Cesar Millan is host of The Dog Whisperer, a popular dog training show on the National Geographic channel.
Millan has a charismatic personality, and his show is very entertaining. As a result, he has made The Dog Whisperer into a big favorite among dog owners everywhere, and his many fans implement his techniques on their family dogs and puppies.
However, there are some who feel that his techniques are risky, and inappropriate for novice trainers (most pet owners).
In this article, I examine Millan’s approach and discuss some of 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, Millan talks about setting rules and boundaries for our dog. This includes door manners, and always walking our dog slightly behind us. 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, we need to provide them with a degree of structure, so that they feel safe, and so that they do not inadvertently harm others or themselves. They also need a balanced leader who is able to protect them, and show them how to behave in unfamiliar or stressful situations.
These messages are extremely important, especially in this day and age, where owners have a tendency to spoil their dogs and let them do whatever they want. Untrained and unmanaged dogs often become stressed, frustrated, and ultimately develop behaviors that are dangerous to the people around them. In the end, they are surrendered or 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.
Most of us 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.
Millan talks about understanding a dog’s needs, and helping him be a well-balanced canine through dog exercise and dog discipline. He shows us that after our dog burns some energy, he is more calm and well-behaved.
Given the unrealistic expectations of dogs that are propagated by some Hollywood movies, it is helpful to have a popular spokesperson spread this message about considering a dog’s needs, to audiences everywhere.
3. Cesar Millan shows us that dogs can be retrained regardless of breed and background.
Some dog breeds have developed a really bad reputation, especially the Pit Bull Terrier. Millan does a good job of showing us that all dogs can be rehabilitated, whatever their breed or history.
His own pack consists of many Pit Bulls and Rottweilers, which he uses to help retrain other dogs. These wonderful ambassadors are calm, balanced, and very non-reactive, even when faced with extremely hyper dogs.
Sadly, there are a large number of Pitties in shelters today, who have a difficult time finding homes because people are afraid to adopt them. Millan and his sidekick Junior, do great things to combat the negativity associated with the breed.
His message that every dog can be rehabilitated, gives hope to people with difficult dogs, and reduces the number of shelter surrenders. This hopeful message may 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.
Millan shows us 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 another dog. Of course the furry teacher must be calm and very balanced.
When looking for a trainer, try to find one who understands dog psychology, has a good rapport with our dog, and has well-behaved canine assistants who can help with training.
Cesar Millan – The Bad
1. 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, aggressive dogs, as well as his frequent use of aversive methods, perpetuates some inaccurate myths on dog training, including:
- You cannot train large breed dogs with non-aversive methods.
- You cannot train aggressive dogs with non-aversive methods.
Because he is so widely watched, and so widely recommended by dog breeders, 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 dominant behavior. Misdiagnosing a problem behavior, leads to administering the wrong treatment, which may worsen our dog’s conduct and lower his quality of life.
Non-aversive methods that center around the control of resources are safer, and often more effective at addressing problem dog behaviors, including aggression. There are many trainers who have successfully rehabilitated aggressive dogs by only using resource control techniques.
I think that 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. Greater 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 program is such that Millan has to show results quickly, so that it is interesting and engaging. Often times, there is a timer which shows how he solves a problem in minutes (5-15 minutes), that will actually take a lot of hard work to truly become a learned behavior.
Even though 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. More discussion on 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 use his Illusion Collar to keep a choke chain from sliding down a dog’s neck.
Frequently however, he just goes with whatever the owner is using, thereby implicitly agreeing with the owner’s dog equipment choice. Given that Millan is the expert, it would be helpful to have more of a discussion on the pros and cons of dog training equipment.
Aversive collars such as prong collars and 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 an aversive collar when our 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 applied correctly. For safety, only use an aversive collar for a limited amount of time (several weeks). Then, switch back to a flat collar once our dog understands the rules of walking.
The Illusion Collar is a modified choke collar, and the associated risks should at least be mentioned.
4. Explore other forms of pack leadership.
Since our dogs live in our very human world, it is important for us to lead and guide them. However, an important corollary question is what type of 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 correction, 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. Note that the term dictatorial is used here to refer to type of leadership; nothing more and nothing less. A dictatorial leader is one who makes all the decisions, does not allow others to question those decisions, and will administer swift punishment to those who do not comply with his demands. Here is the dictionary definition –
Asserting or tending to assert one’s authority or to impose one’s will on others.
~~[Free Dictionary]
In terms of leadership, we want to at least consider how much control over our dog’s behavior is truly necessary. Try to take into account our own temperament, and the temperament of our dog, to determine the best type of relationship and human-dog bond.
5. Highlight the dangers of aversive dog training.
Cesar Millan uses a variety of aversive training methods, including alpha rolls, leash jerks, and finger pokes. He often tells owners that these techniques are only used to get a dog’s attention, and that they do not cause the dog any pain or stress. It is often implied 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, otherwise they would not work. Some aversive techniques may cause pain, stress, and fear in a dog, which is why the dog avoids that behavior in the future.
Aversive training can also backfire if not performed with the proper amount of force, timing, and redirection. When not executed in exactly the right way, these methods can cause additional behavioral problems in dogs, including aggression.
This University of Pennsylvania 2009 study shows that at least 25% of the dogs that are trained with confrontational methods exhibit aggression during training.
Given Millan’s popularity, there are a large number of people who follow his techniques, just from watching The Dog Whisperer program on television. To prevent widespread misuse, it is important to at least inform his audience of the specific risks and dangers associated with dominance and pain-based methods.
As a dog owner, I would like accurate information on obedience training, rather than sugar coated versions.
For those who continue to insist that aversive conditioning is not unpleasant, here are two dictionary definitions of the term aversive.
Causing avoidance of a thing, situation, or behavior by using an unpleasant or punishing stimulus, as in techniques of behavior modification.
~~[The American Heritage Dictionary]Tending to avoid or causing avoidance of a noxious or punishing stimulus.
~~[Merriam Webster]
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, training, and how to solve problem behaviors.
Many people feel strongly about this topic because they love their dogs very much, and want what is best for them. This is why there is a lot of controversy surrounding Cesar Millan, and the aversive training methods that he uses. I have noticed however, that he is using fewer such methods in his more recent episodes, and is using a bit more reward training, which I think is a really good thing.
Some people consider aversive methods to be dog cruelty. That is a moral judgment, which is best left to the theologians.
I started out with Cesar Millan’s aversive techniques.
