Dog Whisperer

IliamnasQuest · Feb 5, 2007

I guess we have different definitions of "no".

To me, if you're using alpha rolls (Millan does), poking the dog's neck (Millan does), using collars high up on the sensitive part of the dog's throat with tight pressure (Millan does), dragging a dog (Millan does), or choke dogs (Millan does) - you are anything but non-forceful!

Force does not have to just be obvious hitting, yanking hard, or other grandiose physical corrections. Just because a person is visually calm and quiet doesn't mean he's not creating a huge amount of pain or fear in the dog. We could all smile and look pleasant while we quietly pinch a dog's toe until the dog accepts a dumbbell. It doesn't mean we're not being forceful, we're just not being loud about it. The dog definitely still feels the pain.

I don't find Millan to be a nice guy at all when it comes to dogs. It's a sad thing that he is so highly promoted. And I honestly - meaning no disrespect, just saying what I see - have a very difficult time understanding how anyone with any dog training knowledge or who is even slightly observant can watch his programs without recognizing how he uses force as a main part of his training .. and how the body language of many of the dogs is so obviously fearful and full of avoidance because of it.

I'm thankful that there are lots of people out there who DO recognize the force of his methods. As I've said ad nauseum, I'm not against corrections but to base your training on corrections instead of kinder methods that work JUST as well screams "abuser" to me.

http://www.esquire.com/features/articles/2006/060906_mfe_October_06_Dog_Whisperer.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/10/15/CMGPHL9D1N1.DTL

Melanie and the gang in Alaska

Doberluv · Feb 5, 2007

More on Millan: Guest Blog by Jolanta Benal

This is exactly, to the T, how I feel about CM....exactly. Anyone who has been in dogs for any significant amount of time can read those dogs and most of them are subdued, supressed and shut down and the amazing thing about it, the thing that fools unknoweldgeable viewers is that the darn dogs try and be good sports and smile about it the best they can. But I certainly see through them with their attempts at cheerfulness, just so sad. He is NOT their last chance. That's more Hollywood sizzle for ya. Behaviorists rehabiltate vicious dogs with worse problems than I've seen on that show and they do it all the time using gentle, humane methods which line up with how dogs operate.

The thing about being a dog trainer and behavior consultant who works hard, and continues to work hard, learning as much about the science of dogs as I can—about how they grow, develop, and learn; about their communication and interaction with humans and nonhumans—the thing about studying the science and then having a discussion with a Cesar Millan fan, is that you feel as I imagine a paleontologist feels having a discussion with a creationist. The sense that the other party is living in an alternative reality is a little disorienting. How the heck does someone get to be an expert on a species when he has made no scientific study of it whatever? How does it happen that other people accept his claim to expertise? I don’t mean the fellow has to have a degree, I just mean it would be nice if he gave the impression of having read and understood, say, James Serpell, Karen Overall, Steven Lindsay, or Patricia McConnell. Given his truly weird ideas about dog social behavior, he could use a look at Raymond and Lorna Coppinger, and Roger Abrantes, too.

Here are my qualifications for talking about Cesar Millan’s methods: I have watched several episodes of his show, and I read the interview in the Times last Sunday. Some fan of his is going to post and say I’m insufficiently familiar with the man’s oeuvre, but sorry, I didn’t have to eat the whole salad to know that large parts of it were very, very bad.

Here are the things I do like: Yes, it’s important for dogs to get adequate exercise—most of them don’t. Yes, the suburban backyard is a jail cell for a dog. Yes, it’s good to act calm around a fearful dog. And yes, everyone living in a household has to know what the rules are for that household, and that includes the dogs.

Also, the one really good thing Millan does, as someone who works with dog behavior on TV, is get across the message that behavior can be changed. I cringe when a client asks me about Millan’s methods, but maybe that client wouldn’t have called a behavior counselor if he hadn’t seen CM on TV.

But that’s it. Apart from what I’ve cited above, Millan, as a behavior expert, seems to be a member of the Flat Earth Society.

That Times interview. Does Millan know that dogs probably evolved as semi-solitary scavengers in the vicinity of human settlements? “In the natural dog world, the dog is always behind the pack leader.” Oh pull-eaze! The closest thing to the “natural dog world” today, if prevailing scientific theory is correct, is probably a Third World village, and you can see for yourself in any such place that the dogs travel kinda sorta together but often alone, in a very loose way, basically focusing on whatever piece of garbage they can find to eat. I don’t know where he got that “90 miles a day” thing, either. These are skinny dogs hanging around the dump, or the tourist restaurant; it would be astonishing if they traveled 20 miles a day, let alone 90. To what purpose? They can’t afford that kind of energy expenditure, for pete’s sake.

