Is it kind of sad that the two judges have fought more on The Greatest American Dog then the actual contestants on the show? Before we get to that though let’s talk about the rest of the show. Following the arguement between Beth Joy and Laura, Travis was the man of the hour. He stood up for Beth Joy when his gal pal Laura put her down and Beth Joy loved him for it. Her dog Bella Starlet did not share the love though as the next morning she nipped at Travis, upsetting Beth Joy. She cried and cried about how her dog isn’t mean and how she never does this. Travis once again was there to comfort Beth Joy and let her know its only because she’s stressed. I don’t think he understands this is a game, Beth Joy freaking out like that is GOOD for him.

Before the Dog Bone challenge the gang was having a discussion about techniques used to train their dogs. Laurie and JD seemed to disagree a bit as Laurie felt more kinder and rewarding techniques were better then “medieval” and harsher techniques that JD uses. JD stood up for how he trains his dogs though and it does show as Galaxy is one of the best in the competition but Laurie also stood her ground, stating that she’d always take her dog Andrew over Galaxy any day.

At the Dog Bone competition it was all about teamwork. The six were split into three teams of two being Bill/Travis, Beth Joy/Teresa and feuding rivals Laurie/JD. What the pairs had to do was have one person controlling the dogs and the other laying in a box under a giant digging zone. The first dog would have to ring a bell, followed by the other dog digging for a rope and pulling it. Laurie and JD were up first with JD in the box since Laurie didn’t want JD using his aggressive techniques on poor little Andrew. They worked well together as Laurie controlled her own dog plus Galaxy in a very quick time of 1.45 minutes.

The next team to go was Bill and Travis. With Travis in the box, Bill had Star easily hit the bell and had Presley rushing up the path to dig for Travis. After a small error of Presley running away, the digging was well on its way and Travis was quickly released in a winning time of 1.35 seconds. Although we know Travis and Bill won we still have to look at Beth Joy and Teresa who did horribly. The reason they lost was because Bella Starlet barked rather then digging since Beth Joy was in the box. Teresa had no control over Bella and since she snapped earlier she was too scared to try.

When it came time to reveal the winner Bill and Travis were surprised that they would also win a call from home. Travis talked to his mother and was almost in tears the entire time while Bill held it together until the very end. He has been missing his family for awhile now and it was nice to see the two outside the element of the game. They also got a great leg up for the Best in Show challenge as they got to acclimate their dogs to golden retriever puppies. Presley took to them easily, being a puppy himself but Star had some trouble since she was scared to death of the dogs! Although the two knew the twist to the challenge they didn’t tell any of the others, making them a bit upset and wary of how truthful they really are.

At the Best in Show it was all about moving the dogs, and the puppies in tow, through a maze. Teresa with Leroy did the best out of everyone, getting the puppies through the maze on the first try. Leroy did so well, waiting for the puppies and all, that the judges granted him and Teresa Best in Show. The other two who were safe were Laurie with Andrew and JD and Galaxy. Although Andrew only led one puppy through the maze, the judges loved Laurie’s coaxing and realized she did a great job overall. JD did most of the work for Galaxy, forcing her to stop every so often, which led all three puppies through but caused a rift in the two female judges. The younger female judge was happy for JD since he did so well but the older female judge hated his techniques. This left the two basically in the middle of a cat fight right in front of the cameras! It was crazy to see the two go at it but they quickly resolved their differences after the commercial break. If only every fight could end that way!

Back in the Best in Show arena it was time to name the bottom three. The judges put Travis and Presley there for not moving any of the three puppies through and Presley being too hyper and fast to even try. Bill and Star were in the bottom for their first time and there is a good reason. During the third run through, Star sat down as if to say “I’m done” but Bill kept pushing her and pushing her. The judges felt it was too much for Star and Bill just wouldn’t give in. Last but not least is Beth Joy and Bella Starlet who didn’t make it to the end of the maze once and moved no puppies through. The judges felt Bella didn’t care about the puppies but rather just about getting out. The pair has had a hard journey throughout the show and it was only a matter of time before they left. I’m glad Beth Joy left on a high note, for once, and she will be missed as she added a bit of crazy to the show!

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Following last weeks Greatest American Dog we returned to the house with drama, drama and more drama. Last week Beth Joy was told that her dog shouldn’t be wearing a dress and she also mentioned that Laurie put “top knots” on her dog. Laurie came back when the judges left and argued that top knots aren’t anything close to a dress and it set Beth Joy off so much that she just had to leave.

The next morning everyone was spending time in the pool and was scared to death when David left Elvis off of his leash. Nobody, except for Laurie, felt safe with Elvis around their dogs since last week he attacked Tillman. Luckily Laurie’s dog Andrew felt calm around Elvis and played, which he normally doesn’t do. It was interesting to see Laurie’s way of handling Andrew and hopefully it will rub off a bit on David and Elvis.

