing to the judges.

Now I know many of you won’t be sad to see JD go, but ask yourself what answering a question has to do with the greatest dog in the world. The judges should have been allowed to view the training leading up to the competitions to get their answer. To me, this was an easy way for the show to get rid of someone they don’t like.

That left Andrew, Presley and their owners to compete in the second best of show, broken into two segments, of this eveining’s episode to bark it out for $250,000 and the title of Greatest American Dog.

The first segment consisted of an obstacle course beginning with a maze, a few teeter totters, a jumping section and finally retreiving a toy from under an elephant. Yeah, that same elephant they used a few shows ago. Apparently it looks great on TV, so it’s OK to terrorize our canine friends.

Presley ripped through course quickly until he got to the elephant. Travis crawled under the pachyderm with Presley to help him get the toy. Not bad. Andrew had a slow beginning but really picked it up in the end, showing, once again, that he had no fear of 9,000 pounds of gray matter standing over him. As far as I could tell, this challenge was filler because it wasn’t used in the judging for the eventual winner.

The second segment was another interview with one question, “Why should your dog be the Greatest American Dog?” In front of all the former house and dog mates, Laurie and Travis offered the reasons for their pup to win. Both handled it well, giving solid answers.

In the end the judges had to decide whether to give it to a young, growing couple or a seasoned team with strong ties.

…so, the winner is …

Travis and Presley

Congrats!!

As a team, they grew the most over the 10 week competition, and their enthusiasm and love for each other is what we should all hope to have in our relationships with our fuzzballs.  I know they will be great ambassadors for the human-canine bond.

Taking a step back, I have to say there are a lot of things to love and hate about this first season. I think with a bit of tweaking, this could become a great show for all dog lovers. Look for a future posting talking about changes I’d like to see, if only to get some of your thoughts on the subject as well.

But tonight…Travis and Presley, we at Dogster salute you!!

Woof!! Woof!!

This is a wonderful, and uplifting,  article on the trials and tribulations that go along with rehabilitating rescued fighting pit bulls.  A number of the dogs seized from Michael Vick’s, former football star, dogfighting camp in 2007 went to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary for rehabilitation.

Vick’s former fight dogs live in a facility within Best Friends called Dogtown, and according to Besmehn nearly all have made major improvements since they arrived, both physically and emotionally.

Tonight you can watch Dogtown,  on the National Geographic Channel, as it follows Cherry and Georgia, two of the surviving pit bulls.

Best Friends was criticized earlier this year when it took in the abused pooches.

“Definitely, there were groups that recommended that these dogs be euthanized, that they can’t be rehabbed,” Besmehn said. “For us, we’ve taken challenging dogs on a regular basis. We feel these dogs, at a minimum, deserve a chance. We’ve seen these dogs are doing really well with a little bit of patience. … They can make progress. It takes time.”

The full article is rather long but very inspiring and worth reading in full.   It shows that these dogs shouldn’t arbitrarily be put down for a choice one human made that sealed their fate.  Humans on the other hand…..

This week we had the four remaining teams continue on their quest to become the Greatest American Dog. The week’s theme was loyalty.

You’ll remember that at the end of last week, Galaxy had hurt herself.  The good news is that Galaxy’s injury turned out to be nothing. The following morning she woke up and stopped limping. JD took her to the vet and they gave her a clean bill of health. Awesome news!

This week’s dog bone challenge was a competition where the dog was placed on a small tree stump and told to sit or stand while their owner stood on a tree stump about 20 feet away.  The first dog to sit down or jump off was eliminated.

Teresa and Leroy won when Travis called Presley off the stump after sitting there for over 18 minutes. In the interview afterwards, Travis explained why he conceded by saying  that the challenge was about loyalty. He knew Presley wasn’t comfortable but was being loyal by staying on the stump the whole time. So to show his loyalty to Presley he called him off the stump. Kudos to Travis for doing this.

The best in show challenge was simple. Each dog was placed in a circle with their owner 10 feet away. Each of the other dog owners then had a chance to entice the dog out of the circle.

Laurie and Andrew were first. Let me tell you, Andrew is one loyal dog! With Laurie peering at him, he just sat there as the other three owners jumped around.

Next were Teresa and Leroy. Leroy wanted to chase the ‘toys’ in a bad way. That boy loves to play! It took all of Teresa’s finger pointing, tilting of the head and the constant “ahh, ahh” to keep him in the circle, but she did.

Next up were JD and Galaxy. Galaxy, being the best trained dog on the show, handled the challenge without a problem.

Finally Travis and Presley were up to try their hand. Being the most excitable of all the contestants left,this challenge was clearly the most difficult for them. After staving off the advances of Teresa and Laurie, Presley just couldn’t help bolting towards JD when called. He failed the challenge. Or did he?

