Probably not. Why not?

Because Cesar Millan says so -

Do not attempt the techniques you are about to see without consulting a professional. ~~[Quote from The Dog Whisperer Show on The National Geographic Channel]

Ok, I have consulted a professional – should I follow the techniques now?

Probably not.

Crap! why not now?

Anybody can call themselves a professional trainer. In fact, I can do that right now –

“I am a professional trainer.”

This does not change my dog training skills and is not even true, but I can certainly say it and even create a splashy website that announces this untruth for everyone to see. Not all professional trainers are equal, and most of them do not have Cesar Millan type skills.

In that case, how should I train my dog?

Cesar Millan gives us very good advice which is not to attempt techniques such as leash jerks and alpha rolls just by mimicking what we see him do on The Dog Whisperer program. These techniques are risky, and when not applied properly, with the right timing, technique, and redirection, can actually cause other dog behavioral problems and loss of trust.

The Monks of New Skete who originally popularized the alpha roll technique have since taken the technique out of their book because it was misused and proved to be very risky to both dog and owner.

Cesar Millan has a lot of dog training skills and he projects very good calm energy.

None of us, not even other professional trainers can come close to Millan’s natural ability in interacting with dogs.

Therefore, let us all take Cesar Millan’s very good advice –

Do not attempt the techniques you are about to see without consulting a professional. ~~[Quote from The Dog Whisperer Show on The National Geographic Channel]

There are a variety of safe and effective ways to train our dogs.

In fact, in the show DogTown which also airs on the National Geographic Channel, the trainers rehabilitate some difficult dogs, even Michael Vick’s fighting pit bulls, by controlling a dog’s resources, teaching the dog alternate ways to handle stress, and properly rewarding the dog for a job well done.

Alpha rolls, leash jerks, shock collars, and other such techniques can work when applied by someone like Cesar Millan. But since we are not Cesar Millan, we should follow his excellent advice and use less risky techniques to train our dogs.

But alpha rolls worked for me!

Alpha rolls may sometimes work – but why use something risky and high stress, when there are effective alternate methods that are safer? Let us follow what Cesar Millan says, and leave the alpha rolling to experts like him.

The people at DogTown show us that the less risky, resource control techniques, work very well; even for difficult dogs such as Michael Vick’s pit bulls.

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