When I tried to switch over to non-aversive training, many so-called positive trainers, called me all sorts of names, including cruel and harsh. Luckily, there were some that gave me good advice, and resource methods ultimately worked out very well for my dogs. Now, I predominantly use resource control techniques, but messages about exercise, discipline, and energy still apply whichever approach we use.
This article is about gathering information and having discussions about dog behavior and dog training. Through discussion and sharing information, we can make better decisions for our dogs. Please help to create a discussion friendly environment by staying away from personal attacks.
Personal attacks or ad hominem arguments are not only pointless, but they also discourage rational discourse and the exchange of ideas.
An ad hominem (Latin for “to the man”), short for argumentum ad hominem, is an argument made personally against an opponent, instead of against the opponent’s argument. Ad hominem reasoning is normally described as an informal fallacy, more precisely an irrelevance.
~~[Wikipedia]
A very common ad hominem is –
“You are only saying this because you are jealous/mean/prejudiced.”
I believe that we do not need to reject everything that Cesar Millan says just because there are some things we disagree with. Similarly, we do not need to follow everything that Cesar Millan says, just because there are some things we agree with.
It is most important to keep an open mind, evaluate techniques objectively, and to listen to our dog.
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)
Your point about few people having Millan’s reading and timing skills is unfortunately very true. And your point that a ‘normal’ person without these skills can unintentionally encourage More aggression is also well taken. This is why from the very first episode (pre-critics) the show has been peppered with ‘do not try this without consulting a professional’ banners. The narrator even Reads It Out Loud for people, something never done on any other show on any channel ever.
That said, your vaunted ‘reward training’ can equally be misapplied, and just as equally requires a person who can ‘read’ dogs and apply the ‘reward’ in a timely manner to be effective. In other words, the same skills are required. Lots of dogs get rewarded inappropriately and their bad behaviors are reinforced rather than removed. Millan’s show’s caveats include saying there are Many methods for making your dog balanced, and he demonstrates as many of them as any one person could possibly be expected to do, including giving well-timed rewards. He carries dog treats with him in many episodes (doggie-door training, for example). I can’t speak to the competence of the trainers you used, and I’m glad you eventually figured out what works with your dog, which is the most important thing, but to encourage people to just ‘reward’ their dogs without proper timing and leadership is just as irresponsible as would be the misapplication of what you call ‘aversion’ techniques. It’s these ill-timed reward behaviors on the part of the unskilled owners that Millan demonstrates more than any other thing that cause the problems he is called upon to correct.
If your child runs out into the street to get his ball, would you hold up a hotdog and wait for him to come back to you? Of course not. You would grab him as quickly as you could and pull him out of traffic before he gets run over. You want to teach your kid not to run out into the street, but sometimes reward training is just not a good idea at the moment. You want your kid to not beg for candy at the checkout counter, giving him a bribe merely encourages him to act up in the future in order to get future bribes. Such ‘reward’ training just creates obnoxious kids, and it’s because the kid learns not to respect the parent, but simply how to manipulate him. The lack of respect these whiners have for their parents is the same as the lack of respect improperly-rewarded dogs have for their owners, and is every bit as dangerous. I bet the Menendez brothers got lots of rewards from Their parents….
P.S. If you’re ever in San Jose, the first beer’s on me:)
Sorry if this sounds like belaboring a point, but I just wanted to add one more thing regarding ‘reward’ versus ‘aversion’ training. I want to say that it’s not about one OR the other. Training a dog to sit by ‘aversion’ would clearly make no sense — one gets the dog to sit, offers a reward, repeats the process until the dog learns that the reward goes with sitting, and the dog will generally sit when you want from then on. To get a dog to repeat something a reward is the way to go. To get a dog to NOT do something, a reward makes no sense — you wait for the dog to do the wrong thing, correct it, repeat the process until the dog learns that the correction goes with the undesired behavior, and the dog will generally no longer do that behavior. The symmetry of the process lends credence to it. He sits, you reward him, he’ll sit again. He pulls on the leash, you correct him, he stops pulling on the leash. If he always pulls on the leash it makes no sense to say you’ll reward him when he stops, because without correction oftentimes he Doesn’t stop.
Bonus! I’ll hold you to that 🙂
Re vaunted ‘reward training’:
lol I like that. Yes my vaunted reward training also requires timing. However, it is much easier to get right, and the consequences of not getting it exactly right are less serious. This is in contrast to something like a leash-correction – which is extremely difficult to execute properly. You must get the force exactly right, the force should be to the side (not directly back), and it should be a quick snap, not the tugs that most people do. Then you must also make sure not to over-correct and to redirect your correction. I used to practice doing leash jerks on a chain-link fence – and still I didn’t get it exactly right. I was never able to get the force or the snap properly executed – and I tried my hardest for about 4-5 months. With reward training you just make sure to reward when your dog is showing appropriate behaviors. This I was able to master pretty quickly 🙂 People who just give food to their dog willy-nilly are not doing dog training at all – they are often just fulfilling their own needs, not the dog’s.
Re textual Cesar Millan message:
Yes you are right that the textual message says that there are many alternate methods. However during the show, Cesar Millan actually says to use leash corrections, alpha rolls, finger pokes, and whatever else. He also differentiates his own methods as behavior modification, and other methods are just doing ‘tricks’. Most people that I talk to who are Cesar Millan fans have a very negative view of reward training just from watching the show. In fact, when I first started watching the show I had the same impression. I did not even consider using reward training because I did not think that it would be effective on my stubborn, dominant Shiba Inu – and this view was largely formed by watching Cesar Millan. What Cesar Millan says and does, are often only supportive of aversive techniques.
Re child running into the street:
My child has never ever run into the street. This is easily achieved because I don’t actually have any children 🙂 But seriously, my dogs have never run into the street either. I train them not to bolt out the door, my backyard is well enclosed, and they are always on leash. I think it is very possible to prevent this from occurring with some simple management techniques. I am not saying that there is no-chance of that happening, but it is unlikely. I am in danger of getting into an accident every time I drive, go out walking, or all the other things that I do as well, but that does not mean that I live my life preparing for that eventuality. I just properly manage it, so that the odds of that happening are slim.
Personally, I prioritize my dog’s general quality of life very highly, and I want to foster a strong and trusting relationship with them. Using pain based aversive training has a high risk of jeapordizing that. That was what happened when I used aversive techniques on my Shiba Inu.
I suppose I could put a shock collar on my dogs in case one day, and that day may never come, they escape and run into traffic, but I choose not to. The cost of using the shock collar is too high, in my opinion, to protect against the remote possibility of them running into traffic.
