America's Top Dog - General Discussion

[screengem]

According to the A&E site, 

America’s Top Dog will feature four police K-9 teams, including favorites from the A&E’s Live PD, and one civilian team competing in head-to-head challenges on “one of the biggest and toughest” K-9 obstacle courses assembled.

America’s Top Dog premieres Jan. 8 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on A&E.

 

[walnutqueen]

I really loved this show.  It was exciting to watch the dogs run the courses, and interesting to see how the handlers dealt with the challenges.

Even though he was eliminated (I think the handler missed a few scent alerts), I was really impressed with Maker, the border collie "underdog".  He went through that first course like greased lightening!

[gonecrackers]

Maker was amazing first round. Seemed he did well second round too, but his handler didn’t seem to read him well. We were happy for Falco though for the win. 

Fun show - I wonder if they’ll need to change it up a bit here & there to keep it interesting (besides new dogs every time!).

[mlp]

I enjoyed this so much that I watched it twice.  I was especially interested in the nosework because my daughter and her dog compete and have all kinds of titles and ribbons.  I was surprised that the dogs didn't have more obvious alert signals.  I've been to numerous competitions and alerts are usually obvious even to me on the sidelines.  

I always love to watch border collies because they are so smart and energetic.  I think this one and the dog who came in second would do better if their handlers weren't so hyper.  Falco's guy was calm and deliberate so the dog was more focused.  That team deserved to win.

I'm looking forward to next week's show.

 

[Taeolas]

The Collie did great. Maybe because we know where the items are and can see from a different angle, but I think it was more a matter of the handler not recognizing the alerts. As the announcers pointed out, the time pressure may have been making the handler miss the signs. 

It's a shame since I'm pretty sure that collie would have gone through the dog house like greased lightning. (His handler on the other hand would probably still be trapped in the spider web)

 

Remember, as some cross promotions, the Top Dog winner was on the special Live PD ep after the Top Dog episode (they're doing it again next week). The winner seems to  be a bit hyper and excitable. Good thing he had his ball to play with; but I loved the interactions with the hosts. 

[JTMacc99]

17 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

I really loved this show.  It was exciting to watch the dogs run the courses, and interesting to see how the handlers dealt with the challenges.

Even though he was eliminated (I think the handler missed a few scent alerts), I was really impressed with Maker, the border collie "underdog".  He went through that first course like greased lightening!

That was the moment where I realized how important "handler training" would be in this competition. The dog was pretty great, but the handler was not in the same league as the guys who work K-9 for a living. The border collie was just staring right at the vase. Heh. 

When I got my new puppy a few months ago, my brother said to me, "get a German Shepard." And I said to him, "I don't want a dog that's smarter than me." Border Collie, same problem. 

[walnutqueen]

59 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

That was the moment where I realized how important "handler training" would be in this competition. The dog was pretty great, but the handler was not in the same league as the guys who work K-9 for a living. The border collie was just staring right at the vase. Heh. 

When I got my new puppy a few months ago, my brother said to me, "get a German Shepard." And I said to him, "I don't want a dog that's smarter than me." Border Collie, same problem. 

I can't wait to read about how your new pup outsmarted you when you post about it over on the Pets forum!   ;~)

If you've never seen the episode, you simply MUST watch the first 15 minutes of NOVA ScienceNOW  about dog intelligence, and meet Chaser - the most incredible border collie ever.  Apparently, the gene associated with cognition in humans is also found in dogs, and shows strong selective breeding in border collies.  

Here's a link to one of my favorite shows of all time:

https://www.pbs.org/video/nova-sciencenow-how-smart-are-dogs/

[gonecrackers]

3 hours ago, Taeolas said:

It's a shame since I'm pretty sure that collie would have gone through the dog house like greased lightning. (His handler on the other hand would probably still be trapped in the spider web)

LOL - yeah that & the crawl through would've been tough for the handler. I did feel bad for Maker because he was way ahead of the guy.

3 hours ago, Taeolas said:

Remember, as some cross promotions, the Top Dog winner was on the special Live PD ep after the Top Dog episode (they're doing it again next week). The winner seems to  be a bit hyper and excitable. Good thing he had his ball to play with; but I loved the interactions with the hosts. 

I DVDr'd & can't wait to watch this. From what I've read Dan was about ready to lose a finger trying to get Falco to like him!

