Customer Reviews

Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan - Stories from Cesar's Way

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Cesar's approach of using calm assertiveness is gentle and effective. If you are using pain or fear to force your dog to behave how you want, then you are doing it wrong. He uses no tension on the leash unless doing a quick touch or leash movement to redirect the dog's focus - not at all to bring pain. He meets the dogs on their level and helps to 'train' humans on dog psychology, correcting the idea that all dogs are little humans. They aren't, and approaching them using dog psychology works, gently and effectively. Our dog is a lucky recipient of this training method, and he is not only happier, but healthier from the new routine Cesar has outlined for us in this video and in his show on National Geographic Channel - The Dog Whisperer.

Let me start by saying that since reading Cesar's book and watching his DVDs, I've changed the way I interact with my two high energy dogs and we are all much happier and much healthier thanks to the rollerblade sessions and rules and limitations I have implimented. He doesn't claim to be a genious who came up with some wonderful idea, he is simply translating dog psychology into words we can understand as humans.
Some will say Cesar uses fear and pain in his methods. These are the ones who have never read his book and have never made an effort to understand his methods. If they had made an effort to understand, they would know that he uses energy (posture, state of mind, eye contact etc.) to help dogs understand that he is in charge and that they are to follow his lead and they don't have to worry about decision making in a strange human world. Simple as that...no pain, no fear. He uses physical contact only when absolutly necessary and never to the point of injury. A dog is probably much more likely to hurt itself by pulling on its leash ahead of its owner than by the quick corrections Cesar makes. I've never heard a dog under Cesar's control yelp in pain and my dogs have never communicated pain or fear.
It is true that the view of a strict hierarchy in wolf packs has been dismissed; however, there is still leadership in packs. It's not a democracy. They don't vote on where to go or what to hunt. The strongest and most assertive wolves make the call. ALL CESAR IS TRYING TO GET ACROSS IS THAT WE, AS HUMANS IN A HUMAN WORLD, MUST CONVEY, THROUGH ENERGY, THAT WE WILL MAKE THE CALLS.
Everyone is entitled to choose their own way of teaching their dogs, but putting down another point of view is childish and a sign of ignorance. For those of you who think Cesar's technique should never be used in any situation, I invite you to come on over and I'll hand you a pitbull trained to fight and you can click at that dog with your little clickers and hollar commands 'till your heart's content. I'll have an ambulance standing by.

What talent this man has. I have watched these videos over and over.

I do not have a dog nor want one, but I have been sent Cesar's videos here in France and I feel that the fellow is amazing. Not only does he love and have a deep respect and way with dogs, he also has an uncanny ability to help people to be the best they can be. Watch how he observes the owners, empowers them to "act as if" they were the pack leader and you can see the spring in their step as they realize how easy and rewarding it is to be in tune with nature and themselves. He has a true calling as a "social" worker not only in his service to dogs but to all of us. Bravo Cesar.

Admittedly, I didn't think that I needed the Dog Whisperer. I only started watching the show because my niece wanted me to watch it with her. Anyway, our family dog is a 9 year old pug who would get really excited at the worst possible times. He would wake up our baby by barking at the door or for food. He also would run under our feet when we would go into the kitchen or try to feed him. When he was a puppy, my husband accidentally knocked him down some stairs because the dog ran under his feet.

Since I've watched Cesar's show, I've understand that our reactions only makes our dog more excited. The louder we become, the more excited and wild he becomes. Now, instead of thinking that our dog is misbehaving and not listening to me, I am now taking a calmer approach and just waiting for the dog to calm down before feeding him or rewarding him with a treat.

I have also been using some of the dominant behavior techniques that Cesar describes. For example, when our dog is too excited, I ask him to sit down and if he doesn't listen, I walk towards him slowly and calmly and he calms down too. Our dog is still a work in progress - but he is a testament of Cesar's methods.

Our dog has been excitable all of his life and now he is becoming "calm and submissive" - I think he is much happier too because he is older and has arthritis -- it is much easier on him being calmer. I think he feels more secure in his position in our household as well. He doesn't get negative attention and he is rewarded for his calm behavior.

I disagree with the reviewers who say that Cesar uses harsh methods of discipline. He does firmly touch them (kind of like a poke) but that's about it. Also, if those people have watched his show, many of the dogs that he works with don't have a peaceful home life. Most of the owners have tried obedience training and many of the dogs are aggressive and dangerous. Many of the owners are at the end of their rope and Cesar has saved countless dogs from losing their homes and/or lives.

Cesar has made a positive impact on many dogs including our old little pug dog.

When i read these lying reviewers that accuse Cesar of being mean to dogs, scaring dogs, mistreating dogs all I can think is, "hmmmm their crappy dog training book isn't selling, they're jealouse and they used their friend's amazon id to slam the greatest gift God ever gave to Dogs."

There are monsters in the world. Some are big monsters, who start wars for profit. There are little monsters who steal candy from children. Then there are the medium sized monsters who out of jealousy cause people who need Cesar's help to turn away at the sight of a monster's lying review.

I doubt if God sends everyone to hell for lying, but this kind of lie, that does this kind of damage, preventing dogs and their owners from getting help they truly need - oh yeah, you betcha they're gonna burn.

Be real, people! This guy supposedly takes a 95 pound pit-bull with a human leg in his mouth and in 5 or 6 minutes has him obeying him like a trained chihuahua! PULLL-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE! I gave up on this show after the 2nd season, because he's just too unbelievable to be real!
And how humane is it to keep 57 dogs in fenced-in compound in the middle of an asphalt parking lot? If he could really do what it shows on TV, he'd be jetting around the world in a personalized 747, taking near insane attack dogs and in a few MINUTES has them cowering before him like Hello Puppy! The Wizard of Oz is more believable!!!

Cesar Milan, the so-called 'dog whisperer', bases his training methods on a dog behavior model that is so out of date as to be archaic - from the dinosaur age. He teaches that dogs base all their behavior on their pack status, and that you need to use painful 'corrections' to convince them that you are Alpha. This idea hasn't the slightest shred of evidence going for it.

Yes, dogs do have dominance roles, but that hasn't the slightest thing to do with problem behaviors. Dogs do 'bad' doggy behaviors because they work. Dog guards his food bowl? Dog wants to keep food and knows that growling keeps you away. Dog pulls on the leash? Dog wants to get somewhere faster and knows that pulling speeds things up. The dog doesn't care whether or not you're alpha; he only cares that what he's doing works to get him what he wants.

Technically, Cesar's methods work. But they use force, fear, and pain to teach the dog, when you can teach the same things faster with the proper positive motivation and non-forceful techniques. I have three hyper, active, highly driven Border Collies, and they're all very obedient and mannerly. They don't haul me around the leash, nor do they leap at guests, nor do they ignore me when I tell them something. And I don't need to be 'Alpha' to get them that way; neither does anyone else.

I strongly suggest that you don't buy this item. Good books to start with are Karen Pryor's 'Getting Started: Clicker Training for Dogs', Melissa Alexander's 'Click for Joy!' (also with a great problem solving section), and Jean Donaldson's 'The Culture Clash'. You can easily have a happy, obedient, well behaved dog without causing him fear and pain.