I do not support having no discipline, but neither do I support having total discipline. Between these two extremes are a wide variety of possibilities and that is where I choose to live.
Thanks for the calm and interesting discussion 🙂
You bring up a good point. It is human nature to want to take action by adding something – either reward or punish. However the symmetry of the adding action is to take something away.
To get my dogs to stop doing something I just take something away from them. My Shiba Inu used to chew on curtains. When he does this I non-mark him (ack-ack), and remove him from the area – usually by body blocking. Then he is not allowed in that area for a while. If he wants to keep going at it, then he gets his freedom in the house totally revoked with a time-out.
I know that Cesar Millan has said before that a time-out makes no sense because dogs don’t reason about their mistakes after the fact. However, the time-out is not for thinking about mistakes, but about taking away a resource from the dog – in this case his freedom. The lesson is this – if you cannot behave well in the house, then you don’t get to freely roam in the house. It works very well with my Shiba Inu.
This whole area is very interesting and well described in behavioral psychology – operant conditioning. Psychology – both human and canine is extremely fascinating.
I too am enjoying this civilized and on-point discussion. A welcome relief from ninety gazillion stories about nothing more than how Michael Jackson is still dead. But I digress…
Isn’t ‘blocking’ and ‘removing’ your dog from the curtains a form of ‘aversion’ training? Certainly you cannot claim it is ‘reward’ training. The dog wants to avoid his respected owner’s displeasure, as clearly expressed to him in front of the activity with which his owner disagrees at the very time the undesired behavior is being performed. Millan does this all the time, with dogs fixated on rocks, on their food, on their squeaky toy, or whatever. Whether you want to admit it or not, you did with your blocking exactly what he would do in your curtain-aversion situation. Millan’s statement about time-outs not working still stands as true: I believe the blocking and the directing of your dog away from the curtains would ITSELF have been sufficient to teach your dog, as long as it was followed by immediate follow-thru repetition to prevent him from going back were he to attempt to do so. The ‘not allowed in the area for a while’ is not necessary, and actually slows down the possible learning opportunity that might occur immediately if he were to try the undesired behavior a second time. The time-out did nothing but relieve you from having to monitor and follow thru at that time, but when the dog comes back you are right where you were the moment you blocked him for the first time. Watching Millan one sees that once he has shown the dog what is not desired, and repeated the correction/blocking a very few more times, he can then surround (flood, in your parlance) the dog with the former object(s) of its obsession and it will no longer behave as it once did. At THAT point you see him Reward the dog for not obsessing, and the dog is totally happy that it thinks it understands and is appreciated by a respectful and trusted leader who has made himself clear, and it’s time to call it a wrap.
Dogs are Great. But dogfood commercial notwithstanding, dogs Don’t rule. Unless their owners let them. Peace and long life my friend.
lol – well 24 hour news – sometimes I feel a bit sorry for the people who have to come up with things to say, as well as for the people who have to say them. But oh well – they are extremely well compensated for it.
No it is not aversion training. And yes I know that Cesar Millan does body blocking. I don’t disagree with all of Cesar Millan’s methods, just the aversive based ones.
Aversive training delivers an aversive stimulus to the dog which could be pain, unpleasant smells, a loud sound, i.e. any stimulus that the dog does not enjoy. Body blocking (just body blocking with no finger pokes or anything like that) – does not deliver any aversive stimulus. Its main goal is to take space/freedom away from the dog. Space or freedom is a reward stimulus – something that the dog likes. In reward training you stop bad behaviors by taking away rewards, which in this case is the dog’s space and freedom.
Now what you mention Cesar Millan doing with food aggression cases is a bit different. In those cases, he is not trying to take away a reward for a bad behavior, but rather he is trying to trigger the bad behavior by taking away food or toys from a food aggressive dog. This will usually trigger an aggressive reaction, at which time Cesar Millan will respond with an aversive stimulus such as a finger poke, or sometimes an alpha roll.
Cesar Millan also *does* use pure body blocks – the most common case of him using this is when he prevents dogs from bolting out the door. In most of these cases he just blocks and does not do the finger poke or whatever else. In this case he is doing reward training – specifically – negative punishment. Reward training consists of positive reinforcement (giving a reward) and negative punishment (taking away a reward). Aversive training consists of positive punishment (giving an aversive stimulus) and negative reinforcement (taking away an aversive stimulus).
To use your previous Sit example – if you wanted to do this with aversive training you would issue the command – Sit. If your dog failed to comply you would apply an aversive stimulus (e.g. collar correction). You would keep applying it until your dog does a Sit. Then you would stop giving collar corrections to reinforce that Sit behavior. Give and take away an aversive stimulus.
With reward training it is the same way. Another clearer example would be when I ask my dog to do a Sit and Wait before I let him out into the backyard. If he does not do it, he does not get to go out (i.e. no reward). When he does it, I open the door and he goes. If he starts misbehaving in the backyard, e.g. digging up grass, he gets a non-mark, and gets brought back in the house. He does not get access to the backyard if he digs. After a bit, he gets to go out and try again. The extreme case of this is the time-out where he does not get any freedom at all.
In my experience, it is not true at all that the time-out retards the learning process. Again – it is not about giving the dog time to mull things over or just a lazy way to not supervise. It is taking away his freedom and access to pack members – which is a reward that he has to earn by following house rules. A similar time-out sequence but in a different context is in training puppies not to bite. You put the puppy in an enclosure and go in there to play with them. If they start biting, you yelp and stop playing with them and ignore them. Again this is a reward technique because you are taking away your attention and affection – which are both rewards. If your puppy continues and escalates his biting behavior, you leave the enclosure and he stays in there. That is an even more extreme case of taking away a reward, because now you are removing yourself totally. This is pretty much exactly like a time-out but you see – it has nothing to do with not supervising or mulling things over – it has to do with removing a reward – i.e. yourself.
Dogs need discipline and structure – I think nobody disagrees with that. But again discipline and structure can be achieved with either reward training or aversive training. My dogs have house rules, walk rules, backyard rules, etc. If they choose not to follow them, then they get something that they really like taken away from them. When they do something that I ask, they get something they really like given to them.
Dogs don’t rule because they have to live with us with our very human rules that they do not understand. That is why we must take the leadership role – to protect them. But again – between no leadership and total leadership (dictator) there are a range of possibilities. It is not an all or nothing thing. We do not need to have an antagonistic relationship with our dogs where the only choices are we win or the dog wins. It is better to have a cooperative relationship where everyone wins – that is the type of relationship I try to foster with my dogs. Sometimes I give and they take, sometimes they give and I take. Other people may prefer a different type of relationship which is their choice – it is a free country.