Most every year we go to watch a demonstration of border collie's doing sheep herding. I hadn't realized there are competitions for this as well. The dogs always impress & look like they're having fun.

A friend of mine who has done rescue, etc, says border collies are insane unless you keep them busy. They're just too smart & must have a job.

[JTMacc99]

1 hour ago, walnutqueen said:

I can't wait to read about how your new pup outsmarted you when you post about it over on the Pets forum!   ;~)

Will do! Although at this point, I'm not terribly concerned that Norman is going to be smarter than me. He's a smart, trainable, and well balanced dog, but problem solving is not going to go on his resume as a strength. I doubt we'll see any golden retrievers on this show. They'd do great in the smell stuff, but terrible elsewhere. 

 

 

[Taeolas]

47 minutes ago, gonecrackers said:

I DVDr'd & can't wait to watch this. From what I've read Dan was about ready to lose a finger trying to get Falco to like him!

 

 

About the LivePD parts:

Spoiler

At one point Falco dropped his ball and Dan fetched it for him. Dan offered the ball but was still gripping it and Falco ripped it from his hand in a blink of an eye, making Dan jump back in surprise. 

They cut to commercial break, and came back with Dan's hand wrapped up. Dan said "don't worry Live Rescue was just here.... " Then he unwrapped his hand and said he was just kidding. 

 

So yeah, they had a great time with Falco, but Falco is clearly a dog that wants to be doing stuff. Just sitting in studio gnawing on a ball or bone isn't enough for him like the other dogs they've often had on. 

 

His handler did say not to touch Falco, and Dan did his best to follow that, though clearly he did want to give Falco some pats and scratches. 

 

[gonecrackers]

26 minutes ago, Taeolas said:

 

About the LivePD parts:

  Reveal spoiler

At one point Falco dropped his ball and Dan fetched it for him. Dan offered the ball but was still gripping it and Falco ripped it from his hand in a blink of an eye, making Dan jump back in surprise. 

They cut to commercial break, and came back with Dan's hand wrapped up. Dan said "don't worry Live Rescue was just here.... " Then he unwrapped his hand and said he was just kidding. 

 

So yeah, they had a great time with Falco, but Falco is clearly a dog that wants to be doing stuff. Just sitting in studio gnawing on a ball or bone isn't enough for him like the other dogs they've often had on. 

 

His handler did say not to touch Falco, and Dan did his best to follow that, though clearly he did want to give Falco some pats and scratches. 

 

I like spoilers, so thanks!

The few K9's I've seen so far in studio were approachable, so surprised about the warning not to touch Falco.

[walnutqueen]

2 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

I doubt we'll see any golden retrievers on this show. They'd do great in the smell stuff, but terrible elsewhere. 

Yes, but they can DANCE, DANCE, DANCE!!! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqbVbPvlDoM

I used to work in City government, and our facility was used to train K-9s in our area.  My office was often used after hours/weekends to scent train, and the scratch marks on my steel office door looked like a grizzly tried to get into a cabin (my office was in a huge garage, hence the steel doors).  All our City K-9s loved me because they were allowed to say hi & play when their handlers came to get fuel.  The difference between the fierce working mode and down time was amazing - they turned into total mush puppies (well, with me they did - I think it was the familiar smell and my lack of fear).

[mlp]

5 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

That was the moment where I realized how important "handler training" would be in this competition. The dog was pretty great, but the handler was not in the same league as the guys who work K-9 for a living. The border collie was just staring right at the vase. Heh. 

 

Absolutely.  The border collie was great but the handler didn't pick up on the signal.  Scent training usually begins with a bunch of boxes on the floor with the "hide" in one of them.  The dog is trained to do something like sit down to indicate he found it.  My daughter's dog just naturally put his paw on the right box so that's what she went with.  It's an easy signal to pick up even when the hide is not on the floor.

5 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

And I said to him, "I don't want a dog that's smarter than me." Border Collie, same problem. 

LOL  My daughter says the same thing.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Spoiler

Bear from tonight is so funny, he's chewing on his chew toy, and making this awful noise, and Dan Abrams looks worried.   Actually, Bear still makes that noise when he's just relaxing, and Dan's petting him.  

Dan said he has PTSD from the dog that won last week that ripped the ball out of his hand when Dan went to hand it back to him (Falco?)   .  

Edited January 16, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[walnutqueen]

Another thrilling episode, and an almost photo finish.  I didn't think Bear was going to beat the time, but his quick release and callback gave him the extra few seconds for the win.

