I agree I think he's a genius, but I would never try to imitate him, as he has a greater understanding than I will ever have or I would be in his shoe's xxzbxx

I have always had a natural affinity with dogs, and them with me, but this is a far cry from what Cesar has. The man is a genius, I'll say it yet again, anyone who can stand in the midst of a pack of dogs, and not just any old dogs, pits, german shepherds, rottweilers, all mixed up with smaller breeds, and start chucking tasty bits of chicken to them in turn, without a mass punchup breaking out, is (in CM's own words) AWESOME!

I am still left with one complaint about him though ... I do agree that he doesn't IMO allow the dogs he is rehabilitating to be dogs. He insists when they are walking on the lead that they look forward, no sniffing to the left or the right, or stopping for a quick pee. An alpha male would never, again IMO, to be able to do this, and it would be cruel to make him. When I used to work Hal on his lead, I accepted that I would have to stop regularly for him to mark his territory.

But apart from this rigidity, I'm with him all the way.

I take it CM did`nt think to try paw wax to help the Lab feel more confident on a slippery floor then - maybe too simple a `cure` and would`nt have looked good on tv to show him helping a dog with something which others devised - no `mystique` in using paw wax - too much then for his bullying bluster filled ego to cope with I suppose

Erm no the reason they don't like him is because he demotivates dogs and I personally want the whole bag of energy that is a border collie not an automaton. And in fact he doesn't teach anything as apparently he is not a trainer but a "behaviour expert" and he rehabilitates "unbalanced" dogs As for spending months clicking at dogs ROFLMAO you clearly have no idea about clicker training and I have no idea what these "tricks" are that you mention unless of course you are referring to obedience training (as your reply was to mish) which I thought was just about teaching a dog acceptable behaviour

I think one of the better aspects of Cesar's rehabilitation of dogs (and training of the owners!) is that his techniques don't require you to have to remember to carry about "tools of the trade" - no clickers, no whistles, no treats - just your voice and calm assertive energy. Simple!

I've never heard of paw wax, but it sounds abominable to me. Why would anyone want to put an alien substance on their dogs' paws, which may or may not contain allergens, when some simple rehabilitation of the dog to show him that there is nothing to be frightened of will do the trick? In any case, the dog I saw the other night on the Dog Whisperer appeared to me to be more scared of his reflection in the shiny floor, than the slippery aspect. I wondered if this was what Cane the Dane had been scared of as well. It is most unnatural for a dog to be frightened of a slippery surface IMO, in the wild they would have to cope with snow and ice.

I am all for natural solutions, and Cesar pretty well always offers these.

Colliemad:

I have just read your long posting on the previous page again, and I have to say I think you are excessively harsh and misunderstanding of and about Cesar Millan. Your opinion of course, and one you are completely entitled to, but I can't keep quiet any longer !!

I think his method of rehabilitating a dog and training the owner is a very welcome and refreshing approach ... and it WORKS. I am sorry, I totally disagree with you that his canine pupils are terrified. Startled maybe, worried, or even fearful temporarily because here at last, possibly for the first time in their spoilt and pampered lives, is someone to whom they have got to listen. As spoiled and humanised as they are, they have not forgotten their own language, the Pack language, consisting of the rules, boundaries and limitations which are embedded in the genes of every canid. As luck would have it, they are very similar to the rules by which we, also pack animals, have to live and abide by. If we bound into a social gathering where we know no-one, rush around interrupting each group of people's conversations and generally act in a cocky and boisterous way, these people would take a very dim view of our actions ... although they probably wouldn't go so far as to fight us!

It is the same as with a lot of the spoilt and pampered pooches that we see on the Dog Whisperer. They have no idea how to behave in civilised doggy society, although the rules are all there, just below their humanised, anthropomorphised skin. Cesar re-educates (rehabilitates) them firmly but fairly to remind them that they are dogs, not extensions of their humans. To say he doesn't show affection or reward towards his pupils is ridiculous. On every show there are scenes of his smooching his own dogs, as well as other people's, and he always allows owners to praise their dogs when they have done well, but not before, and not if they haven't. What's wrong with that? It is certainly how I was brought up as a child. If I was naughty I was punished, if I was good it wasn't necessarily acknowledged constantly, because my parents expected me to be good and do what I was told without constant praise.

What is cruel? Let's analyse what he does:

Does he beat the dogs? No
Does he use any kind of tool on them, such as a rolled up newspaper or a water pistol? No
Does he shout at the dogs, lock them up, isolate them? No
Does he tie them up in the back yard? No
Does he starve them of food? No
Does he starve them of love and affection? No

What he does do first and foremost before anything is to tell the owners TO WALK THEIR DOG - however fat it is, however unsocialised it is. Before they do anything, they must exercise the dog, not only for its well-being but to put it into a calm and assertive state of mind. This is great, many dogs in America don't seem to be exercised nearly enough, but remain in the back yard all day.

Then, when the dog has lost most or all of his nervous, aggressive, or undisciplined bouncy energy, THEN Cesar starts on training the owners how to achieve the results they desire. It is virtually always the fault of the owner when a dog is unruly, disobedient, whatever the problem is. We are all more than familiar with Cesar's tsst-ing and finger prodding so I don't need to go into that, but it WORKS, and it works instantly, or at least it did with my dog, and his son, and my daughter's cat ... instantly, and I mean instantly.

Clicker training and other methods do work, great, but usually take months and months to achieve something that will take days or at the most weeks. If you have a particular problem, like, say, a dog aggressive towards other dogs, why would you want to spin out a training method over months, when you could achieve the same results in a week? Plus you always have to remember to have your clicker, your whistle, your bottle, your newspaper, whatever it is that trips your trigger with you? It beats me. I used to have to carry around bits of cooked liver in my pocket when I was using reward methods to try and teach Hal to come when he was called. Invariably some would get left behind in the pocket, and frankly, it was quite disgusting. The beauty of Cesar's methods is that you only need to carry a lead and your voice. Simple, like nature.

Do I sense a touch of the little green monster here Colliemad? !!

im sorry he uses that Illusion Collar,which is certainley a tool. & not a nice one at that.

Yes indeed. Looks absolutely fine to me. Certainly kinder than a choke chain, which doesn't work on dogs that pull.

So, no tools at all EXCEPT for the Illusion collar .... oh, and that doggy carrier thingey which you can put weights in to give your dog an extra workout.

Neither of these IMO are in any way cruel. And I am frequently accused of being too soft on my dogs. Yet I would happily use the Illusion collar and the doggy carrier thingey should I need to with my next dog.

Benson has a dog back-pack for when we go out into the woods and fields. I put his ball in it, his treats and a bottle of water. I'm not his slave...he can carry his own possessions. My Mum made me carry my school bag when I was a lad

Absolutely Hammer. And thank you for calling the dog carrier thingey by its correct name : the dog back-pack! I had a blonde moment and couldn't remember what it was called! A brilliant invention, and one my husky would have loved. Sadly he died before I could order one for him.