Thank you for providing such a stimulating discussion opportunity. I do love a challenge.
In your puppy-training example it seems to me that what you’ve done by walking away when the puppy bites is to teach the puppy to bite the human to get the human to go away. This lesson then is extended by the puppy into food aggression, which is to say bite at the human when the human gets near the dog’s food so as to get the human to leave the food alone. In fact, it trains the dog to bite at the mailman to make Him go away, and the dog groomer to make Him go away, and the vet to make Him go away, etc. All because you thought it was ok for the cute little puppy to bite you but not ok for you to bite back at the cute little puppy. You’ve established yourself as the pack Follower from the very outset, deprived yourself of the respect your dog should have had for its owner, and really made your and your dog’s life much more complicated and stressful than it should have had any reason to be as a result. Your presence can be construed as a reward, this is true, in the sense that the dog perceives his leader as giving him some of his time, but if you let your Dog decide that the time is up then you teach him that humans are His followers, which will create all sorts of problems. The dog knows that if you were a leader you would never get up and leave when a follower attempted to dominate/bite you. You haven’t taught the puppy not to bite, you’ve only taught the puppy not to bite As Long As He Still Wants You Around, that He can dictate when You stay and when You go. Bad idea.
Regarding Millan’s handling of food/toy aggression, he Never Touches the dog, let alone ‘pokes’ or ‘alpha rolls’ him, as you put it. Are you watching the same show I am? He acts in a dominant manner, moving forward and then over the object in a signal that he is there to Claim the object, until the dog moves away. Sometimes this means standing over the object for a Long time, long enough to tire the angry dog out, vis-a-vis the Ali rope-a-dope in the Foreman fight. The dog eventually learns that this human is not going away, and when that happens, he surrenders the object to the human. This process has been demonstrated on many episodes over the years. I think you need to re-watch a few episodes — your memory is not doing you or Millan justice.
Lastly, don’t get me started on the ‘free country’ topic. It just raises my blood pressure thinking about it (or what’s left of it). But thanks again for the most engaging conversation. I can use the mental exercise:)
I am afraid this is one of those cases where we may have to agree to disagree on.
Re Puppy Biting
The puppy is not trying to dominate me or anybody else. The puppy is playing – play biting and really enjoying a playmate. If you watch dogs play – that is also what they do with each other. If one of them bites too hard, the other will yelp and stop playing. This stops play which is taking away a reward. Ultimately the other dog will learn not to bite so hard because biting too hard stops play which is what they want. This is different in a dog fight but then the puppy was not dog fighting with me. Context is very important. Not all biting is dominance, aggression, or a fight.
In the postman case, the dog is trying to chase the postman away from his territory. So yes, in that case if you leave then you are rewarding the dog. The solution there is to remove the dog from the area and get him to do something else.
As for the grooming case – the dog is almost always showing fear aggression, and not dominance. The best way to deal with grooming is through desensitization exercises.
As for food aggression, dogs commonly get food aggressive when they have had bad experiences with people or other dogs coming near their food. This usually results when people constantly take things away from the dog, thereby triggering an aggressive reaction from the dog who now feels he has to protect his belongings. If you give a dog positive associations with people being around their food, then they will never develop food aggression.
Well, I will admit that my memory is not the best and it certainly is not improving with age 🙂 However, there was a recent episode of this where Cesar Millan tried to poke this very food aggressive dog with his foot – which did not work out well. So he ended up using a shock collar. Cesar Millan does correct an aggressive response with an aversive stimulus to show the dog that aggression is an unacceptable response. Based on the aversive training that uses, he has to – because if he does not then the dog will keep showing aggression. This is just like when a dog pulls, you give an aversive collar correction – unacceptable behavior -> aversive stimulus -> stops behavior -> stop aversive stimulus.
Dogs do not spend all their time trying to dominate each other. They spend most of their time living life. And a more recent 30 year study of wolves show that they control leadership through the control of resources not through physical dominance.
There is not much else I can say on the subject – I think we have both said it all. Now to go drink some beer – you are paying right? 🙂
Yes, I’m buying the first round, but we may not have much tolerance of each other once we start vying for argumentative dominance:) Neither one seems to be able to get thru the thick skull of the other…
Okay let’s start. Yes, dogs don’t spend all their time trying to dominate each other. This is true because once dominance has been established only an occasional reminder is required, such as when a brash youth decides to challenge the status quo. The control of resources is through the THREAT of physical dominance, just as the bully gets the timid kid’s lunch money every day without having to punch him but maybe once, one day, or maybe never at all if the kid sees the Other kids being dominated and submits without any challenge at all. Bucks crash into each other headlong until one submits, then they all get along peacefully, but the Threat is always there, and all the bucks know it. The puppy is ABSOLUTELY learning to dominate you — what you call play between puppies is ABSOLUTELY the puppies trying to work out which one is in charge. When one yelps and the other stops biting it’s because dominance has just been established, and no more biting is necessary for the dominant dog to redundantly make his point — both dogs know who’s boss, and now they can live in peace, secure in their roles, unless of course a new challenge is issued, and the process then repeats. Which dog is submitting to the other is very clear when it lies on its back and exposes its belly to the dominant one. The pack leader will never be seen exposing his underside to any other pack member.
Regarding removing the dog from the postman, this is exactly the wrong thing to do. The dog needs to learn to Like the postman, which can only be done by bringing them Together, not separating them. Your approach results in a lifetime of protective/aggressive behavior aimed at the harmless postman. The dog needs to Meet the postman, be rewarded (yes, rewarded) by the postman, and soon be calmly and quietly enthusiastic at the postman’s approach, not angry at that mean man who causes his owner to remove him every time the postman cometh. Same thing with the vet and the groomer — the dog should be conditioned to Love those people. The two episodes where Millan teaches vets how to lead dogs and the two episodes where Millan teaches groomers how to lead dogs are lessons all professionals should learn. When done showing these supposed professionals the ineffectiveness of their prior ways they all trip over each other thanking him for changing the whole way they look at dog behavior, and the dogs and practitioners are so clearly happier as a result of the lessons learned.
