Cesar Millan is not cruel ... Anyone with a true understanding of dogs can see that

This is not an environmental post but I stumbled across on article and felt I needed to have my say, as life with dogs is very important and personal to me. If you want a look article is here: https://www.thedodo.com/community/dogsandethics/cesar-millan-fails-german-dog--730677947.html?xrs=RebelMouse_fb#

If not, short explanation: Cesar Millan is known as the dog whisperer because of his unconventional techniques. It appears that he has helped many apparently "incurable" dangerous, disobedient and nervous dogs, saving them from being put down or making them happier. His reasoning and actions always made perfect sense to me as it fitted in perfectly with my own experiences with dogs. However, this article argues his methods go against science and are cruel.

I wholeheartedly disagree with this article. I also feel that the writer doesn't actually understand anything about dogs. I was very surprised to discover all this criticism and opposition to Cesar in the dog world. I assumed, naively, that most people agreed with him. So I took it in and thought about it, after all there are two sides to every story. I usually support science and endeavour to always be open minded. However, after thinking about it and watching a Dog Whisperer episode, I conclude that this writer is wrong.

The writer says that dogs are not like wolves and don't have a pack mentality*. I'm sorry but that is nonsensical. My parents have 10 dogs and they live exactly like a wolf pack/family group (just less howling and killing things). Feral dogs that live wild in cities abroad also live like this when left to their own devices. I have grown up surrounded by our pack for 23 years. Everything that Cesar does is exactly what our dogs do to each other whilst living together as a group. If a member pushes their luck, the others will put them in their place and remind them of their manners. This is often with a small nip and/or snarl to remind them. It doesn't hurt and is identical to what Cesar does but with his fingers. Sometimes it goes further and a dog may make the other dog submit to them, which they do by laying on the floor and showing their belly. Again this is identical to what Cesar does. Dogs do this all the time, it is just how their conversation and society works. Cesar does claim to be a pack leader which, arguably, is wrong but in my mind that is irrelevant. By using his techniques you telling the dog that what they are doing is either unacceptable or acceptable behaviour in your pack society. You don't need to be a leader to do this, you can be an equal. So, since when has being assertive and trying to work with the dog in a natural way been a bad thing?

Cesar treats dogs like dogs whilst all this science and behavioural methods seem to treat dogs as if they are wolves that have magically evolved into people. I'm likely to be wrong but that's the implication I got from the article and people's comments. Dogs are still wild at heart in everything they do (playing and walking is like hunting, bonding with us is bonding with the pack). So the best way to deal with difficult dogs is to treat them like the pack and how other dogs would treat them. It's a language they understand and it makes them more comfortable and happy. How would you like somebody shouting and making gestures at you in a language you don't understand? The same thing is done with horses in the method known as 'join up', it is about speaking their language. Nothing Cesar does physically or emotionally hurts these dogs and the fact that it works proves that he really he is speaking the dog's language. I'm sorry but my personal, real experiences have taught me so much about dogs and I'm going to believe that over some obscure studies that contradict the evidence before my eyes.

And finally, Cesar never claimed to be a qualified dog behaviourist/trainer or scientist! In the last episode I watched he got a qualified dog trainer to help him (who, by the way, seemed to approve of Cesar's methods even though they were different to his own). Nothing is as black and white as people are making out here. Also Cesar is often dealing with very aggressive, damaged dogs, of course he has to use some strong measures to stop them being dangerous. It's that or them being put down. The owners he helps often say they tried behaviourists who simply couldn't do anything. And if these behaviourists think that dogs don't have a pack mentality, it's no wonder why they failed.




*I know theories on wolves and dogs living in a hierarchical pack system has been debunked and I agree with that. But they still live and work together as a family group which to me is still a pack mentality. Also some dogs are naturally more dominant than others, just like people!