The Underdog Show update

Last nights show saw the number of dogs and celebrity handlers whittled down to four to compete in next weeks semi-final... and again the voting of the public to save Casper did not agree at all with the opinion of the judges.

But, part of the reason behind the show is to get the public to vote in order to donate some of the call cost to a charity... though in my opinion, and that of many other viewers, the belief is, that at least some of that charity donation should be to the Dogs Trust... or another animal welfare charity.

So Clive Anderson and Alfred were eliminated. And, happily, Alfred had already become firmly installed as part of Clives family... so Alfreds tale [or tail!] had a happy ending.

As of today you will find details of all the dogs who are, or have been, on the Underdog Show at the following web page... please just copy and paste the address into your browser... http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/press_office/underdogs/bbc2show/ ...
I dont know how long that web address will stay online, so I thought if you had full access to the entire address, should it be removed, you can try just part of the address and navigate to the information you require from the first part of the address!

There is a full profile of the dogs, or as full as they can get it... and details of their new lives... a rewarding read.

The show itself last night gave the dogs and handlers two different challenges... one an Agility, plus obedience and tricks type challenge, the other to put on a type of show or play, which involved the dogs in doing whatever tricks and behaviours which could be incorporated into the play, one even showed what flyball dogs have to do by opening a box.

Casper and Huey came well at the bottom in both disciplines... and Clive and Albert were joint second, but as mentioned above, it was Casper who went through.

The results show had a demonstration of freestyle dancing to music - which is what the finalists will be expected to do - the dog was called Tapper and was handled by Gina Pink who really made my day by choosing "Aint that a kick in the head" sung by Dean Martin to do the routine to! Also featured this week were several Dogs Trust dogs who need a rescue home... they were promoted by the celebrity handlers.

So many sad stories in need of a happy ending!

The Underdog Show on BBC2

I have just added the following post to my Puppy Training Secrets blog. Hopefully, by adding it to both blogs more people will see it and be able to watch and see just what can be achieved with a little proper training.

Incidentally, some of the celebrities knew virtually nothing about dogs and one was actually scared of them before they agreed to do this show!

The Puppy Training Secrets article follows:-

"New to TV in the UK this week [Tuesday] was the Underdog Show... the first of six programs.

The format for the show was to partner eight celebrities with a rescue dog and to partner each celebrity and their dog with a professional trainer. Then they had three weeks of training to get their dogs to do an agility type course. Three judges gave marks to each pair... their combined mark made up half the total vote... the public were encouraged to vote for their favorite, the money raised by the phone vote going to Children in Need.

Julian Clary and his dog Valerie fronted the show. What was on offer was a delightful hour for dog lovers and then the results show was another half-hour later in the evening, which included a display by Mary Ray with her dogs dancing to music... totally brilliant!

The dog which comes last, after combining both judges and public votes, at the end of each show is eliminated... last night it was the Afghan and Theo from Dragons Den who were eliminated... but there was a happy ending for the dog as he chose to adopt it and take it home!

The dogs who progress to the last show will be expected to do some dancing to music.

The dog which was placed last by the judges was really only a puppy... just eight months old... I think it was a bit much to expect it to concentrate for the full amount of time allotted especially with so many distractions of audience, lights, noise, etcetera.

But in reality I thought it did brilliantly. It just shows what can be achieved in such a short space of time with proper training of both dog and handler.

If you can, make a date in your diary to watch The Underdog Show next Tuesday!

And if you are looking for training books, courses, or videos... just check our left-hand margin for the very best in training! Dont forget to check the FREE video at the Dove Cresswell link... your dog will love the training it offers."