Regarding the shock collar, this just ain’t so. I’ve seen every episode several times, and the only episode with a shock collar was a dog snipping at the tires of a tractor on a farm. In this case Millan set the collar to Vibrate, not Shock, and used it a grand total of One time, at just the perfect time, and the dog that had for a Year nipped at three-foot tractor tires Never did it again. The owners were effusive months later in their videotaped praise for Millan having saved their dog’s life. No other episode has involved use of such collar, and again, even this episode only tickled the dog in vibrate mode, like a pager would do in your pocket. You should watch a few episodes of the show again and get those memory brain cells working better.
lol – ok I roll over – let’s go get some beers 🙂
http://ngccommunity.nationalgeographic.com/ngcblogs/dog-whisperer/2009/04/partys-over.html
This is the episode with the shock collar. There is no online video of it – but I am sure there are reruns on NatGeo.
I talk to my postman all the time, but he is afraid of dogs. He has been bitten many times – can’t blame him. But yes, if they are willing to meet then that would be great 🙂 We agree on this one – another round of beers 🙂
I also just got this link from another one of my hubs. It is a very good article I think, check it out if you have the time.
http://drsophiayin.com/philosophy/dominance/?/dominance.php
Congratulations. You got me on the shock-collar episode. I forgot about that one (yours aren’t the only brain cells having difficulty). It’s only been shown once, a few months ago for the first and only time, and I had forgotten much of the details. I remember it now. The key to this episode was that IT WAS NOT MILLAN who did the rehabilitation. There is some chick whose place is reminiscent of DogTown in that it’s full of rescued barking penned-up frustrated dogs, and for some reason Millan considers her a protege. He delegates this insanely aggressive case to this beautiful but not-too-bright woman, and it is SHE who introduces the use of the shock collar to this recovering alcoholic dog owner. I remember now watching this episode proceed and wondering what the hell is this babe’s attraction in Millan’s eyes. There was another episode a couple of years ago where she was part of a rescue of three Katrina dogs and it was clear then that she had none of Millan’s skills. This 2009 episode with the recovering alcoholic and his insanely aggressive pitbull does end well, in fact on quite an inspirational note, but what Millan himself would have done in this case, which was how we got here in the first place, one cannot know. I stand by my original point that he himself is never seen using ‘shocks’.
The vet article by this Yin chick is verbal dogpoo. We Definitely are going to have to agree to disagree on this horsepucky.
One job I’m glad I don’t have is mailcarrier. Being exposed to so many clueless dog owners and their resulting out-of-control dogs would probably just get me into trouble, as I stopped to correct and train each one of them on my route. Neither sleet nor rain nor snow nor dark of night would stop me, but all those chances to rehabilitate a dog and train a human would slow me way the heck down:)
LOL – well, since I got charged by some random crazy dog today, it would be great to have a mail-carrier+dog trainer in my neighborhood. Personally I think those people just should not own dogs – but ah well that is another discussion.
As for the Bella episode – it was actually Cesar who first put the shock collar on Bella. This was because she was too aggressive to correct with the usual Cesar methods. I remember this well because Cesar took off his shoe to do a foot correction on the dog – which was very memorable for me.
As for the shock collar working out in the end – nobody is saying that such techniques will never work. However there are great risks to using them, and they may degrade a dog’s quality of life. Studies show that shock collars cause sustained elevated stress levels in dogs. Studies also show that shock collars can encourage aggression in dogs.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-shock-collar-good-bad
So you got charged, eh? I can just see you trying to offer your attacker a reward if he stops chewing on you:):) Or do you remove the reward of what’s left of your bloody stump and tell the owner he should give his dog a time out? 🙂 🙂 Just kidding. I’m a kidder. Me, I’ve been charged before, and what worked was to unhesitatingly but calmly move towards the dog charging me, showing no intimidation: full eye contact, arms out to make me look as large as possible, fingers pointing to signal the dog to go away, and a loud ‘hey’. When the dog stopped moving towards me, I stopped moving towards him, signalling I am not here to threaten you, just stop you. When the dog at some point looked away, this was my cue that he was willing to submit, and only then did I begin to move back, still facing and pointing forward. Repeat until you work your way the hell away from there. Never turn your back or retreat when the dog is charging or you encourage it to charge further. Of course, if the charge is one ordered by the cops,all bets are off — just bend over and kiss your ass goodbye…
I look forward to a rebroadcast of the Bella episode. As with any device or process, if used incorrectly one can certainly do more harm than good, and I am certain that the vast majority of users of such devices do use them incorrectly. I say ‘such devices’ because I include pronged collars, choke collars, shock collars, squirt guns, etc. I say ‘process’ because inappropriate reward behaviors can do Way more harm than good as well, creating neurotic manipulative insecure fear-aggressive psychological damage that in all likelihood is exactly how your charger friend got so twisted. An “it’s ok baby” is a dangerous and destructive tool in the hands of a clueless (i.e. typical) owner.
No, I just took out my shock collar, choke chain, and prong collar and threw it at him – but he still kept coming. So I took off my shoe and tried to jab his side with my now shoeless foot 😉
I agree that one should never turn and run when charged. This just makes you into prey. Instead, it is best to slowly walk away while keeping an eye on the dog. Personally, I would not confront the dog with a hard stare and would certainly not walk towards him. Even Cesar Millan asks people to do the no-touch-no-talk-no-eye-contact rule when meeting dogs. Challenging a charging dog with eye-contact may just instigate him to attack.
So far we agree on drinking beers, postmen, as well as not turning and running away. Hey – it is tallying up 🙂
The contrast between Millan and the Dog-Town or Me-Or-The-Dog people is very clear, compelling and convincing. Stillwell is an arrogant self-righteous ignoramus, the Dog-Town folks are kind and gentle but mostly ignorant, and Millan can teach the average person in an afternoon more than either of these other folks have learned their entire careers. Nothing could be more Un-inspiring than watching Stillwell take days to do with simple cases what Millan does repeatedly sometimes in minutes, and you will NEVER see Stillwell handle a Difficult case because she is too clueless — Animal Planet would not want people to see their ‘star’ eaten alive by a real problem dog. The Dog-Town folks would benefit hugely from a visit by Millan, or by a visit by Them to his place in LA. All one has to see is the 100th-episode episode of Millan’s show, where virtually every one of the hundreds of owners featured on years of previous shows travelled, some quite far, to show their great and genuine appreciation for what he has taught them. The pathetic staged good-bye’s you see on Stillwell’s show are a sad joke in comparison. It’s interesting to note that Animal Planet has conceded at least the format of his show, if not the content, by starting a CAT show that has a very similar production quality to it. Sadly, the first episode of this show left the impression it was OK for the owners to treat their dogs like dirt, something you would never see Millan recommend.
