Cesar Milan

I have had an on/off admiration for Cesar Milan.

At first, when I saw his earlier shows several years ago I was in naive awe at what he was able to achieve.

Then, the doubt set in. Mutterings and rumours on the internet about using force, and what many considered out-dated methods of training. Then there was incident that led to a legal case and a settlement out of court (never a good sign).

Then I came back to the show, and watched it again and took a different view, not least in his attitude to rescue dogs, banned breeds and puppy farms.

I also have to think about the same people who criticise his methods as often being the same people who perform curiously simple short tests to define if a dog is aggressive, and therefore should live. This was demonstrated graphically in a recent BBC Panorama episode. Here a leading dog welfare organisation decided that because a dog pulled on a lead, and maybe growled (it was inaudible to me) it was dog-aggressive and because of this, and the pressing numbers in their care it could not be kept for rehoming, but destroyed instead. I was horrified.

Cesar Milan would not accept that. Then again the comparison is by default unfair, because Cesar does not have 3,000+ dogs to deal with every year, but his attitude is that no dog is beyond help, even if it means the owners may need to change.

So, is Cesar cruel? Is it cruel to use a choke chain on a strong dominant dog? Well he very rarely uses one. He has developed his own collar that is, from what I can see, a development of the choke principle, but in a slightly different way. More often, for dogs that pull and are intent on taking their owners wherever they please he uses a rope collar (choke principle still applies) and lifts it as high as it can go under the head of the dog. This does work, instantly in controlling the movement of the dog. I have tried it myself. But the trick is to know when to do it, and when to stop doing it. If the lead is held incorrectly the dog will still pull, and the position of the collar could cause considerable suffering even injury. That is why Cesar could cause problems for viewers who attempt these techniques without actually knowing what they're doing.

Cesar has used the body flip, roll and pin to dominate aggressive dogs. For this he has been criticised. Yet I did not see the criticism levied at the BBC when on its Dog Borstal Mick did exactly the same thing. I admire Mick, and I like his style and feel his use of the flip and pin was necessary to establish first dominance, then submission and finally trust in the dog. It worked.

Then there is the back-heel. In the legal case mentioned above it was insinuated that this may have been used to such a degree that the dog in question had bruising in the thigh area. From what I see, Cesar uses a tap of the heel, more a touch and certainly not a kick. I do not like this form of physical technique, but it can work. With my Bo, who can be dog aggressive to strangers the tap on the back leg instantly clicks him out of the prey instinct. However, I choose to avoid those contacts in the first place rather than stress/excite him to the point that I would have to issue some a 'touch'.

The other 'touch' is what he calls the bite or nip, and what I call the claw, as that is what the hand looks like. I can concerned that this technique is not sufficiently explained for ordinary owners to understand. It works part of the time for Cesar, but I think only in those nervous excitable cases where the 'touch' snaps the dog from the mentality of the problem. I have tried the 'claw' and find it marginally effective. For Dolly it has no effect, but she is more confident. I have not needed to use it on Bo. For the old boy Jasper it instantly snaps him out of any barking frenzy, but that I feel is more to do with his nervous disposition. Charlie, the smallest of my wayward pack has no effect.

Finally there is the 'ssssch' command. The sound works. It works for me, although I am not consistent with it, it seems to be a calm command to control the dog and obtain attention.

So while some of what Cesar does may not sit happily with our cosy little view of the dog world, he does not give up on dogs. He rescues many and abhors abuse and violence towards dogs. You will notice also how he instills in his clients the need to remain calm with their dogs, even in the most frustrating circumstances. For this reason, I do admire what he does and continue to watch his shows. He is trying to change the way people view dogs, instilling the need to exercise and reward, to obtain respect through calm confident leadership, by setting the necessary rules, boundaries and limitations, and by trying to get people to stop buying dogs from puppy farms and by extension pet shops.