Over the weekend I had the chance to get caught up on “Greatest American Dog” episodes I missed. Which was only last week’s show, the personality episode.
Take It or Leave It
The first challenge tested how well the dog owner knew his or her dog. The dogs and owners were put in individual corrals. Various items were set out on a dish in front of them. The owner had to make a call whether or not the dog would take whatever the item was. (With no prompting or cajoling from the owner.)
I thought this challenge would last forever. A couple owners and their dogs got knocked out in round one. Round two saw the rest go, except two. The third round determined the winner. (I thought they’d go through about five or six items before someone would win.)
It was interesting to see what choices the owner’s made –and fun to see if I could pick along with them after getting to know their dogs through the show. There were lots of surprises, not just for me the viewer, but for the owners as well. The dogs definitely did not always do as expected.
Ron and Tillman spring to mind. If my memory serves correctly, the first item was a steak. I thought for sure Tillman would take it. So did Ron. Nope, Tillman walked away.
The next item was a stick. Murph was nuts for sticks when he was younger. Rarely passed one up. He still likes them, but he’s older now. More discerning. He only picks up sticks when he’s in a wild mood. If we’d been in that competition, I’d have had to really gauge his mood in order to predict his reaction.
Top Dog Model
One of last week’s events was a Top Dog Model challenge. I thought this was their hardest challenge yet. It tested the dogs, yes, but even more so the owners.
The owners had to pick a card. On it was a word conveying some emotion. Loving, lazy, curious, joyful, mischievous, suspicious, angry…. Yikes. I did not envy the owners this task.
Especially not Teresa, who resorted to a snarl band, to get Leroy to look angry. I don’t know how anyone would have made that word work, because none of the dogs have angry dispositions to begin with. But especially not Leroy. That dog was sure a good sport getting put through that challenge. I hope Teresa gave him extra hugs and kisses at bedtime that night.
Question to Readers
What would you have done to get the dogs to convey the different emotions?
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