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Cesar Millan is the host of the popular show the Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic channel. Cesar is a charismatic and very entertaining host, and he has made The Dog Whisperer into a big favorite amongst dog owners. As a result, he has many fans that implement his techniques on their house pets. However, there are some who feel that Cesar's techniques are overly harsh and inappropriate for novice trainers (most pet owners). In this article, I examine Cesar's approach and discuss its pros and cons.
the Good
- Educates people on being a good pack leader.
To be a good pack leader Cesar talks about setting rules and boundaries for your dog including door manners and always walking your dog slightly behind you. He also emphasizes the importance of maintaining calm and assertive energy which made a huge difference with my Shiba. Since dogs live in a human world, they need us to provide them with a degree of structure so that they feel safe and so that they do not harm others or themselves. They also need a balanced leader who is able to protect them, and show them how to behave in stressful situations. These messages are extremely important, especially in this day and age where dog owners tend to overly spoil their dogs by letting them do whatever they want. Uncontrolled dogs may ultimately become dangerous and/or unhealthy and have to be destroyed simply because nobody taught them how to behave in a human world.
When I got my first dog, I did not know anything about dogs or dog training, and it was difficult to control my Shiba puppy. I got fearful of my dog because he started to show aggressive behaviors including leg humping, mouthing, and leash biting. I would like to hear more from Cesar on how to conquer your fears, in particular, a step by step on how to remain calm when your dog is reactive or aggressive.
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- Educates people to fulfill their dogs' needs not just their own.
Most dog owners 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. Cesar talks about understanding a dog's' needs and helping him be a happy dog through exercise and discipline. He also shows people that once they help their dogs burn some energy, the dogs are a lot more well behaved. Given the unrealistic expectations of dogs that are propagated by some dog movies, it is a big advantage to dogdom to have Cesar spreading this message about a dog's needs to audiences everywhere.
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Shows people how to improve their dog's behavior regardless of breed and background.
Some dog breeds have developed a really bad reputation, especially the Pit Bull Terrier. Cesar does a really good job in showing people that all dogs can be rehabilitated regardless of breed and background. His own pack consists of many Pit Bulls and Rottweilers, both of which have gotten a bad reputation for being aggressive and dangerous. Cesar frequently uses many Pit Bulls from his pack to rehabilitate other dogs. His Pit Bulls are calm, balanced, and very non-reactive even when faced with extremely hyper dogs. There are a large number of Pit Bulls in shelters today, and they have a difficult time finding adopters because of the extremely negative public perception of the breed. Cesar and his Pit Bull sidekick Daddy does great things for the breed and his message that every dog can be rehabilitated, gives hope to people on rehabilitating their difficult dogs, and reduces the number of shelter surrenders. His hopeful message could also encourage people to adopt shelter dogs and give them a second chance.
- Uses his pack of dogs to teach other dogs and improve their behavior.
Cesar shows people that the best teacher for a dog is another dog. While we may try and learn canine body language, we will never be as adept at using it as a canine. Of course the doggie teacher must be calm and very balanced. When looking for a trainer, try and find one that has some calm, balanced, dogs that can work with you.
the Bad
- Cesar's Way or the highway.
Cesar 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 dogs and aggressive dogs, as well as his approach of pack leadership through aversive techniques, perpetuates some inaccurate myths on dog training, including:
- You cannot train large breed dogs with reward techniques.
- You cannot train aggressive dogs with reward techniques.
Because Cesar is so widely watched and so widely recommended by breeders, dog owners, and some dog professionals, there is a huge network effect that propagates and perpetuates these myths, which can lead to widespread tunnel vision that ultimately does a disservice to dogs, especially dogs that are incorrectly diagnosed with aggressive or dominant behavior. There are many trainers who have successfully rehabilitated aggressive dogs using reward based techniques. I think that Cesar 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 program, especially reward based techniques.
- Encourages a fix it now, or give up mentality.
The format of the Dog Whisperer show is such that Cesar has to show results quickly to make the program interesting and engaging. Often times there is a timer which shows how Cesar solves a problem in minutes (5-15 minutes) that the owners have tried for months to solve. Even though Cesar may sometimes say that changing a dog's behavior takes time, his Dog Whisperer program shows the opposite. This encourages a fix it now or give up mentality among dog owners that may lead to more dogs being surrendered or destroyed.
- Very little discussion on the proper equipment to use and the proper use of that equipment.
Cesar does advise his clients to put a dog's collar high up on the neck, close to the head and ears. He also sometimes uses his Illusion collar to keep the collar from sliding down the neck. Sometimes, he just goes with what the owner is already using, thereby implicitly agreeing with the owner's choice. Given that he is the expert, it would be helpful to have more of a discussion on the pros and cons of training equipment. Also, training collars, e.g. prong collar, 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 a training collar when your 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 used correctly. For safety, use a training collar for a limited amount of time (several weeks) and then switch back to a flat collar once your dog understands the rules of walking. The Illusion collar is a modified choke collar, and the risks of using such collars should at least be mentioned.
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- Little or no exploration on what type of leader we should be.
It is important for us humans to become leaders of our dog pack but an important corollary question is what leader we should be. Cesar 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 punishment whether it be a leash jerk, 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. Take into account your own temperament and the temperament of your dog to determine the best type of relationship.
- Downplays the dangers and effects of aversive techniques.
Cesar uses a variety of aversive techniques including, alpha rolls, leash jerks, and finger pokes. He often tells owners that these techniques do not cause the dogs any pain or stress, it is just meant to get the dogs' attention. There is also an implication 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 techniques cause an unpleasant sensation, or it would not work. An aversive technique may sometimes cause stress and fear in a dog, which is why the dog avoids that behavior in the future. Aversive techniques can also backfire if not executed properly, with the correct force, with the proper timing, and with the proper redirection. When not executed properly, aversive techniques may cause additional behavioral problems in dogs including aggression. Given his popularity and how many people follow his techniques from watching the Dog Whisperer, Cesar should at least mention some of the dangers of using these techniques. As a dog owner, I would like accurate information on techniques, rather than sugar coated versions.
A lot of the information here was contributed by members of Shibatalk, and I would like to thank Brian, Jeanie, Joy, P.J., and Whiteshiba for their thoughtful comments and insights on this interesting topic. If you have comments, please leave them here so that I can keep improving the content.
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