Time to catch up with "Greatest American Dog."

I've been watching every week, and it seems like it's going to come down to a contest between J.D./Galaxy versus Theresa/Leroy. Those teams seem consistently to be winning the most challenges and as a storyline, it's perhaps intriguing. J.D. is a very discipline-oriented master, while Theresa seems very laid-back. Also, of the dogs remaining, Galaxy and Leroy seem to me the cutest.

In last night's episode, we got to see truly cute puppies: golden retrievers. I may be biased by ownership of one of that breed as a kid, but I really don't think many dogs can match up with golden retrievers when it comes to looks, especially when we're talking about young dogs.

Our owners and dogs were supposed to lead three of the puppies through a maze. And when Bella Starlet not only failed to lead a single pup out, but didn't make it out herself, it was clear she was heading home.

Over the last three weeks, we've seen Brandi and Beacon, Laura and Preston and now Beth Joy and Bella Star expelled from Canine Academy. In an attempt to catch up, I'll post the highlights of my conversations with each of the three instead of the transcript I usually do.

Let's start with my talk with Beth Joy and Bella Starlet.

She started off by saying she felt "shafted" because even though Bella Starlet didn't lead any of the puppies out of the maze, at least she didn't bite or snipe at them like Andrew and Star. "I think I'd rather have my dog have my dog have me try to rescue her than try to eat a puppy," she said. "It was about citizenship."

She went on, "From the time we were introduced to the puppies to the time we actually started the competition, it was about three hours. It was about 105 degrees that day. In the beginning, when Bella saw the puppies she went darting toward them. She was so excited. Three hours later, she could care less. It was so hot. No dog wanted to be out there. Presley got overheated. Star got overheated." At one point, Bella Starlet even had to get IV fluids.

Some of the challenges by their nature, Beth Joy said, give different dogs an advantage. Bella Starlet had somewhat of one when it came to being photographed. The maze, she continued, gave larger dogs one. "I'm so short I couldn't see where she was at all, and it was very hard to navigate her and where she was."

In a way, I'm saddest to see her go. From when the descriptions of the dogs and their owners came out, she seemed a little out there. She has a tattoo of her dog and she lists her profession as managing Bella Starlet's career.

When I asked her what prompted her to get the tattoo, she said that it was because Bella Starlet's her "soulmate. She's part of everything I do. She's my muse and my mentor. She inspires me daily. I don't know where I'd be in my life without her. We rescued each other. She's my world."

And as for how she can sustain herself on Bella Starlet's career, she said she has three other showbiz animals who she also manages. "They do a commercial here, a photo shoot there," she said. Beth Joy also writes a couple columns in local magazines.

And, curiously enough, she also used to get some work as a lookalike for Elaine from "Seinfeld."

She has bellastarletdog.com. And she also does a lot of other animal work, including renting out one of her dogs to let people play with her and helping with public relations for animal charities.

She defended herself against the notion that she's as odd as she might seem to viewers. "Experiencing it and watching it are two different things," she said.

Beth said she would crack up the producers by saying stuff and singing songs. "I'm funny and goofy, but I'm not a total spaz like that. They (the producers) wanted to make a character. I get it."

She also said that she may seem fussy with all the pills and powders she gives Bella Starlet, but that she's overprotective for a reason. She had a previous dog die and she wants to do everything to make sure that Bella Starlet has as long a life as possible. She even converted former contestant Ron to feeding Tillman only organic dog food. Bella had had two surgeries on one leg and a heart murmur; she's had no problems like that with her current regimen. "I take better care of Bella than I do myself," she said. "I would hope every person in America reading this would do the same for their dogs because health and nutrition is so important, and people take that for granted."

Beth was still a little bitter about Laura trying to call Beth out for allegedly overtaxing Bella Starlet during the painting episode. "It was completely premeditated on her part to go out there and throw me under the bus. She has no scruples. She made that choice. 'You know what? I'm going to sit around for hours on end and put my makeup on instead of working on a project with my dog.'"

While Beth woke up at 5 a.m. to finish the project, she said Laura wasn't even outside till 11 a.m., and hadn't started stenciling yet. "In no way, shape or form was I hurting my dog whatsoever," Beth Joy added. "Those yelps were voiceover yelps. That's not even how my dog yelps. So they were trying to make a story about it."

One of the challenges with the show was constantly performing. "Some of the best trick dogs on that show sometimes just said, 'I'm just going to sit here and not listen to you right now," Beth Joy said. All that makes it hard to figure out who might win, she added.

Beth Joy recalled being terrified by dogs as a youngster because she was almost mauled by a German Shepherd. "I've completely come around, and I understand the nuances of dogs," she said. "I get it."

Before Beth Joy and Bella Starlet, Laura and Preston got eliminated after participating in a challenge to do a painting where the dogs applied all the paint to the canvas. During the process, Laura and Preston seemed to struggle and the final product had a big ol' pink blob in the middle. "I guess it was our time to go. Painting was definitely not our thing. I don't know how that relates to being the greatest dog."

It seemed like in her last two weeks, Preston wasn't doing a great job of following Laura's lead. Painting and dancing aren't exactly in her wheelhouse, she explained. She's more of an extreme sports gal.

Viewers didn't get the full sense of what she was hoping to convey with the painting,  namely how the bond she has with Preston reflects what she wished she could have had with her mom. Laura's mom died of breast cancer when Laura was six, and even though the rest of Laura's family was great, there was a real void there.

Laura said the turnaround time on challenges was killer. "They were trying to really encourage us to teach our dogs these new things that were so foreign to them in such a short amount of time, and he was exhausted."

Behind the scenes, Preston did a lot of playing with the other dogs, and that was something Laura encouraged. So instead of being "overtrained," like the judges said, Preston was just tired.