The judges had to decide who to let go. The rules would make this simple, no? If the dog leaves the circle, he failed and should therefore be expelled.  Since only one dog failed to stay in the defined area, he’s the one to go. Well, not so fast my friends. The team expelled was Teresa and Leroy. Why? Because, according to the judges, when telling Leroy to stay, she did it in a most threatening way.

So the problem that has plagued the show throughout, reared it’s ugly head again tonight.  Inconsistent judging.

But is it the judges fault? I don’t think so because nobody seems to know what is being judged. Not me, not you and not the judges.

Here’s what I mean. This week’s show was supposed to be about loyalty. Frankly, it was a just a big sit/stay challenge. That’s it. What’s loyal about forcing your dog to sit or stand uncomfortably on a stump? What’s loyal about forcing your dog to stay as he/she is enticed by food, toys and/or encouragement by others? Does it show discipline? Yes. Loyalty? Maybe.

So how do you show loyalty? Personally, I’d say if my dog Bo hangs loose by my grave for more than a week after my passing, that’s loyalty. Any less time than that, and I suspect that will be the case, then I’ll know he was just in it for the treats : )

As always, I enjoy reading all of your thoughts.  Let her rip…

This week’s Greatest American Dog was a study in courage, not only for the dogs but for the owners.

We started out with the dog bone challenge. The simple task for the owners was to keep their pup in a small circle as an elephant came at them. Yeah that’s right, an elephant. I got a kick out of watching little Andrew as 9,000 pounds of pachyderm decscended on him.  He never flinched, not even when the elephant picked up the banana placed in the circle. Presley was the only other dog to pass the challenge by never moving out of the circle of trust.

This lead to a showdown between Andrew and Presley. They were both put in their respective circles while their owners were forced to stand with their backs to the elephant.  The elephant was then told to charge at the group. First dog to stand up…lost.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’d be too keen on having an elephant charge me from behind. Heck, I wouldn’t want one charging me from the front, either. But Laurie and Travis showed their courage. In the end the little guy Andrew, the Maltese, turned out to be the toughest of the bunch. Who’d a thunk it?

Once in the dog-bone suite, we got to see pictures of Laurie’s family and to share an emotional moment with her as she read the loving letter her husband had written her. Ahh, I love seeing the real America on TV!!

The best in show challenge this week consisted of getting the dogs, and owners, through a bit of an obstacle course. It was situated 20 feet off the ground consisting of three parts: Walking up a very steep ramp, a walk over a thin balance beam and then jumping off the platform while attached to a zip line.

JD and Galaxy were first up and knocked it out of the park. No problems at all, and in fact, watching Galaxy’s tail wagging as she was cruising down the zip line was hilarious.

Teresa and Leroy had no issues with the first two parts of the challenge, but when it was time to jump off the platform, Leroy had second thoughts. After a lot of coaxing, Leroy finally jumped.

Bill and Star were next. Bill chose the easier of the two ramps and managed to get through the first two phases without much issue. However, when it was time for Star to jump she failed to do it. I know Meatloaf says two out of three ain’t bad, but ain’t bad may not get it done tonight.

Travis and Presley were next and they managed to get through all three sections of the challenge. They did have issues with the initial sit/stay, but they performed the challenge completely.

Laurie and Andrew were the last to compete. Recipients of the leg up, training with a movie dog trainer, they tackled the challenge . I have to tell you, seeing Andrew going up that ramp was just hilarious. He was like Thomas the Train…I think I can, I think I can…as his feet just pitter pattered along. He made it up the ramp and over the narrow section of the platform without issue. When it came time to jump, our hero just wouldn’t do it.  Seeing this, Laurie cut it short and said they were done.

So who to send home. All the weak players are off the show, and I suspect this is going to get harder to do for the judges each week.

The judging came down to Bill and Star, Laurie and Andrew, and Travis and Presley. Based solely on this week’s challenge, Bill and Star were expelled. I know I was rooting for them so this is a big disappointment, but if I look at it objectively they were the poorest performers of the night.

One are of concern, Galaxy did hurt herself this week. She may have pulled or strained a muscle, but we’re not sure. Let’s all keep our paws crossed and hope she’s all better now.

I know there are a lot of disappointed Bill and Star supporters out there.  Bark away!!

The anticipation for this week’s Greatest American Dog ran high amongst the Hoefinger clan. I don’t know if our dogs were more excited or Lisa and I.

Why the anticipation? It was puppy week!  Let me just say, if you like to see puppies frolicking about, this week did not disappoint. If you like to see two judges go at it, then you were in luck there too.

But first, to the dog bone challenge. Two teams, randomly selected, worked together to free one of the owners in a box. Basically one dog needed to ring a bell and the other dog had to climb into a pit and dig for a release lever.

