Why does the DS dislike Cesar Milan's techniques so much?

Question

Why does the DS dislike Cesar Milan's techniques so much?

Answer 1

I wish the people that bash him over the head would go into more detail too. They tend to just say he's an actor and leave it at that.



There's some stuff I like about Millan and others I don't like. Some of the things I like is how he carries himself around dogs, and his philosophy on what a dog needs to live a healthy life (exercise, discipline, affection, in that order). One thing I don't agree with him on is the way he teaches dogs to heel, and how he thinks EVERYTHING is a dominance issue when sometimes it's just a training issue.



I really don't feel strongly about him either way, and I can't figure out why so many people do. He's not the most amazing guy, but he's talented, but at the same time, he's not the devil.



BTW, I careful about the blanket statements there about the dog section hating him. I don't think the majority of people here hate him. I think it just seems that way because when you don't like something, you are more apt to speak out about it. So the people that do like him are almost...and I hate to say this, but it's true.... AFRAID to admit it, Lol. I don't really care what people on here think of me so I'll say straight up that I do like him. Not everything, but that goes for ANY dog person I know of, really.



This question was asked just a few days ago. You might want to check this link out:

https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20100625111413AAddrAc&show=7#profile-info-RzcUIW4Taa



@Onyx, how do you a train a dog that doesn't have a strong prey drive, and thus, isn't toy motivated? I'm not attacking you, I'm just curious because it sounds like you never use any other form of motivation and I know that would never work for my dog cuz she couldn't care less about toys (which is one thing I wish I could change about her -_-)



ADD:

"When you look at what he does, for example his dominant bite, it appears that he is grabbing the dog by the neck and forcing the dog to the ground. In actuality he is using his hand to simulate the mouth of a dominant dog and the submissive dog is laying down on his/her own in a submissive posture."



That's not even remotely close to be true. You can clearly see that he pins dogs on the ground, in fact, he says what he's doing all the time.

Answer 2

I feel that any method or piece of equipment can be misused. I'm not a fan of TV trainers. I don't care if they are dog or horse trainers. They just leave to many steps out. TV producers like the drama and quick fixes so the whole process is not shown. A dog cannot be reliably trained in an hour no matter who the trainer is. I don't care if the name is Cesar Milan or Victoria Stillwell. I feel that the method should fit the dog and the owner. I don't feel that's Cesar's older style get it done method is any worse or better then Victoria's fill their face with treats and beg method. Both get results for the dogs and the owners.

Answer 3

To me he is just another Behaviorist/trainer. There are many on this site. Nothing special. I think we even have a few 'whisperers' on here. People who just seem to know the right thing to do with a problem. They relate to dogs far more than most all people do.



His "overly aggressiveness" may not be necessary for every dog but there are dog that are overly aggressive & you have to be more dominate than the animal you are working with. He may use these techniques on a dog that doesn't need that much domination & can break the dogs spirit. But some of his techniques are wonderful tools for dogs who need it.



You must always correct a dog according to his temperament. Touching a little Yorkies nose can stop him from biting but that little touch on the nose of a Rott just doesn't mean the same thing. With a Rott you can use two fingers & come down on the soft tissue just behind the nose. How hard depends on the temperament of the dog.



He is just another trainer with a high degree of Canine Behavior thrown in.



I wouldn't give him any stars.

Answer 4

Cesar is an idiot. I've seen him almost kill dogs, he has lawsuits against him after dogs became worse than when he was there originally. I still use a few of his techniques, but on a whole, I advice people to stay far away from him.

Answer 5

Find what motivates your dog. Some dogs do anything for food. Some dogs do anything for Toys. Some do anything for a good petting. Some do anything for only one type of food, like cheese, or hotdog. Some only have interest in training for 5 minutes at a time, and others can go for an hour. Figure out what your dog is willing to work for, and then work with her in sessions that are no longer than she can tolerate. How to train your dog properly https://tr.im/IpVEu



Sign up for a dog obedience training class. It will not train your dog. It will give you training on how you can train your dog. Most people understand the idea of training, but there is a right and a wrong way to do it, and there is good and bad technique. Timing and consistency is very important, and it helps to have feedback of someone watching you who can help you improve your technique to get more efficient results with your dog.



