What is your reason for opposing Cesar Milan's methods of dog training?
or why do you support him? I just witnessed the most amazing thing I think I have ever seen. And I have to admit, my mind has been forever changed. But I would like to hear the arguments for and against.
Answer:
I do not have a problem with Cesar Millan. Of course I have been watching his shows from the BEGINNING. Most people do not watch a show long enough and neither do they watch enough to form a good opinion.
People who do not like him will tell us he uses 'old, outdated' methods, he is cruel and his shows are edited to make everything fit. No not necessarily true.
I know I am going to get slammed but I use many of his training methods. They work.
ADD: Corgi girl is correct. He is not a dog trainer. He trains HUMANS and it is an ongoing process. The owners must continue to work with their dog every day. He has had failures. The humans. I would be curious to know what a professional dog trainer (Greekman, Curtis, Dutchman, Loki) think of the 'alpha roll'…….
First of all, he is billing himself as a "dog psychologist" when he has no formal training. (incidentally experts in this field call themselves "behaviorists" so use of the term "animal psychologist" is kind of a give-away that the person isn't an expert.)
Second, the methods he uses on dogs are often unnecessarily harsh and can cause emotional trauma to the dog. The "submissive" behavior you see on the show is often just the dog shutting down emotionally in the face of mental abuse. And you realize that the small part of the interaction you see between Cesar and the dog is not the whole story. Cesar didn't just go Psshht!" and the dog fell into line. There was some rough handling that went on off camera to subdue the dog.
Third, the results you see on the show are often not lasting. No expert, no matter how gifted, can take a dog with years of ingrained problems and "fix" it in a day. Once Cesar leaves many owners cannot duplicate his results.
In the end, I think what I object to most is that the show seems to project the idea that you can totally ignore your dog, mess it up, neglect its training but then call someone in to "fix" it in a day. There are no quick fixes. Training a dog takes months of consistent, patient, dedicated, hard work on your part and the dogs- and that's when there are no problems to deal with. You gotta be in it for the long haul.