During the last 24 hours, things have just not gone my way. I’ll spare you most of the details, and just pick up with Tillman (pictured with owner Ron) getting eliminated from Greatest American Dog.
This week was all about personality. It should’ve been Tillman’s time, if you consider barfing and farting in the swimming pool "personality," which I do. In canines. But no. First, Tillman whiffed it in the Dog Bone Challenge, which involved the owners predicting whether their dogs would take or leave things set before them. We all saw Tillman drool on the steak in the obedience challenge, so I was as confident as Ron was that Tillman would as least lick Round 1’s piece of steak. He didn’t. (J.D. and English Border Collie Galaxy went on to win the challenge and banished Travis and Presley to the Dog House.)
The Best in Show competition asked the owners to work with their dogs in a photo shoot to produce an image that best represented an adjective they’d randomly selected. Tillman got LAZY. As J.D. proclaimed, "We have a winner!" But no. Ron was lazy and didn’t work with Tillman on his lounging positions, so Tillman could do nothing at the shoot. According to the judges, the shot of Tillman resting his head on the back of the chair was the most boring shot ever taken of a Bull Dog. I wouldn’t go that far, but it was unimaginative and disappointing. Ron and Tillman ended up in the bottom three, along with Brandy and Beacon, and Teresa and Leroy.
After the jump, Brandy is full of crap and Teresa is in deep doodoo with the judges.
So once again, I was hoping it was Brandy’s week to go home. She and Beacon drew the word loving and brought the predictable heart and rose props with them to the shoot. I actually liked the image they ended up using, a shot of Beacon sitting, wearing a rhinestone collar, and looking up adoringly — though I doubt that when the photo was taken, Brandy was consciously trying to capture the idea of a man kneeling and proposing. Please. The only good thing about Brandy staying is that Travis has had enough of her self-absorption and knows how to handle her: She interrupted him trying to commiserate with her about the challenge with a serious "Can we focus on me?"; he came back with a calm "Yeah, let’s do. Might be the last time you’re here." Well done, sir. I just would’ve said something classy like, "You can suck it."
Teresa drew the word angry, which was admittedly one of the more difficult assignments … if your dog is always happy and/or bites when it finally gets pissed. (Hey, don’t get mad at Leroy for going Method.) Teresa’s idea was to anger Leroy by spraying him with something. That failed to get a rise out of him, so she took film producer Laura’s advice and used the movie magic known as "snarl bands." I knew this was a bad idea immediately, and I was right: The judges said it was inhumane. I give Teresa props for not selling Laura out as the provider of the bands, but take them away for her telling the judges that Leroy liked wearing them. (Cut to the replay of Teresa telling Leroy something like, "I know you don’t like these," as she put them on him.) Here’s my question: Doesn’t Leroy play with toys? Why couldn’t she have wound him up with a little match of tug of war, then pulled out of the shot? And if he is always docile, she could’ve gotten creative with props. She could have cut a few toys up into bite-size bits, as if Leroy had destroyed them, then just gotten him to give a serious face. (Me talking about a dog’s "serious face" is no more ridiculous than the judges debating whether Laura’s Pomeranian Preston really looked regal with his head tilting to the side.)
So, who will miss Tillman (he farted on his farewell lap!) and who will miss Ron? (That man was always good for a quote: "I like Bill. He has a good laugh. He puts up with Tillman’s gas. I’d have no problems seeing him win this thing.") Which photo did you like best? (Galaxy’s "sneaky" pose, which will appear in the pages of Dog Fancy, was pretty great. You’ve got to give J.D. that.) How much do you want to slap Brandy? (You’re engaged, lady, let Laura and Travis flirt in the kitchen if they want to!) And um, how inhumane do next week’s challenges look? (Walk your dog across a mini-moat, and make it dance with you? Bite her, Leroy! Bite her!)
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I’ll miss Tillman, but Ron was lazy two weeks in a row. Ron had the easiest emotion and he fumbled it. I love the show’s cameraman giving us, the viewers, an obvious and great shot of “lazy” Tillman asleep as Ron and the photographer discussed pictures.
