Is a schnauzer from O.C. America's Greatest Dog?

Beacon the pooch and owner Brandy Yant of Rancho Santa Margarita will compete in a new canine reality show on CBS.

Ask Brandy Yant a question – say, for instance, how did you and your miniature schnauzer Beacon end up on a CBS reality TV series called "Greatest American Dog' – and it takes her a minute to get where she's going. It's probably the Southerner in her.

There was the fellow schnauzer owner she met in a park near her Rancho Santa Margarita home, who told her about Dogster – like MySpace, but for dogs – which she signed up for even while thinking how silly it was for a dog to have an online presence.

And then one day in February, there was an e-mail in the Dogster inbox – for Beacon, not Brandy, though, of course, she's the one who read it (Beacon knows many, many tricks, but reading isn't one of them.)

"And it said, 'Sign up for 'Greatest American Dog,'" says Brandy, a 25-year-old clothing designer originally from Arkansas. "And I was like, 'Sweet!' Because I kind of thought there'd be a cash prize, and we are needing money for our wedding.

"And so I sent in a picture in our bee costumes" – Brandy as a bumblebee, fiancé Billy Brinser as a beekeeper, and Beacon as a bumblebee – "and within in three minutes I got an e-mail back that said, 'Send us your application.'

"It was totally that picture," she says of the shot from a Halloween costume party last year. "If I didn't send that picture, I don't think we would have gotten a call back."

But called back they were. Then there was a 25-page application and an audition to which Brandy and Beacon wore matching purple outfits. Next, the responses: "Thanks, but we're not going to use you," followed weeks later by "Can you be here in three days to start shooting?" Finally, mother and daughter – for that's how Brandy considers her Beacon – were one of 12 humans and dogs who will star on the CBS series that premieres at 8 p.m.

"I'm super, super excited," Brandy says of the show that's been described as "Survivor" or "Big Brother" for people and their dogs, all of them living together and competing in challenges, with one team eliminated each week.

Of course, until a year or two ago, Brandy had sworn off animals. She'd had her fill, she says, of emus and pgs and chickens and dogs on the ranch in the little town near Jonesboro, Ark. where she finished high school.

She came to Los Angeles in 2001 to study at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, studied overseas in an elite FIDM program, and eventually wound up in Orange County were she worked at Wet Seal and then Oakley, the latter of which she's a little mad at for letting her go when she decided to take time off to shoot "Greatest American Dog."

(That worked OK, though, she says. Since then, she's dedicated herself to Cross Training Clothing, a Christian-theme clothing line she's designed and sells online.)

Upon moving to Orange County, Brandy says she looked on Craigslist to find a roommate and ended up finding a soulmate.

"I thought he was too cute to be single, so I was just going to leave him alone," she says of meeting Billy and renting a room in his house. "But we decided to try it and it's been over two years now."

For Christmas in 2006, Billy's parents gave the couple a white miniature schnauzer – just like their own dog, Annie – and that was pretty much that.

"We fell in love with her that second and immediately she was our child, even though we weren't married or anything," Brandy says. "Her name is just perfect for her, because she's like our little beacon of light."

With Billy busy weekends with soccer and hockey games, Brandy decided to take up dog training, and Beacon turned out to be a natural.

"She does all the basics – sit, stay, lay, speak, roll over, 'Bang' – she'll play dead," Brandy says. "That's her favorite. She lays over and looks at you, because you have to release the gun signal.

"She was in agility class, so she jumps hurdles. She goes through chutes, she jumps through tires. And she knows how to say her prayers.

"She puts her paws up on the couch and puts her head down on her paws and acts like she's praying," Brandy explains. "That one's my favorite."

And, of course, Brandy and Beacon wear matching outfits, and now Billy does too, which proves that even husbands-to-be can be trained with a little effort.

"He can't wear pink, see, that's a big problem with him," Brandy says of Billy. "But he will wear red."

The series shot during May and Brandy isn't allowed to tell you anything at all about it – you'll just have to tune in and see for yourself.

But it sounds like Brandy, and presumably Beacon, had a blast.