However, she may be somewhat anxious around other dogs, sort of like the shy kid on the playground. She will benefit from continuing what you are doing as far as asking her to sit before entering, but there are more things along those lines that will help her to calmly go in and out of the dog park. She may also benefit from going in short bursts, or only when fewer dogs are present, or avoiding times when other dogs that make her nervous are present. Maybe she just plays loud - my brother's dog is this way - or maybe she is a dogpark bully - sorry it is possible. But more likely she is just a little anxious around new dogs and she wants to play but just doesn't quite know how to do that and still feel comfortable. Don't be surprised if your dog does not actually like the dog park, and maybe she would get more enjoyment and less stress out of simply going for a good walk somewhere else.



A wagging tail does not mean that your dog is happy or even comfortable with the situation. It means your dog is emotionally aroused. This could be a happy arousal, or it could be a nervous arousal, or it could be an aggressive arousal. Go youtube it, there are plenty of videos of 'vicious' dogs who are throwing a very aggressive fit of barking and snarling while their tail is wagging vigorously. Even police dogs who are not let off the leash to chase down a suspect can be lunging and barking and snarling, and their tails are still going.

Answer 6

Basically, it has been shown that his techniques don't work for very long. A great example of him being too aggressive is where he's training this dog not to chase a cat. He puts a shock collar on the dog, and lets the cat get near the dog. He then shocks the dog if the dog looks at the cat, and causes the dog to start screaming. All that is doing is teaching the dog to fear the cat. Fear creates aggression. Aggression can be re-directed onto a human. Not good.

Answer 7

When you look at what he does, for example his dominant bite, it appears that he is grabbing the dog by the neck and forcing the dog to the ground. In actuality he is using his hand to simulate the mouth of a dominant dog and the submissive dog is laying down on his/her own in a submissive posture.



It's very easy to watch and misunderstand, and it's very easy to try to use his methods and do them incorrectly and assume that what he's doing is aggression because (again with the dominance bite) your dog doesn't lay down so you assume he must be forcing the dog down etc.



I think a lot of it is a gap in communication because unless you can do what he does in the way he does it and have the dogs react the way the dogs react to him it's hard to see and feel how the things work, etc, it's too easy to make assumptions. You can't feel the dog laying down on their own, you don't feel the dog's energy, etc. TV leaves a lot to be desired.

Answer 8

Here I go again…let me explain why I despise Cesar Millan...but first...for all you Cesar Millan fans out there.



Some people need to do some serious reading… http://beyondcesarmillan.weebly.com/ http://www.4pawsu.com/cesarfans.htm



I highly recommend these books. The Power of Positive dog Training by Pat Miller and Positive Perspectives 2: Know your dog, Train your dog by Pat Miller. Both of these books are very detailed and advanced, (The second book more so than the first one) and it will enlighten ANYONE on positive reinforcement dog training. These books bust the silly myths that people have about positive dog training.



Sorry to disappoint everyone, but Cesar Millan IS NOT a real dog trainer! Not even close! He is an actor!



Cesar Millan is a self taught “professional” dog trainer. I despise him! I don’t see any certifications from him or any sort of schooling whatsoever! He just declares himself a dog trainer! Excuse me, but if you are serious about becoming an honest to god GOOD dog trainer, then you need to work for it. To start with, you must SLOWLY work with a local dog trainer (positive reinforcement) and then move on to working with well known, respected dog trainers. This will take YEARS of COLLEGE and SCHOOLING! Secondly, you MUST be willing to devote the time and hard work it takes to become a trainer. You MUST be willing to do a lot of research and work through all of the myths and craziness in the dog training world! You MUST love dogs and be passionate about training them! Has Cesar Millan done any of this? NO!



In my book, I only respect dog trainers that have gone to COLLEGE and WORKED for their animal behavior degree!



He has been in some “minor” legal problems. People have sued him and he has been greatly criticized. No honest, good, dog trainer gets sued from their own clients! And yes, he does do cruel, abusive, inhumane, so called “training” methods on dogs. I can’t believe so MANY people worship him! It’s sick!



Cesar has a huge ego that I would LOVE to deflate! That kind of attitude NEVER goes over well with me.



Cesar Millan doesn’t genuinely care about dogs. If he cared about dogs he would march himself out there and actually get an education in dog training and behavior and he wouldn’t be such a show off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQUegRGo0… Watch this video. All Cesar is doing is waiting for the dog to get so tired of jumping and of getting strangled, that he collapses to the ground. The dog was NOT finally letting up and becoming “submissive.” Without a doubt this is ABUSE! I will say once again, I despise Cesar and I’m desperately trying to get people to use their brains and stop worshiping him!



I love positive reinforcement training. Positive reinforcement is not a death sentence. The goal of this method is to make training a more pleasant experience for the dog and owner while STILL producing a well trained dog.