Brandy needs to GO. She’s annoying, catty, self-centered, and childish. I feel so sorry for her poor dog. (Not so much her fiance–he has a choice. The poor dog doesn’t.) Anyone with an ounce of class would’ve kept her mouth shut and let Travis and Laura flirt in private.
I laughed so hard during this episode because Ron and Bill were hysterical! But, as previously state, Ron blew it by being lazy. Also pretty hysterical was the jealous Brandy. I hope her fiance gets a wake up call as he’s watching these episodes.
OMG! I LOVED TILLMAN! They made a HUGE mistake. He was a STAR!!!
Wow Brandy is a self absorbed twit! I only recently started watching the show but she irritates me. I wonder why Laura didn’t pick one of the shots with her dog balancing the bone under her paw, as soon as I saw the pic she chose I knew they’d say the head to the side made her dog look curious not regal. Loved Bill’s pic I like Bill.
I won’t miss Tillman. The dog was gross! Vomiting and farting in the swimming pool is so disgusting. He also didn’t listen to his owner. Ron was lazy! He kept phoning it in.
I wasn’t impressed with Galaxy’s shot. It was decent, no more. Also, Galaxy is a boring dog. I doubt she even likes JD.
The personality contest wasn’t about personality. It was about who could subtly command their dog to take the item on offer. Yawn.
Bill is cool. He deserves to win!
Dana, I thought the same thing about Preston’s picture. The one where he was commanding the bone looked pretty regal. Maybe the final pic didn’t really turn out, but I think Laura could have chosen more wisely.
There is nothing inhumane about snarl bands. They are used on movie sets all the time and every movie set has animal humane experts on set 24/7.
What a complete disappointment this show has been! The judges suck for one thing. They don’t let the dogs do what they do best. If I wanted to watch a show dog event Westminister would be my choice. The only time you get to see Tillman do his skate boarding is the outtakes before the show? What a complete waste of time this show is!
Tillman was the best thing that show
had.He made it fun to watch.I feel
the show just lost a viewer.
Please say it ain’t so!!!! Tillman was the only reason I watched the show. The judges made a HUGE mistake.
I’ll miss Tillman, and I agree that he should have had a chance to do his star turn trick: surfing/skateboarding. But Ron was lazy, and the judges were right to call him on it. The only good news about Brandy is that she makes me hate Bella Starlet’s owner a bit less. (Sorry — blanking on her name. Apart from Bill, the owners are not nearly as memorable or interesting as their dogs. I wouldn’t have remembered Brandy’s name if you all hadn’t reminded me!)
The show will not be the same without Tillman, the judges should have taken the viewers into consideration…WE ALL LOVE TILLMAN…………………
Tillman is the HEART AND SHOW of Greatest American Dog. He and Ron will be missed — they’re the only reason(s) why I watch this show in the first place. Get rid of the stupid judges and BRING BACK TILLMAN!! Teresa should have been the one expelled for using the inhumane snarl band on Leroy. Brandy could be next to go. The show won’t the same w/o TILLMAN.
Tiiiiiiiiillllmaaaaaaaaan, noooooooooooooooooooooo! I really, really really can’t stand these judges. Is it just me or are they completely out of their minds? There is nothing at all likable about them. nothing. It’s like watching American Idol with 3 Simon Cowells… that’s 3 too many!
So now our fat little cutie Tillman is gone. I can’t beleive it. Hasnt the crazy chick Brandy been in the bottom before? Why wasnt her shot lazy? It didnt remotely look “loving”.. and you know what… Tillman’s shot was not nearly as bad as made out to be. I thought it was cute. That dog can’t be anything but cute.
I didnt expect them to win, but I really did expect them to be there after Crazy Brandy and Evil Lauren.
Tillman is gone. I will no longer watch. Hye judges: HUGE mistake.
Last night Terasa and Leroy should of went home not Ron and Tillman Teresa cheated and was curel to her dog. I will not be watching anymore. it was not judged fairly.
