It was this episode that really made me question whether Cesar’s methods were safe or applicable for the average person.
If a professional recommends that such methods be used, there is an issue of legal liability.
That’s why there is a disclaimer at the beginning of the Dog Whisperer Show.
How many people do you think are capable of controlling a dog like this using these confrontational methods?
My guess is you could count them with both your hands.
And that’s being generous.
If you have a dog like this, it does need professional help.
But you need a professional who can give you advice that you can use safely to correct the problem.
Physical man-handling of dogs is counterproductive, UNproductive, stupid and often cruel (both physically and because it results in “uncurable” dogs that end up in shelters where they are killed). Milan does this kind of thing often with small dogs. He does it less often with big dogs. He is a strong man, and he still gets bitten A LOT. Most modern trainers would regard it as a mark of their failure to be bitten at all.
Most dogs are stronger than most people, and they have these sharp things called teeth that are a primary means of communication for them.
All dogs, except the few that are deeply scarred “psychologically”, respond to non-physical corrections. This particular dog could have been “cured” with a good consistent dose of “nothing in life is free”.
I’m going to see if I can find the link to the “aggressive” dachshund he similarly manhandled.
Good lord, that’s one clip I haven’t seen.
If you really must employ flooding to desensitize an animal to something it doesn’t like/fears, could you at least start with rubber scissors instead of the real thing? How did that dog not slice it’s mouth open?
You’ll note that it’s doing a threat gape.
I’ve seen this in coyotes.
The technique he is using is called “choking down.” It is commonly used by trappers who want to get a fox, dog, or coyote out of a coilspring trap.
I don’t know how useful it is in dog training.
Maybe Charlie Murphy was right!
I agree. How on earth did he manage to not cut the dog. can you imagine if somenoe not as skilled as ceaser tried it?
What’s so wrong with giving a hungry dog treats for allowing the face to be handled, then snipped, and then, only then, truely cut?
I am of two minds regarding Cesar Milan.
On the one hand, he routinely demonstrates the capacity dogs have to change their behavior, which is no mean feat in a world where many dog owners (and even some trainers) simply resign themselves to the fact that “my dog is aggressive” or “my dog can’t do that” or even “my dog is in charge”. And he promotes a handful of sound ideas, most of which I would categorize under animal husbandry rather than training.
On the other, he is hardly a model trainer to say the least. Seems to me he suffers from the syndrome of believing too much in the idea of “training” via the power of personality alone. Very little method involved, and many poor judgments. Like my least favorite politicians. If I were being snide, which I suppose I am, I would say he was a one-trick-pony in many respects. And I would note that true “Alphas” don’t force unnecessary confrontations.
But then, I find Victoria Stillwell equally repugnant, albeit on different grounds. Fact is I don’t care for any television trainers, but I also don’t watch much television. Maybe I am missing something.
Oh puke.
On an interesting note… I was watching Dogtown this past Friday, which airs before this chump. They handled a fear-aggressive akita/shepherd mix with NO harsh man handling methods and time… they handled a truly fearful, un-confident dog with pure positive reinforcement and time… stark, stark contrasts to the atrocity that is this man and his show.
I watch DogTown. I try to avoid this show.
You might want to spend some time at a good grooming parlor, on a day when some new clients are bringing in their little darlings. Maybe clients who have been banned from other groomers’.
You’ll see exactly this kind of firm handling when the dog requires it. (Ditto for the back room of a vet’s, for those furbabies who have to be pried from Momma’s arms and spirited away in order to get medical care.)
The groomer’s job is to get the dog clean and clipped. A remarkable amount of incidental training goes on to reach that end. Giving the dirty, matted dog back to the client at the end of the day and announcing that you’ve made great progress at moving the brush three inches closer is not going to pay the bills.
Little dogs frequently learn that they can avoid inconveniences such as leashing, grooming, being removed from furniture, etc. by this sort of tantrum.
It doesn’t work to ignore the tantrum because the tantrum is about making the human back off and not do the thing the tiny terror doesn’t want.
What does work is restraining the dog firmly and just gittin’ ‘er done, demonstrating that the threats and hizzy fits will no longer work. (Actually, this is another way of “ignoring” the tantrum. And is therefore not “confrontational,” as you insist on terming it.)
If a toddler tantrums in the middle of a crosswalk, you don’t leave him lying there screaming while the light changes. You pick up the little terrorist and hike him to the curb.
And very frequently, the dog’s owner doesn’t need to learn the technique (or more to the point, grow a pair), because one or two experiences with the groomer/trainer/vet tech fixes the tantrum problem.
THEN it’s possible to work on a more pleasant experience with willing compliance for whatever kind of handling is at issue.
