When was the last time you heard someone say their profession was mining for gold? It’s been awhile since the gold rush but America’s Toughest Jobs is bringing it back! The crew remained in Alaska this week, returning to Anchorage for their mining ordeal. With their bosses in tow the 11 remaining workers hiked to gold mining central: the creek. At the job site the crew was taught how to both pan for gold as well as drudge. Their first day was all about panning the good old fashioned way.

For the first three or so hours nobody was hitting any gold. The bosses said they weren’t necessarily looking at how much gold they found but how well they worked individually and as a team. After a few hours of no luck Sandy, once again, stepped up the game by finding a chunk! Rick and Michaela followed shortly there after and everyone was on the gold rush bandwagon. Although everyone found SOME gold, others were just not getting it. The boss couldn’t believe how some of the crew, especially Ben and Phil, were just sloshing the pans around. They felt after a full day of panning they should have got the hang of things but apparently its harder than it looks. Phil, who was lacking in the gold department, got knocked down another knock by actually getting knocked down. While crossing the creek (a big no no) Phil took a tumble and could have been washed away in the frigid water. Luckily only his bucket got washed away and he came out with only  a cold.

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When was the last time you actually saw a dog flying on prime time television? Well tonight that very event happened as three of the five remaining pooches on Greatest American Dog took flight. Following Beth Joy’s elimination last week, the remaining five took some time to reflect on her time in the house. Everyone agreed she was a bit loopy but also said they would miss that from her. Laurie also made an interesting comment, saying how she believe everything she said. It was fun having Beth Joy and Bella Starlet around, the show just wasn’t the same without the two.

Before the Dog Bone challenge began Laurie reminded us that her Andrew was the last small dog in the competition. She also realized that could be held against him, since most of the challenges are situated for larger dogs it seems. Travis was also having a realization of his own and that’s how much Presley has grown since starting the show. He looked up to Bill, who was teaching him how to be a trainer. I do see the transformation in Presley though as he was learning everything from scratch during the competition. The two have grown in terms of skill since the beginning and I think they have Bill to thank for a lot of that.

Out in the backyard it was time for the Dog Bone challenge. Out came a huge 9,000 African elephant to surprise all of the owners and especially the dogs. I think all five of them barked and reacted to the enormous animal entering the yard and it didn’t look good for the challenge. What the dogs had to do was sit in a circle while the elephant walked towards them, sounded it’s trunk and then reached for a banana. The dog that didn’t move while the elephant was coming towards them would win the Dog Bone challenge and leg up in the next elimination.

Bill and Star were up first I believe and although Star sat for awhile, the elephant was too intimidating and scared her off. Laurie was up next and was eager to win. She didn’t even have to coach Andrew to sit while the elephant was coming and she moved on to the tie breaker. Teresa’s Leroy was jumpy during the entrance of the elephant and that didn’t end here as Leroy was out during the elephants noise. Galaxy surprisingly got out of the challenge as well, even though JD once again pumped her up saying Galaxy has been around more strange animals then any other dog there. Travis and Presley were up last and Travis used his skills that he learned at the house to coach Presley into staying in the circle the entire time.

This put a tie breaker challenge between Laurie/Andrew and Travis/Presley. The first dog to lift it’s butt off the ground would be out as the elephant charged at the two. Both did very well and lasted long, but Presley lifted up right as the elephant got to the two dogs. That gave Laurie and Andrew their first Dog Bone win and put them into the Dog Bone suite! It was nice to see Laurie get a taste of home as she was the only one yet to win. It’s obvious that she is close to her family and also very close to Andrew. There were MANY pictures of the two hanging in the suite along with a letter from home which Laurie read in private.

Thanks to the Dog Bone challenge win, Laurie also got a leg up in the Showcase challenge. What the dogs had to do were several stunts. The first was climbing a steep incline followed by running across a balance beam suspended high in the air. The last stunt had the dogs gliding down the zip line into their owners arms. During the challenge all the dogs did well with only two not being able to glide down the zip line. JD and Galaxy were chosen as Best in Show as they easily finished the course and JD’s coaching was praised by the judges. Sadly Galaxy was hurt it seems during the challenge and it may hinder their performance next week and possibly remove them from the game. The only other team to be safe this week were Teresa and Leroy. Although Leroy wouldn’t stop barking and stopped rather long before jumping with the zip line, his trust in Teresa impressed the judges and saved them for one more week.

Since the show is at its final five it is going to be sad to see anyone leave from here on out. All the dogs are amazing as well as their owners. In the bottom three this week were Travis and Presley. Although Presley quickly finished the course, he wasn’t being controlled well by Travis. The judges didn’t like that Travis hyped Presley up so much then tried to make him stop and weight. Laurie and Andrew were also in the bottom three simply because Andrew didn’t jump from into the zip line. Although Laurie had the leg up, the zip line really wasn’t tested during any of the practice runs and that’s why they were up for elimination. Sadly it was Bill and Star who were chosen to be expelled this week. Since Bill gave Star the easy route on the course and she didn’t jump into the zip line, the judges felt they had the worst performance. Like I said getting down to so few numbers, it will be hard to see any of them go and this time it was the hardest of them all! Bill and Star did amazing on the show and hopefully there is a reunion so we can see the duo shine once again!

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