‘Dog Whisperer' offers K-9 advice

Saturday, August 12, 2006 11:21 PM EDTBy Diane LaRue

On the New York Times best-seller list this week, the number-one hardcover non-fiction book is John Grogan's “Marley & Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog,” which has spent 40 remarkable weeks on the list. I thoroughly enjoyed that book last year and gave it rave reviews in this column.

Number one in the category of hardcover advice, how-to, miscellaneous is “Cesar's Way: The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding & Correcting Common Dog Problems” by Cesar Millan with Melissa Jo Peltier. Millan is known as the “Dog Whisperer” and has counseled famous people, such as Jada Pinkett Smith (who wrote the forward to the book) and Oprah Winfrey on how to train their dogs.

Millan also hosts “Dog Whisperer” on the National Geographic Channel. On that show, he visits people who have issues with their dogs, such as dogs who jump on people or dogs who are aggressive with other dogs. His show is so popular that the channel ran a marathon of his show last week; two hours each night.

Cesar grew up on a farm in Mexico, surrounded by dogs. Their dogs lived outside the home and were treated as animals. Dogs lived together in packs and it was there that Cesar learned how to deal with dogs.

When he came to America at the age of 21, he got a job at a dog grooming establishment, owned by two very kind women. It was difficult for him because he spoke little English. He worked on the hard-to-handle dogs and gained a good reputation with the customers. He also saw first-hand how Americans treated their dogs like people, not dogs.

Millan was stunned by the number of people whose dogs had behavioral problems. He found many dogs who exhibited what he calls “an unnatural energy.” Dogs in Mexico were, in his words, balanced. The dogs he was seeing in America were aggressive and obsessive, unbalanced.

His goal was to become a dog trainer, so his next job was working in a kennel. He earned a reputation for being successful with the more aggressive and powerful breeds - Rottweilers, pit bulls and German shepherds. It was at this facility that he saw how the psychology of the pack helped to rehabilitate the unbalanced dogs.

He began to work with dogs in packs. Soon he had saved enough money to start his own business, Pacific Point Canine Academy. Through word-of-mouth, he gained a solid reputation for working with the most difficult dogs.

Millan believes dogs need three basic things in this order: exercise, discipline and affection. Americans are good with the affection part, but we do not allow our dogs to be the animals that they are, which creates unbalanced dogs.

According to Millan, dogs should be walked twice a day, a half-hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. Allowing your dog to roam the fenced-in backyard does not count as walking him. A dog that has been properly exercised will get all of his nervous energy out on the walks.

Discipline is essential as well. Millan will frequently introduce an undisciplined dog to his pack of dogs at his Dog Psychology Center. Often the pack will do a better job of bringing the problem dog around than a human can. Discipline does require much work on the part of the dog owner. Consistency is important and will result in a more satisfied dog and thus a happier owner.

Finally, affection is necessary for a good relationship between dog and master. Millan cautions people to remember that dogs want to be treated as animals, not as humans. Behavior problems arise when people forget that key fact about dogs.

Dogs must have a leader of the pack and if their human master will not accept that role, the dog will take it on. We have all seen dogs that run households, and Millan says that this is the result of the human not taking on the role of leader. Dogs want their masters to be assertive and often become fearful or aggressive when their master fails to be the leader.

Simple things, like the human going out of the door first when it is time for a walk, signal to the dog that the human is the leader. Millan gives the reader techniques for the proper walking of a dog, making sure that the dog follows the master, not the master pulled every which way by the dog.

Millan gives examples of his successes and expresses regrets for the few times he has failed to rehabilitate a dog. I found “Cesar's Way” to be very informative, and I have tried a few of his techniques on my dog, Malcolm. Malcolm enjoys the more frequent walks, but we still have some work to do on the discipline end.

If you are a dog owner, I highly recommend “Cesar's Way.” It gives you a good insight into your relationship with your dog. I give it three and half stars.

The Citizen, Auburn NY