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Cesar Millan is the ‘dog whisperer’ the stars swear by, but are his controversial techniques really brilliant or just ... Barking?
From illegal immigrant to top dog in Hollywood, superstar trainer Cesar Millan is in Belfast next week. Audrey Watson hears his amazing story
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
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Oprah Winfrey, Scarlett Johansson, Vin Diesel, Will Smith and Nicolas Cage may be top dogs in the celebrity world. But when it comes to their pooches, real-life Doctor Dolittle Cesar Millan is definitely the leader of the pack.
These A-listers are just a few of the famous names who have sought assistance from the Mexican-born, 40-year-old, who shot to fame with his TV series, The Dog Whisperer.
On March 16 at the Odyssey, Belfast, he will demonstrate his magical methods of controlling and understanding our canine companions to a Northern Ireland audience of animal lovers.
Some 11 million viewers worldwide watch The Dog Whisperer on National Geographic Wild and Cesar’s books regularly top the international bestseller lists.
Then there’s the hugely successful monthly magazine, Cesar’s Way, online training courses and his dog psychology training centre in Los Angeles — not a bad achievement for a man who arrived in the USA from Mexico 20 years ago as an illegal immigrant with no money and very little spoken English.
In typical living-the-American-Dream fashion, Cesar in conversation is upbeat about his impoverished childhood and subsequent rise to fame.
“There were seven of us living in a small house in Culiacan, with no TV or luxuries, but lots of love and I felt the need to come to America to progress in the world,” he says.
“People who come to the USA the way I did (spending hours hiding in a water hole to escape border controls), don’t have wealth in monetary terms, but what I had was a wealth of knowledge my late grandfather Deodoro gave me.
“I grew up on his farm and observed how he created a harmonious relationship with his animals which included eight dogs, chickens, horses and donkeys. Just being with dogs, I learned their ways and began to appreciate things from their point of view.
“As a boy, my nickname was ‘El Perrero’ or ‘Dog Boy’ because I always had a pack running at my side.”
His first job in the US was in a canine beauty salon in San Diego where Cesar quickly gained a reputation for being able to handle the most difficult dogs and began walking and training pets belonging to the rich and famous, most notably actors Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Rottweiler. The couple were so grateful that they paid for him to attend English lessons for a year.
Soon he began to construct his theory of dog behaviour, which, at its core, is simple — dogs are pack animals, human beings should be the dominant pack member.
His growing fame led to an article in the LA Times and subsequent calls from television producers wanting to transfer his skills to the small screen. The first episode of The Dog Whisperer aired in 2004. It is now in its sixth season.
Oprah Winfrey, one of his biggest fans, previously called dogs “little people with fur”, and was chastised for not showing any canine leadership to her dog Sophie.
Says Cesar: “Many dogs grow up without rules or boundaries. They need exercise, discipline and affection in that order.
“Owners lavish love on their pets and nothing else, which is why so many go from non-aggressive pups to being out of control when they're older. People don't realise that their dog must respect them as leader of the pack. We mustn’t use them for our own emotional yearnings.
“Oprah's Cocker Spaniel, Sophie, had difficulty mixing with her other dogs for 11 years. That amazed me. Oprah is a powerful woman, the embodiment of a pack leader, yet she was nervous about this one pet and wasn’t able to assert her leadership over her animal — a major mistake made by many powerful people.
“When you see the President of the United States coming out of Air Force One, you always see the dog in front. When you see the President going inside the White House, you see the dog going inside first. You should never let your dog walk in front of, or lead you.
“Bill Clinton couldn't control his Labrador. Nancy Reagan had to exile her Bouvier to the family’s California ranch. You can't let a powerful breed take the lead. If you did that with a Rottweiler, there would be no presidents to meet with.
“People say I train dogs, but in many ways I train people.”
Until recently, one of the stars of The Dog Whisperer was Cesar’s beloved pit bull, Daddy, who died a few weeks ago after a long battle with cancer.
This submissive, calm rescue dog became an ambassador for a much-maligned breed that is often over-bred and abused and was the star’s long-time partner in canine rehabilitation.
Cesar is adamant that it is humans who are responsible for the ever-increasing amount of so-called dangerous dog attacks.
“When you have a dog such as a pit bull or Rottweiler, most people do not have any idea how to control or train that dog and this is going to cause the dog to manifest its strength and frustration whether it is small or large,” he explains.
“All dogs will become aggressive when they are under-exercised, unhappy, or have been trained that way — only obviously a pit bull has more strength than a Chihuahua.
“Aggression is a state of mind, not a breed-related thing.
“It all comes back to the way we humanise dogs. They are not our children. Because dogs are pack animals, their hierarchy in their pack (ie the family with whom they live) has to be established and maintained from the minute they arrive.
“If controlled correctly, any dog will do what the leader of the pack (the owner) trains and tells them to do. If it is not controlled, trained and exercised correctly, it will not know how to act or react in situations and become frustrated and aggressive.
“Dogs take their lead from their owners — how they are feeling, their personality — confusion over hierarchy and the absence of clear commands causes the problems.
