Send your questions to The Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan

[RachelMumsnet]

Great news for all those in The Dog House. We've been given the opportunity to send our canine questions to none other than the Dog Whisperer himself, Cesar Millan. Cesar is over in the UK to promote his forthcoming new series of the UK version of 'The Dog Whisperer' which will be aired in UK on Nat Geo Wild in early February 2011. We'll be filming some members of Mumsnet HQ (plus dogs) putting your questions to Cesar in January and we will be airing the film across the site at the end of January, to coincide with the launch of his new series. To stand a chance of getting your question to Cesar, post them to this thread before end of Tuesday 21st December 2010.

I think I missed Dooin off my list. That'll be 34 of us against the concept of the man appearing here then.

Sorry Dooin.

to begin with, all of this is IMO and the paras below are separate points.

cesar is a human and obviously a mixed bag to that extent. he has some good points to make which many people would do well to know. i don't belong to the church of cesar millan so i won't say he can do no wrong.
he is also a product of his Great American PR machine.

one may be darn good with dogs even though one hasn't spent years and years doing dog rescue. it's like parenting- you may not need a certificate to be good, and you can have a certificate and be a really bad parent.

also, since the word 'training' has come up here more than once, i would like to say that 'training' is very different from what i would call a state of mind or a way of life. it's the difference say between a diet and a lifestyle change. you can teach a dog to sit on command and bark at a signal but that's different from a dog being mentally balanced and understanding his place in 'his pack'.

but surely we can all agree to disagree, or agree to disagree on some things.

FWIW, i haven't seen the video but the link that ruby posted had a statement from the dog's owner (2nd comment from the top) about the level of force/ the way the lead was held. i am NOT commenting on the specific instance but thought i would point it out in case someone's missed it.

must get back to work!!

Dooin i agree with you. he would have done well to not have a tv show and only market in his books the primary tenets which i mentioned in my post above and which are all that's necessary really.

Val, I've been meaning to say something to you about that little toothbrush moustache.. maybe a post in S&B?

Ruby, there are many, many people on here who give a great deal of voluntary time and effort to do dog rescue work, both in the practical sense and in lobbying for better legislation, better management by Councils, better education of owners and breeders and all those with an interest in dog welfare. We don't generally need to be in front of a camera to get things done and many of us are happy to take on the no-hoper cases, the dogs who are very old, or very sick or have behavioural issues (often caused by inappropriate "training").

I'm one of those who is "earnestly spouting" because I believe in reasonable debate (at least at first) and secondly because a wide range of reputable organisations staffed by scientists and researchers have put together a reasoned, referenced case against CM - his methods are founded on out of date, dangerous assumptions about dog behaviour and how dogs learn. I'm spouting on here about this because I genuinely care that dogs could be hurt or damaged by this man and his practices.

CM makes "entertainment" programmes - they are not documentaries, and are not a how-to guide for dog owners. Have you ever wondered why his programmes include that little message about "Don't try this at home"? He has no qualifications and is not a member of any reputable professional body involved in dog welfare.

I'd gladly welcome any guest on to Mumsnet who is passionate about dogs and about their welfare - there are many areas where we agree to disagree or are willing to be persuaded of others' views, but on this man, I think the overwhelming majority of posters have expressed reservations, simply because he is fundamentally WRONG.

'from a dog being mentally balanced and understanding his place in 'his pack'.' - But dogs don't have a pack in that way! That is the whole point. Ferel dogs do not behave like captive wolves. Pet dogs do not behave like captive wolves. Even wild wolves behave quite differntly to captive wolves. What part of that is unclear????

www.animalsandsociety.org/assets/library/205_s15327604jaws07047.pdf see here for more recent research.

brandybutterfly - totally agree.

dooin - thanks for the link- will go through the article when done at work.
it looks really interesting.
pack, family, social unit- i guess a dog has to know where he fits in, what is expected of him, when he can expect affection, and how far he can push the boundaries before he hears the word 'no'.

so maybe he should come on here and we can all try to get him to see that postitive training methods without 'putting your hands on' a dog is a much, much better way of doing things.

If we came up with a question that he could answer about his methods and ways of training that is not liked I think 'we' should do that instead of saying how bad he is on here. Lets challenge this directly with CM, surely that is a better way to go about it?

I seriously doubt he will ever get to hear about this in any other way.

Jax he knows all about this. His previous tour was what led to the joint press release linked to earlier. He wasn't welcomed with open arms.

i said this thread was uppity because people were coming on here and saying good things about the man's work and people were getting all uppity about it. i was careful not to be personal. it was in response to people demanding rather stroppily IMHO that MNHQ refuse to engage with him at all.

conversely, i have been told to go far away so someone can teach me about... that was trinity - thanks for that. i was pulled up for using the word 'lurve' er who gives a crap - such a lame way to try and discredit my views. i was also called naive and blinded by marketing. nice. bit personal. you have no idea who i am! and there have been other generally patronising comments about how i know nothing and lots of people on this thread know everything.

and fwiw i don't care about your supposed credentials. you could be anyone. on here, we are words on a page, and this is a thread where people are entitled to post and comment. i would love to know CM response to all those naysayers amongst you.

i say it again. those dogs he looks after, and the dogs he helps look happier, calmer and yes, almost thankful to CM for coming to their rescue. you can say it is editing and obviously there is editing, but it does not take away from the fact that the dogs he helps, in the end, are better off for him having been in their lives.

.

Baffled by this so-called "thankful" expression you keep seeing on dogs. There is no concept of "thankfulness" on dog planet, let alone a facial means of expressing it.

I mean, exactly how gullible are you?

"but it does not take away from the fact that the dogs he helps, in the end, are better off for him having been in their lives. "

and you know this based on you vast knowledge of dogs?

no, you don't, you think this because you watched the shows, saw the 'magic' happen with your own eyes, ignoring the all the snippins on the cutting room floor, and you believe all the crap he spouts without having the guption to actually do some research to see if what he says is backed up by and professional body. you ARE being naive.

did you also know that horse dung is chocolate and tastes rather nice? you should try it.

gumption

it was the boxer that looked thankful - he was going to be put down! and cesar sorted it out for him and there was a clip at the end where this boxer was sat behind him and i thought - he almost looks grateful. that's all. there is really no need for all this bile iloveit!

erm, do you really think teh boxer knew he was going to be put down and that cesar 'saved' him?

i agree stop typing and end this drivel you are spouting.

Iloveitwhenyoucallmeboo that is the whole point "the dogs are not better off for having him been in their lives" nor are the dogs that have had Millans methods carried out on them by their owners.

Many are left traumatised and with other issues that have to be sorted out.

For a few minutes on tv we see a dog that has been suppressed to such a degree that for a short time their behaviour has been changed. In the long term the orignial behaviour will return with bells on.

minimu i quoted that line,. it was actually ruby that posted it.

Whoops sorry losing the plot but the the point is the same!

i agree with you btw

'Many are left traumatised'

many? many? if cm was that crap he wouldn't be as successful as he is, surely.

and stop ordering me about, thanks. 'stop typing...'

obviously he didn't know he was going to be put down! but he was not a contented dog before and he was after. makes sense to me!

minimu if you say so. sigh.

Ruby can you answer the question I asked earlier about why so many animal welfare organisations, both here in the UK and in the USA, whose sole aim is to protect, rehabilitate and find homes for problem or unwanted dogs and prevent them being put to sleep are so against CM and his methods if he is so good for dog welfare?

Why don't they support him and in fact, quite the opposite is the case?