Did they make any money for that wedding next April? We don't yet know. But we can tell you this:

On April 11, in Memphis, Brandy and Billy will be married. And in attendance, will be Beacon, as the flower girl, and at least six of her doggy pals, including several new friends she made on "Greatest American Dog."

REALITY TV STARS: Brandy Yant, a 25-year-old from Rancho Santa Margarita, is competing with Beacon, her miniature schnauzer, on CBS's new reality TV series.

CLIFF LIPSON, CBS

A new reality series should leave no doubt that TV has gone to the dogs.

Greatest American Dog, a new series starting tomorrow (8p.m., CBS) will pit a dozen dog and owner teams against each other in a competition for $250,000. Owners and their dogs - which include everything from pageant-trained purebreds to house-trained mixed breeds - will live together and compete in challenges designed to put the owners' dog-training abilities to the test. In the first episode, for example, the contestants will be divided into three teams and must perform musical numbers complete with costumes and choreography.

A panel of three judges, including Canadian-born Allan Reznick, will eliminate one team each week during the 10-episode series, hosted by zoologist and TV personality Jarod Miller.

Reznick, who grew up in Montreal and lived in Toronto until 2002, is well-established in the dog world. When he was asked earlier this year by a casting director to audition for the show, Reznick thought the experience might be a bit of a lark. "We wanted to make the show educational as well as entertaining," he said in a telephone interview from his office in Irvine, California, an hour south of Los Angeles.

Each of the three judges brings a certain expertise to the show, Reznick said. His is the various intricacies related to breeds, while Victoria Stillwell is an expert dog trainer and Wendy Diamond is a pet lifestyle commentator.

And while he says the trio took turns playing the part of Simon Cowell - the American Idol judge known for his scathing reviews - Reznick says none of them barked too loudly: "There were minimal meltdowns and chairs flying and that was one of the things that appealed to me about the show. I just got a sense it was going to be fun, but it wasn't going to be cheesy. It was immediately evident that we really had good chemistry among the three judges."

The 12 contestants are an even split between men and women from across the United States. They range in age from 24 to 60 years old. As for the dogs, they represent a wide range of breeds and include Elvis, a Parson Russell terrier; Presley, a boxer; and Bella Starlet, a seven-kilogram mutt whose customized outfits include a Marilyn Monroe dress and a Statue of Liberty costume.

The show's premise is fairly simple: Each week, a professional trainer and stunt dog will demonstrate a particular skill or challenge that owners will then have to train their dogs to perform. The judges will critique the dogs individually and eliminate one each week until the last episode, where the top three teams will square off in a double-elimination final.

"It was difficult to send owners and dogs home," Reznick admitted. "They all kind of grew on us."

When asked what qualities he looked for most during the competition, Reznick said it all came down to rapport.

"I was looking for a really loving relationship, a great owner who was devoted to his dog and a dog that had some personality. We didn't want a robotic performance."

He added there was one thing he wasn't looking for: dogs in dressup.

"Dogs already come with fur coats. Dogs are already handsome in and of themselves."

With that many dogs and owners living under one roof without access to television, radio, computers or cellphones, surely there were one or two cat fights.

"I would assume things might have gotten a little testy in the house," Reznick said, adding the judges have not seen any of the footage from inside the house. But he is confident any troubles were likely caused by the owners and not their four-legged friends.

"Dogs are typically less stressed-out than their owners because they're not aware of the prize money. They're there for a good time."

http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/story/387459.html

Local wildlife expert hosts "Greatest American Dog" on CBS

WNY’s Jarod Miller keeps owners and animals on their toes in TV’s canine contest

By Alan Pergament NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 07/08/08 8:11 AM

Until now, Jarod Miller has been a big fish in the relatively small pond of syndicated and cable TV. But the 30-year-old wildlife expert from the Town of Boston is the top dog now that he is getting his greatest exposure as the host of the CBS reality series, “Greatest American Dog.”

