Cesar Millan: his dog, and his critics

Last week, Cesar Millan's 16 year old pit bull, Daddy, died.  It isn't often that the death of a dog because of old age makes national headlines -- including a full page article/photo in this week's People Magazine -- but Daddy was different. 

In so many ways he represented what many 'pit bull' advocates love about these types of dogs -- and what we know all of them can be when they have good owners.  Daddy was often the passive, calm dog when other dogs were not so calm. And many in the nation fell in love with the dog. RIP Daddy.

******

Seeing Millan and Daddy in People last week inspired me to write this post. While loved by many, Cesar Millan has become highly controversial figure among canine behaviorists and dog trainers. Millan has become the face of what many trainers call Dominance Training for dogs -- and a popular face at that. For the many trainers across the nation more strongly favor purely positive dog training techniques, Dominance training becomes the face of cruelty in dog training -- and they would love to see Dominance Training die.*

* Tip, if you want Dominance Training to die, you can start by at least admitting it CAN be successful but there are better ways. It remains because it can work to rehabilitate dogs. Admitting that first will give you more credibility.

It doesn't take much digging to find articles criticizing Millan's training techniques and calling animal cruelty. The Anti-Cesar Millan facebook group has nearly 3,000 members -- some of who are regular readers of this blog or that I know personally.

And while I understand their criticisms of Millan, I never cease to be amazed at the all-or-nothing attitude that seems to exist in this country where we feel like we have to take polarized views on someone we don't agree with 100%. In reality, Millan has done a lot more good than harm in the animal welfare movement....and even if he's not perfect (who is?!), many animals are in a lot better place now because of him.

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Cesar is a celebrity. Millions of people watch his TV program each week, and both of his books, Cesar's Way, and Be a Pack Leader, sold over 1 million copies. He has reached millions of people with his message.

While some may consider this a bad thing, it depends, I guess, on what message he's talking about. And he has many messages - -and most of them are things people need to hear. 

1) Dogs are a product of their owners. If your dog is misbehaving, it is because of something that you did - -not something that is the fault of the dog.

2) Dogs need Exercise, Discipline and Affection. In that order. No one would dispute the 1st and 3rd need, but it's the second one that is everyone's hang up. Discipline, to me, means that your dog needs rules, boundaries and expectations. Without them, the dog will misbehave and cause problems.

3) All dogs, even 'pit bulls', can be great dogs with proper training. In fact, I would be hard pressed to find many places that have placed bully breeds in a more positive light.

4) On this front, Millan has been vocal against pit bull bans in various parts of the country. "Banning the dog doesn't solve the problem; it only creates fear and ignorance."

5) All dogs deserve a chance to be rehabilitated -- and usually can be.

6) At the end of every show now he signs off with a note to spay and neuter your pet.

7) Chaining dogs is not an appropriate way to contain a dog and can lead to behavioral issues in the dog.

It's hard to believe that a man who sends these messages out to millions of people through different media could have so many animal welfare people dislike him.

******

Four years ago, I stood in the doorway of a city council meeting in Leavenworth, KS because the city council chambers was full. After a couple a pretty major dog attacks in the Kansas City area, and a rash of hysteria brought on by the local media, Leavenworth, like many cities in the metro, was discussing potentially banning pit bulls from the community.

At one point, one of the city council members noted that he confessed to not really knowing a lot about dogs -- but he had watched the Dog Whisperer and there were pit bulls on that show that were really good dogs and that it sure seemed like the dogs were just a reflection of their owners. Leavenworth passed a really good dog ordinance that night because they decided to focus their legislation on dog owners, not on breeds of dogs.  The positive, and correct message, had gotten through.

*******

Positive dog trainers typically don't like Millan. They see his training methods as often barbaric and cruel. I've watched a lot of his episodes....and it is seldom that I see him doing anything that could be misconstrued as actual cruelty.  It's important to note here too, that Millan doesn't start with a small puppy that is completely moldable and just positively training the dog to sit/stay/etc -- where certainly treat training is simple and easy.

The reason he got the call was because someone had so majorly screwed up their dog that it is severely messed up. Often, this shows itself in a form of severe aggression. Often, the owner has called Millan because the trainer they tried to work with said the dog should be euthanized. 

He's not working with a blank slate.

While I realize that good positive-only dog trainers are able to curb these behaviors using their positive training techniques, it does seem at least logical, and not abusive, to use some form of corrective behavior in order to get the dog to cease acting aggressively, and begin to focus on other training.