And am I really supposed to believe that when my dogs and I are taking the same boring last-pee-before-bedtime walk around the block that we take every single night, and they walk ahead of me, it’s because they’re staging a palace coup, not because they … um … know exactly where we’re all going? We’re on a country hike, my dog-who-loves-to-swim realizes we’re getting near the creek and pelts ahead of me to jump in. Whoops, was that my pack leadership going by? Or was he just excited about getting in the water?

Science isn’t the only thing missing here—a little common sense might come in handy too.

As for the TV show—I’ll just talk about one episode: the Great Dane afraid of shiny floors. Yes, Millan succeeded in getting the dog to walk tractably on shiny linoleum floors, and he did it by inducing what’s called learned helplessness. He dragged the dog onto the linoleum and kept him there. The dog's efforts to escape did not work, and the dog gave up. That is learned helplessness. It’s not the same thing as being comfortable and relaxed. At the end, the Dane’s tail is down, his head is down, and he is drooling profusely. For those who have eyes to see, he’s a picture of fear and misery.

Sadly, his guardian had had the right idea: she was laying down carpet runner for the dog to walk on. I would have started exactly the same way, and when he was comfortable walking down the hall, left a little gap of linoleum, small enough so he could step over it. And slowly the gap would have grown. I would have put Musher’s Wax on the dog’s paws so as to be sure he had traction: remember, he was afraid of shiny floors because he’d taken a bad spill on one. The hallway would be a place of fun with his guardian and chicken treats.

I’m sure this would have taken longer than Millan’s method, but at the end the dog would have been walking happily and confidently, not hanging his head and drooling.

And that’s the trouble with Cesar Millan. He’s got a hammer—the dominance idea—and he thinks everything he sees is a nail. He’s constantly forcing what needs to be gentled along. And it’s all very well overpowering dogs when you work out every day and have a Y chromosome on board, but what is my five-foot female client with two little kids supposed to do? What about the elderly man with a brand-new hip? What if you are a man who works out every day but you don’t enjoy physical confrontation as a way of life? What are you supposed to do then?

Call a clicker trainer.

Oski · Feb 5, 2007

Bobsk8 said:

I am totally with you on this one Bob...I recently started watching the show and I find it fascinating. My mom has a German Shorthair that is/was absolutely out of control with his hyper activity, to the point where he was hurting people that came into the house by jumping on them and running into their knees. The dog was also at a danger to itself by bombarding its way through the doorway and taking off running the streets for a couple hours at a time. My mom has tried every trick in the book and even hired a trainer for a little while who claimed that all her clients were successful...well not with this dog. I started working with my moms dog for a short while, doing some of Cesar's techniques and he was a completely different dog. He actually listened to me, and didn't try to push through the hallway in front of me or anything. Everytime I go over to my mom's now, he is a lot better behaved.

I completely agree about the need for dominance between dogs. That is what they live for...you can see it when dogs play together, when they put there heads above the other dogs back, that is expressing dominance. Humans are the same way....we all want to be the best and have the next better thing over someone else..lol.

I think that it would have been cruel to not correct my moms dogs behavior of running out the front door...that is putting your dog at a huge risk of getting hit by a car. It is the same idea with hunting dogs....my dad raised and bread beagles my whole life and beagles are rabbit hunting dogs. The way this works is rabbits run in a large circle over an area of land, therefore your dogs that are tracking the rabbit, will eventually return to you (where they picked up the scent)...however, an untrained dog will track the scent of a deer and chase it for mile...the problem is that deers run straight for many miles, which puts the beagle at a risk of becoming lost, or running out in the road. The only sure correction for this was a shocking collar. This does cause temporary pain for the dog, but what is worse, the small shock which only is needed in the beginning of training until the dog understands what not to do, or the dog becoming lost, starving, or being hit by a car???

