‘Dog Whisperer’ methods dangerous

By Tom Kandt

“He’s cute.” “He’s sexy.” “He’s abusive.” “He’s a one-man wrecking ball.”

Whether they agree with his methods or not, people have strong opinions about Cesar Milan. It wasn’t until recently that I was able to form mine about the controversial “dog whisperer.”

I had never seen an episode of his show because our cable menu does not include the National Geographic Channel. Unable to answer increasing questions about his methods, I recently purchased his whole second season of shows on DVD.

I thought the beginning was cool. Cesar comes strutting out of the mist calm and self-assured, followed by his furry pack of submissive followers. The scene is set for the mystical wonder worker to perform his magic.

What is his magic? He claims to change a dog’s energy from dominant to calm submission by being a calm yet assertive leader.

Being a calm and assertive leader is good. I agree with that as well as some other things he preaches and practices. I’m not as harsh on him as some of my fellow rewards-based training colleagues, but I do have some strong criticisms.
Our dogs do need mental stimulation and plenty of daily exercise. American canines are generally under-stimulated and do sometimes suffer from an intense humanization that robs them of their natures. He’s right about that. Most of us can’t run with the pack four hours a day or roller blade behind a galloping canine, but we can do better than we are.

He’s also right on about focusing on the owners as well as the dogs. Owners project their own stuff onto their pets and many canine behavior problems start with humans in the pack. He has an uncanny knack for quickly identifying the owner quirks that poison their dog-human relationships. His people skills may be better than his dog skills.

Where we part company is his take on dominance. I find it both simplistic and dangerous. He diagnoses nearly every behavior problem on the show as the result of the dog being dominant to the human, or the human not being dominant to the dog. Most canine behavior problems are not a result of “dominance.” Canine behavior is fluid and contextual, not black or white. Behavior problems have many causes, and long term success in modifying problems requires a studied approach that factors cause and what the dog is getting from the behavior.

His goal is to have the dogs be “calm and submissive.” Much of the end product I saw was submissive but not calm. The body language of some dogs he worked on showed stress and fear, a “shut down” with tails tucked between legs and ears back. Successful long-term behavior modification should generally produce a dog happy and relaxed.

He also “floods” the dogs by introducing the stimulus that causes the behavior problem in an immediate and intense way. This can backfire and cause the behavior to worsen. In one episode the terrified dog actually bites a member of the camera crew. A more humane approach is to introduce the stimulus at lower levels with less intensity so the dog is conditioned over time.

Cesar’s show presents what looks like dramatic results in a few minutes or days at most. But he has the advantage of having mistakes and problems edited out by National Geographic. It is in the show’s best interest to have him appear always in control and making the right decisions. That is simply not the reality of working with problem dogs.

I like Cesar. He seems very people friendly and has a sense of humor. We could probably sit down with some brews and have a nice time discussing dogs. We would also argue. I’m certain he would not convince me to abandon rewards-based training and scientifically proven learning theory to modify behavior problems.

Like most celebrities, his star will fade. What positive things he leaves for canine behavior modification only time will show. His popularity brought attention to responsible dog ownership, whether you agree with him or not. For that I can thank him.

Tom Kandt is a graduate of the San Francisco SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers and a volunteer at the Lewis & Clark Humane Society. E-mail Tom here

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