However, positive trainers see quick pokes and alpha rolls and paint him as an abusive trainer.

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

What makes the situation worse for these trainers, they end up seeing the dogs that come in because their owner has screwed them up even more trying to emulate Millan. In spite of the disclaimers that owners shouldn't try these techniques at home, people do. We not the most brilliant of species, and we do try what we see on TV -- which is why there are millions of YouTube videos of painful-looking falls of people who have tried to copy something they watched during the X Games.

These dog owners try to do what Millan does -- but lack what is probably his greatest asset which is incredibly quick hands and excellent timing to redirect unwanted behavior before the behavior actually starts. But because they screw it up, their dog becomes worse behaved, not better behaved.

Trainers see these dogs and think it is Millan's fault. In some ways maybe it is. In other ways I wonder if the owners would have ever taken an active-enough interest in their dogs to even try in the first place. We'll never really know for sure. But the end result is that at least the owner realizes that the dog's behavior is bad and it is their job to fix it. Which isn't the worst end result imaginable.

*******

It is often funny for me to read when people write about how Millan only uses dominance training and never uses a positive reinforcement approach. But even that is not really true.

Often, Cesar takes dogs to the "Dog Psychology Center" where the dogs live with Cesar's pack so they can become 'more balanced'. When the owners come to see the dog for the first time at the Dog Psychology Center, he always says to the owner "No Talk, No Touch, No Eye Contact." The idea is that the dog will misbehave at first and the dog won't get what it wants (to be paid attention to) until it settles down. Once the dog is calm again, the owners are then allowed to interact with the dog -- which is pretty classic positive reinforcement.

*****

I don't expect anyone to change their mind on Cesar Millan. I know how passionate people who are involved in purely positive dog training are about their craft....and I can appreciate that. And I realize that when these people see Millan, and folks that tried his methods on their own and failed, he represents everything that is wrong (in their mind) with dog trainers.

But I think it's still important to acknowledge the overarching messages that he tries, successfully in my opinion, to get across in his program. Primarily, your dog is a reflection of you as an owner. If the dog is aggressive, or ill-behaved, it's your fault.  Not the dog's.

And meanwhile, it is hard for me to imagine anyone who has had a greater, further reaching impact on how people view bully breeds than Millan.  Certainly, very few find themselves with a feature in People magazine with their 'pit bull'.

Sometimes I think, in efforts to discourage his training practices, people become too anti-Cesar Millan. They have become so frustrated with the people that are "doing it wrong" that they feel forced to break down the man they feel represents that training style.

I say it's fine to discourage the training style, but leave the man alone. His larger overarching message is too good of one to just throw out in your dislike of the methods of how he got there.

Additional links:

One Bark at a Time has a funny story of a family of Cesar Millan fans that come visit the shelter.

Dog Spelled Forward is one of the positive dog trainers who really dislikes Cesar. Eric does a good job in his breakdowns of the episodes and what he sees as good and bad with his training. I don't always agree with his comments, but I at least respect that he actually watches the episodes and dislikes them based on the actual information that is in the shows.  Here is one breakdown of an episode "Chihuahuas from Hell"  There is a second one with a dog named Bella. I really liked the second one for a couple of reasons: 1) I thought this was a particularly interesting episode of the show when I watched it before seeing Eric's post and 2) I thought it was a particularly interesting read on how much Eric actually AGREED with what Cesar was doing...even though he is a purely positive trainer and typically doesn't like Cesar.

What the Dog Saw - a great article on Cesar from Malcolm Gladwell that ran in the New Yorker and is the title of Gladwell's newest book.  If you've never read this article, you should make the time to do so.

Yes Biscuit! - Things I've Learned from Cesar Millan

Comments

[MzTx]

@ CF you said : " Socialization with other dogs doesn't always guarentee a dog-friendly dog either. "

How do you know when you never Socialized yours correctly ???
In your OWn WOrds : " although my ignorance of improper socialization when I first got her didn't HELP anything "

You obviously didn't do your job and Instead of taking RESPONSIBLITLY YOU BLAME IT ON THE DOG - How Typical ?!?!?!

Absoluetly Genetics have a Role .....
but for you to say : " She will never be a social dog, because that's not the kind of dog she is. She is Labrador Retriever "

is sad and disturbing & YOU want to talk about Abusing !?!?!?!
Your dog lives in FEAR and YOUR ok with that and COMPLETELY gave up .

