World’s Greatest Dogs

Release Date: 2015

Watch Date: May 14 – May 22, 2024

“Athletic, playful and loving, our canine companions are extraordinary animals. From acrobatics to breathtaking stunts, skateboarding to riding a scooter, and rope jumping to surfing, this special celebrates amazing dogs and their dedicated owners, and reveals how some underdogs turned from rejected puppy to thriving star.”

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   I don’t know if I’d call this ‘World’s Greatest Dogs’ as much as ‘America’s Most Dedicated Trainers’.

   In a show called “World’s Greatest Dogs” you’d expect there to be more of, I dunno, the world. Instead, what you get is a lot of America. Exclusively America. Which to some Americans might feel like the world, I suppose. But to me it feels like one single country.

   Also these dogs haven’t really achieved much. I mean, two are just show dogs, one to promote adoption, which is cool sure but the other just does films. And it’s ‘the greatest’ simply because it can jump. You’ve got another dog that survived amputation and uses prosthetics on all 4 feet, and see that’s pretty heartwarming. Then there’s the lady that keeps talking like her sheepdog wanted nothing more in the world than to learn to ride a scooter/bike, but it’s pretty obvious she thought it’d be fun to have a dog that could do that. And then another lady trains service dogs – which is vital – and she did train one dog to stand on a surfboard and surf with people as a form of therapy, and that’s also cool.

   So okay, two out of five, three of them just being dogs that can jump far or are agile or are being taught to do things they have no reason to do. Maybe NatGeo didn’t have the budget to go around the world looking for truly great dogs, but then, like I said, rename the documentary.