Cesar Milan is quite a controversial dog trainer these days - people seem to either love him or hate him.  You have to give the guy credit...he got to the US when he was only 21 years old, without knowing a word in English.

I am actually appreciative for much of what Cesar Millan has done for dogs and their owners. He has made people more aware of dogs and their needs (physically AND emotionally) and I think more people have come to dog trainers or sought out help with their dogs because of his show. While I sometimes disagree with his methodology, I am happy to see what he has done in terms of raising awareness and letting people know that there is hope for their dogs.  I agree with and appreciate the fact that he does stress that owners have to work with their dogs consistently for the rest of the dog’s life to avoid repetitions of the behaviour that is being (or has been) corrected.

I have found Cesar to be an excellent articulator of the role humans should play in a dog pack and I agree with him that humans must be the leader. I am a little skeptical of quick fixes, and sometimes on his show he actually has to keep a dog at his center for a few weeks. I would caution someone who is inexperienced in working with dogs against trying his techniques on aggressive dogs. And to be fair, I believe he does as well.

For sure...there is no one perfect training method, and there will always be failures, something he admits on his show and in his books. Some dogs cannot be helped because they are so damaged, and there may be other methods that work better for some problems. But I think that he does excellent work for helping people to figure out their part in why their dogs act the way they do.

If you think prong collars are cruel, then try walking a 180 lb Great Dane, who has no manners! 

I  think he edits out too much footage (probably can't be helped due to time constraints) and makes things too simple for the general public to put into use.   I disagree with him in his opinion that we we show too much affection to our dogs, or do it for our own benefit. I think that as long as the dog is being good, it's good to show affection but I agree that if you show affection or give any positive reward while a dog is doing something you don't like...then you're feeding that inappropriate behavior. It's like giving a two year old a cookie when they have a temper tantrum (in that way dogs and humans are a little alike!) He almost borders on saying we give our dogs too much affection, and that makes me uncomfortable (probably because I'm such a doggie cuddler).

I agree with many of his methods...not greeting my dogs until they have calmed down (rewarding calm behavior, not feeding excitement); asking them to sit before I put down the food dish (establishing myself as more of an authority figure), and walking them in a more disciplined fashion (burning off pent-up energy)  This man has an innate understanding of canine psychology and behavior. There is nothing violent about his methods at all - he is, in fact, rather soft-spoken, intuitive and sometimes even almost "spiritual", though always practical, using a slightly different approach, often focusing, and voicing, the HUMAN problems behind the unwanted dog behavior. This is where his genius lies. Most of it IS about training the human; the dogs tend to get right in line when we figure things out. One thing I really enjoy about his method is that he doesn't say very much when training a dog (no shouting the dog's name incessantly, as most dog owners are guilty of) - he uses simple body language, gentle leash corrections, and tons of consistency to get results.

Most people don't properly train their dog.  Everyone wants a dog that is well behaved ... until they realize the steps it takes to get there.  Anyhow, being a dog owner is easy. Being a good dog owner is hard.

Just decided to express my opnions to some degree ... since many reputable dog trainers/behaviorists are attacking this man and his methods.

As with anything else... apply what works for you and discard the rest.... and....

Thanks for listening...

I didn't realize anyone was attacking him. We love his show and use some of his methods. I do agree with you that the general public should not try his methods with "red zone" dogs. One thing that we don't agree with him on is this...He says that when you wake in the morning, the dog doesn't want affection. Giving affection first in the morning is for our benefit not the dogs. He has never woken up with Yaz. She claws at us until we scratch her belly. She doesn't want to go for a 30 minute walk as he says. Other than that we think he is great.

There are actually several things I disagree with him on... and dogs not needing affection in the mornings is one of them. Obviously, he has never been awakened by slobbery rat terrier kisses in the mornings! haha

Yes... many of his methods are being attacked as "outdated" and too "harsh"... he is often accused of using negative methods instead of positive methods... many trainers these days are using more operant training methods.

Still...overall... he's done a world of good.

An excellent post, as often is the case with you Nora (grin). I'd give my thoughts but I'd be echoing yours so I will mainly say ditto that. I do wish he'd work a bit more on positive operant training and stress even more with his correction methods the need to be careful not to correct in anger or to cause pain, esp with the smaller dogs who are much easier to harm. Not that he ever does, but as said here, others take his direction and run without always understanding it. But overall shows like Cesar's and a few other training shows now on Animal Planet are very good things for the pet world IMO.

Great thread and Nora - you articulated perfectly what I, too, think of Cesar.   I certainly give my dogs lots of affection....heck that's a big part of enjoying having them....and they don't seem to mind too much.  If I hug Mitzy (for example) when she would rather be down on the floor playing...she puts up with it in return for what I can provide for her as pack leader (food, toys, warm den, etc.)  I don't think she's too unhappy!

I

Therein lies the key.....

Dalmations are wonderful dogs.  Several people I know own them and do agility with them.  But ... they DO need to be trained because they do (generally speaking) have some personality quirks that... if not trained... can make them difficult to live with.  Your mom was smart... and you were lucky.... and Bopper sounds like one very special dog.

 So that's why my parents bought me a dalmatian puppy??  He was rather high strung but we managed him....he lived to be 7 or 8....had a horrible accident.  My grandmother slammed his tail in the sliding glass door (accidently) and the vet amputated it halfway down the tail.  It never healed because he kept hitting on things and spraying blood everywhere....they had to put him down.  Back then we didn't know about crates and I doubt it would have helped because he would have just hit the tail on the sides of the crate.

Oh Mary Beth thats so sad.

I didn't know some people were Cesar bashing. They're just jealous!

I too don't agree with every little thing he says. Sami wakes me up with kisses every morning and I wouldn't give that up for nothin'!! 

Cesar obvioulsy has a special connection with dogs. He seems like more of a behaviorist rather than a trainer. I just saw an episode where he referred the owners to a trainer because they wanted to teach the dog to stop/drop/roll (stay/down/rollover basically.)

One thing~I do have an issue with him walking his dogs off leash on the street and sidewalk. It's not safe! And some people will see that and think that it's okay to not have your dog on a leash and will copy him. I actually wrote him and explained my concerns. We'll see.

Mostly, I think he is a positve influence and that's a good thing!!!