Defending ‘The Dog Whisperer’

By Columnist Gene Lyons

“What mighty contests,” wrote 18th-century satirist Alexander Pope, “rise from trivial things.” The poet had sex in mind, although something similar could be said about Americans and their pets. If you think people get worked up about politics, say something “controversial” about dogs or cats. Then prepare for action.

Since many dog-lovers imagine their pets as humans in fur coats, realistic observations can evoke outrage. Consider the hubbub over my favorite TV program, “The Dog Whisperer.” Cesar Millan is a Mexican immigrant whose uncanny way with problem dogs has made him a star on the National Geographic channel. Every week, Cesar visits some of the most feckless Southern California suburbanites in captivity and liberates them from the tyranny of everything from 120-pound Rottweilers to killer Chihuahuas.

It’s always instructive, often funny. Cesar’s gift is what the military calls “command presence.” A compact man who moves like a professional athlete, he gains instant respect from all but the most incorrigible animals simply by entering the room. Fortunately, all dogs “read” human body language better than many humans grasp theirs. People who have no clue what dogs are communicating never cease to amaze. I recently got screamed at by a woman terrified at the bumbling approach of a basset hound intent upon a belly rub. That’s like being afraid of a geranium.

It’s common to see pet owners — mostly women, in my experience — convert dogs into fear-biters by inadvertently teaching them to cower from everybody they meet. Alas, making similar observations has landed Cesar in trouble. A recent New York Times column by Mark Derr, a self-described dog historian, criticized “The Dog Whisperer” for sexism, and worse “a simplistic conception of the dog’s ‘natural’ pack, controlled by a dominant alpha animal (usually male).”

Derr calls Cesar “a charming, one-man wrecking ball directed at 40 years of progress in understanding and shaping dog behavior and in developing nonpunitive, reward-based training programs, which have led to seeing each dog as an individual, to understand what motivates it.”

Once it was the Whole Child; now it’s the Whole Dog.

Color my neck red, but I doubt that after eons of human-dog symbiosis, we’re seeing exciting breakthroughs in canine psychology. At best, animal behaviorists may be rediscovering things guys like Cesar have always known.

I recently read another Times article explaining that academic psychologists now question the long-orthodox view that dogs feel no emotions. I called my veterinarian pal Randy Bob.

“Doctor,” I asked, “does it strike you as newsworthy than a dog has emotions?”

“Doctor,” he answered, “a bleeping dog is emotions with a nose.”

Exactly. But they’re not intellectuals or even children, and you can’t reason with them. Cesar doesn’t brutalize dogs. I’ve never seen him hit, hurt or shout at one. But he does let them know who’s boss, even if it takes physical interaction. He introduces particularly aggressive specimens to his “pack” of 40-odd large dogs. Even the most belligerent realize they can’t fight everybody, and calm down fast.

Maybe it’s simplistic, as Derr charges, to think that most dogs are dominance-obsessed, but it does have the virtue of being true. Supposedly, studies of wild wolf packs show that “dominance contests with other wolves are rare.” That’s because canids are more realistic than people.

My wife once rescued a rambunctious 85-pound male golden retriever from the highway. Almost immediately, Big Red attempted a coup by charging the mellow but very powerful German Shepherd-Great Dane mix that handled security at our place. Taken by surprise, Corliss was knocked to the ground. A brief scuffle ensued, during which the retriever found himself lifted clean off his feet by the scruff of his neck.

You could see him changing his mind in mid-air: “OK, I can be No. 2. Two’s good. Less pressure.” Corliss and Big Red lived to a companionable old age together without renegotiating the issue.

Here’s “The Dog Whisperer” in a nutshell: Somebody’s going to be in charge, you or your dog. If it’s the dog, you’ve both got problems. (It helps Cesar’s ratings that Los Angeles is chock full of attractive women who don’t get it.) He doesn’t teach dogs to navigate obstacle courses or compose sonatas. He instructs their owners how to prevent them from attacking children, eating furniture and charging city buses.

Leader Call - Defending ‘The Dog Whisperer’

TEACHING NEW TRICKS

WHOEVER came up with the phrase 'you can't teach an old dog new tricks' has obviously never seen Three Bridges' resident 'dog listener' in action.

Sharon Bolt, 39, has been offering therapies to the people of Crawley for eight years now.
Her room above a hairdresser opposite Three Bridges Station is a positive shrine to relaxation and alternative therapy, with relaxing sounds wafting amidst the strong smell of jasmine, and pictures of waterfalls and unicorns adorning the walls.



For full story see this week's Observer

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‘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