“We don’t have a problem with breeds, we have a problem with education and understanding the concept of loving and caring for a dog properly — the consequence we are paying is aggression.
“Dogs don’t want to live in a complicated world, they want a leader to be in control. Otherwise, they observe aggression, anxiety and fear and because they are pack animals unless ordered otherwise, will mirror our thoughts and feelings.
“We make them human and consciously, or sub-consciously project human psychology on to them and as you know when you are depriving somebody from being themselves, it creates instability.”
Cesar is equally vocal about the current celebrity trend of using a small animal as a fashion accessory.
“I don’t agree with that at all,” he says angrily when asked about Paris Hilton and her ever-changing handbag dogs.
“This trend comes from humans prioritising their own needs, making sure that their need for accessories is more important than the needs of the animal. It’s not even a baby or companion substitute — it’s a fashion statement.
“It’s humans using nature and animals for their own benefit and not for the animal’s or nature’s good. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t love our dogs, what I’m saying is that we should never forget that they are not human and they should never be allowed to control or dictate to us.
“They won’t be happy being carried around in a handbag, they will react either with fear, incontinence or anger.”
When not touring, Cesar lives in Santa Carlita, California with his wife Illusion, sons, Andre (15) and Calvin (9) and 30 pet dogs — made up largely of rescue pets so out of control that previous owners were advised to have them put down, but who now live as part of the Millan family.
“Having so many dogs is not a problem,” he says. “They are pack animals. So they eat, drink, sleep and poop all at the same time.”
And he insists that any dog, no matter what its age or personality can be rehabilitated.
“There are no quick fixes,” he warns. “Owners need to train their dogs every day to prevent unwanted behaviour returning and lots of exercise plus strong leadership and an assertive stance is vital. Unconditional love isn’t enough to control a dog — dogs don’t follow an emotional leader.
“If you don’t tell a dog what to do, it will tell you.
“I want to teach people about this psychology. If people want to call it a gift, then that’s fine, but I’m just passing on what my grandfather taught me.
“My father still can’t understand why Americans paid me to walk their dogs,” he laughs.
Cesar Millan The Dog Whisperer Tour is at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast on March 16, at 8pm. Tickets available from Ticketmaster and Odyssey Box Office: 028 9073 9074. www.odysseyarena.com
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Calmassertive, it is a shame you are getting so upset by my disagreeing with you. I have watched many episodes of the Dog Whisperer and anything I say here is based on my experience of that progamme as well as my experience of working with many dogs individually or with other behaviourists (my partner has his own dog training classes and behaviour practice). Try not to take alternative opinions to your own so personally. Afterall, we are all entitled to our own opinions! Goodbye.
Posted by Dr Sarah Millsopp | 22.03.10, 15:23 GMT
Dr Millsopp-
Clearly you don't watch the show or you would never write such commentary. Far from 'outdated', Cesar has more hands-on personal experience with more dogs than all your supposed 'scientific' researchers put together. He represents the true state of the art in dog behavior understanding and modification. You should Watch the show before blindly criticizing him. Go to the National Geographic channel website, click 'shows', 'dog whisperer', 'full episodes'. 29 episodes can be seen.
Posted by calmassertive | 22.03.10, 08:18 GMT
Calm assertive, I have no desire to insult the intelligence of those watching the dog whisperer, simply to provide an alternative, scientifically-backed view point to the methods used on the programme. Scientific research shows that using physical force with dogs can lead to them becoming more aggresive also. I have no doubt that Mr Milan genuinely cares for dogs, but some of his methods are undoubtedly outdated. However, according to Andrea who acutally saw Mr Milan in Belfast, he was using only positive reward-based methods to train the dogs there. So perhaps he is finally coming round to the reward-based trainer's point of view!
Posted by Dr Sarah Millsopp | 20.03.10, 16:57 GMT
Andrea, it is absolutely possible to rehabilitate aggressive dogs with reward-based methods through a process of counter-conditioning and gradual desensitisation. There is no need to use punative methods and, indeed, as most aggression is as a result of fear, punishment most often makes the problem worse. Research has shown this. I am glad to hear Cesar is moving forward and is using kinder methods. These methods are all that are required to rehabilitate dogs.
Posted by Dr Sarah Millsopp | 20.03.10, 10:35 GMT
Cesar is all about Trust and Respect. By understanding how a Dog thinks and by communicating in Dog rather than english Cesar gets dogs big & small, timid & aggressive,
old & young to all contentedly accept him as one they can comfortably follow. Dr. McBride and Dr. Millsop argue against pain and fear as if Cesar was For these things, which of course anyone who Watches the man knows to be utterly absurd. The good doctors thus insult the intelligence of the millions of dog lovers who actually Watch, pay attention to and Learn from this most knowledgable of trainers, something his misinformed critics should duplicate before further discrediting themselves in public.