Dear Calmassertiv, Thank you for your opinion.
Personally, I really enjoy DogTown. Many of the trainers there have worked with animals their whole life and I think it is extremely admirable to dedicate your life to animals rather than just trying to make a quick buck on t.v.. From what I have seen, their trainers really know a lot about dog training, and always keep the welfare of their dogs paramount in their interactions.
DogTown is my favorite of all the three shows.
Dog training, I believe, is not about speed but about patience. One has to consider the amount of stress placed upon the dog and the long term quality of life and relationship established with the dog.
Shibashake –
As I said, albeit without emphasis, DogTown folks are clearly kind and gentle, but as Millan points out repeatedly, nurturing neurotic or fearful or otherwise unwanted behaviors only Encourages them. The coddling by the DogTown folks results in needless continuance of mental anguish on the part of their charges, often for many months on the show and probably longer for dogs Not on the show. Their hearts are in the right place but that’s not the issue here — we all love dogs and want then to be happy and balanced. By not knowing how to quickly gain the respect and trust of their dogs the DogTown folks perpetuate and even exacerbate the very behaviors they ‘wish’ would just magically go away. Watch Millan enter his 30-dog pack and listen to the relaxed silence, then watch the DogTown people walk by their madly-barking agitated hordes, and right there you should realize that Millan’s dogs, ALL of whom were out of control before they came to him, are MUCH happier ‘following’ him than are the majority of the DogTown dogs separated from each other for fear of a fight for the very leadership they are failing to provide. I don’t fault their dedication or their intentions — to the contrary, both are quite admirable — I just lament their well-intentioned ignorance.
You say dog training is about patience, not speed. Speed is only a side effect of knowing what you’re doing in an easy situation. Millan is incredibly patient when the situation warrants, but does not hesitate when delay would only allow things to escalate. Regarding stress and quality of life, do the DogTown dogs in all those pens look unstressed to you? Does their quality of life appear desireable to you? Dogs corrected by Millan prefer him to their owners in some cases (ask Daisy Fuentes), precisely because discipline and affection BOTH applied in a timely manner are exactly what makes animals happy and well-adjusted. His relationships with his pack of dogs is leagues better than that of the ‘trainers’ at DogTown, and THAT is why I suggested they could learn a thing or three from him, and THAT is why he is so widely read, viewed and respected.
P.S. This is an excellent blog you have going here. Good boy…
lol – woof, woof, thanks err I think. Please don’t alpha roll me when I disagree with you 😉
Personally, I like the way the DogTown people deal with their dogs. I liked how they rehabilitated Michael Vick’s dogs which were all presumably ‘red zone cases’. There was also an episode with an aggressive Chow, which the trainer slowly desensitized to various experiences, and ultimately the dog learned to trust again. Trust cannot be forced, it is something that is slowly earned.
I cannot definitively say whether Cesar Millan’s dogs are happier or DogTown’s dogs are happier. Wolves vocalize in the wild as well, and that does not mean that they are unhappy. Dogs also vocalize and that does not mean that they are unhappy. Some dogs are very silent, but that does not mean that they are happy. I have not visited either of those sites, so I do not know enough to make a definitive judgement. Although I would like to visit DogTown and volunteer some day.
What I can say is only based on my own experiences with my dogs – and in my experience with my own dogs, reward dog training is superior and builds a strong relationship that is based on trust and respect.
I started out with Cesar Millan’s techniques and it did not work well for my Shiba Inu. Yes, I did work under a very experienced aversive trainer, with 30+ years experience, and who worked in a shelter. He was very good, and the only person who was able to execute aversive techniques well enough on my Shiba Inu. I was not able to duplicate his results, neither were other experienced trainers, dog walkers, etc etc that worked with my Shiba Inu afterwards.
I am not saying that aversive techniques will never work. It can – but it can also be risky and dangerous when implemented by someone without Cesar Millan’s skills.
Reward dog training is just as effective (if not more so – in my experience) – and it is safer, easier to execute, with fewer side effects.
I think Cesar Millan is very good at reading dogs, and pretty much has perfect timing, very good execution, energy, and redirection, but very few people have those skills. Under the hands of a normal person aversive methods can actually encourage more aggression in dogs.
http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/news/if-youre-aggressive-your-dog-will-be-too-says-veterinary-study-university-pennsylvania
Hey I haven’t been on hubpages much. Probably because I am sooo busy! With ballet and everything my days are always packed.
See ya around!
Hey RP – Always good to hear from you. Ballet sounds like fun 🙂 You should write about that when you have some time.
I did start a hub. I actually have a ton of unfinished hubs. I just don’t want to publish them because… (This may sound stupid), I feel like they aren’t good enough. I mean I know people will disagree with what I have to say no matter what, but I don’t want to start fights with people anymore…it’s a waste of time.
But yeah, Ballet is fun. It just takes A LOT of strength and endurance. But when you finally preform… It’s amazing!
Oh yeah I changed my picture. I might change it back. But I needed some change.
Hey RP,
You should publish them – that way you can improve them based on comments by others. For example, not all the comments on my Cesar Millan hubs are positive 🙂 – but even the not positive ones contain useful information that I can use to improve my own thinking about dog training and to improve my hub.
I think it is good to not start fights – in a fight it is difficult to learn anything new because the discussion degrades and just becomes personal attacks. But I think you can have useful discussions with people who disagree with you.
Check out this article about negative people online when you have the time-
http://chataboutyou.com/negative-people-dealing-with-online-negativity
You should definitely write a hub about ballet. Don’t think you will get too many arguments on that topic 🙂
Thanks. 🙂
That was very interesting to read. I personally think Cesar is very good with dogs and genuinely cares for them. However, I would not feel comfortable carrying out many of his techniques (eg use of choker chains, electric shock collars, flooding etc.) and I don’t think these are techniques that the general public should be encouraged to perform. Many of these techniques require impeccable timing and deep understanding of dog body language and behaviour, which can only be gained from freaskish natural ability, or years of experience (which unfortunately most of us don’t have).
I fully agree with his calm, assertive energy theory, but recognize, that in practice, this is not something that is easy for everyone to achieve. But we can try.
Also, I have my doubts about the way he has handled anxiety/fear related aggression. He generally uses something that i would call flooding- forcing the dog to confront the situation and punishinhg them for unwanted responses. This can lead to displacement of the fear,which may not manifest immediately, and may lead to othe rproblems down the track. Instead, a counter conditioning and slow desesitization program may be better. This sort of “training” can sometimes also cause learned helplessness. But i accept the fact that the same program will not work for every dog and i congratulate Cesar on helping so many dogs who would have otherwise be euthanized.
