Cesar Millan is the host of the popular show the Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic channel. Cesar is a charismatic and very entertaining host, and he has made The Dog Whisperer into a big favorite amongst dog owners. As a result, he has many fans that implement his techniques on their house pets.
However, there are some who feel that Cesar’s techniques are overly harsh and inappropriate for novice trainers (most pet owners).
In this article, I examine Cesar’s approach and discuss its pros and cons.
Cesar Millan – The Good
1. Cesar Millan educates people on being a good pack leader.
To be a good pack leader Cesar Millan talks about setting rules and boundaries for your dog including door manners and always walking your dog slightly behind you. He also emphasizes the importance of maintaining calm and assertive energy which made a huge difference with my Shiba Inu.
Since dogs live in a human world, they need us to provide them with a degree of structure so that they feel safe and so that they do not harm others or themselves. They also need a balanced leader who is able to protect them, and show them how to behave in stressful situations.
These messages are extremely important, especially in this day and age where dog owners tend to overly spoil their dogs by letting them do whatever they want. Uncontrolled dogs may become dangerous and unhealthy. Ultimately. they may have to be destroyed because nobody taught them how to behave in a human world.
2. Cesar Millan gets people to fulfill their dogs’ needs, not just their own.
Cesar Millan gets people to fulfill their dogs' needs, not just their own.
Most dog owners are very aware of how dogs help us live happier, and fuller lives. What is often forgotten is that dogs have needs of their own.
Cesar Millan talks about understanding a dog’s needs and helping him be a happy, well-balanced dog through dog exercise and dog discipline. He also shows people that once they help their dogs burn some energy, the dogs are a lot more well behaved.
Given the unrealistic expectations of dogs that are propagated by some dog movies, it is a big advantage to dogdom to have Cesar Millan spreading this message about a dog’s needs to audiences everywhere.
3. Cesar Millan shows people how to improve their dog’s behavior regardless of breed and background.
Some dog breeds have developed a really bad reputation, especially the Pit Bull Terrier. Cesar Millan does a really good job in showing people that all dogs can be rehabilitated regardless of breed and background.
His own pack consists of many Pit Bulls and Rottweilers, both of which have gotten a bad reputation for being dangerous and aggressive dogs. Cesar Millan frequently uses many Pit Bulls from his pack to rehabilitate other dogs. His Pit Bulls are calm, balanced, and very non-reactive even when faced with extremely hyper dogs.
There are a large number of Pit Bulls in shelters today, and they have a difficult time finding homes because people are afraid to adopt them. Cesar Millan and his Pit Bull sidekick Daddy do great things to combat the negativity associated with that breed.
Cesar Millan’s message that every dog can be rehabilitated, gives hope to people with difficult dogs, and reduces the number of shelter surrenders. His hopeful message could also encourage people to adopt shelter dogs, and give them a second chance.
4. Cesar Millan uses his pack of dogs to teach other dogs and improve their behavior.
Cesar Millan shows people that the best teacher for a dog, is often another dog.
While we may try and learn canine body language, we will never be as adept at using it as a canine. Of course the doggy teacher must be calm and very balanced.
When looking for a trainer, try and find one that has some calm, balanced, dogs that can work with you.
Cesar Millan, The Good - When looking for a trainer, try and find one that has some calm, balanced, dogs that can work with you.
Cesar Millan – The Bad
1. Cesar’s Way or the highway.
Cesar's Way or the highway.
Cesar Millan has an extremely confident, charismatic, and alpha personality that makes him very successful. Unfortunately, a side-effect of this, is that people may just follow his techniques and not explore other alternatives.
His emphasis on large breed dogs and aggressive dogs, as well as his approach to dog psychology through aversive methods, perpetuates some inaccurate myths on dog training, including:
- You cannot train large breed dogs with reward methods.
- You cannot train aggressive dogs with reward methods.
Because Cesar Millan is so widely watched and so widely recommended by dog breeders, dog owners, and other dog professionals, there is a huge network effect that propagates and perpetuates these myths. This can lead to widespread tunnel vision that ultimately does a disservice to dogs, especially dogs that are incorrectly diagnosed with aggressive or dominant behavior.
There are many trainers who have successfully rehabilitated aggressive dogs using only reward dog training.
I think that Cesar Millan can combat some these misconceptions by always reminding his audience to keep an open mind and to use a wider range of techniques in his Dog Whisperer program.