Oski · Feb 5, 2007

sam said:

well I don't know that I said it better LOL
I much prefer a method that doesn't use a line at all even in a pup actually especially on a pup-- they are the most sensitive at that point. I haven't needed to with either dog. I had the priviledge of watching my trainer work some pups and at that stage he NEVER corrects them but instead moves them using his body position. You turn to the head they naturally go they other way. Poetry in motion. I LOVE herding

Randy does occasionally us a long whip like a lunge whip on older dogs that are working in too close to the sheep and harassing them for fun. He doesn't WHIP the dog, he uses the whip like an extension of his arm to place it in front of the dog, he'll crack it which backs the dog off for a split second which makes more room, puts them in the correct position and goes back to working the sheep. That method taught Rosie instantly where she needed to be. She was like "oooooh ok" because that let us work together instead of it being comlete chaos. She tends to like to be right up the sheeps butts (typical aussie) which makes it really hard for me to do my part.

Anyhoo. I hope you've been lucky enough to find a great trainer for little Eve. There certainly are some "trainers" I've seen in herding that use way too much yelling and can be really harsh. How exciting that you're going to be starting her. Yippee!

So how is this "whip" any different, or less frightening to the dog than the Cesar snap of the fingers and whistle sound???

Oski · Feb 5, 2007

Sugardog said:

You can do MUCH better than Cesar as far as training and rehab go.

He is really going to get it one of these days....I've seen several instances where he did something he should not have. I've seen him literally hang a dog, off the ground by a choke collar. I've seen him use choke collars and collar pops on small breed dogs which is just asking for a collapsed esophagus or damaged trachea. I've seen him physically pick up and plop a bulldog onto it's side and hold it there by the neck, this is dangerous because a bulldog has enough problems breathing as it is, they don't need that kind of treatment.

Now, going beyond that....Collar pops and alpha rolls, they work yeah, but there are much better ways.

Flooding, which is when he forces a dog to "face its fears" and get over it....This is debatable. Some dogs can handle it and it'll work. Others it won't and it can push the dog to fear sprung aggression.

Now as far as the dogs he works with.....Think about this one. VERY few of the dogs he has worked with were properly trained. VERY few knew the command sit or stay. VERY few of those people actually took the time to go to an obediance class and learn how to train their dog. Over half of the dogs that he calls "dominant" are not dominant at all, but simply untrained or undertrained. It's all in conditioning and training, it's not all dominate or be dominated as he makes it seem to be.

Another thing about his methods is that they rely heavily on what another dog would do, the alpha dog. Well dog body language relies heavily on tail and ear position. Do humans have a tail? Nope. Do we have ears that we can control and make them stand up or go back? Nope. The dogs aren't going to see what he does as what another dog would do all the time. We lack 2 of the most important communication tools. Second, we are bipedal. Our body is not like a dogs, we are shaped differently, we walk differently, we have a different face... Again this can impede our ability to communicate to a dog like another dog. It just doesn't work all that well. Cesar isn't using "dog body language" even half the time, he's just using brute force. A dog can learn to read and react to our body language 10 times better than a human can immitate a dog. That needs to be taken advantage of.

Finally I'll mention that many aggressions are actually learned. Take food aggression for instance. Gaurding food is a natural behavior. Now the majority of us train our dogs to allow us to take their food or mess with them while they're eating without even realizing it. It's called invisible training. When that training doesn't occur, thats when the dog can start to defend it's food. So a dog growls because a human comes near it's food. The human backs off out of fear of being bitten. BINGO. The dog has just been rewarded for growling and protecting it's food. Thus, it's a learned behavior. Same goes for dogs who are posessive of toys and furnature and people as well. Dogs who rush doors and bolt out, that's also a learned behavior. It's a game of tag to them. People who have their dogs under control have reversed it and taught them that waiting before being let out is a game and much funner than rushing the door and bolting out.

It's all in training and conditioning. You don't need to use force at all to get a well behaved dog.

Finally, the last thing I'll touch on for now is how he deals with dogs who want to chase chickens or cats, or who terrorize the family bird. It's called PREY DRIVE. All dogs have it, although it's engraved in certain breeds more than others. It's not dominance, the dog does not see the animal it's chasing as it's belonging or posession. Thats utterly ridiculous. You don't need to force the dog to lay down and then tease the dog with the animal to get it to stop.

Which brings me to another thing I dislike (sorry, I lied, that wasn't the last one). He basically sets a dog up for failure, like when he puts the rabbit the dog chases on top of the dog and in it's face, or when he plays with the skateboard in front of the bulldog who attacks skateboards. Thats not a good method of training. If your teaching a child how to do math, do you give them the hardest problem in the book and then smack them for not being able to do it or not doing it right? I don't think so. Well thats the equivalent of what he does to the dogs.

