You bring up some really good points. Victoria Stilwell has a nice variety of dog training techniques, and she is very creative. Some interesting ideas that I have gotten from her shows include the bubble machines with bacon flavored bubbles, timed toy and food dispenser, body blocks, and much more.

Nothing brings up controversy more than Cesar Milan…

Very true. I think though that there is common ground between both sides, and by having positive discussions we can make better decisions for our dogs.

As for interactions with both dogs and people, I personally think that positive techniques are the more effective form of communication. Often, it is the harder path to take, but I think it has a higher rate of success and has more lasting results. Cesar’s commercial success shows that positive techniques work well on people. Based on what I have read of Skinner, he was also a proponent of positive reinforcement techniques, which I think says a lot.

Another good example is to look at online discussions – often there is a tendency to use aversive techniques whereupon things quickly degenerate, and no information gets exchanged.

Perhaps Stilwell could consider applying more positive techniques on people, and Cesar could consider extending his people communication techniques onto other areas

And well I’ve never watched Brad, so I can’t comment on him.

No loss on your part.

The other mistake I think people make is assuming that because something “works”. The reasons given for it working are therefore accepted as gospel. A lot of Cesar’s methods work according to learning theory and both operant and classical conditioning as opposed to “being the pack leader”. This pack leader business appeals to all kinds of dominating yahoos who defend Milan with all the fervor of a cult follower. They will yell about how they used his methods and they worked! I would say that most methods work when the owners are really consistent in applying them. The dog will eventually figure out what the rules are and what works in their own best interest, so a lot of different kinds of dog training “works” for most dogs. I agree with his attitude of calm assertiveness and his talk about dogs reading energy…this is all good stuff. And he can be utterly amazing to watch, he knows dog body language really well. I would guess that people try to emulate him, haven’t had 20 years working with dogs and majorly screw it up. If thinking of yourself as a pack leader helps you stay calm when working with you dog, great. If it makes you feel like a big, strong leader with your dog and you need that because your job sucks and you have a small penis and you feel the need to control something…well think about how your getting your needs met and if that’s really good for you, never mind the dog. The pack theory of hierarchy for wolves has long ago been discredited, by the very man who started it!. If he is brave enough to admit he was wrong about something then everyone should be. Are you willing to accept that it may work but maybe not for the reasons given on the show?

That said, I admire him for not giving up and being willing to work with dogs that nobody else will. Really admire him. I have worked with a very reactive dog in an urban environment and it is challenging to keep your cool as well as he does.

Victoria Stilwell on the other hand is not always kind to humans, but is much better with the dogs. I have never seen her cause undo stress to an animal on her show and so I prefer her training methods.

That said..we are talking about TV land and ‘merica, a place were for a long time the Jerry Springer show was the most watched program in the country…this still makes me feel ashamed. Cesar is popular because he deals with aggressive and reactive dogs, he forces dogs into highly stressful situations…it’s action, suspense and a lot more exiting than most dog training which is time consuming and quite boring to watch.

Stilwell creates the drama and suspense though her interaction with the owners. Unfortunately people like to see other people chastised, just look at the popularity of Dr. Phil.

And well I’ve never watched Brad, so I can’t comment on him.

I think I may not have said it very well in the article above, so let me try to express my views better.

Re dominance – I think that Cesar Millan’s whole philosophy is based on dominance. He often supports staring down dogs, and making sure that the dog always ‘surrenders’. If not, the dog ‘wins’ and the human is no longer pack leader. I think that this ‘dominance’ philosophy is problematic in many cases because as stated above most of the time a dog’s behavior is not driven by dominance – so applying dominance techniques may just make the situation worse. Studies of wolf packs show that wolves only exercise dominance rituals in very specific situations, and that it is usually the mid-level wolves that practice physical dominance the most – not the alpha pair.

Re alpha rolls – Cesar used to do that on a regular basis in his older Dog Whisperer episodes. Seasons one and two he did it a whole lot. You are right that he does not do it as often now – which is a really good thing. But every time I think he has left it behind for good – he does it again.

Re physical techniques – You are right that aversive techniques are not necessarily dominant in nature. However, because Cesar supports such an extreme view of dominance theory, he usually applies these techniques in order to achieve dominance – hence physical dominance.

Re energy – Yes I also think that Cesar has very good energy. He also is very good at reading dogs and is great with executing and timing his corrections. Because of all these things, Cesar gets really good results from dogs. However, I really believe that he can do even more good if he would just stop using all those physically based aversive methods. He really does not need them.

In a recent episode, he even used a shock collar to achieve physical dominance because he couldn’t poke at the dog. He really does not need to use these things.

In DogTown which is a dog shelter show that airs after the Dog Whisperer, they often rehabilitate aggressive dogs, even Michael Vick’s fighting dogs with only reward dog training and with no heavy handed dominance rules.

Finally, while he may be able to use these techniques fairly well because of his energy, perfect timing, and natural ability to read a dog’s body language – almost everyone else does not have those same abilities. Using his methods in those circumstances can lead to more troubles, more aggression and more badness for everyone involved.