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]

Dog training through the control of resources.

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?

Doing an alpha roll on Siberian Shania? Nah.

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.

Who is the best?

Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer or …
Santa Claus, The Children Listener?!

Santa Shiba Sephy.

Cesar Millan!

1. Cesar’s pack of Pit Bulls, and Rottweilers has superior battle skills compared to Santa and Santa’s pack of reindeer.
2. Cesar roller blades with his pack of dogs while Santa travels in a garish, old-fashioned, sleigh.
3. Cesar is trim, fit, and would be able to fit through chimneys of all sizes. Santa has to use a rope and pulley system.
4. Cesar makes millions from his t.v. show, dog training books, DVDs, and equipment.
   Santa spends all year making toys, and does not make a cent. He does not even get royalty payments for the many products that bear his resemblance.
   Santa really needs a new business manager.
5. Cesar lives in L.A. and gets to rub shoulders with famous celebrities such as Oprah and Will Smith. Santa lives in the North Pole and only gets to leave home once a year.
6. Cesar gets mail, e-mail, blog entries, fan websites, and much more all year round. Santa only gets mail once a year, and it is not even “real mail” but rather lists of things that people want.

Santa Claus!

Santa Nakago (from Fushigi Yuugi)

1. In a wrestling match, Santa’s size would probably give him an advantage over Cesar. However, Cesar is much younger, fitter, and in better physical health. So this may be a draw; except that nobody likes people who beat up on Santa!
2. Santa can tolerate the harsh cold of the North Pole. Since Cesar grew up in Mexico and is now living in LA, he would probably get frostbite.
3. Cesar fulfills a dog’s needs, Santa fulfills a child’s dreams.
4. Cesar has to pay his helpers, Santa’s elves work for free.
5. As far as we know, Santa has never gotten bitten by a child, while Cesar has been bitten many times by dogs.
6. Santa has a higher Google ranking than Cesar. Santa gets 673,000 average searches per month whereas Cesar only gets 40,500. Even if you add up all the name permutations and misspellings; Cesar still trails greatly behind Santa.
7. Santa’s sleigh is much more fuel efficient than Cesar’s SUV. Santa’s sleigh is environmentally friendly and not affected by OPEC.
8. If you choose to bet on Cesar, you may never receive a Christmas present ever again.

Cesar Millan is a very charismatic man who communicates very well with people. 

He communicates well with his dog owner clients and he communicates well with his Dog Whisperer viewers. The result – he has experienced much greater success in terms of number of viewers compared to the other television dog trainers.

Calm and assertive is one of the most popular lessons in Cesar Millan’s The Dog Whisperer show, and one thing you will notice is that Cesar is always very calm when interacting with people. There were several episodes where he visited people who were not the most polite to him, but he responded with calmness, and decided to just leave instead of argue, verbally attack, or try to force his views onto others.

Is Cesar Millan assertive with his human clients and viewers?

In a way he is, because he speaks with confidence, acts with confidence, and communicates in a calm and easy to understand manner. He also comes from a position of authority because he has a very impressive resume.

It is interesting to note however that he achieves this assertiveness by being positive and by encouraging people. If the people are not willing to accept his method of training, he simply leaves.

Many people think that being positive, or leaving an argument is losing, but Cesar Millan shows us that this is not the case.

I am always very impressed with the calm restraint that Cesar Millan shows when sometimes faced with difficult clients. Cesar is rich and famous. In truth, he does not need to suffer any rude behavior; yet the worst that I have seen him do is walk away.

In fact, Cesar Millan only uses reward techniques (positive reinforcement, negative punishment) on the people he interacts with. He is often positive and very encouraging. He also uses experiences from a person’s daily life to get his messages across. He does not personally attack anyone, and I have not seen him make anyone cry.

This is in contrast to Brad Pattison’s show, In the Dog House, which features someone crying in almost every episode.

There is also a fair amount of arguing and people being generally unhappy with his aversive, and abrasive style of communication. For some reason, those responsible for the show seem to think that making people cry, and getting in people’s faces, are good ways to teach and show some kind of skill or competence.

The results, however, are clear.

Cesar Millan has won numerous awards, has a large and ever growing number of viewers, and has a large and successful line of dog products. Do a search on Amazon for Cesar Millan and you will get hundreds of hits.

Try doing a search for Brad Pattison and Victoria Stilwell in comparison …

well you see the difference.

Both Pattison and Stilwell use aversive techniques including scolding, ridicule, fear tactics, and sometimes much more on their human clients.

I think this is one of Cesar Millan’s most important lessons to us.

Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer, on the National Geographic Channel, has become very well known for dealing with difficult, aggressive dogs.

Victoria Stilwell is a popular dog trainer in the U.K., with her own t.v. series called It’s Me Or The Dog on Animal Planet.

• Do you prefer watching Victoria Stilwell or Cesar Millan?
• If you met Cujo in a dark alley, would you rather have Victoria Stilwell or Cesar Millan with you?
• Do you think Victoria Stilwell or Cesar Millan would be better at training your own dog(s)?

These are the important questions we consider in Cesar Millan vs. Victoria Stilwell!.