Lenora
I agress with the others. I hated seeing Ron and Tilman go. He did great with Tillman and with kindness not abuse. I hope to see them down here in Huntington Beach, CA surfing or skating boarding. Rock on Tillman. : )
Tillman was the only watchable and lovable character on the show…therefore, I will not be tuned into America’s Greatest anymore. Also, the judges are a bit obnoxious.
I will miss Tillman too and don’t really understand what the judges want half the time. It just seems like there is no pleasing them and they are just as obnoxious as some of the dog owners. My two favorite owners are Bill and Travis as they are pretty laid back and always friendly and helpful to the other dog owners.
I was sooo sad to see Tillman go……..unfortunately his owner blew it for him. Its a shame that they cant eliminate the owners and not the dogs! Im really surprised that Brandy and Beth Joy? (Bellas owner) are still treading water. They both annoy the crap out of me!
Tillman rocks and so did Ron. There was an obvious love and respect for his dog and you could see the bond that was there. It was easy and not forced like some of the dogs. Seriously, how could Tillman not do “lazy” correctly? That dog is cute AND talented and I hope he and Ron are buddies for many years to come. I do like the old guy and Star, they seem to share the same kind of relationship based on mutual love and respect and I hope he wins now that Tillman is gone. I really would have liked to seen Bella S. gone, her owner is annoying and demanding and she seems to think her dog is a trophy or something and kinda snobby because her dog is and “actress”.. whatever. I am not watching anymore either. No skateboarding dog and nobody else is all that interesting. This could have been an awesome show, I looked forward to it for awhile and then it just wasn’t put together as well as I thought it would be and the judges..um.. well, they should have left their dogs at home and stayed also.
Today at our Thursday senior poker game, the main subject was Tillman. Everyone in our group are dog lovers, and Tillman was our favorite. Most agreed that the picture selected did not do him justice. Perhaps a steak laying on a fire hydrant with Tillman just looking at it laying down would have done the trick.
Although we disagreed on who should have gotton the boot last night, Tillman was not one of them. The judges are not in touch with dog lovers, had they been Teresa would have gone after tormenting her dog with a rubber band. Maybe she should have put them on the judges mouths so they could experience the gruelty.
My gut feeling is the show is a fix and the winner is already picked based on the characters, not the dog. Just another reality show, no different that Big Brother. Looks like you lost a few fans last night, including our group. Way to go CBS
I haven’t been watching the show minute by minute, but one of the reasons I wanted to watch is because I love Victoria Stillwell’s show on Animal Planet….but, that said, I’m disappointed in her as a judge on this show. She makes strong comments about the way the owners treat the dogs, then those owners aren’t eliminated. I really think I’ll be making less effort to watch any of this show next week.
Oh No! I was so disappointed that Tillman was voted out. I think Teresa should’ve been out using that snarl band, that was really bad. Hey how do we get Tillman Tee’s like the ones Ron wore on the show.
Are you kidding me? The judges voted Ron and Tillman off? And those shrill, inhumane, nasty women remain on? That’s total crap. I’m sure this show was fixed anyway, but CBS should know they have probably lost at least half their viewers. The star is gone is so is that show. Fire those judges and bring back Tillman.
Tillman is a superstar! He needs his own show. He blows all the other dogs off the screen. The judges are incompetent idiots. I won’t be able to watch the show without Tillman.
Yeah, I was disappointed to see Tillman go also. I just knew that crazy lady using the bands would be off. When I saw that, I knew that would be a no no. She was going to have to tell how she got him to make that face. I was also glad to see Star’s shoot go well at the end.
What is up with those judges? Leroy should of eliminated instead of Tillman. The judge stated that snarl bands should of never been used! Very dissapointed last night, and probably won’t continue to watch it. Tillman rocks! A very talented dog.
The show must not be fixed because Tillman and Ron were the heart and soul of the show. The producers would be crazy to let them go on purpose. As for Brandy… she’s engaged? She seems to be a little overly interested in Travis. Hope this is a wake-up call for her fiancee. It’s not too late!
Tillman was the shit. He will be missed.