‘Dog Whisperer’ gives lowdown on series

[bigdoglover]

Citizen-Times

by Rick McDaniel

— From depressed Dobermans to crazy Chihuahuas to paranoid pit bulls, Cesar Millan has seen them all.

Millan is the star of National Geographic Channel’s “The Dog Whisperer,” which kicks off its third season at 9 tonight. One of the country’s best-known dog trainers, Millan has been called “Dr. Phil for dogs” and has worked with scores of pet owners who are at the end of their ropes, as well as celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Hilary Duff.

The show has garnered quite a following and has even gotten Millan parodied on the pop culture cartoon hit “South Park.”

Millan took time between takes on the show’s set to answer a few questions for the Citizen-Times.

Question: You grew up observing wild dogs at your grandfather’s ranch in Mexico. What was the most important thing you learned from that?

Answer: The most important thing I learned was to NEVER go against Mother Nature. I use what I learned to create balance in the dog’s life, which makes them much happier. I teach owners how to practice exercise, discipline and then affection, which allows dogs to be in a calm, submissive state. Most owners in America only practice affection, affection, affection — which does not create a balanced dog.

Q: When you go into a situation with large dogs that are acting aggressively, how do you keep control of the situation?

A: First, it is important not to classify a problem dog by its breed. All dog problems come from two things: lack of exercise and lack of leadership. That can be a problem for any dog — no matter what size or breed. I approach the situation with a calm, assertive energy. Your dogs need you to be the pack leader.


Q: How many times have you been bitten?

A: It comes with the job. I’ve been bitten a few times, but never anything severe.

Q: What is the key to people living successfully with their dogs?

A: Practice a leadership role.

Q: You’ve worked with many celebrities and scores of regular people. Are the celebrities harder to deal with than the regular folks?

A: Dogs do not know their owners are celebrities. You will find that celebrities have the same type of dog problems you and I do — aggressive dogs, dogs that bite and so on. And like all owners, once you get the person to look at themselves as a potential source of the problem, we begin the rehabilitation. I often say I rehabilitate dogs, and I train people. That goes for celebrities, too.

Q: What is the most common mistake dog owners make?

A: Humanizing a dog is the No. 1 mistake dog owners make. And that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t love your dog — but when you treat a dog as a human first, it creates instability.

Q: How should people match a dog to their family and lifestyle?

A: The best answer is for you to find a dog that fits your lifestyle. More active breeds such as hunting dogs and herding dogs require more physical challenges like exercise to stay physically and mentally content. It is also important to match a dog’s energy to your lifestyle before making a choice.

Q: What was it like to see yourself parodied on “South Park?”

A: I loved it! I have never laughed so hard.

Q: Is there such a thing as a bad dog?

A: Not really — 99 percent of the dogs I work with accomplish rehabilitation.

Q: What is the best advice for new dog owners?

A: Take your dog on a 45-minute power walk every morning. But, you must use the proper method in walking your dog — when leaving the house, make sure you always walk out the door ahead of your dog to demonstrate who is boss; make sure the dog is not in front of you on the walk.

[roman]

i met him on september 30th and he was great even though i think his techniques are sort of wrong in a way and he should have a second job as a comedian HE IS SO FUNNY

his wife needs an attitude adjustment though >__<

[sammy]

I thought we were having a moratorium on Cesar? Llast time I posted with a link to an article about Cesar I got SLAMMED and told we've all had enough already.

[Beryl]

I think it is ridiculous to have a moratorium on Cesar. He has one of the few dog shows on TV today and he has brought behavior training to the forefront.

No, I don't agree 100% with him but I appreciate the results he has achieved and see value in some of his methods in some behavior problem situations.

Bring on the rest of the dog trainers! Better to discuss and offer behavior modification alternatives than to euthanize.

[c0_re]

Yea I'm waiting for some know it all to come in and start bashing him because they don't share his beliefs.

You'd think him adding the new deal before every show about how every owner should do what their comfortable with and consult a professional would shut people up, of course not.

I don't belive\endorse in everything Cesar does but his core beliefs of excersize and leadership have worked a 100% for me(and my family friends) over the last 5 years and about 10 dogs.

I've had the pleasure of working with more than a few huskie and huskie mixes over the past several years and Cesars methods(again not all of them) seem to work wonders with this group in particular.

This is a part that really gets me all the pos only poeple say he's using wolf technics on every day dogs, if any of them had read his book it's wild dog packs that he gets 99% of his beliefs from NOT WOFL PACKS.

Question: You grew up observing wild dogs at your grandfather’s ranch in Mexico. What was the most important thing you learned from that?

Answer: The most important thing I learned was to NEVER go against Mother Nature. I use what I learned to create balance in the dog’s life, which makes them much happier. I teach owners how to practice exercise, discipline and then affection, which allows dogs to be in a calm, submissive state. Most owners in America only practice affection, affection, affection — which does not create a balanced dog.

[Aria]

Originally Posted by c0_re

This is a part that really gets me all the pos only poeple say he's using wolf technics on every day dogs, if any of them had read his book it's wild dog packs that he gets 99% of his beliefs from NOT WOFL PACKS.

)from my other post)

his training methods work so..

