The Dog Whisperer

[888sally888]

What a great programme and I think Cesar is so amazing how he turns the dogs around when the owners are at the end of their tethers (literally!!)

[4getmenot]

morning sally, I have only seen this once, the one with the 3 legged dog. I am scared of dogs and I bet he still couldnt get me near one :-)

[woofgang]

Yes Sally and amazingly his techniques work!
I have two five month old pointer puppies...lovely boys but a total handful and quite big. One is a naughty rascal, his brother is more retiring. We were having probs training the naughty one because usual methods would worry his brother. We went to training class where they used food based reward which made things worse. They aren't very food focussed and just wanted to play with all the other dogs, excitement levels through the roof and little progress!
We tried Cesar's calm assertion thing and it worked like a charm, literally like magic. They are still lively half trained puppies but much more biddable. The other thing I did was the pack walk as they were getting to the stage where I couldn't walk the two of them safely as they pulled so hard...again magical success and I can now hold both leads in my left hand only and walk them.

Don't misunderstand me its still hard work and we have a way to go but we are now making progress.
The difference with Cesar's way is you have to be pack leader ALL the time, you can't have training time then turn it off, and you can't run around and get excited yourself and not expect the dogs to react.
And no I am not a relative or shareholder!!

[lankeela]

But this is all common sense and if owners only realised that their dogs need training from day one there would be far less problem dogs. Had a Border Collie owner come to training class complaining that they had bought a Border Collie because they are such well behaved dogs, like you see on Crufts on the telly and on One Man and His Dog. Could not understand why theirs was a total nightmare. Most people would not get a car and take it out on the road without learning how to drive, this is what buying a dog is like if you have not done your homework and found out what is involved.

[Cetti]

We don't have a dog at the moment ,but this show has been compulsory viewing ever since I came across it by accident. My husband and myself are totally hooked.

Not only does Cesar understand the dog psyche, but despite what he says, humans as well - and seeing a distraught owner with a ball of flying fur at the start of a programme, change into a calm friendly companion with a happy smiling 'pack leader' at the end, is worth its weight in gold. I particularly loved the crazy Californian lady who asked Cesar to find her dog a wife...and last night with the young disabled girl walking both dogs on her own was truly.inspirational.

I must add that Cesar is not bad to look at either ;-)

[jules77]

I must be on my own with this one, as I cant stand him.

I was initially alarmed to see him using spiked collars, and came to the conclusion he is just a showman.

[kita1]

Agree with Jules.

These articles say it all:

http://www.4pawsu.com/cesarfans.htm
http://www.dogboston.com/askjo/cesarmillan.htm
http://www.4pawsu.com/dogpsychology.htm
http://www.marinij.com/homeandgarden/ci_472034 2

There are better ways than him (and more up to date).

[888sally888]

Interesting how opinions vary - I still think he is great although, yes, a lot is common sense.

I took Pickles out yesterday with a stronger aproach and I must say she did come to me in a more reliable fashion!!

I wonder if there is a "Teenager Whisperer!!"

Thanks all for your views - was very interesting. Sal.

[woofgang]

yes I think its common sense but the training class lady where I went kept saying to us "play with the puppy, keep him excited" when it was the last thing he needed.

So maybe common sense anit that common!

[woofgang]

grrrr I wish this forum had an edit facility I HATE posting typos

[leelapops]

Yeah me too woofgang, mine scream out at me on my posts and I wish I could undo them! :S

TBH I am with jules and kita on this, he comes across (to me) as very arrogant, and I think he would scare the c**p out of my Collie if he tried working on him. Then again, I have a friend who thinks he is amazing, so absolutely, each to their own!

x

[leelapops]

kita, those articles provided an extremely strong argument for reward-based training. Thanks. I have made a lot of mistakes with Jack, our first dog, in terms of training, and there's a lot I wish I could go back and re-do! I much prefer methods that allow a dog some control over their own behaviour. It's all well and good 'making them behave', but I think it's really important that they behave out of a willingness to do so for you, not out of fear.

[kita1]

He is also very sexist:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/31/opinion/31de rr.html?_r=2&oref=slogin

Taken from above article:

"Mr. Millan builds his philosophy from a simplistic conception of the dog�s �natural� pack, controlled by a dominant alpha animal (usually male). In his scheme, that leader is the human, which leads to the conclusion that all behavior problems in dogs derive from the failure of the owner or owners to dominate. (Conveniently, by this logic, if Mr. Millan�s intervention doesn�t produce lasting results, it is the owner�s fault.)

Women are the worst offenders in his world. In one of the outtakes included in the four-DVD set of the first season of �Dog Whisperer,� Mr. Millan explains that a woman is �the only species that is wired different from the rest.� And a �woman always applies affection before discipline,� he says. �Man applies discipline then affection, so we�re more psychological than emotional. All animals follow dominant leaders; they don�t follow lovable leaders.�

Mr. Millan�s sexism is laughable; his ethology is outdated. "


So he says/thinks that males always lead the pack - yeah right!!

I would have loved him to meet my first GSD girl - she would definately have shown him who was boss (and it would not be him!!).

[888sally888]

Hi Kita - I have to agree (in our house anyway) I am the softer influence on Pickles!!

Its strange though, she will play fight my husband and put his hand gently in her mouth, but as soon as I put my hand near her she licks it. So maybe dogs can pick up on a difference between male and female?

Who knows, but its an interesting one!

[woofgang]

In the programs that I have seen and also in his book, which I have, he says that women can be as good and better packleaders than men. He says that his traditional Mexican upbringing was sexist to our way of thinking but says that he has changed because his wife, Illusion wouldn't tolerate it!

I think that his comments about leadership in dogs and people is well founded. Dogs don't choose or vote for their leader or make allowances for weakness.....or chose a leader on the basis that he is "entertaining" or "looks good on TV"