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.

The numbers are rising. Shufflebum ... that's 35 members against the plan to bring Millan on here.

MNHQ, are you counting too?

Consider myself added Val.
Just can't see why you would give him a platform when there are other far more knowledgeable up to date trainers about.

Just realised on a dog thread my user name rather alludes to the fact that I may have a problem with my anal glands rather than the fact that DS was a late walker and used an alternative mode of transport for a while

you need to book in with the vet and have them squezzed shufflebum bring a peg for your nose

darn it, only your name was meant to be bolded.

S'okay, I'm well practiced can do them myself!

I'd love Mary Rae to come on. I'd like to ask her how to teach my really really dim lurcher to tango

can you bend that way?

Victoria Stillwel almost practices the same methods except (in my opinion) with much less clarity

oops i didn't mean much LOL

Brandy, I don't really know where I'd start. I take an interest in the popular trainers and so on because other people do and it helps to know how they influence their dogs. However, the training tips and practices which I have learned have come from people I know, be they trainers and behaviouralists who, like Minimu, may not be famous bit who know their stuff or rescue owners with a wealth of practical experience of dealing with hundreds of dogs of all breeds, types and personalities.

If I were to ask MN to invite someone doggy on here it would be someone far less well known like:

Tony Peters (UK Co-ordinator for Greyhound Action)

Trudy Baker (Co-ordinator for Greyt Exploitations, a group which raises awareness about the deaths and injuries caused to racing Greys and campaigns for change).

Bernie Wright (Press Officer for AFAR, Ireland's Alliance for Animal Rights, owner of Dublin Dog Rescue, co-ordinator of the Streetdogs of Napal organisation and non-stop, tireless campaigner and activist).

Maria Daines (Rock singer, songwriter, animal welfare activist)

Bob Whittall (Co-orrdinator for Staffordshire Bull Terrier Rescue)

One of the co-ordinators of DogLost, the voluntary association which advises, helps and so often succeeds in reuniting owners with lost or stolen dogs.

Mo Davie (A Dog's Life, which raises awareness about puppy farming. What that woman doesn't know isn't worth knowing!).

Lyz Hall (Owner of Hallswood Animal Sanctuary and superwoman).

Kaye Fitzgerald-Gorman (Co-ordinator of LurcherLink Rescuers)

Dave Linford (Owner of Poplar Farm Rescue Kennels, a no kill, all breed rescue).

But does CM kill any dogs?

Shufflebum - I always thought your name was a reference to anal glands. Are you telling me it isn't?????!!

And Butterfly - you are v funny you know

Patterdale, his practices and recommendations are resulting in dogs being killed. Take for example the one he used a shock collar on in that video - the dog which bit his owners arm in fear.

Now apply that dog and those circumstances to a sadly not insignificant amount of hysterical and ignorant people on here. You've surely read the comments on yesterday's AIBU thread regarding a dog which allegedly bit a MN-ers chest, didn't you? (I say allegedly as I am dubious that a real bite could be achieved to the chest area). The OP and half or more of those responding were saying that it was reasonable to have the dog killed. Are you seriously telling me that if they were the owners or victims of a dog which had turned to fear aggression thanks to CM's methods they would be more sympathetic and would not demand that this dog too was taken to the vet and killed?

The dog which is in the rescue I help at, the one which has twice bitten because he fears anything that looks like a shock collar remote (thanks to CM)... if it wasn't for the fact that this particular, rare, NO KILL rescue stepped in, where do you think he'd be now? In a black plastic bag, dead, that's where! His owners certainly didn't want him after they'd damaged him.

How many rescues do you think are willing and able, time and spcae-wise to take on a dog with aggression problems who is going to take a lot of work to rehabilitate and who all the while he is there is depriving easier to home, equally needy pound dogs of a rescue space and thus a chance of life?

YES - CM is responsible for the deaths of dogs and humans coming to harm. To advocate or condone his methods on MN, an influential website, when it is clear that many of their members, intelligent as they may be, are wholly ignorant of dog welfare and behaviour would be exceptionally and unforgivably irresponsible of MNHQ.

My suggestion for a guest on MN would be someone from the new Animal Behaviour and Training Council - this is the new body that has been set up in the UK to oversee people involved in animal training and animal behaviourists. In future, you will not be able to call your self an animal behaviourist without being accredited through this organisation - it will provide an excellent way for dog owners to know the advice they receive is up to date and based on solid evidence. Another big step forward for pets. The only downside is that it will reduce the number of sightings of the Magic Cream Cracker of Power (cue dramatic music and moody lighting)...