You should set your dog up for sucess, not failure.

And last but not least (I promise), you don't know what goes on between the scenes and between shows. I know for a fact that not every dog will respond to his training methods. I used to be a fan of his and adored his methods and used them to teach others. I was also a clicker trainer. I started to encounter dogs who didn't respond to his methods. It made them worse, it didn't work. Thats when I turned around. The first couple dogs I was stunned and didn't know what to do. I ended up swallowing my pride and giving the money back to the owners and apologizing for not being able to help. Then I got creative and I used my brain and found ways to use the clicker and positive reinforcement to cure everything from aggressions to fears to the dog who chases the family cat. I've been positive reinforcement since. And bear in mind that I never had to use any of Cesar's methods on my own dogs because I conditioned them, trained them and socialized them properly in the first place without knowing it.

So trust me on this one, you only see the cases that he is able to help. It is not possible for him to have helped every dog he's encountered with those methods except 2 or 3.

I find it a little ironic that when a person is out of control and violent and another person restrains them, or a police officer body slams the out of control person to the ground and pins them...we dont' think twice about this sort of control. I must ask, why is it then when an out of control dog that is dangerous and snapping is held down and restrained, that this is considered cruel??? Cesar also doesn't use the choke collar alone, he wraps the leash around the dogs neck and uses that...similar to his Illusion collar. He also doesnt intentionally hang the dogs either, he waits them out, until they stop going absolutely ballistic...which, thank God for everyone's sake that the dog is on a leash...I would hate to see if the dog was that out of control running loose.

Oski · Feb 5, 2007

jason_els said:

That would be me....

I'm appalled by the people who post on this and other dog forums who have no idea what they're getting into or how to handle the human-dog relationship. The myth that it, "calms" a bitch to breed her once? People believe this drivel! On another forum someone's dog appears to have gone blind but she won't take it to the vet because the dog won't let her because the dog knows where it's going?!?! I'm shocked, SHOCKED to find gambl... er ignorance on such a grand scale and these examples are just from today's random readings. Tell them to a read a book? Many of them can't write a properly constructed sentence or even spell the words within it, don't have the time to read, or believe they don't have enough money to buy one. But a TV show, that's something else entirely... THAT they will watch and, one may hope, learn from.

yeah and these people are actually a little more educated than many many people out there with dogs...simply for the fact that they are part of this site.....that is pretty scary to think of all the others out there that don't have a clue.

krisykris · Feb 5, 2007

While I don't agree with everything that Cesar does, I think that his philosophy on being in the moment and working with a dog in that mindset is a huge strength. I also thinks he more or less gives people the CONFIDENCE to believe they can impact change which is what helps his methods to be effective.

Groch · Feb 5, 2007

IliamnasQuest said:

IliamnasQuest-

You are right I think on force, my choice of word's was bad.

I think he does use force in terms of physical restraint, forcefully holding dogs down who are out of control. I do not believe that dog trainer who have been confronted with aggressive violent dogs would say you should never use force to restrain them from physically hurting you or others. If a dog physically attacks and tries to bite you then force may be necessary to make that stop.

You CAN argue that you should never put yourself in the position to be bit...but if you are to stick consistently to that stance then you will end up euthanizing a lot of red zone dogs.

I would like to hear from animal behaviorists who specialize in successfully rehabilitating highly dog aggressive or human aggressive dogs on how this can be done quickly and effectively without using some force.

Caesar is not training dogs to sit, stay, or fetch. There is a difference. I have not seen him choke dogs or purposely cause them pain.

Groch · Feb 5, 2007

Doberluv said:

Doberluv, I think you are right on this point....and agree on much of what you said, particularly in the theories he uses for the reasons his methods work on aggressive or fearful dogs.

He is uneducated, but that is different from ignorant. My guess is that he developed training techniques that worked for him and then made up the theories as to why they work. (ie, if you are walking a large pack of dogs on leashes it is best if they are not in front of you. Dogs that insist on being in front of you are being dominant.)

On the other hand it is not scientifically sound to reject the methods he uses simply because you do not respect his education or his theories as to why they work. The linoleum dog you reference was visited by the show two weeks later, and then again a year later. The owner was thrilled at the change. In the year-later episode the dog walked with Caesar happily through the formerly scary shiny floored building. It did not seem psychologically damaged or fearful of Caesar in any way.

