The Dish by Darcie

Dear Darcie, Cesar Millan has single handedly set back dog training 100 years. Dog bite reports are up in our city. Any correlation, do you think? People at our dog park are pulling their dogs around, jerking their necks, choking the dogs off the ground. And the dogs still won’t won’t come to them. If they take the dog off lead, off the dog runs. These dogs are biting to get away from this handling. “I’m using Cesar’s Way”, they tell us. We’ve started answering the way you do, “Yeah. How’s that working out for ya?” Cesar gets bitten on his own show for God’s sake!  Doesn’t everybody know that when a dog bites it’s because it’s been pushed too far? We love your positive training, it’s wonderful to know how many people follow your advice and wind up with good and happy dogs. Thank you for not being afraid to speak up. Would you step up on your soap box in defense of the dogs and say something more to these people? Please. Save a dog. Joy

I don’t know if you can hold Cesar Millan personally and solely responsible for all of the dogs bites or the injuries that dogs suffer by the hands of those who think they’ve learned so much from watching the TV show. Not any more than we can hold that Jackass show responsible for all the people who jumped off the house onto the trampoline and broke their heads open. Both shows have ample warnings to watchers. “Don’t do this at home.” But people still do it.

If you call your dog and your dog does not come, ask yourself why. Remember back as a child, when your Dad called your name. Did you immediately tense up or did your heart soar that Daddy was home and you ran to him for a hug? Why? If you tensed, it was because you were expecting a spanking or a scolding because that’s what happened most often when Daddy called your name. If your heart soared and you smiled with pleasure and you ran to your Father’s arms, it was because you trusted your Dad and it made you happy to see him. Which feeling do you want your dog to have when you call his name?

I truly believe that most of the people who try Cesar’s methods aren’t stupid or mean. They’re simply stuck. Stuck with little to no understanding of their dog or how to communicate with him. They don’t know about positive training. That’s not stupid, that’s simply not knowing there is a better way. Way better. A positive way. A trusting way to get better behavior from your dog.

I agree with some of what Cesar Millan teaches. Dogs should have daily walks and be kept in good condition, exercise keeps the mind in a good place. And this. Dogs bite when you put stress on them. Cesar has been bitten on the show and off the show, too. And not by red zone dogs but by fearful dogs. Dogs who are afraid, dogs who don’t trust people, who don’t understand what people want. This is the reason that Cesar tells you over and over and over during his TV show with all those warnings, “Don’t do this at home, get help from a professional.” Translate that to say, “If you put this kind of stress on your dog, if you push your dog beyond what they are ready for, if you hurt your dog, your dog will bite.”

I do have a problem with the TV show. It looks like a training show. It’s not. It looks like a self help show. It’s not. It’s not in real time. It’s a TV show. With editing and things left out and everything. You don’t get to see what happens behind the scenes. It doesn’t take just 30 minutes to change a dog’s lifelong habit of fear or aggression. And for those of you who watch it, how many times has Cesar said, “We’re back to visit so and so and their dog but they are still having the same problems”? That statement alone should tell you that the dog and it’s problems did not change. It’s not a miracle.

Cesar and his producers are not fools. They warn you over and over, “DON’T DO TO YOUR DOG WHAT CESAR IS DOING ON THE TV.” He says right on his show with warnings at the beginning, the end, and pops up all the way through, “Don’t do this at home without a professional’s help.” The reason they warn you about that is that they don’t want to get sued when your dog bites you. Or even less. They don’t want to get sued because the 30 minute miracle wasn’t one.

You just don’t have to choke a dog or push it around to get what you want. You just don’t. And by the way, an alpha roll is one of the fastest ways to get your dog to never, ever trust you again.

I have recently seen Cesar working with some positive trainers, he seems to be listening to them and learning from them. I hope he continues to do that. I think he has a responsibility to his fans and his viewers to give them a better way to work with their dogs. Cesar has a great following. He could do wonderful things for dogs. The problem is, nice isn’t good TV. Nothing really bad happens with positive training. Do we really go to the track and give money to the advertisers every time we buy a beer and a hot dog just because we want to see the cars go around and around to see who will win? Or do we go for the wrecks and the action?

To vote against a TV show and make your voice heard, don’t buy from the advertisers of the show. Write to them and tell them why you won’t be giving them any more of your money until something changes.

Positive training is faster, healthier and more fun for you and for your dog. Try it. You can’t lose anything by trying it. If your dog continues to do “bad” things in spite of your trying to help in a positive way, Cesar was right all along, you need professional help with your dog.

See the SitStay.com library authors and clicker training for good help. Your dog will love you and trust you if you do it right. And if you are good to your dog, he will come to you every single time you call him and he will sit and greet at the door and he will not bite Aunt Edith, he will not cower under the couch in fear when you want him. He will come willingly with his tail wagging happily because he trusts you and your hands.

If your dog is truly a red zone dog, a biting dog with the mental nature or training of, oh I don’t know, Vlad the Impaler, who by the way was assassinated, Cesar might be your man. But most dogs are normal dogs living with normal people who just need some positive loving help to change their behavior. Your dog can be a good dog and live with you happily in your house. You don’t have to hurt him to make it so. Don’t turn your dog into a red zone dog by choking and jerking and pushing. You or someone you love very much is going to get bitten.

That’s about all I have to say about that today.