Cesar Milan
I'm writing this as a "confession" of sorts.
Lately I've been watching a lot of Dog Whisperer on You Tube. It came from a semi-discussion about CM and one of his cases about a dog with food aggression. After, I decided to view what I could on youtube on the man to see just how horrible or how good he was.
After watching videos for roughly two weeks, and viewing two 'special episodes' tonight on body language with aggression and on aggressive breeds, I've come to a conclusion I never thought I would.
CM does I think know/understand dog behavior.
Especially in the dog aggression episode, where he broke down every bit of what happened between two JRT's, it's clear the man does understand dogs, why they do things and what to spot for trouble.
Because of it I'm actually more respectful of the man than I was before now.
That said, I still disapprove on how he uses - or used - training in the past.
I haven't seen many of the older videos, but what few I have seen promoted the "rolling" that I think anyone who reads this knows just does not work. That said, it doesn't seem to be one of the things he promotes now when dealing with dogs.
His little noise "shht!" sound annoys the hell out of me; while I might understand why - sound for distraction from whatever the dog has their attention on - it's just... irritating to me. But when I think about it, I use "hey" and I wonder if that's just as annoying to anyone who might hear it. Or the dogs names, which I also think that maybe I shouldn't be doing, but then again, trying to get the dogs attention with their name is just natural, as it's how we humans would get the attention of others we might want to speak to.
What really has me on the fence about though is his "touching". He uses touch to distract the dogs from their state of mind in a moment, much like the "Shht" sound. When I see him use his fingers to jab into the side or neck of a dog, on the one hand I disagree with it as you shouldn't have to do that. And yet, if you look at it from a training point of view, is it any worse than a jerk on a pinch or a stim with an e-collar, or yank of a chain? Naturally with a seriously aggressive dog, doing something with your hand to the dog is looking for a bite, which is what happened in the video that inspired this sudden interest in CM (the Holly Case, for anyone who's curious). When I watched that video and made comments seconds by seconds, you can see what he did wrong with it. But then at the time, in that moment, CM says "I didn't see that coming" and honestly maybe he didn't. He's only human.
And, admittedly, when I've been around my two and I've seen them either fixated or doing something, even I will do a finger tap on their backs or head, or a little poke to their side just to get their attention off whatever and onto me, or onto doing what I want them to. So what CM is doing is really no different than what I do.
What I do NOT approve of is his use of kicks to the soft belly of the dogs he works with. While I understand it's meant to be the 'touch' when walking a dog, to me it's just too risky, especially if you don't realize what you're doing or how you're doing it. To me, replacing that 'kick' with a pull of a prong would be, or should be, just as affective. The point is to get the dog's attention and a prong, used right, to me just feels safer than a kick. I have also seen videos where he has choked dogs into submission, and basically flooded them until they shut down. These are also not good, but I wonder just how old the videos of these situations are and if he still continues it today or not.
I think, when it comes to CM, he was of the old school of thought yet he truly did have the best interests of the dogs at heart. The controversy around him will likely never die, and yet from the videos I've seen, I now understand why so many people admire him and think he's a miracle worker.
I've always held the belief there is no one training system that is absolute, but rather you use what the dog needs. Whether it's CM's calm assertive energy or it's +R or e-collar, clicker, or Garrett's "It's your choice" or whatever, if it helps the dog it's intended to help without harming the dog, then it was what the dog needed.
For myself, since watching these videos I think I am more attentive now to my dogs than I was before. Attentive in the way of their body language and trying to be more understanding, and trying to do what I can to help them.
For Shila, she is very laid back most of the time but anything small and fast gets her attention real quick which is a normal husky trait and something I've seen in her from day one. Cats she runs after but will leave them when I tell her to. Birds, squirrels and so on - outside animals - are another story, but one I'm going have to work on with her if I want to be sure she'll stay focused when in harness. She does get excited quicker and for longer than Ri, but I'm already working on that by having her in those moments sit until she's calm and relaxed (which is something I've always done anyway (and a CM point too)) and then we do whatever.
For Orion, he's more complex. He's full of energy that's a slow burn compared to Shila's explosive energy, but with it being summer, getting either dog to unload that energy is hard due to overheating issues. He doesn't have the fixation she has for most things and he's easier to call off if, say, a bird gets his attention. But he has anxiety when it comes to some some situations and that's something I have to work on for him. So far it's only in those situations (baited water, raw food, higher food reward treats like cheese or meat) that he has an issue but I don't want it to go beyond that so he'll need work in that.
One thing the dogs have going for them is that Shi is often the calming effect for Ri, though it's downsided by Ri's excitement transferring to Shi. And after watching the CM videos, I realize now that when it comes to trying to deal with the excitement, sometimes I'm just not waiting long enough for them to calm down so I need to have more patience before encouraging interaction.
I admit that, as much as ME and SG and even ID have helped me, so has CM helped me into becoming more aware of my dogs and their needs.
The man truly cares for dogs and does his best for them, and for that, however someone may think of him, makes him worthy of some respect at least.