Unlike some of the other contestants, film producer Laura never really thought she was going to take home the title and the $250,000 prize. "I went there to have a good time with (Preston) and escape my crazy life in show business," Laura said. "I really was focused on making the experience fun for him. ... I was so fortunate to have 40 days to hang out with my best friend, Preston."

Laura got Preston after a break-up left her thinking that the only male she's going to be able to depend on is a dog. (Everybody go, "Aww.") She travels a lot and is a workaholic, so she thought it would be nice to have someone come home to every day. When she met Preston, it was love at first bark.

Growing up, Laura always wanted to have dogs, and she'd try to sneak them in, only to have to give them up when her dad discovered them. So to be in a house with all sorts of dogs was a great experience for her. "To be able to wake up every day and not have to think of anything but 'Is my dog happy' and 'Today I get to play with my dog and 11 other incredible animals' was just such a joy and I feel so lucky to have that opportunity," Laura said.

The most challenging part of being the house was the busy schedule. "It was difficult to keep some sense of normalcy for your dog and make sure they stayed on their normal feeding schedule," she said. "Finding the balance between work and rest and play was really important to me."

Laura tried to be a little cagey when it came to what's going on between her and Travis.

Travis "is a very thoughtful, good human being who has become a very dear friend of mine since we first went on this journey together," she began.

"The fact that Travis and I are both in Los Angeles, we're both in the industry and our dogs both adore each other, we had so much fun together," she continued. "We have a lot in common. We're definitely close."

She didn't go on the show to have a 'showmance' and added that Travis would be part of her life for a long time. She laughed and tried to "no comment" as to whether they were dating.

"Travis and I are getting to know each other. We're very close. We went to the Dog Museum the other day. We took our dogs surfing. ... We went to a Dodgers game and caught a foul ball."

After the show, Travis went to Bali on a mission trip.

"I can't say that we're dating, but we're definitely close," she added.

Preston's getting a website called prestonsplanet.com. The last time I checked, it was still under construction, and had a link to http://www.prestoncasanova.com/

When it came to what looked like tension between her and Brandi and Travis, Laura said that was a misunderstanding and that Brandi cracked her up. Brandi might have taken some things the wrong way, Laura said. Unlike most reality show contestants, she added, "I came here to make some amazing friends." When there was tension, Laura said she tried to avoid it.

In the episode in which Laura was eliminated, she caused some controversy by calling out Beth Joy for training Bella Starlet in a way that caused her discomfort, only to have Travis stick up for Beth Joy.

Laura said she felt bad because she knows that Beth Joy has Bella's best interests at heart. "I felt bad. The way it was cut together made it seem like there was a big thing between the two of us. Everybody had noticed Bella had cried out. Of course she knows her own dog, so if she says she's working through her issues, it's not my position to judge. ... I wasn't the only one who said something to the judges. It's just the way the show was cut. They really tried to play up Travis and my alleged showmance and have some big traumatic ending like we hated each other."

When I was talking to Brandy, she was giving Beacon a haircut. We talked about how she maybe needed another stint in obedience school. "The problem is, I'm the nurturing mother." Brandy explained. "My fiance is the stern dad who she likes to play with all the time. It's unfortunate he couldn't be on the show with us because she listens to everything he says. She just likes to be a little brat to me."

Her fiance is a little camera-shy, she said. With Beacon being relatively young and with Brandy not being a professional dog trainer, Brandy said she was happy with how they did. But Beacon was really missing her dad, and she realized Brandi wasn't having fun and shut down. 

"When we got home, you should have seen how her face lit up," Brandy said. "Her family was back together again."

If Brandy had the chance for a do-over, she might try to be more calm and relaxed. The experience taught her to be more positive and happy.

Brandy and her fiance were hoping to win a little money for the wedding, which is set for April. Beacon's going to be the flower girl/ringbearer/best woman. "I guess she can't be my maid of honor," Brandy said. "But she's definitely going to be in all the pictures. It's going to be Beacon's day too."

Brandy credited Beacon for a lot of the happiness in her relationship with her fiance. "She's part of our family," Brandy said. "It's like having a little child. I'm the mother, and he's the father, and she's the baby. We're just a happy family."

I asked her about the dynamic between her and Travis and Laura, and when I stumbled over Laura's name, she joked, "She is pretty forgettable, right?"

Then Brandy said that she and Travis were good friends and Laura had said a couple of things that made her not like her. "I couldn't understand why one of my friends was talking to someone we weren't supposed to like," she added. "I didn't know why he was talking to her. It wasn't entertaining me. But it came off so wrong. I think I'm funny. When I watch the show I'm like, 'Oh my God, I'm so funny.' "

When I told her that it seemed like jealousy was afoot, Brandy replied, "It wasn't jealousy. It was irritation." Brandi was joking with Travis about that sort of stuff, and blamed editing for making it look like anything else.

The judges eliminated Brandy for a poor dance routine. Brandy said she respected Alan's opinion but added, "as far as the other two go, I really don't care what they say. A lot of things they said to me was the total opposite of everything my trainers have told me, like manipulating my dog to sit."

Brandy said she still talks with her housemates except for Laurie. She praised J.D. and Travis as good country boys, and said of Laurie, "She's really mean. ... She's just conniving and evil. That's what I personally think. I'm glad I'm not in the house any more to have to deal with that. I don't even see the need to ever talk to her again. She claims she is the 'alpha bitch.' You know that, right?"

I did not.

Brandy said she was hoping to get Beacon an agent and hoped she would have a future with photo shoots and commercials.

Best of luck to her, Laura, Beth Joy and their respective pooches.

- posted by Raoul