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."
By PETER LARSEN
The Orange County Register