My dad was a physician, very old school. You should have heard him rant on against chiropractors....I can imagine what he would have said against people who use natural/herbal remedies. Yet today most enlightened medical professionals recognize that many natural traditional remedies do work and that chiropractors and acupuncturists can greatly benefit patients even if they disagree as to how and why their methods work.

Your point that Caesar has a limited vocabulary of "cures" is a good one, but he also has a limited selection of "patients". He works with aggressive or highly unbalenced dogs. I think your criticism is undercut by your last sentence. "Clicker Training" is not I think any more a cure all than "calm assertive energy" is.

Anyway, I always look forward to reading your posts and do think you have a ton more experience and knowledge on all this than I have.

Pomp · Feb 5, 2007

What I find odd about Cesar is that he seldom shows or allows time for affection.

Also, what about fun? Is it not ok for a dog to track while he's on a leash? I have two beagles. They are bred to track. Are they saying, "F*** you, Dad" if they do this, or are they just being beagles?

Groch · Feb 5, 2007

Pomp said:

Caesar frequently show affection to both his dogs and the dogs he is training when they are in a calm and balenced state. He does not show affection to dogs while they are fearful, out of control excited, or aggressive.

I do think that Caesar feels that the majority of owners of out of control and unbalanced dogs overly pamper them. They believe aggression can be cured through affection alone. I think he generated this theory through visiting hundreds of out of control dogs in Southern California. Perhaps other areas of the country are different.

Once again, the owners who call Caesar often do so because they cannot walk their dogs regularly because they are NEVER in control. He tells them that the walk time of these dogs needs to be divided into 2 parts. The first part is under control, basically "heeling" mode. The second part, the reward, is letting them track.

If your dog, beagle or otherwise refuses to remain under control on a leash then they are either saying "F*** you, or have never been trained.

I live in a metropolitan area and it is easy to judge which of the owners of tracking breeds understand this concept and which ones do not.

tessa_s212 · Feb 5, 2007

Groch said:

I don't even have to watch his show regularly, and I have seen him do this.

Jynx · Feb 5, 2007

I do agree, with the shows I've seen, I really haven't seen many (if any) "happy" dogs before or after a session with Cesaer.

Again, tho, (and again not defending what he does),,this guy seems to be these dogs / owners last resort..So is dead better for these dogs??

I really would like to see a show that promotes positive methods and see them take on dogs like these so atleast the "public" may get a broader view.

Diane

Groch · Feb 5, 2007

Jynx said:

I absolutely agree Diane. I think that there are far more untrained dogs than their are extremely aggressive and fearful dogs. I think that this kind of show could get a huge audience.

How about a show that focused on real life stories of dogs and cats that are rescued from shelters and how they fit into their new homes.

The pet cops shows on Animal Planet focus on the abuse - rescuing animals from dire circumstances. I would love to see a show that focuses instead on the animals once they get there....how they are physically and emotionally made well, trained, and rehabilitated into new homes.

A show that covered the joy and sense of purpose that adopting these animals brings to a family could do much to solve many of our most severe dog and cat problems.

BostonBanker · Feb 5, 2007

What about teaching the dog a "wait" command? My dog goes almost everywhere with me, so when I start out a door, she's right there. A simple, "wait" (taught originally away from the temptation of a door, with positive reinforcement), and she stops.

Restraint and physical correction are two different things. You can restrain a dog by tying it to a tree. The tree doesn't give collar corrections or pin the dog to the ground, but the dog is restrained from getting to you. Active resistance (pulling, yanking, jerking) and passive resistance (you don't move, the dog just can't advance) are two different things in my book. Although I admit to not being a professional trainer, that's how I see the difference.

As I've said before, I do enjoy reading these threads. I often see points made that I think a lot of people, including myself, need to hear.

Laurelin · Feb 5, 2007

After all these CM threads I wonder if I'm the only dog person who never has watched his show....?

Doberluv · Feb 5, 2007

BB...you've made some excellent points. And too, there is a differnece between managing an emergency situation with whatever means you must to ensure safety and training and dog with more intelligent methods at other times.

My son's dog who came to live with me, along with my son, is improving by leaps and bounds. When she was first here, she was what some would label as "dominant." She was PUSHY. She would rush to get out the door, jamming her body in front of whoever was trying to get to the door. She also was pushy about getting her food and aggressive to the other dogs when treats were being handed out or food was being prepared. She was balistically vicious at the mere sight of a pair of nail clippers in one's hand.

