Remaining teams (in order of Dogleg 7 finish):

• Keo and June (Chicago Chimpanzee Father and Daughter)
• Army Mule and Navy Goat (Armed Service Mascots)
• Hercules and Maxx (New York City Police Dogs)
• Quincy and Taffy (Golden Retriever Brother and Sister)
• Bella and Douglas (Former Presidential Candidates/ARI Winners)
• Heidi and Depot (Tennessee Cocker Spaniel and Cat)

The Amanxing Race 2: Going to the Dogs
Mid-Race Special Episode

I'm Phil Kiwi, with Koko the Talking Gorilla. We're halfway through, and we thought it was time to review the first seven Doglegs of The Amanxing Race 2: Going to the Dogs.

We've had some memorable moments, along with some scary ones. We've picked up a few new friends along the way, and met some old friends from last year as well.

The most popular pair of this Race, with viewers as well as Racers, has been Army Mule and Navy Goat. We had some reservations as to whether these two traditional rivals would be able to work together, but they showed a great ability to play off each other's strengths and weaknesses and consistently finished well, except in Italy where they were stuck in traffic. Navy showed off his retractable horns when he and Army went sailing in Cannes.

At the other end of the popularity scale were the Las Vegas White Tigers, Siegfried and Roy. Tigers are just too dangerous, and too independent, to play effectively in the Amanxing Race, as we learned - although, we should have known better when Roy and Fancy Feast got into that enormous hissing fight at the Rio pet stop.

Hercules and Maxx had to step in and moderate. Here, in footage you didn't see, we discovered that Siegfried purposely put a hole in this car's tire, causing Keo and June to get delayed in Germany. We've learned our lesson!

We also learned our lesson about how to write our clues in Wales, when D.C. Panda Bears Mei Xiang and Tian Tian got confused over American slang and took a taxi to the Pet Stop. Douglas, Bella, and Chef's Blend were all sorry to see this photogenic pair go.

As we predicted, the dog pairs are doing very well... all except for the infamous Irish Setters, Casey and Clancy. C&C got distracted in Washington and forgot they were in the Race, stopping to party with picnickers on the Mall rather than completing their tasks, and were the first team eliminated.

We've had a lot of fun in the PET STOPS. Below, Bella sleeps through a game of fetch played by Maxx and Quincy in Newfoundland.

In Portmeirion, site of filming of "The Prisoner," Keo participated in a human chess game - well, after all, he's almost human himself!

In Cannes, when we stayed over another night because of the tiger controversy, Douglas and Depot went shopping with Sean Connery. Douglas didn't get another scarf. Red foxes Sanford and Banjo went out on a chilly night in Rottweil.

But of course, the most memorable character in the Amanxing Race II has been the little stowaway, the Spanish puppy Pierre. The Racers met Pierre on the beach at Cannes, and after determining his owners were still on vacation, Pierre traveled with his new friends for the next two doglegs. He bonded almost instantly with Taffy, who taught him to play ball.

Pierre was able to hold his own throughout the Race, and even participated in some of the events. He danced on the stage in Munich and helped Quincy and Taffy throw their coins into the Trevi Fountain in Rome. Though we all were glad he was reunited with his family in Budapest, we all miss him, too. He's back in Spain, living the good life and training for his dog shows.

Well, we've traveled halfway around the world. What is in store for the Amanxing Racers? Tune in here, same place same time, to find out!

Next... on Dogleg 8 of the Amanxing Race: The fur is flying as teams pull some strings to be first by a nose at the next, crucial Pet Stop. Will some of the animals choose to air their differences? Which team will be the next to go?