If you improperly Socialized her that shows you are NEW to training - being that socialization is #1 .

Now lets talk about CHaining .......
your dog out for a few hours on a chain is OK - there is NOTHING wrong with that ..

but people who Chain their dogs day & night - hot & cold - there is something WRONG with that . ABUSE !!!!!!!!!

" The point is, I did nothing to MAKE this dog hate people coming on my property "

THE POINT IS , YOU DID EVERYTHING to make that dog the way it is - you didn't socialize your dog right - now that you gave up You blame the dog .

[PAMM - People Against Mad Mothers]

Trainers that do this "positive only" crap like it because it takes a TON longer - and they get paid by the hour.

Imagine someone punching you in the face and you say nothing. Once they stop punching you, you give them a cookie. Yeah, good luck with that folks.

[Brent]

Melissa, thanks for your note. It has been interesting to see how much Cesar has "borrowed" from other lines of thinking over the years....it is evident in much of the language he uses, as well as how he handles dogs.

Donna, I tend to agree that I think Cesar would do quite well in one of your Pit Ed classes -- and think it would be fun to watch.

All others, thanks for your comments also. I think if nothing else, the man has inspired a LOT of people to actually talk about how to train dogs...and discussion on this topic is good I think.

[CF]

MzTx - I never said I have given up with my dog. I work with her all the time. I just know that she will never be "normal" and that I will always have to manage her properly and introduce new people to her slowly so that she and the public are safe.

Compare her to my friend's dog - he was born to a mother dog who was kept on a chain 24/7 and impregnated by a stray male dog of unknown heritage (his mother is an ESS). He then went to owners who kept him on a chain 24/7, neglected him, did no socialization whatsoever, and let him get parasite-infested. He lived this way for one year until my friend was able to convince her neighbors to give him to her. He is now three years old, is and always has been completely stupidhappyfriendly to everyone and everything. Now, compare him to my dog, who is fearful and anxious. They have the same socialization history (I.E. none), and my friend did no extra socializing once she got him. Now, what explanation do you have for these two dogs being so totally different, the friendly one raised on a chain, and the unfriendly one raised in a loving home? (And don't say its his owner, she is NOT like him at all, in fact, she is rather antisocial and has a very quick temper, lol).

I think its funny that if you don't like the way Caesar does things, you are a "Caesar hater". I don't hate Caesar Millan himself, honestly I don't. I simply dislike what he preaches. He does not teach a dog anything, except to be more afraid of punishment than of whatever Scary Thing the dog is reacting to. With my fearful dog, I am in the process of teaching her that Scary Things are actually Good Things, by using treats (she is VERY food motivated). I assure you, if I had put a choke chain on her and yanked her whenever she reacted to a stranger coming on my property, she would not have made the strides she has. She is still not comfortable with people coming in the door, but once they are here I can have her on a leash by my side in a roomful of people and she is relaxed. I prefer to change a behavior, and teach the dog a better way to behave, not simply to make the behavior stop. Sometimes you have to be creative about it, but that's half the fun of dog training! Some breeds require a lot of creativity, and will not take kindly to being trained with brute force. In fact, I challenge Caesar Millan to try his methods on a Fila Brasiliero sometime, I would pay to see that episode! :p

PAMM - People who practice Caesar's methods want people who practice other methods to be open-minded about it, why can't that work the other way around? I assume your example is referring to "desensitization", the process by which a dog is slowly taught that a Scary Thing is a Good Thing. I have used this process quite successfully with with dogs who are leash reactive. I worked with a young male Doberman once who was maniacally leash reactive to other dogs (he had been kept in a crate 22 hours a day by his previous owners before they dumped him at a shelter, and was horribly undersocialized), and when he was adopted from the rescue, he was able to be walked by other dogs with no reaction, and he was adopted into a home with another dog!

[Mark R. Johnson DVM]

Very nice article on the critics of Cesar Millan. You are so correct that "dominance" has become the face of cruelty in animal training. I am not a trainer, but a wildlife veterinarian who specializes in humane wildlife capture and handling. Dominance is an essential tool for my work with wolves and feral dogs and I write about in my blog.