A lot of people say he takes his ideas from wolf pack. Others say wild dog packs. But actually biologists used to see dogs and wolves as separate species. wolves were canis lupus and dogs canis familiaris. When they got evidence from molecular structure, they started calling them both canis lupus. now dog is canis lupus familiaris and wolves canis lupus lupus. So really their way of living is the same just in diferent enviorments.

[Carrie]

So really their way of living is the same just in diferent enviorments.

I disagree completely and emphaticly with that sentence. Wolves and domestic dogs are very, very different in behavoir, anatomy, biochemistry and in their way of living. About the only similarity between domestic dogs and wolves is their DNA and a few left over instincts. Recent science strongly suggests that domestic dogs evolved from village dogs who were not a pack animal but who evolved from an ancestor of the wolf we know today. During the evoltuion process, as tamer woves were able to eat in the proximatey to humans (unlike most wolves) they got tamer and tamer. Along with the natural selection for tameness came other changes in biochemistry, anatomy, brain function and physical characteristics. These wolves which evolved into village dogs scavenged for scraps. There was no evidence of a need to function as a pack. This is where our dogs come from. Domestic dogs are also thought to be paedomorphic versions of wolves, that is retaining many juvenile traits of wolves. Juvenile wolves are not "dominant."

http://www.workingdogweb.com/Coppinger.htm

Cesar Milan is way off base by attributing domestic dogs as pack animals when living with humans. Dogs do not need to hunt large game or compete for breeding which are the only functions needed in a pack. He attributes most all behavior to either being dominant or not dominant. He doesn't understand a lot of body language or the way a dog thinks and learns. He's locked in those old, outdated and disproven wolf studies done in the 40's which have been shown to be false by modern ethologists, biologists and behavioral scientists. http://reactor-core.org/taming-foxes.html

What he does is uses force, flooding fearful dogs with the stimuli that they fear....no gradual getting use to, just bombardment, positive punishment, intimidation and domination to shut down behavior, to put the fearful dogs into a state of learned helplessness, so that they give up. This does not resolve the underlying issues. It's a bandaid....a quick fix which is usually not long lasting.

http://www.esquire.com/cgi-bin/print...html&x=53&y=14

This way of handling dogs has been refutted by most of today's scientists of behavior and most of today's well known, highly respected trainers with PhDs in animal behavior... who achieve the rehabilitation of dogs without using such force, quick fixes which don't last in most cases and this extreme domination. Positive methods work because dogs do not need to be treated as the low end of the hierarchy to be taught to have good manners and be well trained. They simply need to be taught to go by rules, not intimidated to.

[She_Wolf]

Originally Posted by Carrie

I disagree completely and emphaticly with that sentence. Wolves and domestic dogs are very, very different in behavoir, anatomy, biochemistry and in their way of living. About the only similarity between domestic dogs and wolves is their DNA and a few left over instincts.

I disagree with that. Dogs and wolves are very similar in many behaviors. For instance, as Cesar shows, when a dog misbehaves, getting overly excited and yelling at the dog does nothing to solve the problem. Like alpha males will do with submissive members of the pack, Cesar shows the owner how to correctly discipline the dog (for example, he applies pressure with his first two fingers on the back of the dog's neck).

And you'll notice that after Cesar works with problematic dogs, they almost always end up being much better behaved than before.

[Carrie]

Alpha males rarely, if ever use any physical means. It is the subordinant wolves who will show submissive posturing. CM is wrong. He bases his whole philosophy on disproven studies. Have you read any David Mech, the scientist who is considered the world's leading expert in wolf behavior? Did you read the links I put up? How much study have you done on this subject of wolf and domestic dog behavior, ethodology, biology? If you're basing your opinions on Cesar Milan, well....he has no education in animal behavior and he is in the dark ages where wolves and domestic dogs are concerned. He's taking dog training back decades rather than training using the fine research done by universities and their behavior departments. You don't notice what is not shown on TV or his book....that there are many, many cases where the dogs regress in their behavior. And when they have so called, "good behavior," it is achieved by methods which shut a lot of those dogs down. They are not happy and willing, they are forced to behave. If that's OK with some people, well.....there's nothing else to say. The good behavior that everyone wants can be accomplished with kinder methods...methods which are based on how domestic dogs are, not how misguided studies of wolves are. That which he bases his treatment of dogs on is from proven and inaccurate studies on captive wolves who were not related, as wolves are normally in a pack and/or of domestic dogs...making their behavior fit into this little box he has....calling certain behaviors dominant which are not. I've seen him call a terrified dog "dominant." He reads body language incorrectly in many cases. I see some of what he does as fine and I think he's right about our state of mind transferring onto dogs as in when humans are unsure and scared, their dogs pick up on that. I agree that dogs need direction and guidance, exericse. But this is nothing new. He thinks if a dog walks ahead of his owner, he's being dominant. This is not true. Training a dog to walk where you want him can be done without collar corrections. If a dog can be trained, he is not dominant. If a dog walks ahead of his owner, it is because he doesn't know any better and is eager to take a walk. Simple as that. Why make everything they do more complicated than need be and make everything they do "fit" into this misguided and inaccurate box?