Star (and Bill) and Presley (and Travis) managed to beat Andrew (and Lori) and Galaxy (and JD) by 12 seconds, doing it in a minute and a half. The last team Leroy (and Teresa) and Bella Starlet (and Beth Joy) failed to complete the competition. Unfortunately, they still released Beth Joy from the box to continue on to the next event.  Hold the mail, I’m just kidding! Read the rest of this entry »

I just received a request asking for your help. Specifically, help from those of you that have had success using holistic treatments for your pets.

I’m a producer for a national morning show out of New York City. We are doing a segment this coming Monday morning on the top holistic treatments and remedies for pets.

We are looking for a personal story of someone who tried acupuncture on their pet and had amazing dramatic results.

If you’re interested in sharing your story, email Dori at dori.kornspan@mikeandjuliet.com. She’ll give you all the details…and maybe, just maybe,  I’ll be seeing you on the show!!

So last night the family sat down for another episode of Greatest American Dog. It produced a few cringe worthy moments, almost making me turn the channel. What can I say, I don’t deal with conflict very well. We’ll get to that shortly.

The dog bone challenge this week was an intelligence test; put some people food behind a wall and see how long it takes the contestants to figure out how to get at it.

It looked like Teresa and Leroy or JD and Galaxy were going to win with times of 15 seconds. Then whaddya know, Bill and Star came on the scene and totally destroyed that number, getting to the food in 8 seconds. Star knows what she likes, and she likes her people food!

Bill, reciprocating Teresa’s kind act of last week, gave her the dog bone suit and the leg up on this week’s Best in Show competition. People being nice to each other, we love to see that. Unfortunately, we weren’t going to see much more of it on this week’s show.

The Best in Show competition was focused on dog painting. Basically the contestants were given a blank canvas and they were tasked with creating a work of art that spoke to the relationship between the owner and their pup. The difficulty? Only the dog could paint the canvas.

All types of methods were crafted to let the inner Pawcaso’s (thanks Beth Joy) out. It ranged from stencils to sponges on feet and backs to peanut butter powered paint rollers. In the end some of the paintings were pretty good, albeit only if viewed through the prism of a six year old’s eyes. But hey, it’s canine’s painting!

So let’s talk about the controversy from last night. When Beth Joy was creating her masterpiece, she put Bella Starlet’s paws into a paint pan. Don’t worry, all paint was canine friendly. It was made apparent that Bella Starlet has issues with anyone touching her front paws and she made a yelping sound. This happened several times, prompting others to look over to see what was going on. From a distance it appeared the dog was being forced to do something it didn’t want to, but I leave that judgement up to Beth Joy who would know better than anyone if this was the case. There’s no doubt she loves Bella Starlet more than anything in the world.

Enter Laura and Preston. I don’t know why they were up against the clock when everyone else seemed to have been done, but their painting wasn’t very good. I forget what it was supposed to represent but it just looked like a few paint cans had been tipped over. Yup, Bo could have done that.

When Laura was pressed on why it was so bad by the judges, she indicated she only worked Preston up to his limit and wasn’t willing to push him past it…unlike others in the competition. Yikes! The judges asked who, and Laura backed the bus over Beth Joy.

Next thing you know, Travis pipes up and supports Beth Joy. Not the greatest move if you’re looking to have a relationship with the accuser. Then, while the judges were making their decision, a confrontation occurred between Beth Joy and Laura. This is the point I wanted to change the channel. This is not why I’m watch the show.

So in the end we had the bottom three…JD and Galaxy, Laurie and Andrew and Laura and Preston. Based on the paintings it wasn’t hard to see who to expel. Bye, bye Laura and Preston.

A couple of highlights from last night, at least for me:

-  Star holding a pretzel in her mouth until Bill finished reading the ingredients on the package to make sure it was OK for her to eat it.

-  There was a quick shot of Leroy on the bed sleeping with his tongue out. Gets me every time.

-  Galaxy showing how good he is at catching frisbees and Presley showing how good he is at attacking doggie beds.

-  The dogs with paint on their faces.

-  Travis admitting he has commitment issues to the judges and then pushing his budding romance with Laura away by siding with Beth Joy.

It was nice to see a bit more dog action than what we’ve seen in the past. Hopefully they’ll concentrate on that more than the human issues going forward.

Hey, next week we get to see puppies in action!!  Puppies on camera!!!  Yeah, can’t wait.

I know you have opinions…let us hear ‘em.

Greatest American Dog continues it’s journey in selecting America’s greatest dog tonight at 8ET/7CT.

Take a break from the Olympics and watch your favorite canines compete for the gold, doggie bone gold to be exact.

Tonight’s competition is focused on painting, and with Michael Phelps busy at the Olympics, it’s anydog’s opportunity to win.

If you want to get to know each of the contestants a little bit better, don’t forget to check out their Dogster page. There’s also a lot happening on the Greatest American Dog Fan Club group, so make sure to check it out

Enjoy the show and we’ll do a recap tomorrow.

