(Untitled)

[tenna]

Cesar uses the method of flooding quite a bit on his show, and he describes it in his book as well. He describes how he used it on a Great Dane named Kane to cure his fear of shiny flooring. Kane was featured on one of the episodes of The Dog Whisperer during the first season.

"First, I took Kane on a long walk with me, in order to bond with him

Comments

[rinalia]

I am not a huge fan of flooding - it often teaches learned helplessness, which is something I would not encourage.

I do not doubt that it *can* work, just that it might not be the best method for most dogs (that is my opinion).

For me, I prefer teaching the dog a way to CHOOSE overcoming his/her fear. Mina came to me with a vast number of fears, some as mundane as a paper bag, others as provocative as adult humans. I taught her the "what's that" command - initially, this involved a lot of reinforcement (both verbal and food oriented). However, I have found that remaining calm and letting her figure things out for herself improves her chances of self-confident behaviors.

The "what's that" command has been a lifesaver for Mina, as has me letting her go at her own pace.

[tenna]

I do not doubt that it *can* work, just that it might not be the best method for most dogs (that is my opinion).

I agree with this. :)

[cottonmanifesto]

Love that command. It's helped maggie a whole ton too.

[applemint]

I had a German Shepard who was afraid of paper bags, too.

[katitious]

I think it really depends on the individual dog...I really never think one way is good for all dogs. But my Mom's oldest dog, a shepherd/golden mix, is very dog aggressive, protective of my Mom...whenever they went on walks she lunged at people. So my Ma worked really hard training her and working with her, but she was still very unsure of her in some situations. So we worked together with my dog (who was very fearful and mostly untrained at the time when we got him not too long ago) and we went on walks to the park, did exercises, etc. Then my Mom and I took her youngest dog (who's a dream) and the trouble dog with us to Bark In The Park - the fact that she was so overwhelmed with dogs and people, sights, sounds, and movement - there wasn't anything she could do to react to all of it so she relied on my Mom to give her direction. It was pretty amazing to see such a change and she did great on the walk, sniffed other dogs without even a growl or showing teeth...just a completely normal dog

[cottonmanifesto]

I've heard about this event on the show a bunch, but this is the first time I've heard that there was an "accident" involved. That makes it all seem worse somehow.

Flooding is the lazy and not always effective way to help with fears.

[silverblaidd]

What she said.

Also, what abyss said, re: conscious agreement to the treatment.

[rozae]

Agreed.

[ginkaruja]

People are underestimating one of the things Cesar is big on, and that's a person's energy. It's the fact that if you go into a job interview confident, you're more likely to get the job rather than going in nervous. Energy plays a big role in whether or not things are successful, and I truly think it helps with dogs even more than with other people.
Flooding can be done correctly, and it can help, as he has shown. But just like *any* training method, it can be abused and in the wrong hands do more damage than good.