Now she sits about 6 ft. back from the door and waits until released to go outside. She sits and waits for a moment until I set the food bowl down. She can sit right along side the other dogs when it's treat time and wait politely until it's her turn without so much as looking at the dog next to her who is receiving his/her treat. She comes when called and is an over all lovely dog. Oh, and she sits and willingly gives me each paw to clip her nails and/or use the electric Dremel on them without fear or trepidation. She earns high value treats after each paw, at this point and shows no uneasiness whatsoever.

I used all motivation, reward, counter conditioning, desensatizing setting her up to succeed in an environment where she had a chance to choose what paid off, gradual introduction to new ways, no force, no intimidating body language, pokes, or yanks. I didn't even use a leash or collar to clip her nails. It was her choice all the way. At first, if she didn't want to stick around for the second nail, she could walk away to the couch. If she decided she's like to try again for a spoonful of vanilla ice cream, she could come back to me and try again. Guess what? She did. No worries about gettin bitten. I didn't push her into a defensive situation.

This is not a dominant dog. This was an untrained dog. She simply didn't know any better. She is no longer extremely pushy. But she is exuberant and happy, not submissive or supressed. She is obedient and polite, but she doesn't look dejected. People familiar with dogs can see the vast difference in CM's force and a positive method trainer's engagement of the dog as a participant in his education. Big, huge difference.

Cesar gets bitten way more than any good trainer does. I saw him get bitten 3 times forcing a fearful Golden Retriever down on it's side to clip his nails. He did it in 10 mintues. I did it in 3-4 days. Big deal. I have a dog who is happy to get her nails done. Those people have a dog who is still terrified. Nothing is changed except that he's now not only terrified of the clipping, but of a human looming over him.

Good trainers recognize body language, facial expressions, situations and contexts in which the probability of a dog biting is high. And rather than forcing the dog into such a position, they have ways to avoid the whole nasty mess. They use more than one tool in the whole warehouse.

mamasobuco · Feb 5, 2007

Doberluv said:

I've never seen either of these things. As a matter of fact I saw him run with the dog that was afraid of the slippery floor in order fool him into going on it. At first he tried to get him to go on it by pulling him (much like I've had to push my dogs to go out in the below zero cold to go potty) but I don't think he was coming close to abusing him. I think you're exagerating a little.

I see nothing wrong with the pack leader or alpha mentality. I have four dogs and they see me as the alpha and if they didn't they would run my house.

tempura tantrum · Feb 5, 2007

The problem is that Cesar sees EVERY situation as relating to an "alpha mentality." To him it's a "you versus the dog," situation, EVERY single time. If the dog is pulling on a leash, it's because the dog "doesn't respect you." If the dog jumps on people instead of sitting, the dog "doesn't respect you."

The show never bothers to point out the fact that a very LARGE number of the people he visits that have "red zone" problem dogs, are nothing of the sort- the dogs are simply untrained. It's not a manner of dominance in these cases, it's a manner of simply TEACHING the dog what you want. You see people with golden retrievers totally perplexed because their dogs pull, bark too much, destroy the house, yadda, yadda. But then it's very clear just by watching the show that these owners ASSUMED that getting a golden retriever was a safeguard against having to do any work. And then they're surprised when the dog "acts out." The dog isn't acting out. It's not "asserting itself." It simply was NEVER told (at least on any CONSISTENT level), what was considered appropriate behavior, and what was considered inappropriate.

It doesn't take a braintrust to realize that THAT is not a case of dominance versus submission, but a case of "lazy owner expects robo-dog." But Cesar HAS to frame it in a "dominance" viewpoint, because that's what he knows.

I'm not saying that dominance issues don't play a part in SOME dogs misbehavior- what I am saying is that they DON'T play a part in MOST of them. Indeed, in many of the cases on his own show, it's clear that it isn't a case of dominance, so much as the people spending negligble time training their dog. Anyone watching his show (with a limited education in canine behavior), would absolutely get the opposite idea. Then you've got people all over the place alpha rolling dogs that have NO CLUE why it just happened, and end up biting out of FEAR and complete confusion.

Jynx · Feb 5, 2007

I think alot of owners now a days think dogs train themselves and when they don't they want a "quick fix",,they want IMMEDIATE results,

Groch, I watch alot of animal cops, and that's a good idea,,you see these horribly abused/neglected dogs that end up in good homes and they all seem to be pretty darn happy to be there,,it would be nice to watch a show geared towards the rehabilitating/training of them.

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