Those hating dominance only think of "mean dominance" which is definitely not a good thing. They also think of it as overt and intense. I honor the positive trainers with their compassionate intentions and often good results, and I would love to see some of them explore how to use compassionate dominance in their training even if it simply using certain body positions or attitudes as they give rewards. Can parents compassionately let their children know who is in charge?

It is my observation that those who do not see Cesar's compassion in his work are also the least compassionate in how they speak about others. The most sincere compassion we can give to an animal or person is a compassion which reaches out to all.
Thank you for your thoughtful blog.

[Christopher Thompson]

Nice information I got! Great post!

I love dogs and might want to try having a pitbull. But the thing is, they are quite dangerous if taken for granted especially when they are fully grown. I have heard some stories about pitbulls who killed someone from the family where they grow.
Why is it so?

[Brent]

Christopher,

Fatal dog attacks are extremely rare. With over 75 million pet dogs in this country, the fact that only 25 or so people a year die from dog attacks is truly amazing -- and a testimate to how great dogs are.

For the past four years, I've covered every fatal dog attack that has happened - and while they are all somewhat unique in their circumstances, they all involve multiple unfortunate drivers that lead to the catastrophy.

Dogs don't snap. Their temperaments are built up over the body of their experiences and circumstances. Often a dog shows aggressive signals before an attack. Often the dog was put on a chain as a young puppy and offered no real socialization opportunities - -and either a child wanders up to the dog, or the chain gets rusty/weak and breaks and someone gets attacked. Often it is a young child that pulls a tail, ears, falls on the dog etc.

But the circumstances are always the determining cause...

[Magarietha]

I have never seen any cruelty with Cesar. Honest to G-d, some of the comments really are taking it far. Where his been bitten, I saw with my own eyes that he was really doing a rescue job. It was either him or the woman. That's more of a cruelty thing to Cesar. I think there's some anthropomorphism reigning here. The man has a clear clear feeling about dogs. No college or Society of whatever can teach him what he knows instinctively. I watch right up close and I have never ever seen him arrogant. The fact that he says "I am the dog whisperer" is most probably a prompt from NatGeo for their own promotional ways. I sense that he is kind. Why don't the affronted animal behaviorists start their own TV shows. They never say exactly what he did wrong, it's always a blanket statement and how he angers them. Why exactly? And, can't anyone have a God-given gift when it comes to dogs at all. My goodness I'm flummoxed by all of this. Why on earth shouldn't he have touched the vicious ChiHuahua - he did appease him, didn't he. You cannot make it a living hell for people to visit your home because of your dogs. Cheers anyway.
Magarietha, South Africa

[Hannah]

Daddy been such great model of a sweet and very obedient dog the poor rated breed.

He's just perfect too for Cesar's example and it is so heartbreaking to hear his death. RIP Daddy.

[Anne]

I completely agree with what you said, and am pretty baffled how anyone can make such outrageous claims of animal cruelty watching this show or reading Cesar's books. It is simply mind-boggling, especially considering just how much effort he puts in saying that show deals with dogs with very complex and severe problems, and that people shouldn't try to dominate an aggressive dog by themselves.
It just makes me wonder about the intelligence of humans, to be honest...
In any case, I totally get what Cesar is doing, and I'm comfortable with making a distinction between my dog and some of the dogs on the show, my methods and his methods, depending on the situation. I have learned a lot from him, and using some of the technique, I managed to successfully rehabilitate a really messed up and aggressive racing greyhound and an australian cattle dog, both of which are absolute sweethearts and off the leash and I have never-ever kicked them, humiliated them or traumatised them in any way. So I am totally grateful to Cesar and I get what he is doing.

Like he said - there are many ways to deal with dogs, and there is little benefit in being close-minded.

I have seen so many dogs in the park with the owners carrying a kilo of chicken, awarding really bad behaviour like barking and biting, believing that they are following advice from their positive reinforcement trainer perfectly, and the dogs are fighting and biting their hands for the said chicken. And they still give the chicken whilst making excuses for their dogs and laughing nervously? And that is "humane"? To whom exactly? The bitten dog? The scared owner? The anxious biting dog?

So, really, it is all about the human's ability to be a good dog owner or not, one can mess up the dog with positive training just as well, and all I am hearing from Cesar's critics is outrageously exaggerated statements, picking out only the scenes that they can use to trash him personally and his methods, and claims that "they can do so much better with the same dogs" without ever providing any evidence for it.
So yes, I am glad Dog Whisperer is so successful, because it teaches tolerance of everyone's methods, unlike the critics of it who claim that only their methods are right.

