America's Top Dog

Did You Know?

• The German TV channel RTL acquired rights from A&E to remake the show as Top Dog Germany, which premiered on July 23, 2021.
• In Season 1, the Boneyard round gives dogs five minutes to find up to five scented objects in a maze of rooms.

Format

Five teams, typically four from police K-9 units and one civilian team, enter a contest split into three rounds. The first round, the Canine Combine, is an obstacle course. Dogs must navigate a car slalom, leaping in and out of vehicles; a fire escape, where they pull down doors to reach the next level; a high jump, clearing or crawling under walls; an unstable rope bridge; and a splashdown, swimming across a small pool to the finish. The four fastest dogs move on. The second round, the Boneyard, tests scent detection. In a maze of rooms, dogs have five minutes to locate up to five scented objects and signal their handler. Each dog is tested with a scent it knows best. The two dogs that find the most objects—or, in a tie, find them fastest—advance. The final round, the Doghouse, requires the dog and handler to move through a simulated house. They knock down a door, climb through a window into a tangle of bungee cords, low-crawl, climb over boxes, run through a duct tunnel, breach two doors by having the dog pull them open, and finally apprehend a suspect, taking the person down, releasing on command, and returning to the handler. The fastest team wins the title "America's Top Dog," a $10,000 prize, an extra $5,000 donated to an animal charity of their choice, and a spot in a grand finale with a $25,000 prize. Season Two changes the format. Dogs now compete head-to-head in three separate classes: working dogs, police K-9 dogs, and "underdogs." The winners from each class then face off. The overall winner receives $10,000 and can direct $5,000 to an animal charity. The final contest brings together winners from previous weeks for a $25,000 cash prize.