I floved hearing about the Doberman K-9 visiting kids in hospitals.  

[mlp]

16 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Bear from tonight is so funny, he's chewing on his chew toy, and making this awful noise,

That was the oddest noise.  He sounded like he was in distress but he must just do that as the handler didn't seem a bit concerned.

I am loving this show and wish it was going to be on more than a few weeks.  The teamwork between dog and human is fascinating.  Once again, the calmer and more deliberate handlers prevailed.  I was very impressed by how quickly Bear and his handler cleared the scentwork rooms.  

The dog who came in second (forgot his name) really wanted a piece of the "criminal" he took down.  He was totally focused on him even after he was called off until, I assume, the guy was out of sight.  

One of the losing handlers dragged over a ramp for the dog to clear a jump.  I didn't hear any comments about why that was allowed.  I'm still wondering how that works.

[Taeolas]

I haven't watched last nights ep yet; but in the first ep, they did make a comment that after 30 seconds or so, a handler is allowed to aid the dog if needed to clear the obstacle. I'm sure the specifics of the aid and what they can and can't do are told to the contestants ahead of time in much more detail than the quick comments we get. 

[gonecrackers]

Was fun to see it so close this time. I wonder if the little underdog next week can keep up - they do well but don't seem to be a match for these police dogs. The scent tracking part is killing it for them so far, & understandably, as they don't do that for a living!

[Hooper]

I wonder if the contestants know in advance what the different parts of the competition will require.  I was surprised that most of the dogs, including the professionals, were so reluctant to go into water.  If I had entered a competition that I knew would require the dog to swim, I'd make sure my dog was willing to jump into water before I entered.  Of course, dogs are only human, and so sometimes they just don't do something on a given day of competition that they've done flawlessly many time in the past (ask me how I know this  ;-}  ).  But still, it was three dogs who totally balked at going into the water in this episode. 

I didn't see the beginning of the first episode, but in this episode the bully "underdog" really acted like he had no training at all for the scent detection part.  Again, been there.... sigh.  But the locker room search was really the only room that was particularly challenging for a dog that's been trained to do that sort of work.  Dogs that have been trained to do scent detection by people who just train as a hobby do more complicated room searches at intermediate levels of competition, so it's not like the underdog needed to be trained to a level of doing it for a living.  I kind of wonder if the "underdog" trainers are attracted to the more macho aspects of running obstacle courses and apprehending "perps", and don't really realize that efficient methodical scent detection is going to be a big part of the competition.

[Hooper]

Boy Howdy, I hope Minion's "suspect" in the final round was wearing a cup.

Also, Minion's handler really showcased the value of the handler not letting the time pressure get to her, and just trusting her dog in the scent challenge.  They did an awesome job throughout the competition, but I especially loved how much more she just stepped back and let her dog work the rooms than the pros did during the scent detection. 

 

[JTMacc99]

7 hours ago, Hooper said:

Minion's handler really showcased the value of the handler not letting the time pressure get to her,

I agree. Team Minion was a great example of teamwork. 

[mlp]

I didn't have a chance to watch this until tonight.  Mighty Minion didn't let his size hinder him at all.  I got a huge kick out of the way he absolutely relished yanking on the balls to bring the ramps down.  He and his handler were a great team.

I was talking to my daughter after the last episode and she pointed out something I hadn't noticed until she mentioned it.  For the Doghouse section, the handlers know before they start that they have to take the hide to the station where the light is.  Therefore, unlike actual nosework trials, there is no reason for the dogs to check out the furniture and things like electrical outlets.  The hide has to be in something the handler can pick up.  That should narrow things down a lot.  It hasn't looked like most of the handlers have thought of that.  The need for speed and some handlers being hyper doesn't help either.  My daughter's dog is very good at finding the hide but he's not fast.  If she were pushing him and acting all agitated, he'd probably screw up too.  

I'd like to know what the rule is with regard to handlers opening drawers and such.  A couple of them have done that and nothing was said.  In a real nosework trial, handlers can't touch or move things.  It's OK if the dog does so but not the person.  In real life, I'm sure cops open doors and drawers all the time so maybe it's fine for this show.

[Hooper]

Heh, I hadn't even thought about the fact that the scented article has to be portable, but that definitely should change the handlers' strategy for doing the search.  Great observation by mlp jr.

