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WDYT of Cesar Millan
So "The Dog Whisperer" is now on Netflix. I don't have cable so I haven't seen the show until now. I watched a couple episodes and the jury is still out for me...
Most of what he talks about has to do with the person and not the dog. I totally agree with this. My family just went through one on one training with my sisters Alaskan Malamute, and we were totally off base with reading his cues and whatnot - when we changed it up, he changed - pretty simple.
However, there were a couple dogs that he made submissive to him that just looked terrified, and sort of checked out. I gather that his training methods are fairly extreme, and there are other more gentler ways of approaching dog training (but again I have only watched a couple episodes, so I really have no idea what I'm talking about...
So what do you all think about Cesar Millans training methods?
Re: WDYT of Cesar Millan
When we first adopted our puppy I read a few of his books and watched a few of his shows. I was on bored with him for the most part. Dogs do need to know where they stand in a family, otherwise they will try to become the leader of your pack. I also understand that when dogs get plenty of exercise they are easier to manage and they are happy.
BUT... I also know that I live in New England and walking my dog for an hour twice a day is unrealistic. We have a lab/shepherd mix. We want to own a dog and we want our dog to be happy but when there are snow storms or torrential rain during our typical walking hours, I do not walk her. I also have a background in psychology. I didn't like the submissive approach either, so I just praise my dog when she is doing something I like (such as look out the window or chew on her toys).
Now my dog is not always well behaved. She begs for food, will jump up on the counter when I walk out of the kitchen, and bark at squirrels in the yard. But we have a very nice life with her. We don't give her table scraps, make sure there is no food on the counter when we are out of the kitchen, and just ignore her barking. She is 3 years old and my hope is that one day she will get over the squirrel issue. As for the begging and counter surfing... I can only hope she will grow out of that too. I will reprimand her if it makes sense to, but I will never make my dog be submissive to me. I will continue to walk her as often as I can (typically 1 hour per day, 5-6 days a week), but mother nature will continue to do her thing too. We love our dog and I think she is happy with her life.
Terrifying dogs into submission is how his methods work. Dominance theory has been disproved dozens of times.
Yes, dogs need to know that YOU are in charge of things, and not them. The way to do this is not to terrify them into their rightful place. It's to praise them when they are doing anything you want them to do, and redirect them when they're not. That is, teaching them not to bark when someone comes to the door, because you, as the leader of the pack, are going to handle this newcomer. It's all about teaching them that they can lay back and chill, because you're going to handle anything and everything that comes along. You will let the dog know when he can eat; you'll let him know when he can play with you; you'll let him know when he can come over for affection (do it as often as you want, just make sure it's you initiating!).
It's all about NILIF (see FAQs and/or Google). Our Boxer is so incredibly well-behaved thanks to it. I have never even had to consider the fleeting thought of dominating her to get her to not do something. We teach her "leave it" and "okay" commands and other things so she knows when she can or can not do something or be somewhere. She definitely knows we're in charge, and we've never had to scare her into that knowledge.
In summation, Caesar Milan is a total hack. I have zero respect for his methods.
B/w 1/8: betas 17,345, progesterone 25.6
If you are looking for a show, Victoria Stillwell's show "It's me or the Dog" is much better - based on positive reinforcement rather than the outdated dominance theory.
Cesar does have some good points, but too much bad mixed in. I do like that he focuses on changing the owner's habits, and I also agree with his talk about energy and how dogs feed off the human's energy, but your time can be better spent.
In a nutshell, most of Milan and other traditional dominance-based trainers' philosophy is built around out-of-date and misapplied science.
Here is an, admittedly, really long article by veterinary behaviorist Dr. Sophia Yin. Unlike Milan, who is an uncredentialed trainer, Yin understands the science behind animal behavior and learning, and this is the best article I've found that explains some of the myths about dominance and training. It's long, but if this is a topic you're interested in, it's worth the read: http://drsophiayin.com/philosophy/dominance/?/dominance.php
If you're interested specifically in her opinions of Milan, scroll down to part I, titled "What to Take Out of Shows Such as the Dog Whisperer."
If you're interested in reading more about dog behavior, I recommend "Dog Sense" by John Bradshaw and anything by Patricia McConnell. Karen Pryor and Pat Miller are good for training how-tos. And for TV shows, I like "It's Me or the Dog" much better than "Dog Whisperer," even though I don't always agree with her advice 100% of the time.
"The hardest thing is to live richly in the present without letting it be tainted out of fear for the future or regret for the past." - Sylvia Plath
I have to say that this post has made me feel really good as a dog owner! I've never been a big fan of Cesar and always thought he was a little on the harsh side. We find that enough exercise, basic obedience classes and NILIF works for us.
Have you seen my monkey?
I realize he's a rather controversial trainer...but this is my opinion:
I know he has emphasized that giving your dog lots of exercise will help lots of issues...this is very true. This is pretty much the only thing I agree with him on.
I read his book(or one of his books? I'm not sure if he has written multiple books) but never really watched his show, because what I read turned me off. In his book, he describes not letting your dog out to potty when (s)he asks to go out, because you can't let the dog tell you what to do. Sorry, but if one of my dogs has to go out and goes to the door, I'm letting him out to go to the bathroom. That was when he really lost me - to me, that was a really ridiculous concept.
I also have read that he has had multiple law suits against him - the most upsetting one being that he left a dog leashed on a treadmill; the dog fell and was hung and strangled to death because it wasn't being supervised.
So, not a fan.
I dont know much about him but with the one vet hospital I worked at my boss got us all tickets to see him when he was in town. He put on a great show and is a great speaker and is very entertaining.
Some things I do agree with him on but others not so much. I have a friend that is a vet tech/ dog trainer and behaviorist and talking to her she dislikes him.
I believe in the way my friend trains so much that when she talked to me about it, made me really think.
She said to watch his show with the sound on mute and see what it says to you.
I'm in the minority here and I'll probably get a lot of grief for this, but I tend to agree with Cesar's methods, mostly in extreme cases such as Red Zone dogs that would otherwise be put down because all other training methods have failed. The methods you see on TV are almost always used for extreme cases, so of course, it seems harsh to use on the normal excited adolescent dog you have at home who only has a minor jumping problem.
As for the lawsuits, they are just that...lawsuits. Has there actually been a judgment? The details surrounding the settlement are confidential, but from what I understand, the dog belonged to one of his TV producers. Millan let him use his dog psychology facility for free and it was the dog's own personal trainer that put him on the treadmill. Since the accident occurred on Millan's property, he was also sued. It's not like Millan put the dog on the treadmill himself. People are so quick to judge and think that just because someone was sued means they did something terrible. Our county is the most litigious nation in the world, by the way.
That being said, I have a dog at home that can't seem to calm down for a bath. The positive reinforcement works great for most things, but no amount of treats and love are going to get her to trust me during her baths. Cesar has a great point that a dog feels safer when they have a pack leader they can trust. The only way I can make my dog to sit still for a bath is if I grab her by the scruff of her neck inside the tub. Their mothers do this when they're puppies so she thinks she can't go anywhere if I hold her there. By doing this I've made it very clear that I'm the one in charge and that nothing bad will happen to her while I'm in charge because at the same time, my husband is petting her and feeding her treats. I haven't hurt her in any way, nor did I yell at her; I simply used enough force gently in the right spot to let her know who's in charge. The outcome is a dog that feels safe because she doesn't have to be the pack leader in a scary situation anymore. I've never had the impression that Cesar Millan was trying to scare or hurt dogs into submission, but I guess the media can make people believe otherwise.