SATURDAY WITH CESAR MILLAN (Not for real)

Saturday Natl Geo channel ran a whole day of nothing but Cesar Millan, the "Dog whisperer"--who in the past I have disliked. Not the man but his methods. I watched off and on most of the day, not having had the channel before so I had only read of him and read his book, not seen him. He is, it is true, very charismatic, and he has a nice sense of humor and an ego as big as all outdoors. But that's ok, he needs that ego to do what he does and do it well, and he does it well.

                         This is MY couch. Go sit in that chair over there.


And as I watched I began to get a feel for what happens with him. He understands intuitively that the dogs MUST BELIEVE that he means what he says. That when he body blocks them and puts out his hand, he really means it. And they understand the language not because he hisses at them, but because like any good trainer, he is absolutely, 100%, completely consistent.

And I also noticed something that I learned working for the Vet. When you are handling fractious dogs, or upset or excited dogs, you must FOCUS entirely on that dog and be aware of every move, every nuance of his behavior and body language. Let your concentration waver, and you get bitten. Millan rarely allows his attention to wander and when he does, he has trouble.

            "Come?" What does that mean? Come out here and get me.

He may be speaking into the camera, but his eyes are often on the dog, or sliding toward the dog every few seconds. It only take a moment for a frustrated or angry dog to detect that you have weakened. It's what they do. It is hardwired in them to notice minute changes in prey, or an enemy, or a rival, whichever one you happen to be at that moment.

So Millan combines total consistency with something that cannot be taught: timing.
My timing in dog training has a lag to it that is deadly. He is right on target probably because he is watching more carefully, or is much better at it. Every GOOD trainer has better timing than you do as far as rewards and corrections go. The dog must understand what behavior is being corrected and what the right behavior is. It doesn't help if you take one away and offer no substitute.
This I understand intellectually, but my mind has trouble getting the correction going fast enough. My big dogs are trained but sloppy.The Bassets continue to pretty much do their own thing and the few really really annoying things they do they continue to do because I do not correct them consistently. Conley is the worst, by far, constantly challenging me in sweet, Bassety, passive-aggressive ways for ownership of the house.

YOU! iN THE HOUSE! open this door right now. Want to see what I did to the screen? BWAAAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

I found myself kind of liking the guy. If he just didn't make some of the physical moves look so easy, as if anyone can do them. Despite the disclaimer about consulting a Pro and not doing what you see Cesar do, it is tempting to think that your aggressive, resource-guarding, dominant intact male  is going to respond to you throwing him on his side and holding him there, the way he would if an Alpha male with muscle tone did it.

           Check out that fang before you try an Alpha roll on your dog.