Later that day the pairs were told that the weeks theme was teamwork. They were randomly paired up and the teams were Laurie/Bill, JD/David, Teresa/Beth Joy, Travis/Brandy and Ron/Laura. What the teams had to do was untie several knots using their dog. They could only use their voices to command their dog and couldn’t touch them at all. The winning pair would win the Dog Bone challenge and share the lavish bedroom. While most of the teams worked well together, JD and David had trouble thanks to David’s dog Elvis. Pairing the two together is rather interesting since JD is a pro at training dogs while David is obviously not. Laurie and Bill seemed the complete opposite while they worked extremely well together and were as calm as could be. For Travis and Brandy things weren’t looking too good. Brandy screamed for a “hot dog” several times while Travis took a calmer route, they just couldn’t get things together.

When it came close to the end it was a close finish with Travis/Brandy and Laurie/Bill neck and neck. Travis and Brandy just squeaked it out though, putting Travis in the lavish room for another week and this time sharing it with Brandy. When it came time for the Dog House choice they briefly discussed it and chose Laurie. She asked them for a reason but they wouldn’t give her one. I for one feel they see her as a threat, not only her dog but her as well.

Laurie didn’t take going to the Dog House too well and realized they saw her as a threat. In the lavish room Brandy went kind of insane. I mean she DID win a nice room but you don’t have to be that excited about it. Travis knew people would see him as a threat because of the room and decided to just give it entirely to Brandy. It was a good move on his part and just made Brandy that more annoying.

Knowing he didn’t have many friends in the house, David took Elvis outside to play. He wanted to prove to people that it was safe for Elvis to run free and thankfully he didn’t chew Tillman’s ear of this time. The next day it wasn’t the dogs who were becoming friends but rather their human masters. Travis and Laura became close lately and both love the others dogs. It’s weird to see them getting close though since her dog is the smallest there while Travis’ dog is the largest.

For the Best In Show it was time for some obstacles. Since they won the Dog Bone challenge, Travis and Brandy were team captains and got to choose the teams. For Travis’ team it was himself, Laura, JD, Bill and Beth Joy while on Brandy’s team it was Brandy, Teresa, Rob, David and Laurie. On Brandy’s team they couldn’t really decide on what to do and it seems like Laurie took the lead. On Travis’ team they all felt that their dogs were spread out equally for the given obstacles which seemed like they would be the better of the two.

Back over on Brady’s team they decided to be more entertaining then trained. They didn’t seem to have a great grasp on how the obstacles should be spread out for each dog since well, they didn’t have a good range of dogs. Most were small which meant they had less options for some of the obstacles. Over on Travis’ team they had a premade choice with Galaxy and the frisbee’s. Bill seemed to take the lead by helping Laura and Preston in the tunnels. Of course Bella Starlet sucked at the obstacles since she isn’t anything but a “pretty face” and Beth Joy is really letting her team down.

When it came time for the Best In Show challenge the judges, for once, came outside to watch the obstacle course. After being told someone from the slowest team would be expelled, Travis’ team was up first. Galaxy failed at his specialty and grabbed a frisbee on his second try. Bella Starlet was up next and took longer then expected to jump through the hoops. Travis and Bill quickly led their dogs through their obstacles which meant it was all up to Laura and Preston. Preston had trouble earlier in the tunnel but pulled through this time by pulling through without any problems. It was then time for the final, all dog sled pull and the team worked well together with a time of 2 minutes and 52 seconds.

Brandy’s team was then next and they had much to prove. Teresa’s dog quickly caught the frisbee while Laurie’s dog, Andrew, pulled through the rings much faster then Bells Starlet. When it came to Tillman and pushing the cart he decided to bite it more then push it. Although he finished it quickly it was David and Elvis who held the team up. Although Elvis did well in practice he fell off several times when it mattered and ate up some valuable time. Brandy had little trouble leading Beacon through the tube and the team finished strong with the sled pull. It was a close race so it was hard to know who would bring home the win.

When everyone returned to the Best of Show arena it was revealed that by only a few seconds, Travis’ team pulled through with the win and safety. This means someone from Brandy’s team would be expelled. For Brandy the judges were happy that Beacon pulled through in something she was scared of. Ron had a bit of a beating by saying Tillman lacked a bit while the judges felt Laurie was giving Andrew an advantage by ripping the paper on the ring. For David and Elvis the judge felt Elvis was being smothered and hoped he would let him go on his own a little more. They also felt being on a leash for Elvis was a bad idea and Laurie mentioned that David was the only one on the leash. David spoke up in defense but Laurie let the judges know that Elvis had been biting dogs, and that’s the reason he was on a leash. One judge didn’t like to hear that but obviously it’s a game and they just don’t understand that.

After a few minutes of deliberation the judges decided that Laurie/Andrew, David/Elvis and Ron/Tillman would be the final three. The only returning to the final three was David while Ron and Laurie were newbies to the block. The judges felt that David should learn to be off of the leash while they felt that Ron doesn’t treat Tillman like a teammate. For Laurie they felt she played the game too safe by tearing the paper on the ring. After those comments the pair who was expelled ended up being David and Elvis. It was sad to see the two go as both human and dog were learning so much by being in the game.

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