You can’t deny the fact the Cesar Millan isn’t qualified in any way to train dogs. He has no business waltzing around telling people what to do with their dogs.



This is the 21st century. Things have changed. People have found more effective ways to train dogs without fear or force. And yes, that INCLUDES aggressive dogs.



Now, lots of people will argue with me because Cesar Millan is accredited and recognized bythe International Association of Canine Professionals. Did he have any former training to begin with? No. He is still self taught. I know he claims that he reads dog psychology books all of the time, but I see he learns nothing from them nor do I believe that he reads those books in the first place.



A large association like the IACP is not going to deny Cesar Millan a spot in their accreditation area since he has such a huge following. It all has to do with business. Its good business for them to accredit him whether he should be or not. And of course it does a lot of good for Cesar too.



The dominance/alpha training method has proven to do more harm than good! People will NEVER master the art of trying to be a dog or wolf! We will never be able to perfectly replicate what a dog will do to another dog. This is why the dominance/alpha/pack leader method is useless and has hurt many dogs and people. People have gone WAY overboard on this method. People become total idiots and power happy and all they focus on is more ways to enforce their position as a “PACK LEADER” and “THE BOSS.”



Centuries ago, people came up with their own ideas, opinions and methods about training dogs. This is not so anymore. This is the 21st century. Science has come into play and numerous studies have been done, therefore, there is now a RIGHT and a WRONG way of training dogs. You can train a dog with positive reinforcement without the crap Cesar millan preaches and STILL be the pack leader.



All he does is tell people to take your dog for a walk and exercise them a zillion times! Exercising your dog is very important, but it’s not the cure to EVERYTHING! He also is CONVINCED that EVERY single dog is dominate and was put on this earth to overtake you!! WRONG! There are dominant dogs out there, but not many!



The huge problem that Cesar Millan has is the way he deals with aggressive dogs. Two wrongs don’t make a right and he shouldn’t fight and be aggressive right back to the dog. Obviously, literally fighting with an already aggressive dog WILL cause harm every single time. His dog psychology is quite mixed up. There are practicing, DEGREED animal behaviorists that use positive reinforcement and positive punishment to rehabilitate dogs. You can’t tell me that Cesar Millan’s “expertise” is more important than a VETERINAIANS opinion can you? Vets SEE first hand the physical damage that these outdated training techniques do! True animal behaviorist SEE the emotional damage.



He abuses dogs in my opinion! Violence and physical abuse is NEVER the answer!



Some people are Cesar Millan fans. I’m not.



If you would like more details, then just ask.



ADD: Cesar Millan is in the alpha/dominance old school/traditional dog training people category.



I’ve found that the alpha/dominance old school/traditional dog training people are extremely close minded and set in their ways. They scoff at ANY and ALL positive reinforcement training. They believe that corrections all the time with a quick pat on the head as praise is the way to train a dog. They tend to be OBSESSED to the point of just borderline crazy (just my opinion) with corrections and being the pack leader.



Cesar Millan uses physical abuse as “training.” He alpha rolls, pinchs, strangles and hangs dogs as discipline and "training". This is considered animal abuse to me and I WILL NEVER do that to my dog.



To be blunt, these kind of "trainers" are very hard to be around (I personally despise them) and I definitely would not want to associate myself with them. The end.



ADD: What more do you want me to explain?



Hey, there are plenty of educated animal behaviorists out there that have sucessfully trained dogs WITHOUT the crap Cesar Millan does. In this world, you need to have an education. Not a " I have a gift with dogs" additude. I don't really care if he is the dog god or not. Fact. He is an abusive jerk.

Answer 9

I don't dislike his techniques at all and think many of them can be very effective. I do not, however..believe they apply to all dogs. I think his techniques work very well for him because he is many ways...just like a dog. He's very physically active and a natural pack leader. Many of us are not and using his techniques may not always work for us. I've seen great success using his techniques with my JRT mix, but I also fostered a fearful pitbull who had been abused and his techniques made it worse. The pitbull responded to firm leadership and tons of positive reinforcement much better.



I agree with him 100% on one issue. I think it all really does start with how you walk the dog. If you can get that down, many times everything else falls into place.

Answer 10

I really don't have an opinion either way on Cesar Millan, but one of his techniques is completely outdated and downright violent in a dog's eyes, and that's the "alpha roll". I don't know if he even uses it anymore, but I know when his show first came out it was used a lot.



The alpha roll is based on a completely misinterpreted, shallow view of wolf behavior. For one thing, wolf pack structure differs in a few ways from the dog pack structure. For another, NO canine physically pushes another canine down in order to force submission. Submission is a willing behavior, a calming and appeasing gesture, not forced and not violent. A wolf or dog that physically forces another onto its back does so to expose the vital soft throat and abdomen in order to maim or kill.