[gonecrackers]

Posted on the LivePD board what a great win that was for Mattis - a truly good boi - & wow he is huge! 

[mlp]

Obviously, I haven't seen all the groups yet but, as of now, my money is on Mattis to win it all.  What a great dog!  I really liked his handler too.  I also liked the woman who came in second.  She was laughing and clapping for Mattis who clearly deserved to win.  Good sportsmanship all around.  

My daughter talked to someone she knows who has applied to the show and has already got a call back for an interview.  That means they're planning a second season.  Hurray!  

 

[gonecrackers]

Was really happy for the winner, but as an autism mom would've loved to have seen hero Capo win. He'll always be a huge winner for that child & the parents though.

[mlp]

I've liked all the dogs and all the handlers so far but I'm still hoping that Mattis takes the big win.  I've watched every episode at least twice, once for the overall performance and again to notice details.  The time these teams spend training is impressive and the dog-human bond is even more so.  I'm going to be really sorry when this first season comes to an end.

 

[Hooper]

I noticed that two of the dogs were searching for "human scent" in the scent challenge this week.  Neither dog did particularly well on that.  I wish the narrators would have given a bit more explanation of what exactly the dogs were searching for if their target was "human scent".  The entire room would have been filled with "human scent" from the production crew entering the room, and setting things up, and from the scent from the previous contestants being in the room and handling stuff.  So the dogs weren't searching for just general human scent,  they were searching for the scent of one specific human out of probably a dozen other human scents wafting about.  Dogs can be taught to do that, but that's a much higher level skill than sniffing out weed, and I  think that put the "human scent" dogs at a huge disadvantage.  If I recall correctly, the two dogs that searched for "human scent" were used for tracking.  Following a human scent trail on the ground is a very different skill than searching a  room full of scent from various humans, and I wonder if either one really had much experience in room searches. 

 

[mlp]

I had exactly the same thoughts, Hooper.  I'd like to know myself.  I'd also like to know what it was about the pillows that attracted/distracted a couple of the dogs.  

The team that won all three challenges was quite impressive.   Django (sp.?) is going to give the other finalists a real run for their money.

 

[Taeolas]

The second "human scent" team they did go into a bit more details; it's a particular sweat smell or something they are after, as opposed to the generic human-smells that they are after. 

[Hooper]

Yeah, I heard them say that, but I'd still like more info.  Every human sweats.  Especially under hot bright lights.  Especially under the stress of competition.  So, I still don't understand how the dog was supposed to distinguish the planted scent from the scent of the handlers who had just been in the room picking up cushions and other objects.  In competition, the dogs have to find the article scented with their handler's scent that is then hidden from view.  So the dog has been trained to find that one particular human scent.  And this is considered a more advanced level than dogs looking for other types of non-human scents, and has a far lower success rate.  So, at the very least, I think the dogs searching for the human scent were at a real disadvantage.  It was the handler's choice, so perfectly fair in that sense, but still, I think the handlers would have been better off to spend a few weeks training their dog to find peppermint or cinnamon or something like that before the competition.

[gonecrackers]

Just want to give a shout out to Kai for breaking records on this show - was so impressed & it was the most fun show yet for us to watch. 😊

[mlp]

I was beginning to think I was the only person watching this.  🙂  LOVE this show.  I was very impressed with Kai.  That team looks like a shoo-in for the finals and a good bet to win the whole thing.  I won't be at all surprised if the final two dogs are Kai and Mattis although I haven't seen the rest of the entrants so there may be another great dog waiting in the wings.  I loved Minion but I don't see how that little guy could possibly beat Kai.

[Hooper]

Yes, Kai was a real standout, and I was really impressed that two dogs found all five scents in the allotted time.  I actually thought the underdog had a chance at it too, but it appeared that the handler missed some cues.  Of course it's much easier to see those cues when the camera is focused on just the dog and the scented item, and the other instances of the dog sniffing at other stuff that isn't the scented item is edited out.  