Overall, I think his intentions are good and his results certainly are but it really annoys me when people misinterpret his message and think his way is the only way and that you need to “dominate” your dog. In another forum there was one stupid person who said their dog had “bitten a few people” so they decided to try some of cesar’s techniques and it worked, but hello, if your dog has “bitten a few people” shouldn’t you be seeking professional help, not trying out some tips you saw on a TV show? sorry for the rant but that sort of thing really pisses me off. People should take aggression very seriously. FUrthermore, in all recent animal behaviour peer-reviewed journals, it has been found that punishment is NOT indicated for fear-related aggression and use of punishment can increase aggression in some cases.
Wow Alina thanks for your comment. You said everything very well and I agree with pretty much everything you said.
It is easy to misinterpret his message I think – especially when one is new to dog training.
Cesar Millan does have that text message up at the beginning of the show, but I don’t think most people even notice it. I think he can do much more in terms of warning people of the dangers of his techniques *during* the show.
It would be even better if he started using more reward techniques, and not imply that such techniques are only for dog tricks and unhelpful for fixing bad dog behaviors. I think this would make things a lot better for dogs everywhere. Cesar Millan has the power to do this if he so chooses. I hope he will in the near future.
A sure sign of success when there is opposition to your methods or ideas.This market is large enough for everybody to have their share without trying to hog down more.I haven’t seen any comments on the range of Cesar’s talents and knowledge.He can train a dog to be mellow or a psycho.I like mellow so I follow his philosophy.
Just like to point out there are errors in your pov on Cesar’s “bad” points. First of all he makes it very clear that everything revolves not around rehabbing the dog but that the human MUST change and become CALM AND ASSERTIVE when training your dog. He has discussed in the 2006 season the use of prong collars and that you must NOT leave them on or misuse them or they WILL poke holes in a dog’s neck.
The problem is most people do not pay attention to everything he says and does with the owners and their dog’s..evidenced by his return to some homes to retrain the owners because they lapsed back into old routines with their dogs. People ignore the information that they should ALWAYS consult a trainer before attempting ANY of Cesar’s techniques. The list is endless.
Cesar may show how quickly HE can get a dog to behave differently, but that is HIM, and usually just one area of a dog’s problem. We see his PATIENCE that most people absolutely do not practice with dog training because they just do not want to take the time necessary to sit with their dog and deal with its issues.
I think that you should see EVERY show that Cesar has done and re-read everything you’ve written and make sure that what you have here is up to date. Keep in mind his show was also a work in progress and checking out the webpage gives you additional insight about the show and that Cesar asks for and receives input as to what he should work on in his show.
Just for the record, I was anti-Cesar due to my meeting up with someone misusing a prong collar on his little collie mix dog, claiming that the Dog Whisperer uses them as well. I was livid, until I watched his show and found that in fact the OWNER’S used the prong collars and Cesar prefers a slim cord-leash or just the dog’s own leash collared on the dog’s neck and in fact he only used a prong collar because the owner’s wanted him to use it(see above that was the same show) and he ended up removing it. So it was proof to me that people are usually the culprits of not listening and paying attention to what the man actually IS teaching about dog behavior and trianing.
You made up some very good points and I will try to address each of them:
Re rehabilitation of the humans:
Yes I agree with you that Cesar *does* talk about training the humans, but during his shows, most of the work is done between him and the dogs. This is in contrast to a show like It’s Me or the Dog which greatly emphasizes changes in schedule, walking, handling, etc etc, and not just energy on the part of the dog’s owners. Energy is very important, but that is only one part of the solution. Owners need to do a lot more to turn things around.
Re prong collar:
With regards to training collars, it is important to highlight that prong collars are actually safer than choke chains or choke collars; which is what Cesar prefers to use. The Illusion collar is just a modified choke collar. Cesar does occasionally comment on collars, but his general message seems to be that the collar doesn’t really matter as long as you put it high up on the dog’s neck.
Given that Cesar’s primary style of training is leash jerks, it would really help if there were a bit more information on the dangers of particular aversive collars, especially the choke collar. After all, he is the expert, so if owners are using inappropriate collars, or using them incorrectly, I think it would make sense for him to tell them and remove it right away.
I feel that if he is clearer on this point, in addition to repeating it more often, it would actually come through and people would get it. His other messages concerning energy and dominance, for example, has come through loud and clear for everyone who watches his shows.
Re people not paying attention:
This is a very good point. It is unfair to put all the blame on Cesar, and that was certainly not my intention. I think that the dog owners are the ones that are the most responsible for their own dogs, and if there is blame, they should definitely get the lion’s share.
However, since we now know that it is difficult to get people to follow instructions perfectly, perhaps we should take this into account during training/behavior modification.
Reward based training, for example, has less harmful effects on a dog when not executed perfectly. The same cannot be said for aversive based training which includes leash jerks, alpha roles, and other confrontation based methods.
Since Cesar Millan advocates the use of some of these aversive methods, I feel he should at least inform his viewers of their dangers when not implemented properly. Or better yet, just use more reward based methods that regular pet owners can implement well without actually being Cesar Millan.
Re watching every episode:
I do try to watch all of The Dog Whisperer episodes, but I have probably missed a few. I also have several on my DVR that I have not watched yet. I did actually see that prong collar episode that you mentioned.
You are right that I should update this article and others as the show evolves; and I have actually updated the article a few times based on new episodes and comments. I will definitely update it further if there are changes in the show or elsewhere that make the current views inapplicable.
Just like everyone else, I do have my biases, but I try to keep an open-mind on these issues so that I can make the best decisions for my own dogs. If there are particular areas that you think I should reconsider or am still misinformed on, please let me know.
Thanks!
Regarding “energy”, the last episode I watched, this little dog was FREAKING out at Cesar and his crew. Cesar told them very clearly and simply, “don’t move”. He didn’t move, and was as calm as ever, and established his “ground” with the dog. His producer/camera guy ignored the instruction, got nervous, moved a little, and promptly got bitten! Just a nick, so it was kinda funny. But an excellent example of the true effect of energy.
That sounds like a really interesting episode. I must go check it out on my TiVo.
I think what you say is very true. Initially I was very fearful of my devil-Shiba Inu and he pretty much acted out like crazy. Once I got my own energy under control and was able to stay calm but firm, things improved significantly.