Alpha rolling the dog was something Cesar did in every episode I'd ever seen. It is a violent, aggressive move and a dog that is not timid or submissive by nature is quite likely to defend itself and attack, and rightfully so.



Some more methods he uses that have been debunked by current research include the use of choke chains, which if improperly (or even properly) used can collapse the trachea or cause other neck injuries.



Another is "flooding", or exposing a dog to something that frightens it until it accepts the stimulus and calms down. The problem with flooding is that the dog doesn't generally "get used to it" and calmly submit, it just shuts down, the same way children and even adults do when grossly overstimulated. With humans, we can understand the logic behind flooding. We can be verbally reassured that it is to help us get over our fears by over exposing us. We CANNOT communicate this to the dog, however, so the dog does not understand what is going on, why it is going on, and can only think of escape and fear before the psyche just shuts down. "Flooding" in any creature teaches a behavior known as "learned helplessness", NOT calm submission.



A lot of the problem is that the guy read a few books and thinks he's an expert. There are a ton of trainers out there that have done the same and are generally regarded as bad and/or inexperienced. The only big difference between him and other trainers who just read a few outdated books is that he's on TV and so is regarded as somebody who knows his sh*t.



NILIF training gets some great results without the negativity. It basically ignores the bad behavior (within reason) and rewards the desired behavior.



Cesar is quite correct that your state of mind is important to relating to your dog. If you're wishy washy or you ask the dog instead of telling the dog you're not likely going to earn its respect. Respect is vital to training, and no true pack alpha has to constantly enforce his position to keep it, because he is respected.



Like I said I don't really have an opinion on his training. I learned some useful things from him and have used them myself. There are so many success stories from people who've used his training methods, though they probably should have consulted a trainer. Some people put him up on some crazy pedestal when, frankly, there are far better trainers than Cesar Millan, trainers who are actually up to date on current research and training practices.



I think my only problem is that he doesn't seem to be on the same page as the rest of the world's trainers, which makes him just another guy who read a couple outdated books and thinks he knows it all. I'm of the opinion that current research into training methods and canine psychology trumps some of Cesar's methods.



I have no problem with aversive training methods, as long as they are proven to work and are based on proven science and not just some old brief observation of canine behavior or based on the fact that it works with humans. Dogs are not wolves. Dogs are not humans. Dogs are dogs. If you want to use your hand to peck your dog on the neck or shoulder to simulate a corrective nip, then go ahead, but at least tell us why it's a bad idea to do this to correct aggressive behavior, or why it shouldn't be done on an overly stimulated dog.



I have no problem with proper use of a prong. I have no problem with the use of a shock collar, provided current humane training methods have been used with consistency and still have not achieved results. But "flooding", unsafe training equipment, alpha rolling, and issuing so many constant and inconsistent corrections for any and all behavior that is even a toe out of line only teaches learned helplessness and is psychologically damaging.



If he'd just update himself on current research I'd probably have a positive opinion of him. Since his methods do technically work, I can't say that I totally disagree, so I remain rather neutral in the debate overall.

Answer 11

Those that announce they don't like the CM training technique perhaps it is more likely that they are not in-tune enough with animal worlds and the reality is that his training is on the HUMANS that own the dog, not just he dogs.

For the ones that state it takes years of college and schooling to be a certified dog trainer...seriously who trained the instructor at a school to "certify" that pro and who trained them before that ? His years and number of dogs he has been trained and working with and his techniques work if the person looks beneath the techniques IE zen like or more holistic techniques then yes they work, however if you are a weak person and not a leader then you may have trouble playing the roll as alpha with the animal. no one human or animal follows a weak leader and dogs are the same way in a pack world if you are wishy washy in training then you will not have a well trained dog.

Having taken several training courses from self taught books, experienced search and rescue dogs, and college level vet med I use and recommend the CM techniques but i also believe there is always more than one way to succeed at a goal. We are all entitled our own opinions.

Answer 12

Victoria Stillwell on animal planet has good, non aggressive techniques.

Answer 13

I prefer Don Sullivan`s techniques, but caesar`s method works as well. There will always be someone who complains that if you dont carry your dog around on a cushion, then you are abusing it. Just ignore them, its merely their opinion that they try to pass off as fact. Usually when someone does this, they have some kind of agenda.



edit. lmao see? Someone writes an essay for his answer and then tries to SELL you HIS book. Like I said, Agenda