Spoiler Alert…West Coasters stop reading until you see the show.

How does it feel American dog lovers? You know what I’m talking about. That’s right, I’m typing about this week’s Greatest American Dog show and the outcome.

After last week’s travesty, the judges did themselves proud this week.  I don’t mean to be, uhmm, mean but everybody’s favorite boo hoo girl was asked to take the last lap. But more on that later.

The show started off with a little competition where the contestants were asked to walk across a thin platform. Unfortunately it wasn’t the human contestants.  At first glance it appeared this could be a dangerous event, but after going back to the videotape I decided the distance from platform to mud was pretty small, plus the beam was carpeted.  It was a blue berber if you really need to know.

Surprisingly only two teams made it across; Teresa and Leroy in 5 seconds and Bill and Star in 16 seconds. In a very sweet move, Teresa gave Bill the Dog Bone Suite even though she won the event. She realized Bill missed his family, and one of the perks of getting the suite is getting to have pictures of your family surround you. It was very nice and touching.

The main contest was for each of the teams to choreograph a dance routine. There were some really cute routines most notably Lori and Andrew’s and Bill and Star’s. On the down side there were some truly embarrassing routines as well. Brandy and Beacon were a train wreck as were Laura and Preston. I thought Beth Joy grabbing Bella Starlet’s paws and walking around with her during the competition should have put them in the bottom three. Is it me or do others think this dancing thing probably goes on in their house every Saturday night?

In the end it was a no brainer because nothing was going to pry the last lap leash out of Brandy’s hand this week.

As far as controversy goes, there really wasn’t anything of note from the judging.

I’m still looking for more interaction with the dogs. Which reminds me…if you haven’t seen the video of the doggie dance routine shown at the bottom of this page, then you’re in for a treat!

Until next week…Stay!

If you don’t see the video, please click here.

Greatest American Dog moved to the Wednesday night time slot and the outcome was a bit controversial.

The dog bone challenge seemed easy enough last night. The owners had to predict if their fuzzy partner would take or leave an item placed on a plate six feet in front of them. This included steaks, sticks and tofu. In the end JD and Galaxy won and Travis and Presley sent to the dog house.

But the excitement in the show didn’t really start until the main event of last night’s show, centering around a one hour photo shoot with a professional animal photographer. The kink in the tail with this challenge was that each contestant had to select a word from a hat (i.e. love, curious, lazy, angry, etc.) that they had to have their prized pet capture on film.

There were some truly clever ideas. My favorite was Andrew peering through the telescope out at the world/universe, however it was Galaxy who won best in show for his portrayal of the word sneaky.

So the show came down to the worst three: Ron and Tillman exhibiting lazy, Brandy and Beacon showing love and Teresa and Leroy displaying the toughest word of the night, angry.

First the Tillman photo. Sure Ron was lazy and didn’t put any thought into his photo shoot, but if there was ever a dog made for the word lazy, it’s Tillman. I thought the picture was adorable and captured the word nicely, but then again I’m pretty lazy myself. The judge’s comment that this was the worst picture of a bulldog ever was totally unwarranted.

Brandy and Beacon had the word love, and I gotta be honest, the picture she chose wasn’t very good. It was Beacon sitting, looking up. If it was the word begging, it may have worked. If it were the words sit or stay it would have worked. But this picture for the word love? Not so much.

Leroy’s picture of an angry dog was marvelous, however let’s talk about the way in which it was obtained. Teresa, his owner, put snarl bands (i.e. a rubber band thingy) around his upper snout to make him look like he was growling. He did not appreciate having this done to him as evidenced by his reaction. This, coupled with the fact Teresa just annoyed the heck out of him throughout the shoot to get him to be angry made it difficult to watch. She did, however, get a great picture out of it.

So who should go? I thought Teresa and Leroy should go. The question I asked myself was, “Does the end justify the means?” In my book the answer is no. In the judges book the answer appears to be yes.

Since the judges were going strictly on the outcome of the pictures then surely Brandy and Beacon would be judged off, right? Not so, they chose Ron and Tillman to take the last lap! Granted, Tillman wasn’t very good at any of the events but he was a blast to watch. I’m certainly going to miss seeing him and his down to earth owner.

I think this was a mistake, but hey I’m just a dog loving blogger. Let’s just hope next week they’re going to let one of the annoying people hit the road. You all know who they are!

Note to the producers of the show: I want to see more dog. Outside of Tillman farting in the pool, was there any non-human action caught on camera? Get in there and re-edit the footage. Bag the human stuff and add the dog stuff. While I’m ranting…we don’t need a ten minute intro recapping everything that happened the previous week.

That said, I’ll still be back next Wednesday to watch more.

I know you have opinions…please keep sharing them below!