By Nancy Kerns

Positive Dog Trainer Wins 2nd Place in CBS's "Greatest American Dog"

Trainer Laurie Williams placed 2nd in CBS’s “Greatest American Dog.”

How many of you would put your dog and yourself at the mercy of a network TV “reality” show, competing against other dogs and dog owners for more than six weeks? Keep in mind that the show’s producers will do their best to foment discomfort and personal conflict between yourself and your fellow contestants. Also, while your every moment will be filmed, only a highly edited and manipulated version of what actually happened will be broadcast to a national audience, who will be encouraged to share their opinions with other dog owners about you, your dog, your dog training skills, and your most unguarded facial expressions and utterances. I don’t think I would do it! In my opinion, all of the 12 people who actually put themselves through this very experience last spring and summer – on CBS’s “Greatest American Dog” – were very brave. True, they were competing for a prize of $250,000, and some hoped to use the exposure to promote their various careers; there was potential for some compensation to offset the risk of being made to look ridiculous.