2. Cesar Millan does not place enough emphasis on owner discipline.
Cesar Millan greatly emphasizes dog discipline, but he is a lot less strict with their owners. Dogs with problem behaviors need a lot of attention. Frequently, owners must put in a lot of time and effort to help their dogs reach a happier and more balanced state.
The format of The Dog Whisperer show is such that Cesar has to show results quickly to make the program interesting and engaging. Often times there is a timer which shows how Cesar Millan solves a problem in minutes (5-15 minutes), that will actually take a lot of time and effort to truly become a learned behavior.
Even though Cesar Millan may sometimes say that changing a dog’s behavior takes time, his Dog Whisperer program shows the opposite.
This is in contrast to shows like It’s Me or the Dog, where there is a lot more emphasis on owner participation in the dog rehabilitation process, and the unfortunate consequences that may occur when owners fail to put in the effort.
3. Cesar Millan does not spend enough time discussing dog training equipment.
Cesar Millan does advise his clients to put a dog’s collar high up on the neck, close to the head and ears. He will occasionally uses his Illusion collar to keep a choke collar from sliding down a dog’s neck.
Frequently, however, Cesar Millan just goes with whatever the owner is using, thereby implicitly agreeing with the owner’s dog equipment choice. Given that Cesar Millan is the expert, it would be helpful to have more of a discussion on the pros and cons of dog training collars .
Training collars (e.g. prong collar, choke chains), should not be left on a dog for long periods of time; they should be put on for a walk or a training session and removed otherwise. Definitely remove a training collar when your dog is off-leash, especially when he is interacting with other dogs. A choke chain may get caught while a dog is playing or running around which may result in injury or death.
Prolonged use of choke chains may cause injury even if used correctly. For safety, use a training collar for a limited amount of time (several weeks) and then switch back to a flat collar once your dog understands the rules of walking.
The Illusion collar is a modified choke collar, and the risks of using such collars should at least be mentioned.
4. Cesar Millan supports a more dictatorial rule and does not explore other forms of pack leadership.
Cesar Millan offers little to no exploration on what type of leader we should be.
It is important for us humans to become pack leaders of our dogs but an important corollary question is what leader we should be.
Cesar Millan seems to support something more akin to a dictatorship, where everything the leader says goes, and not following a rule, brings about some kind of disciplinary action whether it be a leash jerk, a finger poke, or an alpha roll. The dog is always expected to walk close to but behind the human, and there is very little stopping to smell the roses.
Between a dictatorship and no leadership is a wide range of other possibilities.
Take into account your own temperament and the temperament of your dog to determine the best type of relationship for you.
Take into account your own temperament and the temperament of your dog to determine the best type of relationship for you.
5. Cesar Millan downplays the dangers of aversive dog training.
Shiba Inu Sephy does not respond well to aversive techniques.
Cesar Millan uses a variety of aversive training methods including, alpha rolls, leash jerks, and finger pokes. He often tells owners that these techniques do not cause the dogs any pain or stress, it is just meant to get the dogs’ attention. There is also an implication that these techniques are appropriate and humane because wolves do that to other wolves, or dogs do that to other dogs.
Both of these statements are not very accurate.
All aversive methods cause an unpleasant sensation, or they would not work. An aversive technique may sometimes cause stress and fear in a dog, which is why the dog avoids that behavior in the future.
Aversive training can also backfire if not executed with the correct force, with the proper timing, and with the proper redirection. When not executed properly, aversive methods may cause additional behavioral problems in dogs including aggression.
This University of Pennsylvania 2009 study shows that 1 in every 4 dogs that are trained with aversive methods exhibits aggression during training.
Given Cesar Millan’s popularity, there are a large number of people who follow his dog behavior modification techniques just from watching The Dog Whisperer on television. Cesar Millan should at least mention some of the dangers of using his aversive methods.
As a dog owner, I would like accurate information on dog obedience training, rather than sugar coated versions.
Thank You for Your Comments
Thank You for Your Comments.
I would like to thank everyone for leaving comments and participating in this discussion. You have made me think a lot about dogs, dog relationships, dog training, and how to solve problem dog behaviors.
Many people feel strongly about dog training or dog behavior modification techniques, because they love their dogs very much and want what is best for them. That is why there is much controversy surrounding Cesar Millan, and the aversive dog training methods that he uses. I have noticed, however, that he is using fewer aversive methods in his more recent Dog Whisperer episodes, and is using a bit more rewards; which I think is a really good thing.