I’ve done just about exactly this for a four-month-old poodle that had learned to avoid the indignity of the leash and being taken to pee outdoors by snapping and threatening. One experience of failure and she never did it again. But boy the fit she pitched when I didn’t pull my hand back was epic.
I’ve also done exactly this for a collie-type foster dog who had bitten an earlier adopter when she made the brilliant move of trying to de-mat him before he’d been in her home for an hour. It was not that difficult, though he was a moderately large dog. He also never tried it again, for me or for his ultimate adopter. This was a dog who required a lot of brushing, so letting it slide was not an option. He quickly learned to enjoy the attention and how good the brush-outs made him feel.
I wouldn’t use groomers as a positive example; I had one absolutely brutalize my young dog through incompetent nailclipping. In what way is it a GOOD thing for dogs to be subjected to rough and painful handling? Yeah, it’s just a “little” pain, and it”s good for them. It’s so easy to condition a dog to accept grooming.
Cesar’s first job in the US was as a dog groomer.
It’s true, when routine and necessary handling inspires a tantrum, one needs to ignore the tantrum and forge ahead. Doing otherwise will teach an awful lesson, not to mention leave the job undone. And I am going to steal the toddler in the street analogy for myself starting immediately.
A number of problems can be addressed pretty effectively this way, at least with many dogs. And the knowledge that human-directed aggression is by no means guaranteed to “work” may extend a dog’s lifespan significantly.
I think the trick is to know when such a strategy is the best course, and to remember that there are alternative as well as complimentary methods for getting long-term compliance in most cases.
The problem I have is with the notion that the only way to fix an aggressive dog is to “get the aggression out” in order to confront it head-on; and I think CM is at least a little guilty of promoting the wisdom of that approach.
That said, I have no problem whatever with what you wrote. I agree with every word.
I think there’s probably a happier medium between ‘letting it slide’ and forcing a dog to submit to something strange and scary without so much as an introduction to having it’s ears handled.
If they’re ‘throwing a tantrum’ because they’re genuinely scared, then I really don’t see what the reluctance is to use some treats and take it a little slower. And if they’re doing something like biting the freakin’ scissor blades, then maybe it’s time to reevaluate the method.
You’re forgetting something:
This makes for awesome TV.
It’s better than Springer.
Terrible little dog. Houlahan’s approach seems practical and common-sense to me. I have never encountered a similar behaviour in any of my boxers. I guess it is part temperament and part upbringing, but I think temperament is more of a factor. If any of my boxers did something like this, I would take it to the vet to be put down ASAP. That is not only totally unacceptable behaviour but *dangerous*.
It sounds good, but in theory, it doesn’t work for the long term.
I really, really like H. Houlihan. It helps to remember that these are dogs, afterall.
I cannot get her solution to the cavalier spaniel’s issues out of my mind (10 healthy males and welsh springer brood bitches). I want to help with that project.
Except I would use Phalenes, which we call drop-eared Papillons.
The original toy spaniels were more of a Papillon-type, just without the Volpino spitz features. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3577/3562670373_d1d3b05d08.jpg?v=0
we should remember that they are dogs, except when we want to make an analogy to people especially children.
Of course, a situation in which children or dogs are in immediate danger can justify immediate (and harsh if necessary) physical manhandling. Perhaps an already traumatized shelter or rescued dog with horribly matted fur can endure another trauma on the way to being rehabilitated.
But a routine grooming is neither of those situations.
Maybe small dogs throw tantrums not because (or not only because) they are “spoiled” but because they are often fearful of what their owners, or other people, may do to them.
Routine grooming *especially* when the issue is being dealt with not in a grooming parlor, but *by a trainer* who is there to supposedly help deal with the dog’s issues.
Dr. Sophia Yin is great with this kind of thing.
One of the ways I teach my dogs to readily accept nail clips/grooming/anal-gland-emptying, is to utilize PATIENCE in a way that pro-groomers don’t have the time to do. WHY does one have to clip ALL the toenails at once? Or pull all the mats out at one sitting? Or squeeze every drop of vile anal fluid in one session? I advise everyone to take their time–clip ONE nail, and give a really good treat–next day(or two), do one more. In time, your dog will anxiously WANT you to do ALL the nails and get multiple treats!(and I have NO qualms blatantly bribing for grooming stuff–hey, I got a sucker when I had to submit to haircuts as a kid!). Turn such activity into a fight? Surest way to make it a MISERABLE activity forever! I’m all for proper physical discipline in certain rare, volatile situations, but grooming SHOULDN’T be one of them(but then, I’ve always been too “financially challenged” to pay for someone else to do it for me!)…….