Lately I've been watching a lot of Dog Whisperer on You Tube. It came from a semi-discussion about CM and one of his cases about a dog with food aggression. After, I decided to view what I could on youtube on the man to see just how horrible or how good he was.
After watching videos for roughly two weeks, and viewing two 'special episodes' tonight on body language with aggression and on aggressive breeds, I've come to a conclusion I never thought I would.
CM does I think know/understand dog behavior.
Especially in the dog aggression episode, where he broke down every bit of what happened between two JRT's, it's clear the man does understand dogs, why they do things and what to spot for trouble.
Because of it I'm actually more respectful of the man than I was before now.
That said, I still disapprove on how he uses - or used - training in the past.
I haven't seen many of the older videos, but what few I have seen promoted the "rolling" that I think anyone who reads this knows just does not work. That said, it doesn't seem to be one of the things he promotes now when dealing with dogs.
His little noise "shht!" sound annoys the hell out of me; while I might understand why - sound for distraction from whatever the dog has their attention on - it's just... irritating to me. But when I think about it, I use "hey" and I wonder if that's just as annoying to anyone who might hear it. Or the dogs names, which I also think that maybe I shouldn't be doing, but then again, trying to get the dogs attention with their name is just natural, as it's how we humans would get the attention of others we might want to speak to.
What really has me on the fence about though is his "touching". He uses touch to distract the dogs from their state of mind in a moment, much like the "Shht" sound. When I see him use his fingers to jab into the side or neck of a dog, on the one hand I disagree with it as you shouldn't have to do that. And yet, if you look at it from a training point of view, is it any worse than a jerk on a pinch or a stim with an e-collar, or yank of a chain? Naturally with a seriously aggressive dog, doing something with your hand to the dog is looking for a bite, which is what happened in the video that inspired this sudden interest in CM (the Holly Case, for anyone who's curious). When I watched that video and made comments seconds by seconds, you can see what he did wrong with it. But then at the time, in that moment, CM says "I didn't see that coming" and honestly maybe he didn't. He's only human.
And, admittedly, when I've been around my two and I've seen them either fixated or doing something, even I will do a finger tap on their backs or head, or a little poke to their side just to get their attention off whatever and onto me, or onto doing what I want them to. So what CM is doing is really no different than what I do.
What I do NOT approve of is his use of kicks to the soft belly of the dogs he works with. While I understand it's meant to be the 'touch' when walking a dog, to me it's just too risky, especially if you don't realize what you're doing or how you're doing it. To me, replacing that 'kick' with a pull of a prong would be, or should be, just as affective. The point is to get the dog's attention and a prong, used right, to me just feels safer than a kick. I have also seen videos where he has choked dogs into submission, and basically flooded them until they shut down. These are also not good, but I wonder just how old the videos of these situations are and if he still continues it today or not.
I think, when it comes to CM, he was of the old school of thought yet he truly did have the best interests of the dogs at heart. The controversy around him will likely never die, and yet from the videos I've seen, I now understand why so many people admire him and think he's a miracle worker.
I've always held the belief there is no one training system that is absolute, but rather you use what the dog needs. Whether it's CM's calm assertive energy or it's +R or e-collar, clicker, or Garrett's "It's your choice" or whatever, if it helps the dog it's intended to help without harming the dog, then it was what the dog needed.
For myself, since watching these videos I think I am more attentive now to my dogs than I was before. Attentive in the way of their body language and trying to be more understanding, and trying to do what I can to help them.
For Shila, she is very laid back most of the time but anything small and fast gets her attention real quick which is a normal husky trait and something I've seen in her from day one. Cats she runs after but will leave them when I tell her to. Birds, squirrels and so on - outside animals - are another story, but one I'm going have to work on with her if I want to be sure she'll stay focused when in harness. She does get excited quicker and for longer than Ri, but I'm already working on that by having her in those moments sit until she's calm and relaxed (which is something I've always done anyway (and a CM point too)) and then we do whatever.
For Orion, he's more complex. He's full of energy that's a slow burn compared to Shila's explosive energy, but with it being summer, getting either dog to unload that energy is hard due to overheating issues. He doesn't have the fixation she has for most things and he's easier to call off if, say, a bird gets his attention. But he has anxiety when it comes to some some situations and that's something I have to work on for him. So far it's only in those situations (baited water, raw food, higher food reward treats like cheese or meat) that he has an issue but I don't want it to go beyond that so he'll need work in that.
One thing the dogs have going for them is that Shi is often the calming effect for Ri, though it's downsided by Ri's excitement transferring to Shi. And after watching the CM videos, I realize now that when it comes to trying to deal with the excitement, sometimes I'm just not waiting long enough for them to calm down so I need to have more patience before encouraging interaction.
I admit that, as much as ME and SG and even ID have helped me, so has CM helped me into becoming more aware of my dogs and their needs.
The man truly cares for dogs and does his best for them, and for that, however someone may think of him, makes him worthy of some respect at least.