[Allison]

So...Michael Vick abused Pit Bulls, however, he's done so much for sports, that we will let all the bad stuff go. That is what you are saying about Cesar, he uses abusive (per experts-see below) techniques for pet dogs, but he has done so much for Pit Bulls. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, obviously that is Cesar fans motto. You love your pets like your human children, however if you treated your children the way you would allow Cesar to treat your pets, you would have your children removed from your care.
QUOTES FROM EXPERTS:
World-renowned dog trainers, behaviorists and veterinarians had all warned National Geographic that Millan’s methods had the potential for disaster. Below are quotes from noted experts:

Dr. Nicholas Dodman - Professor and Head, Section of Animal Behavior
Director of Behavior Clinic, Tufts University - Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
“Cesar Millan's methods are based on flooding and punishment. The results, though immediate, will be only transitory. His methods are misguided, outmoded, in some cases dangerous, and often inhumane. You would not want to be a dog under his sphere of influence. The sad thing is that the public does not recognize the error of his ways. My college thinks it is a travesty. We’ve written to National Geographic Channel and told them they have put dog training back 20 years.”

Jean Donaldson, The San Francisco SPCA-Director of The Academy for Dog Trainers
“Practices such as physically confronting aggressive dogs and using of choke collars for fearful dogs are outrageous by even the most diluted dog training standards. A profession that has been making steady gains in its professionalism, technical sophistication and humane standards has been greatly set back. I have long been deeply troubled by the popularity of Mr. Millan as so many will emulate him. To co-opt a word like ‘whispering’ for arcane, violent and technically unsound practice is unconscionable.”

Dr. Suzanne Hetts, Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist
Co-owner of Animal Behavior Associates, Inc., Littleton, CO
"A number of qualified professionals have voiced concern for the welfare of pet dogs that experience the strong corrections administered by Mr. Millan. My concerns are based on his inappropriateness, inaccurate statements, and complete fabrications of explanations for dog behavior. His ideas, especially those about “dominance”, are completely disconnected from the sciences of ethology and animal learning, which are our best hope for understanding and training our dogs and meeting their behavioral needs. Many of the techniques he encourages the public to try are dangerous, and not good for dogs or our relationships with them ."

Vyolet Michaels, CTC, CPDT (Certified Dog Trainer and Behavior Counselor)
Owner of Urban Dawgs, LLC of Red Bank, NJ
"Cesar Millan employs outdated methods that are dangerous and inhumane. Using a choke chain and treadmill to treat fear of strangers and dogs is completely inappropriate. Hopefully the National Geographic Channel will listen to the scientific community and discontinue production of The Dog Whisperer."

Janis Bradley, Instructor at The San Franciso SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers
Author of the book, "Dogs Bite"
"On his TV show, the main method Millan uses for aggression is aversives (leash jerks, kicks, snaps of the hand against the neck, and restraint, among others) applied non contingently. The aversives are non contingent because they are so frequent that they're not connected to any particular behavior on the part of the dog—the dog gets popped pretty much constantly. This results in a state called learned helplessness, which means the animal hunkers down and tries to do as little as possible. This is what Millan calls "calm submission." It's exactly the same thing you see in a rat in a Skinner box that is subjected to intermittent shocks it can do nothing to avoid. This can happen quite fast, by the way, shall we say in ten minutes? The dangers to the dog are obvious, ranging from chronic stress to exacerbating the aggression, i.e., some dogs fight back when attacked. This latter is the simplest reason that aversives are a bad idea in treating aggression. Even used technically correctly as positive punishment for specific behaviors like growling and snarling, aversives do nothing to change the underlying fear or hostility, so the best you can hope for, in the words of famed vet and behaviorist, Ian Dunbar, is "removing the ticker from the time bomb." Thus such methods substantially increase the risk to humans of getting bitten."

Excerpt of letter from Lisa Laney, Dip. DTBC, CPDT, CBC
to National Geographic before airing “The Dog Whisperer”:
“The intended program depicts aversive and abusive training methods - treatment for some serious anxiety and fear based issues - being administered by an individual with no formal education whatsoever in canine behavioral sciences. The "results" that are shown are more than likely not long lasting changes, but the result of learned helplessness, or fatigue, neither of which impact behavior to any significant long term degree - at least not in a good way. For those of us who are pioneering the effort to end the ignorance that drives the cruel treatment administered upon our canine companions, it is disappointing to see that this programming will reach the masses - especially on the NG Channel. The ignorance that this program perpetuates will give equally ignorant people the green light to subject their dogs to abuse. In turn these dogs will react even more defensively, will bite more people - and end up dead.”