Some people consider aversive methods to be dog cruelty. That is, however, a moral judgment, and therefore best left to the theologians.
I started out with Cesar Millan’s aversive techniques on my first dog.
When I tried to switch over to reward dog training, many of the people that I sought to get advice from called me all sorts of names, including cruel and harsh. Luckily, there were some that gave me good advice, and reward methods worked out very well for my dog in the end. I now only use reward obedience training on all my dogs, but messages about exercise, discipline, and energy still apply whichever techniques you use.
Please understand that this article is not about name calling, finding fault, or anything else, it is about gathering information, and having discussions, so that we can make the best decisions for our dogs.
I believe that you do not need to reject everything that Cesar Millan says just because there are some things you disagree with; and similarly, you do not need to follow everything that Cesar Millan says, just because there are some things you agree with.
Thank you for making me think more deeply about these issues. More comments are always greatly appreciated.
More Cesar Millan
- Cesar Millan’s Positive Reinforcement Techniques
A look at why Cesar Millan is so successful and his use of positive reinforcement techniques. - Dog Psychology and Cesar Millan
What is dog psychology and how is it related to dog training and dog behavior modification. - Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer’s Most Controversial Topics
Common points of contention between Cesar Millan supporters and critics. - The Dog Whisperer vs. Victoria Stilwell
A comparison of Cesar Millan’s aversive based, dog training techniques, with Victoria Stilwells reward based methods. - Cesar Millan’s Dog Training Techniques
An analysis of the dog training techniques most used by Cesar Millan; including alpha rolls, leash jerks, and no look, no touch, and no eye contact.
Interesting Articles on Cesar Millan
- American Humane Association: ‘Dog Whisperer’ Training Approach More Harmful Than Helpful.
- The Anti-Cesar Millan: Ian Dunbar.
- The New York Times: "Pack of Lies".
- Dog Whisperer to Critics: My Techniques Are "Instinctual"
- The New Yorker: What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell.
- Wikipedia: Cesar Millan.
Cesar Millan Discussion Threads
- Yelp: Cesar Millan dog ‘rehabilitating’ techniques inhumane? (good mix of Cesar positive and negative)
- Dogster (mostly Cesar positive)
- I Remember Love Forum (mostly Cesar positive)
- Dog Explorer (mostly Cesar negative)
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“In total, 140 surveys were collected. The researchers found that the most commonly used methods of training included such aggressive techniques as hitting the dog (43 percent), growling at the dog (41 percent) and physically forcing the dog onto its back (31 percent). This, despite the fact that these techniques showed the tendency to produce the direct opposite response owners sought. A quarter of the dogs trained with aversive techniques showed aggressive behavior in response. ” ~~[Questions about ‘aversive’ training]
As described in the paragraph above, these were the aversive techniques most commonly used by dog owners in the survey.
Here is another excerpt from the article -
“But according to a new study from Penn’s School of Veterinary Science, Millan’s approach may not be quite so effective as he makes it out to be. In fact, the study suggests “firm” discipline—and so-called “aversive” discipline techniques, in which dogs are corrected using aggressive measures—may actually backfire, making dogs more likely to lash out at other dogs, people and even their owners.”
According to the study, published in the journal Applied Animal Behavior Science, 25 percent of dogs trained with “aversive” techniques react to their training with an aggressive response of their own. Dogs trained in a more positive, encouraging manner, by contrast, showed almost no aggressive behavior.
~~[Questions about ‘aversive’ training]
Perhaps you are questioning the study itself, in which case it is best to take it up with the behavioral scientists and their students at UPenn.
Indeed neither I nor the study say that aversive techniques will never work. However, the results show that they are risky and can cause more behavioral issues.
There are also studies on the use of shock collars and choke collars.
Congratulations on your new future dog.
I am preparing to become a dog owner, and have been reading a lot about living with dogs, including watching The Dog Whisperer. Just tonight I found your website, and look forward to .
I must take issue with your cavalier reference to the Penn 2009 study on aversive techniques. If one reads the linked article, it becomes clear that the “aversive techniques” used by the dog owners are clearly NOT techniques that responsible trainers using aversive techniques would use: 43% HIT the dog, for heavens’ sake! It’s irresponsible on your part to equate without qualification the “aversive techniques” used by Millan and other trainers with “aversive techniques” used by desperate nd/ignorant dog owners.
That said I look forward to reading your other blogs. I always appreciate it when people approach topics, especially controversial ones, with an open mind and balanced attitude.