Episode name is The Big Dig
Oh Oh .. As soon as Travis stands up for Beth Joy at last week’s Best in Show counter to his romantic interest Laura, we are instantly greeted with a snippy Bella Starlet stressed out and nipping at his fingersl This sends Beth Joy into a tizzy hoping that people don’t think she’s a mean dog. “Bella Starlet you have to work through these issues”…. This of course can only mean one thing in the producers storytelling — Bye Bye Bella
This house has a divided conversation on training techniques .. treat bags versus scruff grabs .. the dichotomy of styles has Laurie calling out JD and his heavy handed approach to getting obedience out of his English Pointer Border Collie Mix, Galaxy.
Of course in the first challenge they are conveniently teamed together … do you think the producers view the footage taped in the house to make competitive and programming decisions?
The Dog Bone Challenge is a combination of two dogs one ringing a bell and then the other dog digging to release the owner who is “buried” under wood chips. In the end Bella Starlet fails the challenge completely .. does not do any digging, but according to Beth Joy she was just “calling for help like Lassie” trying to release her owner.
A big payoff is that the winning team of Bill & Travis each get to make a phone call to a loved one. Travis turns immediately into a country momma’s boy .. his accent getting thicker than Kenny Chesney’s as he is talking to his mom.
Old Bill talking to his wife is very sincere and touching and he professes his love. Although it would be great to see him win this competition you know that he will have the reaction of wanting to get home to see his wife.
The Best in Show challenge is the maze with a little extra twist thrown in ..ha .. the leg up for the challenge is the time to acclimate Star and Presley to a batch of golden retriever puppies which they will lead through the maze. In all of the “leg ups” provided over the weeks, this one really IS a big leg up!
During the competition, again JD and Galaxy are super impressive as JD commands Galaxy to sit in order to let the puppies catch up .. and then proceed again to get out of the maze as a pack.
As the rest of the contestants have issues getting this task completed there seemed to be two disadvantages …… a slight disadvantage for the smaller dogs in terms of speed for getting through the maze. The other I think is that each time the puppies went through the excitement of running with a new dog, the seem to be losing interest. Just as I’m thinking this our fearless Host Jarod Miller’s voice over tells us … here are three new puppies in time for Teresa and her Border Collie Leroy who should excel at a competition like this. And he does ..
During the judges review of the events Judge Wendy Diamond exclaims “Move over Cesar Milan” for how well JD and Galaxy did on the maze … but this sparks an actual CAT FIGHT! with Judge Victoria Stillwell who goes into this tirade stating, “any trainer or owner who uses dominance submission methodolgy uses medieval practices” … and many methodologies have been proven regarding training in a positive manner etc etc…
Know how in the world would witnessing the proceedings that she is supposed to be judging initiate a response like that?
Wendy fires off some great one liner comebacks like “it’s your way or the highway” .. “your not the end all be all” .. and the best one “ah get over yourself” …. as the contestants look all embarrassed, but then after the commercial break it’s all lovey dovey a minute later and they are praising each other.
This week we lose Beth Joy and Bella Starlet. “This has been a journey that has been ten years. I never knew what love was until she came into my life. I see the world the way she sees it and it makes things easier in my life” … and with that we are down to five.