Steve Dale
"I have serious concerns because his methods are often intimidating rather than motivating. On TV, the dogs do comply but often they're being forced to - you can tell by their body language: tail down, mouth closed, ears back, eyes dilated... I argue that motivating leadership is far more effective than leading through intimidation."
Steve Dale is the author of the twice weekly syndicated newspaper column “My Pet World” (Tribune Media Services). He’s also the host of syndicated radio programs Steve Dale’s Pet World, The Pet Minute with Steve Dale; and Pet Central, at WGN Radio, Chicago. Steve is a contributing editor at USA Weekend, special correspondent/columnist Dog World and editor-in-chief of PawPrints (a newsletter for veterinarians). His books include “American Zoos” and “DogGone Chicago.” Steve’s appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show; National Geographic Explorer; Pets Part of the Family on PBS; several Animal Planet Shows; Fox News Channel, and Balance TV (Canada). He was a regular on WGN-TV Chicago. Touted as reaching more pet owners than any other pet journalist, Steve’s a frequent guest expert on radio shows all over America and Canada; he’s been quoted in dozens of newspaper and magazine stories, including the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and Redbook. He's certified as a Behavior Consultant by the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, and the recipient of many awards including the prestigious AVMA Humane Award.

[Brent]

Allison,

Mike Vick fought dogs to the death. Drowned them with his bare hands. Electrocuted them and slammed them down to the ground to kill htem.

Ceasar Milan works with dogs that 95% of dog trainers in this country would recommend to kill because they say they are unsalvagable.

To compare the two is beyond faulty logic.

[Ryan Hurley]

Great post. I am well aware that a lot of Cesar's techniques are truly only able to be done by him or a select few.
People have to remember that it is a TV show it is not a training show. It is entertainment at ones amazing ability. He is simply amazing what he does...
I really have to laugh at these Educated types that show data on various studies...
If you cannot act normal or "balanced" around these dogs(which virtualyy none of them can) no matter what the danger then the study is faulty.
Dogs are incredibly hard to study and it is obviously apparent that these "experts" are very very intimidated by an educated extraordinary human being that loves dogs and wants to help their perception that has been damaged heavily by the human induced media.

[Bob Fairlane]

This is a load of BS: " 1) Dogs are a product of their owners. If your dog is misbehaving, it is because of something that you did - -not something that is the fault of the dog."

You can't train a dog to value human life or to fear the consequences of attacking a human being. Dogs are intelligent animals, as many proponents of dog ownership point out. So why say, then, that a dog is above the law and anything it does is automatically the owner's fault? Perhaps, like me, you are actually AGAINST the ownership of dogs.

[Brent]

Bob, I can assure you I'm nothing like you.

As you note, dogs don't have the ability to rationalize. That's why we humans much teach them proper behaviors. It's pretty easily done, and it's our responsibility.

[George]

First: If Cesar's show has to end with a disclaimer, then people should place it in the reality TV category, and it has no relevance to real life.
Second: The dominance theory has been debunked for years now, and even the original researchers have admitted that it was flawed.
Third: For all the supposed good he does, the overarching fact is that his methods do not work well (about 30% success rate in the long term), and can actually end up being dangerous. Even with his "lightning quick hands", Cesar himself has been bitten.
Fourth: He may have helped the public impression of pit bulls, but what about the negativity that occurs when someone tries his methods at home and gets mauled for his efforts. Myself, I want a dog with that many tools firmly on my side. There are better methods to accomplish this.

