by POPSUGAR Pets
It was another doozy on Greatest American Dog. With dancing last time and now painting this week . . . how much more can I take? I had the chance to chat with Laura yesterday – and decided to recap the latest episode with some of her comments. She was super sweet so stay tuned for more from her later on.
On last night's show: In the beginning of the episode, Preston still has the black mohawk from the night before which was the "dancing with the dogs" night. We were given the task to paint at about four in the afternoon. We had a lesson and, by the time we could start painting, it was nighttime – California (Agora Hills) at night with short hair, he was chilly. He was so exhausted – you know your dog, you know when they're just not themselves and I just looked into his little eyes glazed over like 'Mama, I'm having fun but I kinda just want to sleep in, I don't really feel like painting.'
On the painting process: We didn't get started until about noon, not because I was lazy. That's why I was really trying to be intricate with the stencils to prepare things for him to do. What the cameras didn't show was halfway through the day, it started raining and we had nothing done. Rather than having him paint in the rain, they didn't show me making stakes in the ground and taking a tarp to put a cover over him so that he wouldn't get wet and he wouldn't be cold. He was just so tired that I tried to make it as fun as I could have.
On her bond with Preston: He represents the bond I wish I had with my mom. I lost my mom to breast cancer when I was six and that's what that whole painting was about and I had explained to the judges and clearly they could care less. It's a dog, a dog doesn't know the difference between a heart and a pretzel, he did the best he could. When he's supposed to paint a picture of the love that we share and doesn't feel like doing it, I'm not going to make him paint any more than he really wants to.
On their performance: I'm doing what my mother would have wanted, if she was in that situation – she said to the people in my family before she died, 'Make sure my daughters do what makes them happy. Make sure they live every day and every moment doing what's best for them. I don't care about money, I don't care about education, I just want my daughters to be happy.' It was so emotional thinking about my mom and this incredible bond I'm so lucky to have with my dog. I felt bad that's why we went home and was disappointed in some of the comments considering it was supposed to be judged on the message and he used like nine different techniques, even though he was exhausted. I know Preston has lots of skills and maybe painting's not one of them and that's fine – I still love him more than anything.
What about her call-out on Beth Joy? Find out when you read more
One of my favorite comments from last night's episode of Greatest American Dog came from Laurie's interaction with the other contestants' dogs. While her Maltese, Andrew, is tiny, he's also super mellow and well-behaved. When Presley (Travis's big Boxer) jumped up on her, she seemed shocked and said that wasn't OK with "Auntie Laurie" . . . ha! How do you feel about your pets jumping up on strangers?
