Cesar Millan: Love Him, Hate Him, And Why?

MaryK

Honored Member
Unfortunately so right, his 'celebrity' status makes everything he does or says right! One person I know thinks he's the 'ants pants' and at that time did not have a dog! Now she has one, her husband 'trained' the dog, went to the same dreadful school I originally took my boy, and guess what? The dog has a mass of problems!:eek:(n) Am going to attempt to 'retrain' her next time I see her - she's my hairdresser - we do not agree on dog training at all!
 

MaryK

Honored Member
Loved the article. Watched in horror the e=training vid and the dreadful photos of dogs being shocked. Downloaded the clicker book too.
 

Adrianna & Calvin

Experienced Member
OMG have you looked at t
OMG did you look at the FB page she linked to, for the snake aversion 'therapy' (use of shock to teach dogs to avoid snakes)??? What a horror. Unbelievable. I can't believe they posted the photos of these dogs leaping up and grimacing in pain. Poor things.

ETA: I'm not on FB, but for anyone who is, I think polite horrified comments are in order!
 

MaryK

Honored Member
Me too Dogster, I was HORRIFIED by the snake photos, how can anyone looking at those poor terrified, traumatized dogs say it's for their own good! Australia has the highest number of deadly snakes in the world and you do need to be careful - I refuse to walk through the bush because I admit I'm scared stiff and do not know how to deal with deadly snakes. But I would NEVER use shock treatment on my dogs NEVER NEVER NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not sure if it's legal here or not. Evie would know that, must ask her.

Yes, wish they would keep their comments polite on FB. I never comment because I find so many comments are just plain rude and don't want to get involved. No use anyway, those people will not change their minds unless you could work with them one on one.
 

jackienmutts

Honored Member
I read the article, but didn't bother to read the comments, as they're usually always the same, he's a saint, he's saved thousands that no one else could have, he's the last hope for so many dogs, he saved my dog, he's a genius, blah blah blah. Sure, for this author, under the circumstances mentioned, his techniques work. The author now goes into the shelter realizing that all dogs do not just need to be hugged immediately (no dog does, it's rude, esp to hug a dog you don't know, and most dogs just tolerate it), he now acts like a benevolent leader (well, good for him), and realizes that instead of being coddled, lots of shelter dogs need a walk or exercise (well, tah-dah!, he finally 'gets' dogs, they're not stuffed animals). What I find amazing is that it took Cesar to make him (and all his cult followers) realize that. Thing is, if exercise and bounderies were the only issues at hand, I'd have no problems with Cesar. In fact, I do agree with Cesar on those issues. So many dogs that people have troubles with are underexercised, undersocialized, and have no bounderies. So, in that light, I'm glad that author has taken those good points from Cesar's show, learned that no, he should not just assume all dogs need loads of affection. Especially in the case of shelter dogs, they're confused, sad, upset, fearful, nervous, etc - the last thing they need is a lunatic coming at them trying to hug them up. I think most would much prefer a nice quiet walk with a human who seems stable, and knows what they're doing. If that were all that people were taking away from Cesar, I don't think controversy would reign supreme.
 

MaryK

Honored Member
I read the article and skimmed the comments, as they were the usual thing "Millan is a saint' etc.

Really cannot add any more to what Jackiemutts has already expressed so eloquently, except I wish people who work in shelters would read up on the latest training methods, click/treat and the psychology behind it all. Would give shelter dogs a much better start in their new homes.

Maybe that's where councils could spend some of our dog registration fees, on training sessions with a professional Positive Reinforcement Trainer, giving talks and demonstrations on how well clicker/treat training really works. And also the science behind it.
 

myraellen

Well-Known Member
My friend herself doesn't have opinions about Cesar Millan himself, but she thought that her comments would fit in this thread because they relate on things Cesar is talking about. He talks about dominance and pack leadership. Like many of you probably know, those theories have been debunked. My friend just found two articles and a video about it:
https://positively.com/dog-training/myths-truths/pack-theory-debunked/


In the second article the person that has written it, tells also what dominance really is:
http://www.ava.com.au/public/about-pets/polite-pets-month/resources/debunking-dominance-dogs

Lotta often behaves like a toddler that is in the defiant stage. In other thread one of you suggested that my friend would seek to dominate Lotta if she makes decisions for her. However, my friend doesn't think that it relates to what dominance really is. She has read that the actual dominance relates only on who has an access to limited resources. Pet dogs don't usually need to fight over resources. Besides, in the video we linked above, Zak George talks about that dogs don't dominate cross species.They know that people are not dogs.

So, Cesar Millan talks also about pack leadership. My friend has read/heard from somewhere that with dogs leadership would be rather like parenthood with children. If one had a small child, s/he would make decisions for her/him or wouldn't s/he? ;) You probably wouldn't think that s/he would be seeking to dominate that child or would you? :D So, making decisions for dogs doesn't relate to dominance.
 
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