As a certified (and certifiable!) dog competition nerd, I'm enjoying this show.  But it's like fingernails on a chalk board every time I hear the one commentator's canned intro to the Bone Yard as being the toughest scenting test in the world.   I participate in scent work competitions at the most basic beginner level and am by no means an expert.  But I've helped at tests several times and I've read the rule books for a couple different organizations.  At best it's a very subjective statement to declare that the Bone Yard is the single toughest test.  The tight time limit is definitely challenging - I don't dispute that.  But at the higher levels of competition for a bunch of people who do this strictly as a hobby, there are several things that I think are tougher than the Bone Yard.  As was pointed out earlier, in this test the handlers know the scent is on an object they can easily pick up and carry.  In the "just a hobby" competitions, the scent is typically a cue tip that can be hidden anywhere in the search area - on the underside of a table, behind an electrical outlet plate, in a space between the refrigerator and the wall, behind the vent of a heating duct... In outdoor searches it can be hidden in pipes, in all sorts of devious hiding places in a kid's play ground, under a picnic table bench with all the associated food smells...  And the more advanced searches require that there be specific distractions in the search area, including food and toys (including those tennis balls that the one commentator is always blathering about malinois having such a high drive for).  And, if the handler declares that the dog has alerted on something that isn't actually where the scent is hidden, they don't just lose time and try again - they are eliminated.  And, in the most advanced levels, the handler doesn't even know how many scents they are looking for - if the handler declares that they've found all the "hides" in an area before they've all actually been located, they are eliminated. If the team runs out of time before the handler declares they are finished, they are eliminated even if they did actually locate all the hides:  the handler has to not only see the dog's alerts, but also be confident enough in the dog's ability to declare when they are done, without actually knowing how many hides they are looking for.   So, I'm not trying to take anything away from the ATD competitors. But it's just silly to declare that this is the world's toughest scent detection test like that's some sort of objective fact.  The work these teams do is plenty amazing without adding a bunch of overblown hype.

[Taeolas]

Terms like "Toughest course ever" and pretty much anything the colour commentators say is basically just puffery, meant to fill time and amp up excitement. (And that applies to ANY competition show you see on TV) But it should never be believed unless you see it explicitly (and even then you can have doubts). The best thing to do is just enjoy the ride and tune out most of what they say and watch the dogs and handlers run the course. 

 

A few weeks ago, we saw a quick run from Mattis I think it was? and everyone was saying he was a cinch to win. Now we saw Kai blow everyone out of the water, and I'd dare say he is the one to beat. The final face off between them will be epic I'm sure. 

Anyone know how many eps there will be in total? We're at 8 now and still have a final run with all the winners. Since they start with 5, that's too many for one ep. Is it going to be 10 maybe and a 2 episode finals run? 

[Hooper]

Quote

The best thing to do is just enjoy the ride and tune out most of what they (the color commentators) say and watch the dogs and handlers run the course. 

You are absolutely correct of course.   My skills at mentally covering my ears and going "LA LA LA LA I can't hear you" while the commentators are spouting nonsense is pretty rusty because I don't generally watch these sorts of competition shows.  But the show is about the teams, not the white noise in the background. 

I'm really looking forward to seeing what sorts of new and different challenges they come up with for the finals.   I'd love to see them have the dogs follow a human track through a maze, or locate a  person hiding in some brush or something like that. 

[mlp]

I agree with all you said in your long post above, Hooper.  My daughter and her dog compete in nosework and she also often helps at trials as a judge's assistant (forgot the proper term) so I've heard a lot about scent trials plus I've attended quite a few as a spectator.  I concur that the Boneyard isn't as tough as an advanced nosework trial.  I also think that having a giant maze is for visual effect on TV and sort of silly.  It has nothing to do with scent detection and just adds to the handler's anxiety which most certainly affects the dog.

I don't mind the commentators at all.  In fact, I like all three of them.  Their comments may not be profound but they're making a TV show.  They have to say something.  They seem to be genuinely enjoying the competition too.  

[Hooper]

Aww.  I really liked the catahoula underdog.  But I don't think she'd had much training at all in scent detection.  She may be a great tracker, but that's a very different skill than locating the source of a specific scent.  I'd have loved to see what she would have done apprehending the "suspect" but I have a hard time picturing her handler making it through the obstacles in the "Doghouse".

[mlp]

The woman handling the catahoula underdog didn't seem to be in any hurry.  I think she was just there for the experience and didn't really expect to win.  

I liked the young team who won but, overall, I think this might have been the weakest group yet even though two teams found all 5 objects in the nosework section.  

I had a feeling from some comment at the end that next week might be the semi-finals but I don't think they've actually said how many more episodes there will be.  