Posted by calmassertive | 20.03.10, 10:34 GMT
I went to see Cesar in Belfast and I don't recall the word punishment being used all evening. In all the contacts he had with local dogs on the show, he rewarded them with affection and food. I've never seen the TV show, but I would guess that like all reality TV, it thrives on extremes. So, a completely out of control dog is probably seen to be subdued in a more punitive way than you would normally be comfortable with. What, you're going to give a cookie to a dog that is so frustrated it might kill you? I don't think so. The first step in rehabilitating an out of control dog might be a harsh one, but surely the aim would be to follow it with the motivational and reward-based methods that Cesar successfully demonstrated on the show.
Posted by Andrea | 18.03.10, 15:46 GMT
Hi Duncan,
Of course it is important that we have control of our dogs, for our own sake as well as theirs. The point here is that it is not necessary to force our dogs into compliance. Punishment used correctly is of course effective in modifying behaviour, but learning theory tells us that reward-based training, or positive reinforcement, is more effective as it shows the animal or person the RIGHT behaviour. Punishment only shows our animals what NOT to do.
It is unethical to use methods that potentially cause pain and fear when other methods are equally, if not more, effective.
Dogs, like children benefit from consistency and boundaries. There is no need to use force to demonstrate boundaries with either children or animals.
Posted by Dr Sarah Millsopp | 15.03.10, 17:44 GMT
Dear All,
re Sarah Millsop's letter. I do not think anyone would disagree with Cesar re the basic principles that dogs need consistency in their lives, sufficient mental and physical exercise and to be respected as dogs. This includes setting apporopriate boundaries. However, the point Sarah was making is fair. Namely that setting and keeping boundaries does not require the use of physical punishment that cause pain / fear. There are problems in using such methods to do with timing, the intensity of the punishment and consistency. It is far better to use a basic principle of rewarding the behaviours you want and not rewarding those that you do not want. Consider a dog like a young, pre-verbal child; there are other ways besides smacking, hitting, shaking (scruffing for dogs) etc in whch we can effectively communincate with such young children. Yes it is discipline, but in a non-fearful way. Parents still are respected 'leaders' for their children, but also are trusted ones
Posted by Dr Anne McBride | 15.03.10, 17:36 GMT
Sarah.
How about rewarding the dog with discipline?
Boundaries in life are what keeps children balanced. Same with dogs. Adults too actually!
The more we as a society spoil another section of society the less responsive it becomes.
Or would it be wise to give the armed forces people lots of naps, cakes and games machines?
Posted by Dunc | 13.03.10, 06:45 GMT
Really good article. The title was typical of the Cesar-bashing we see sometimes but the article itself had none of that. Good job.
Posted by calmassertive | 12.03.10, 23:26 GMT
I've always wanted a dog but don't have one because I'm out so much at places they can't go into. I don't think it's fair to leave a dog that isolated for so long. But I wach the Dog Whisperer as much as I can (even the reruns);it gives me a bit of a "Dog Fix". However, a couple months ago I found my self (without being aware at first) using Cesar's training techniques on myself! And he's helped me alot...especially like facing my fears, being calm (haven't mastered assertive yet), don't "try" do it...and the power of intention. I admire and respect him alot. If he ever opens a dog psychology center in New Jersey, I'll run to apply for a job. He is such a wonderful example of what you can accomplish when you really work for it. And if I can't have my own dog right now, I intend to volunteer at the local rescue center; I'm sure it will help me immensely.
Posted by Kathleen Corcoran | 11.03.10, 18:34 GMT
I've always wanted a dog but don't have one because I'm out so much at places they can't go into. I don't think it's fair to leave a dog that isolated for so long. But I wach the Dog Whisperer as much as I can (even the reruns);it gives me a bit of a "Dog Fix". However, a couple months ago I found my self (without being aware at first) using Cesar's training techniques on myself! And he's helped me alot...especially like facing my fears, being calm (haven't mastered assertive yet), don't "try" do it...and the power of intention. I admire and respect him alot. If he ever opens a dog psychology center in New Jersey, I'll run to apply for a job. He is such a wonderful example of what you can accomplish when you really work for it. And if I can't have my own dog right now, I intend to volunteer at the local rescue center; I'm sure it will help me immensely.
Posted by Kathleen Corcoran | 11.03.10, 18:33 GMT
What a shame such a one-sided article on Cesar Milan appeared in the Belfast Telegraph. As a Provisional member of the APBC (Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors), I was surprised that the concerns over Mr Milan's aversive training techniques were barely mentioned in the paper, and online, do not appear at all. The APBC along with many other well-known welfare organisations (the RSPCA, Dogs Trust, WSPCA) would like to make it clear that reward-based training techniques are successfully used to train dogs without the need to resort to techniques which may cause pain and distress. Consider carefully how you train your dog, choose a reputable, reward-based trainer. Don't risk the relationship with your dog by bullying him/her into submission.
Posted by Dr Sarah Millsopp | 11.03.10, 17:56 GMT
Great Post! I enjoy watching the show. Here at backtobasics-homestead.com we also treat all our animals with respect. Keep up the good work I salute you.
Posted by Joe | 11.03.10, 00:42 GMT