Well maybe it doesn't always work, but it has to work sometimes cos he does seem to help some of the dogs, and if he was that bad then why would he go on tour if he knew he was 'toruring' the dogs?

Also BrandyButterfly how can u be sure that the dog didn't just die of old age?

FFS beating your children gets results and has them complying with your requests. Through fear. Nobody would support supernanny and say "but obviously it's very effective, I can't see the problem" if she choked the kids on her shows!

Oh FFS some people are beyond bloody belief.

It works sometimes, so that's alright then.
Are you willing to meet the kid who Jack bit thanks to CM's training advice, and tell her that?

Better still, why not come to the rescue I help out at and do some of the work, in the cold, the snow, the rain, that is necessary to care for him? Or pay for his food, medication and other needs? How about you pay the price of a boarding kennel for a pound dog to be moved into for the duration of Jack's rehabilitation and until he finds a new home? Because all the time he is taking up a rescue space, that kennel is not available to a pound dog and the pound dog will either need to go into a boarding kennel or die. We haven't enough rescue spaces as it is, English dogs alone are dying in pounds in their hundreds each week as it is, without CM causing rescue more work.

I say to the pro-CM fans, get your nose away from the TV, get off your arse and get yourself to an independent rescue where you will see for yourself the tragic results of CM's "training", just like I and others here do. Then and only then come back and tell me that I'm wrong.

On a complete tangent- I'm not in this whole debate about CM as i haven't been following his show or read more than his first book- brandybutterfly, homoeopathy did work for my dog.
it defies belief but when i had lost all hope and the one ear had literally become hairless, and the vets were at their wit's end and WEEKS had passed with them taking scrapings and giving oral medication and even injections, the hair grew back gradually with a few doses of homoeopathy.

i recognise this wouldn't have been successful for something like internal bleeding or cancer, but in that instance it was literally a miracle.

My father, unfortunately, believes strongly in pack theory. Luckily I do and always have done much of the training with his dogs. As a youngster I believed every word he said, but I just did not have it in me to hurt our dogs. So as such they were trained in a much more gentle way. They never really had any problem dogs so harsher method were never needed.

Enter my dog aka The Devil Dog. He is an ex pound dog with an unknown history and a lot of problems. I trained what I could myself and then admitted defeat and called a lovely trainer, who struggles along with me to find a way to teach my dog what is expected of him. It's taking a long time, as I said there is a lot to train. But slowly we are getting there.

For reasons I won't go into, The Devil Dog and I recently stayed at my parents house for a few days. Tres exciting for The Devil Dog, predictibly all training went out of the window due to the over stimulation of all the new sights and smells and their bloody parrot.

My Dad told me I needed to 'dominate' my dog and 'show him who is boss' of course I didn't listen. Nor did he listen to me when I told him my dog is nervous-aggressive and his response to pain or fear is to defend himself at all costs.

When I was using the loo my Dad decided to try CM's techniques on my dog. I heard the commotion in time to drag The Devil Dog off him before any serious damage was done.

So tell me if CM's techniques are so great and reward based training is not as good, why has my dog never tried to eat me or my very experienced trainer? Why has my trainer who has had 30+ years of experience in training dogs never given up with my dog and said "We need to show him who is boss. Let's alpha roll him"?

My dog is hard to train. He is not interested in food rewards. Play reward works only if it is more interesting than what we are trying to train him not to do and more often than not his favourite toy just does not cut it. We use distraction and removal of rewards atm. So it is slightly punishment based. It's taking forever. But we are getting there. We are getting there without hurting him or causing him any fear, which my trainer (who has more exerience than CM) believes would make him worse. He might do what the person who is causing him him pain tells him to do only to stop what is happening, but the next person who came along who looked like/spoke like/had similar body language/put him in a situation that reminded him of alpha training would be at the recieving end of Devil Dog in full on attack mode.

Hmmmm. Well my first thought on seeing Caesar on MN was why can't we have one of the excellent UK behaviourists such as Sarah Heath or Ian Dunbar.

As a vet I find the CM techniques abhorent and yes I am prepared to list my qualifications to justify this, BSc(Hons) Distinction in Animal Behaviour BVetMed, Merit in Animal health and welfare, Winner of the RASE medal in Animal Health and Welfare, MRCVS.

I never try to challenge or dominate aggressive dogs in my clinic I provide positive re-inforcement at all times and have only been bitten once in 13 years with this approach.
Now going to go back to training my boy with with consistent positive methods.

Dooin - i think yours is a sensible approach. IMO often you do need some amount of punishment- which to me is basically a waggling finger or a gruff sound. or say banishment from the room for some minutes (so long as it is immediately connected to the wrongdoing).