Animal behaviorist, dog trainer

At the moment in South Africa Cesar Milan’s hit TV series “The Dog Whisperer” can be seen on DSTV. In the programme Cesar quietly and charismatically teaches owners how to be their dogs’ leaders and in so doing apparently solves a host of canine behavioural problems.

However, besides repeating a lot of erroneous pop dog psychology, the programme does not offer any practical advice for dog owners and, in fact, Cesar’s gentle way of speaking obscures the fact that some of the techniques used to “subdue” problem dogs are downright dangerous and abusive (e.g. forcing dogs onto their backs, pinning them down and strangling them with nylon chokers).

In fact this popular programme is a far cry from what the original “Dog Whisperer” Paul Owens teaches in his books. A proponent of non-violent and humane training methods, Owens wrote a wonderful book “The Dog Whisperer” that deals with lure-reward training and other positive ways of solving canine behavioural problems. It is a book that I highly recommend.

While educated dog trainers easily recognise the major flaws in Cesar’s “training techniques”, unfortunately the general dog-owning public is often misled by his charismatic “energy” and his connection to Hollywood stars. But don’t be fooled - above all, remember that this is a TV show and not reality. Who knows what is really going on behind the scenes?

For more information on the subject and to read the opinions of some well-respected trainers, please go to the following links:

http://beyondcesarmillan.weebly.com/paul-owens—dog-whisperer.html (Paul Owens’ comments n the programme)

http://beyondcesarmillan.weebly.com/jean-donaldson.html (Jean Donaldson’s comments on the programme)

http://www.4pawsu.com/cesarfans.htm (answers to common questions from Cesar fans)

 http://www.urbandawgs.com/luescher_millan.html  (comments by From Andrew Luescher, DVM, Veterinary Behaviorist , Animal Behavior Clinic, Purdue University)
 

Also see my article: “Pack Theory: Fact or Fiction” which examines the philosophy which the programme is based on.