[All American Dawg]

Cesar has attained star status because he has immersed himself, his lifetime through, by working with all things canine. He doesn't interact, relate and communicate with dogs through human terms, human deadlines, agendas and conditions. He leaves his human ego and his human agendas at the door and goes into "canine being" which is completely necessary to relate to and to communicate on a canine level. Dominance is a human descriptor for behavior that only a dog could name and label, if only they could speak. Humans want everything pre-packaged, delivered to them in easy to read quick instructions. We have learned from Cesar, if you cannot wipe your thinking clear of this mindset, you will not be successful in understanding and reconditioning your canine partner's behavior. As for anti-Cesar groups and individuals, it is human nature and typical opportunism to take this man's deeply enlightened experience and subsequent genuine success and ride on his coattails by creating a faux argument against his methodology. To the unenlightened, their anti-Cesar arguments appear to be "alternate" training to Cesar's methods but to me it smells more like someone trying to take a shortcut to success and place themselves in the limelight by attacking the work of a brilliant animal behaviorist. Rock on, Cesar! The dog world is so much richer for you having shared with us your relentless pursuit of knowledge. If we learn nothing else from your heightened level of open-mindedness to another species, we have learned how to respect and appreciate communication and coexisting through the eyes and minds of our dogs.

[Ken]

Interesting read - and valid points. I remember meeting Erick (brother to Ceasar) quite a bit before Ceasar became the celebrity he is. I also know first hand about his dog rescuer/shelter that was located in LA Industrial. I have to say that it was truly a mind opening experience to stand there surrounded by dogs that sounded like they were going to eat me,...but not a single nip. People have to keep in mind that dog are unique. Each one and dogs,..like people react differently around different people. My personality has dogs fall into 3 categories around me. 1) totally at ease and playful. 2) Respectful and wary of misbehavior and 3) those that do not like ANY authority. Ceasar has methods that work great on the last group of dogs. These dogs - like angry adolescent kids need a firmer hand. The Respectful dogs need nothing more than a few verbal commands and the first love to behave and play and are an easy pet. To say Ceasar's methods are for all dogs is silly and I think Ceasar would agree that not every dog needs a firm hand. As an story about a dog behaving differently I have a neighbor with a jack russle beagle mix,....and that dog acts like it is actually on crack or speed,.....BUT,...when I dog sit this dog behaves quite well and I allow him to free range my home and He won't jump,..bit,..play or nibble anything. He comes when called,..sits when told and stays. BUT when he is with his owners he comes unglued and goes absolute bonkers,.....because he knows what he can get away with,....this story shows just how complicated a pet can be but one thing I do agree with is the owners many times need more training then the pet,.... Does all of Ceasar's tricks work or even need used all the time on all dogs? No,....but many times it IS needed to get the dogs attention. On a side note I do have to say that most people who do have pets,.....they should never have gotten it. They don't excersize the pet enough,...the pet has inadequate room to play and the owners have very low responsibility feelings towards their pet,....as if it an accessory or an object of ownership.

[Ron]

Before I watched the "Dog Whisperer" show, I read several articles criticizing Cesar's methods for being cruel. They portrayed Cesar as a dog abuser who physically hurt the dogs and break their spirits until the dogs become submissive out of fear.

After I watched all 3 seasons of the "Dog Whisperer," I am very annoyed at people's stupidity and exaggerations. I see no real physical harm inflicted on the dogs and the dogs' spirits are definitely not broken! Cesar just rehabilitated the dogs to be submissive to their owners. What the hell is wrong with being submissive to their owners?! Seriously, people are really retarded! I don't give a damn what Cesar haters are saying anymore! All these extremists are so f*** up!

[Ron]

Will any of those idiot Cesar-haters extremists do better than Cesar in rehabilitating those aggressive dogs that he had?! If not, they should just keep their mouths shut about Cesar and stop making themselves look as if they are better than Cesar! Bunch of idiots!

[How to train your dogs]

Millan has become the face of what many trainers call Dominance Training for dogs -- and a popular face at that.

[Emily]

Well... here's my concern, among many. Are we going with science or not? If we are, it seems, hmm, dicey to quote the experts (vet behaviorists, major training groups, Ph.D. animal folks, etc.) when they say what we like--like coming out en masse against BSL, and then to turn around and deny the same experts their expertise if they speak out against something we do like (if we like) like Mr. Milan. That makes them experts when they agree with us and idiots when they don't. Hmmm. Does that mean, if they're wrong about Milan they are also wrong about BSL?

[Brent]

Emily,

If you go with the science, then there are four quadrants of operant conditioning. My problem with many of the trendy behavioral experts is that they teach people to completely ignore 2 of the quadrants. It is only rational that a trainer that uses all four quadrants will be more effective, more often, than one who uses only two.

