Cesar? Yes / No

I'm not a fan.  I went to a seminar where he was the main attraction a few years back.  He's a very charismatic person.  He's got a captivating smile and an ease with people.  What he doesn't have is any education or background in animal behavior.  He's not a trainer, he's a TV celebrity.   I've read his books and I watched his show when it first came out.  I have since done a lot of reading of animal behaviorists who are actually qualified to give dog training advice.  Patricia McConnell, Sophia Yin, Jean Donaldson, Pat Miller are a few of my favorites.   CM has done more to push dog training back into the bad old days than any one person.  I hope you enjoy his performance but I also hope you consider reading some of what the true experts have to say about him and why they and so many other trainers are opposed to people following his advice.

He's still pushing the outdated dominance, pack leader, alpha theory that's been proven not to be applicable to domestic dogs.  His methods can cause some severe problems for dogs and their owners.  The only thing he says that I agree with is that an owner should be confident and should provide exercise.  All the rest of his advice should be taken with a huge dose of salt.

In case you're interested.

avsabonline.org/.../dominance_statement.pdf

drsophiayin.com/.../dominance

@JackieG

I'm not a fan.  I went to a seminar where he was the main attraction a few years back.  He's a very charismatic person.  He's got a captivating smile and an ease with people.  What he doesn't have is any education or background in animal behavior.  He's not a trainer, he's a TV celebrity.   I've read his books and I watched his show when it first came out.  I have since done a lot of reading of animal behaviorists who are actually qualified to give dog training advice.  Patricia McConnell, Sophia Yin, Jean Donaldson, Pat Miller are a few of my favorites.   CM has done more to push dog training back into the bad old days than any one person.  I hope you enjoy his performance but I also hope you consider reading some of what the true experts have to say about him and why they and so many other trainers are opposed to people following his advice.

He's still pushing the outdated dominance, pack leader, alpha theory that's been proven not to be applicable to domestic dogs.  His methods can cause some severe problems for dogs and their owners.  The only thing he says that I agree with is that an owner should be confident and should provide exercise.  All the rest of his advice should be taken with a huge dose of salt.

In case you're interested.

avsabonline.org/.../dominance_statement.pdf

drsophiayin.com/.../dominance

What Jackie said!

There is an enormous difference between being assertive with your dog and being aggressive with him/her.  I don't think that CM understands that.

In general, I think  that that we, as a society, tend to want instant gratification or the quick fix.  We often forget that it takes time for things to break or for behavior to get out of hand in human or canine.  Logically then, we can't expect a quick fix, but, we tend to forget that.

For myself, I don't like the hype surrounding CM, nor do I like the giant step back in training and understanding.

I'm not a huge fan, either, but I do agree with what Jackie said about his charismatic personality and ease with people. I don't have any serious knowledge of animal behavior or training like Jackie and so many others here do, but I don't feel comfortable with a lot of his "themes" about pack leaders and dominance, etc. I think his heart was in the right place (at least before he became a rich and famous TV personality) and that he genuinely wants to help dogs and people have harmonious households and happy lives, even if his methods aren't what I would choose. At least his advice about exercising dogs is something that can help most problems. When I have seen his shows, I'm always amazed at how many people don't realize this solution on their own, so I guess it's good he's out there for those people who might not ask for or find help anywhere else if it weren't for a TV show!

Ran across this blog post this morning.  Lots of good info for those wondering if Millan's methods work.

www.realclearscience.com/.../why-you-should-never-hit-your-dog.html

Just as Jackie said. And unfortunately, as Glenda said, people expect that quick fix and that's the reason people go for this type of training. Problem being, those quick fixes won't necessarily last. Just as you need to be consistent with positive reinforcement, you will need to be consistent with negative reinforcement. It is not a one time fix all thing.