“I’ve been on other network stuff but I’m very excited to be hosting a network show,” said Miller. “It’s on 8 p. m. Thursday, which is one of the best, if not the best, time slot on television on one of the best networks. It is really unbelievable. And it is good that it happened so quickly so I didn’t have time to sit back and think about the magnitude.”

The Eden High School graduate sees the show as bringing him full circle in his development as an animal expert. At age 12 or 13, he trained dogs for Pat Nagel of East Aurora, who specialized in Irish setters.

“It was my first experience working with animals,” he said during one of his recent trips home to Western New York. “I actually trained dogs and traveled to a lot of dog shows. So it is kind of like a full circle. I did all this world travel and worked with all this wildlife and now I’m on a show that kind of reminds me of my roots.”

Miller, who travels 80 percent of the time but plans to make Western New York his base, didn’t need the work. He is the host of a syndicated show, “Animal Exploration,” the cohost of Animal Planet’s “Petfinder” and makes regular appearances on the Weather Channel, Fox News, CNN, “The Rachael Ray Show” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

But his work on “Greatest American Dog” requires him to exhibit a different skill set as the host of a competition between 12 dog owners and their pets for a grand prize of $250,000 and the priceless title.

“It is a completely different type of hosting,” said Miller. “My role is to keep the show rolling, facilitate work with the contestants and the dogs, stay very neutral. That is much different from a lot of my other hosting jobs. With ‘Animal Exploration,’ it is a lot of me interacting with animals, talking to a camera. ‘Petfinder’ was a lot of interviewing people ... I’ve been very fortunate to experience three different types of hosting.”

He doesn’t have to be a funny host.

“The comedic stuff is more in the department of the contestants,” said Miller. “It is not so much what I say or do. It is what I say or do that gets the reaction from our contestants and reality show guests.”

Ten episodes of the show have been completed after filming at a large converted estate in Los Angeles from May 1 to mid-June. There is no audience participation element, since the dogs were eliminated by a panel of three dog experts.

The entertainment is to come from multiple angles. The dogs have a weekly Dog Bone Competition — one week they played musical chairs — for entry into a plush Dog Bone Suite. The weekly elimination challenges test their obedience, intelligence, loyalty, agility and courage. Additionally, the show highlights the owners as they bark at each other while living together in a house under challenging circumstances.

“You really see how strong the bonds are between these people and their dogs,” said Miller. “These dogs trusted the owners so much and vice versa. The people are really passionate dog lovers. For many of them, their dog is their entire life. These dogs are their children ... Each person knows their dog is the best.”

Miller said the dogs range in size from Maltese and Pomeranian to a boxer, a skateboarding bull dog and a giant Schnauzer and from the age of 15 months to 8 or 9 years old.

The owners range from their 20s to 60s. They are all characters, but Miller singled out a 60-year-old Texan named Bill who has a hunting dog as one of his favorites.

“He showed up with camouflage hat and his orange shirt,” said Miller. “He is a funny guy but he is totally out of his element in Los Angeles.”

Miller said his favorite challenge required the dogs to demonstrate courage as a 9,000-pound African elephant approached them as they were encouraged to just sit there.

“Some of the dogs obviously bailed, but others sat right there,” said Miller. “This elephant was huge and he pulled up a banana right in between a dog’s paws. And the dog sat there and showed his courage.”

In another competition with a “Dancing With the Stars” element, the owners dance with their dogs. In this case, saying a contestant has two left feet wouldn’t be an insult because they also have two right feet.

Of course, the mere mention of the show has led to some inevitable jokes about TV going to the dogs. But Miller doesn’t think that trying to appeal to 100 million dog owners in this country is necessarily a bad thing considering the state of TV these days.

“It is such a positive show,” said Miller. “I think it is really going to blow people’s minds. That’s how cool the show is going to look. There is something for every type of audience... It is something an entire family could watch.”

Of course, he’d like it to succeed so there will be a second season. But he knows there are no guarantees. After all, TV is a dog-eat-dog world.

Television Preview

“Greatest American Dog”

8 p. m. Thursday on CBS,

“You really see how strong the bonds are between these people and their dogs.” — Jarod Miller

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