Milan is (rightly) criticized for over-using one quadrant. However, i think there are many dogs that respond better in that quadrant. And while I agree with the experts that the vast majority of dogs respond better in the positive quadrants, and that most people (and their dogs) would be better served using positive training techniques, I don't think this is true in absolutely all cases -- and there are many very good trainers that would agree with me.

As far treating people like experts only when we agree -- I would say that there are few people out there that I agree with absolutely everything they say. I think it's important to look at the proponderance of the evidence and form your own conclusion based on your the evidence and the opinions of multiple experts (and science if avaiable) on the matter.

[Emily]

Brent, it is sooo rational that if two quadrants is good, 4 must be better--intuition would insist that carrot-and-stick will give you the most bang for your buck. The trouble is, pretty much every actual study done on the subject comes back saying otherwise. Not opinion, data. It's counter-intuitive, it turns out.

My concern is that we think we get to agree or disagree in matters where there really is solid data: like we get to vote on gravity. This is precisely the pickle we're in with BSL--it doesn't matter how much the experts weigh in, how much the science weighs in, how much the data weigh in: folks who know utterly nothing about dogs, Pits, behavior, etc. feel entitled to form their own conclusions by picking and choosing whoever they personally consider an expert. If non-dog people voted on The Expert for dog trainers, it probably would be whichever TV celebrity trainer is hot at the moment. If they voted for the most informative "pit bull" website--dogsbite might be in the running. That's why science isn't a popularity contest and sticks with peer review.

I have to point out, too, that we of all people should know that the media is self-serving and inaccurate and not to be trusted--as shown by all the inflated Pit bull attacks! news stories that get it all wrong. Milan has a TV show and of course he takes on only the worst cases, the dogs "no one else" could possibly save--the producers wouldn't hype it any other way.

Meanwhile, all over the country, there are a great many lovely and talented trainers we've never heard of, will never hear of, who'll never have a TV show or a book, who are treating exactly the same types of cases with equal success. Just like there are uncounted and unknown wonderful Pit bulls and Pit bull mixes that go through their entire lives without making headlines as terrific family pets. I worry about our tendency to confuse fame with expertise--to find the loudest, sexiest and most familiar voice believable.

Your blog is awesome, BTW--I've enjoyed it greatly :)

[John]

Cesar Millan's cult of foolish followers never cease to amaze me. 'Dog Whisperer' is nothing more than a marketing gimmick released by National Geographic to further degrade their own programming for the sake of ratings and entertainment. For this reason, words cannot express how much I hate Cesar Millan and lost interest in Nat Geo's programming. His views on being the 'pack leader' and the 'alpha male' is complete bunk and is derived from wolves. Dogs are NOT wolves. As a REAL dog behaviorist/trainer once said "Studying wolves to train dogs is like saying, 'I want to be a good parent. I'll study how chimps do it'"

How about you fanboy/girl idiots watch his stupid show on MUTE. Pay attention to the bodily cues and facial expressions of the dogs. (its not that hard to tell when a dog is scared/anxious/angry since its in every show). Also, search for videos of his cruel antics. They are everywhere. My personal favorites are:

1) Cesar alpha rolling, pinning down, and scaring the hell out of a small toy dog.(I'm pretty sure this was one of many noted 'cases' where the owners had to put the little dog down due to the extremely high anxiety and skittish levels that was caused by Cesar's 'pack leader' nonsense).

2) Cesar hanging a husky by the leash.

3) Cesar emphasizing the use of shock collars. (A very archaic form of discipline and a false notion of 'training').

4) Cesar opening a crate gate and throat jabbing the dog when he/she wants to get out.

5) Cesar using a treadmill to exercise a dog. (Yes, a treadmill. Although this isn't necessarily 'cruel' it is very very silly).

6) EmilyS talked about this in her post, but I feel it needs more re-enforcement since the fools STILL defend Cesar. Cesar pretty much killed his own pitbull, Daddy, by allowing 2 other violent pits to attack him. Seriously, who does that?

It's shows like these that brainwash people into thinking they should train their already well-behaved puppy or adult dog by abusing them into acknowledging the human as a dominant, alpha-male, pack leader, while actual TRAINED and EDUCATED professionals have much more effective methods that do not involve animal abuse. Yes, these scientifically proven methods also work on those violent dogs.

I'm sure some idiot will have a very poor attempt at defending Cesar from my very well-researched and factual statements.

Did I mention Cesar Millan has never had formal training in dog training or animal behavior? I can't wait till some moron attempts to defend that fact as well.