The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan had a
tremendous viewership while on the air, reaching
11 million US viewers every week.
Many celebrities contacted Cesar to work with
their dogs, and Millan even became caretaker
of Daddy, the American Pit Bull Terrier belonging
to the rapper Redman.
Daddy's temperament was one of Millan's key
tools for convincing the public that all dogs
were capable of impeccable behavior.
Of course, that isn't true.
Despite the show's popularity, here are some
reasons you should never listen to the Dog
Whisperer.
Nobody can do what Cesar can do
Cesar, by his own admission, has a natural
way with dogs, and has since he was a kid,
when he was bullied because dogs on his grandfather's
farm would follow him everywhere.
The children would call him "el perrero,"
or "the dirty dog boy," which somehow inspired
him to work hard to become the best dog trainer
ever.
Many of his critics admit that he has a particular
talent for communicating with dogs, but Millan
received no formal training.
The Bergin University of Canine Studies still
actually awarded Millan with an honorary master's
degree, much to the dismay of Marc Bekoff,
Ph.D., who actually resigned from the university
upon learning this news.
Some students asked for their money back,
and many of the school's faculty members spoke
out against the degree.
Incidentally, the only country that requires
someone to pass an exam before becoming a
dog trainer is Germany.
To prove himself to the public, Millan took
the exam… and failed.
That's not to say that Cesar isn't good with
dogs.
He totally is.
His methods just aren't the traditional, scientifically
accepted ways of changing dog behavior.
Don’t try this at home
Want to whisper like Cesar?
Too bad.
Apparently, he’s the only person who can
safely use his own methods.
At least, that's what the network says, since
they inserted a disclaimer at the start of
every episode, as well as during episodes.
So, unless you can actually get Cesar out
to your house to work with your dogs, don't
even bother, as his methods are too dangerous
to attempt yourself.
Millan's show isn’t instructional.
On a purely legal level, it can’t be.
It’s just reality TV.
After all, the network deals with reality
TV stunts the same way, and you don’t take
public safety tips from Alaska State Troopers.
In other words, these tips are from the pros.
Don't try this at home, because your reality
is not theirs.
His methods could be faulty
The foundation of the Dog Whisperer's training
philosophy is based on the idea that, in order
to adjust your dog's behavior, you have to
understand "pack" mentality.
According to Cesar, all dogs are descended
from wolves, and wolves exist in packs with
"alphas."
In order to exert positive dominance over
your dog, you have to be the "pack leader,"
or "alpha."
The thing is...that's not all true.
Famous wolf researcher David Mech studied
wolves in the wild and argues that they don't
behave at all like wolves in captivity, where
alpha behavior was initially observed.
In Mech's research, wild wolves actually have
a family structure, rather than an alpha-led
structure.
There quite simply is no alpha.
"Ay-yai-yai-yai-yai!"
Cesar might counter that dogs who live in
homes with other dogs adopt a captive wolf's
alpha mentality, and he might actually be
right.
However, not all dogs are part of multi-animal
households.
Plus, as certified consultant Pat Miller points
out, even if the animal is susceptible to
a pack mentality, it doesn't think you're
a dog, so you aren't exactly eligible to be
pack leader.
You're just the giver of belly rubs.
"Rub my belly.
Seriously.
Rub it."
Vets don’t like him either
Before Dog Whisperer even aired, animal behaviorist
and board certified graduate of the American
College of Veterinary Behaviorists, Andrew
Luescher, had quite a bit of criticism of
Millan's techniques, even going so far as
to call them "cruel."
He explains that the two major techniques
used on the show are positive punishment and
flooding.
An example of positive punishment is tapping
a dog's leg sharply when they exhibit a certain
behavior.
Flooding is when a dog is exposed to a negative
situation and restricted from leaving the
situation until they fail to react.
According to Luescher, positive punishment
could be flat-out abuse in the wrong hands.
Flooding can cause major anxiety.
Luescher likens it to locking an arachnophobe
in a dark closet filled with spiders—basically
my worst nightmare.
"Ahh, I'm gonna kill every one of ya."
That might cure someone like Rambo, but it
would send the average person into therapy
at the very least.
Do you really want to do that to your dog?
Luescher goes on to say that that, if the
show aired, it would be an embarrassment for
National Geographic.
He encouraged the network, in fact, to "pull
the plug."
They didn't listen.
Even the American Humane Association calls
Millan’s tactics "inhumane, outdated, and
improper," and the Association's entire aim
is to help make pet owners more responsible
and humane.
They went as far as to demand the show be
taken off the air, and they got eventually
their wish — six years later.
He was under investigation for animal cruelty
Remember how Millan isn't actually a trained
professional?
There was one time when he took a dog that
was trained to kill pigs, and tried to make
it NOT kill pigs.
Well, he had a bit too much faith in his own
abilities.
Instead of reintroducing the dog to pigs slowly,
or maybe dogs dressed up as pigs, or even
just turning the dog off of bacon...
"Oh boy, oh boy, it's BACON!"
...Millan just let the dog run wild with a
slab of juicy, LIVING pork dancing around.
Luckily, his training worked perfectly and…
(squealing)
Wait, no, nope.
Of course it didn't work.
The dog attacked a pig, nipping off part of
an ear, and repeatedly charged the rest of
the pigs until the dog could be subdued.
Millan’s producers decided to show the incident,
and unsurprisingly, he was investigated for
animal cruelty because, despite pigs being
delicious, you can't just let a dog attempt
to eat a live one.
He was eventually cleared of wrongdoing, and
the owner of the pigs and the dog came to
his defense.
"So during filming of Simon's rehabilitation,
he did nip the ear of a large farm pig, and
the ear began to bleed.
However, the farm pig was not seriously injured.
And within an hour of the incident, Simon
and the pig were walking calmly and peacefully
together."
Good to know that pigs don’t hold grudges.
"Sit, sit, sit!"
His show is deceptively edited
Because it’s reality TV, the training of
most of the dogs you see is heavily edited.
So, what's the big deal?
The way the show is edited makes it seem like
Cesar is just dominating the dog non-stop,
which is incredibly bad for those at home
who think constant smacking and yanking is
how they should treat their poor pooch.
You know how, in a training montage, you see
dozens of different locations, spread across
a long range of time, depicting the training
happening over the course of at least dozens
of days?
"We're gonna need a montage!
Montage!
Oh it takes a montage.
Montage!"
That's because if you tried to cram all of
that training into one day, it not only wouldn't
work, it'd be really bad for you.
Same thing here — the "training" takes place
over a much longer period of time, which is
not apparent in a TV-friendly format.
You and your dog can get hurt
A woman sued Cesar because she said a pitbull,
released too early from Cesar's "Dog Psychology
Center," attacked her.
She suffered "disfiguring" wounds and now
can't feel anything in her left hand.
Cesar's center director released a statement
saying that Cesar wasn't the one who trained
the dog, and that the owner took the dog out
of the center before he was ready.
The dog, who was found to be a danger to the
public a year before, ended up back in the
center in quarantine, so apparently, Cesar
got another go at him.
There are other stories of dogs developing
terrible separation anxiety and a noise and
storm phobias that didn't exist before being
left at Cesar’s center as well, so ultimately,
you’re better off leaving your beloved pooch
with this lady than this guy.
"Well, if we make this coat, it'd be as if
I were wearing your dog."
(laughs)
"Woof woof!"
Err, well...maybe not.
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