Another useful lesson, I think, is that there is only one Cesar Millan, and most of us are not him 🙂 Therefore, it is best to stay away from confrontation tactics so that we come away with our skins intact. For me, controlling my dogs’ resources through the NILIF program was a very good and safe way to maintain leadership and peace around the house.
Hey! Haven’t talked to you in a while! I have really been at it with Whitney o5! She constantly nags on Cesar Millan. You do it in a nice way but she really beats him to the ground!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sincerly,
Random
Hey, I was wondering where you were.lol – glad to see that you are having fun with Whitney. I just visited the hub – and had a lot of fun reading the comments. 🙂
So did you get my fan mail?
Hey RP, thanks for the fan mail. How is school and how is life?
Kudos for such a well rounded hub. Very interesting, great information and well worth the read! I appreciate that you took the time to show both the pros and cons instead of a biased reporting (either way…) Thank you for helping us to keep our minds open…
Thanks Enelle. I have found that when I keep an open mind, I end up learning more about the subject. Still I have my biases and it is difficult to keep a piece of writing totally bias free.
Okay I finally understand how you feel. (I guess). I think that you think every dog reacts to different methods. Okay there is that but Cesar is NEVER harsh with dogs. As for the fingure poke being wrong that is TOTALLY false for it could be compared to when a child is misbehaving and the firm yet calm and in charge parent SLIGHTLY gets thier childs attention by touching them and changing their state of mind. From there the child knows that what they were doing was wrong and that their parent (who was in charge), didnt like that.Same thing with dogs, do you really think that a poke would really HURT them?? That is extremely ridiculous!! Victoria whats her name goes and focuses on the TRAINING of dogs! Not the rehibilitation. Training is teaching them something! Not helping to be “healthy” again or bring them to a better state of mind. She goes and frequently helps the marriages of many just because they cant control a DOG! You call that working with the owners and not just the dogs??? Cesar doesnt work with the owners as much because it isnt an emotional thing to him. Its a DOG. So when you say that he gives up on the owners, have you ever stopped to think that he has actually gone up to the OWNER and said sorry you arent following my way because I am just always right?? Again RIDICULOUS. No one is perfect but when it comes to Cesar Milan, he has the ONLY way of TRUE rehibilitation and I assure you that. No matter how many people disagree wiht me I am positive. Why do people always have to find the fault in people. You sound like this in your article,” Oh my gosh he took a step wrong, oh he didnt get the couple from not getting a divorce!” COME ON! Okay I could argue about this forever but I wont because I already know who is right. My advice o YOU is that you not complain about Cesar Millan anymore because when you do, I will just be here again writing another 5 hour long paragraph! lol But seriously this is Cesar MILAN why does anyone Set up a whole WEBSITE just to say his faults. …kinda STUPID. oKAY fight with you later! 🙂
Okay I am back. You are probably wondering what kind of dog I have. I have a German Shepherd pure bred from Germany. Her name is Maggie and She knows a total of 12 tricks including find and lead owner home,(took a long time to train) and just today learned “find it”. Where she finds a variety of items and brings back to me or whoever else. She also knows play dead which is cute! Oh and dont break into our house, you wont come out alive! Yeah… whatever…
Okay I am angry again…:) First off why do you like that IDIOT Victoria soooo much?? And second who cares what kind of tools Cesar uses and lastly, treats are for TRAINING a dog to sit and come. NOT TO REHIBILITATE. You have all of your information REALLY messed up. And you are complaining about such STUPID and MINISCULE things that dont matter. You seem like the kind of person who babies thier dog and cant stand when someone BARELY “jerks” the leash because its “HURTING” them!!! Oh no sooo evil!!! The world is at an end!!!! 🙂 Okay I am done…. again
I am strting to get addicted to this website! 🙂 Anyway I am still waiting for your replys!!!!:) Okay yeah…
Wow Random Person, thank you for all your colorful comments 🙂 I wish I could offer you more, but unfortunately, I do not have any absolute truths. Since I am a mere mortal, all I can offer are my opinions based on my own experiences, what I have read, and what I know of Skinner’s work on conditioning. If we choose to ignore science, then all we are left with are opinions, so sometimes we may have to agree to disagree.
If you are looking for absolute truths, there are some really good articles on God and religion at HubPages. The religion forum is also an interesting place to hang out and have discussions. Have fun and have a great weekend.
Okay I better check that out. I think after all that complaining I did I am pretty much done. Thanks for your Patience!! To tell the truth you did do a pretty good job with this page! You enjoy all the rest of these crazys who are willing to fight about CESAR MILAN!! …like me… Have a great week. 🙂
Hey Random Person, I am going to miss your colorful commentary. Hope you will drop by again sometime. Better yet, go write some hubs so I can return the favor 🙂
How do you write hubs? Is a hub what you have set up here, like a little conversation about different topics??….I am sooo stupid! How do you set one up? And how do you put a picture of your dog next to your name? I am soo confused ahhhhhh!!! 🙂 Save me!
Okay I just looked on help… But does it cost money to make a hub? Wait I am supposed to be talking about the dog whisperer! Oh NOOOOOOO! I am going to get in trouble!!!! LOL
Hey almost done with my hub I will tell you the name later!!
lol – you are too funny. No it is all free – except for your time 🙂
Okay so I finished my hub its called, “The Truth about the dog whisperer, what is it?” and I have another one coming, “should I follow the techniques ” or something like that! Yeah this really does take a lot of time! Give me my first comments! 🙂
Hey I just saw how many hubs you have! crazy! must be really busy a the time!
I just wrote a hub, “Should I Follow the Dog Whisperer’s technique?”. It will never be as good as yours but you should take a look and take the polls!
MMM…. You like to avoid people do you?? Hey your the only one I talk to here! What’s your problem!!???? 🙂
It’s probably because I said you were a guy right? Are you? We need to get that settled! Have a great day and reply to my comments!! 🙂
lol – you are too funny.
Re many hubs: Actually I’m on the low end. I’m very easily distracted 🙂
Re Should I Follow the Dog Whisperer: Read and commented many days ago. Who says I avoid people?!
Re Avoiding people: Nah, they usually avoid me, especially after I have rolled in dead skunk.
Re gal or guy?: Nah I’m not going to tell you. I like having a bit of mystery around me. 🙂
mmmm… okay
Well I am a girl and I know your a guy. A in Psychology…:) Well it’s good to know you werent avoiding me. Whatever you are…lol
But wait I might be a guy…mmm