[Taeolas]

The advertisements during LivePD and LiveRescue have been screaming "Three episodes left". This was the first of those 3, so we have 2 more to go. Since they have more than 5 finalists, that does mean we're looking at probably a double long episode or some form of elimination semifinal before the last episode. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

This Wednesday, the 18th, is the finale, and it's 90 minutes long.    

[Hooper]

All the teams were fantastic tonight, but Kai really dominated all the rounds.

Adding the blank room to the scent search really upped the difficulty.  Even though only one (I think) team spent any time in the blank room, it still had to increase the pressure in all the rooms a lot to always be wondering whether to continue to search a room or move on. 

That swaying plank between ducts was FIERCE.  I might have gotten a little sniffly seeing Kai keep struggling to ultimately complete it.  Who's a good boi?!

I'm gonna miss this show, and just when we need all the in home entertainment we can get.

[mlp]

That turned out just the way I expected with Kai and Mattis in the finals.  Kai is a fabulous dog and deserved to win but I really, really liked Mattis' handler so I was rooting for him too.  Mattis is also a great dog so I'm happy that all the winners of the preliminary rounds got something rather than having to walk away empty handed after all their time and effort and I liked that the show was donating money to each winner's dog "charity."

I'm already looking forward to the next season.  I'm glad I taped and saved most of the episodes so I can watch them again a few more times.  🙂

 

 

 

 

[gonecrackers]

I hated that stupid bridge, & it seems they don't warn them about what they'll be facing so they can at least have the dog not be fearful of it. I swear I heard at least 2 of the 3 crying trying to do that & felt terrible for them.

Minion is a little dynamo!  Loved watching that little guy & his stamina in the face of a course not built for his size. It's great he made the finals & was a respectable civilian opponent for the police K9s, which says a lot about him!

Kai was fantastic!!  Nice moment when his handler reached out to Mattis's handler, who reached back - cool connection between competing K9 handlers there.

Nice season & we're looking forward to the next one.

Edited March 19, 2020 by gonecrackers

[gonecrackers]

One thing I think they should do differently next time is not have so many episodes & winners,  that way no one gets dropped for lack of time & they all get to compete in the finals.

[Taeolas]

They'll probably wait until next year to make the call, but I really hope Season 2 doesn't get caught in the LivePD cancellation net. Hopefully by next spring or whenever they start casting for contestants, things will have settled down enough that they can do another season of this. 

[Hooper]

Well, there's also the filming a show while under quarantine net.  But one way that they could do the show that would avoid being associated with scenes of cops beating people is to make America's Top Dog less focused specifically on law enforcement.  Except for the bit of bite work at the very end, really there's nothing that the dogs do on ATD that isn't being done by a bajillion agility and scentwork/nosework and dock diving competitors.  The law enforcement dogs did better in this particular show because the obstacles were geared specifically toward what law enforcement dogs do, but replace the four and five foot high jumps with a broad jump, some "traps" like they use in agility competition, and replace pulling ramps down by grabbing a tennis ball with a directed retrieve, and the courses would be equally challenging, but less geared toward a few specific breeds trained for one specific profession.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

A & E starts the second season, on Tuesday June 29.    There will be head-to-head competitions, on a new course.  

Edited May 18, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[CrazyInAlabama]

They have two new episodes tonight.    The obstacles are very different.    The format is with two dogs doing the same obstacle course, and the winner on time advances.    

[mlp]

I've been hoping for a second season of this show since the first one ended and looking forward to this season since I first heard about it but I was a bit disappointed.  I loved the structure of the show last year and the hosting team not to mention all the police dogs.  I really like Curt Menefee so I'm very glad he's back but I don't understand why they have some comedian I never heard of who is clearly not a dog person and a woman who thinks she's funny and is more about promoting herself than the dogs/handlers.  If they couldn't get last year's dog trainer (Nick?) again for some reason, I'm sure they could have found someone from the dog world instead of the comedian.  Ditto the woman.  I wish they'd got someone like Loretta from Hope for Paws who spends her life rescuing dogs.  I saw her on a dog show a couple years ago and she had a natural empathy with the dogs and owners and wasn't in any way promoting herself.  And she's an attractive blonde and looks good on TV.

I'm not sure what I think about the format.  The Doghouse seems too frantic and I hate the zip line.  That must have been some producer's idea of audience appeal because it demonstrates nothing about a dog's skills and abilities.  Also, the "tug" at the end of the water obstacle looks nothing like a tug a dog would recognize or be trained to bite.  It's no wonder that many of the dogs didn't understand what to do.