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.

[stickersarecurrency]

huggly, unfortunately due to the now disproven but until recently widely accepted "pack theory" of dog behaviour, the general public and certainly tv producers may well view some of this stuff as necessary or appropriate. There's a long, long way to go before we can erase the damage done by the Barbara Woodhouses or the last few decades. We now know that dogs are not wolves living in the wild and hunting and cooperating for survival, pack theory therefore holds no water when applied to domestic pets and methods of training which revolve around status are unkind and damaging. It's proving terrifyingly difficult to undo the damage and educate dog owners though :(

[midori1999]

hugglymuggly, the effect of the collar was enough to mean the dog shown bit it's owner. After the collar had been used the dog didn't just not chase the cat, it eas fearful of it, because it associated the effect of the collar with the cat. Regardless of what you think the effect of the collar was, it was unpleasant enough to make the dog react in that way and that si not right.

We frequently see CM treat dogs in such a way that they are forced to resort to biting, even in dogs that have never bitten before. His methods, such as flooding, have no place in modern dog trainer or behaviour modification.

I notice that no-one has yet been able to answer why so many animal welfare organisations are against this man if his methods are not cruel or abusive. Anyone care to answer?

[VallhalaLalalalalalalalaaaaaa]

Huggly, Midori is entirely correct. We have one such dog in rescue right now.

Tinsel, good thinking, thank you. I have reported my own post. :o

[ILoveItWhenYouCallMeBoo]

Hmm, cesar describes the force of shock equivalent to that of a TENS machine. I don't know about anyone else but i found when my pethidine wore off in labour, the TENS was actually unbearble, i was scrabbling to get away from it.

[ILoveItWhenYouCallMeBoo]

huggly imagine that dog in teh clip, now so fearful of being near a cat that when it's owner goes to calm it, it bites for fear that a shock is imminent.

now imagine a dog is rewarded with treats for calm behaviour when near a cat. it gets to teh point where that dog actively seeks teh reward by behaving very calmly around the cat.

which option do you chose given free choice?

[DontLetTinselDragOnTheFloor]

There is no way that cat-chasing dog just felt a vibrating phone. If that was a "WTF??" Response, I'd hate to see a terrified/hurt one.

[ILoveItWhenYouCallMeBoo]

choose

[catinthehat2]

I see a huge problem for the producers of this program and anyone associated with it.
There is going to be one unholy and longlasting stink kicked up which will infect anyone associated with it.
And the consequences of going ahead with something so needlessly controversial will go on and on and on.
Really, CM is getting far more out of this bargain than vice versa.

[VallhalaLalalalalalalalaaaaaa]

Well, MNHQ aren't saying what they'll get out of it.

This was their reply:-

"Thanks for the report, We are keeping an eye on the thread and obviously listening to what you all have to say. Justine posted earlier and we will have a discussion about this thread tomorrow when everyone is back in the office."

That's all well and good MN Towers but what are you getting out of it?

[hatwoman]

just adding my voice - as a dog owner and dog lover i will NOT be participating and would ask mn to reconsider. his methods and theories are outdated bunkum, sometimes cruel and potentially dangerous

[TigerseyeMum]

If MNTowers are discussing it tomorrow there is a wealth of good, factual, knowledgeable information on the internet about why CM is so reviled by those who are trained to work with dogs, or rehabilitate dogs.

I am clueless about links so can't do any

When it coms to video clips of the worst examples, well, many were 'removed' from places like YouTube etc once they got so well known and controversial. But, the arguments still stand.

[iloverhubarbcrumble]

Mumsnet - pls don't do this. We have a far more sophisticated problem solving group here on Mumsnet - up to date, unedited, several points of view aired, expert opinions - than anything you could get from CM.

There is a vast amount of experience and knowledge here that professionals are willing to share, here on mumsnet, for absolutely no financial gain whatsoever. I'll take that, thank you very much - if I could give out chocolate santas and bottles of wine to various mumsnetters (Val, Minimu, Wildthings, Midori, and more... you know who you are) who have helped me get a 9 week old puppy to a 6 month old delight (some of the time), believe me I would.

Think this is a paean to mnet! CM Off!

[catinthehat2]

Valhalla - whatever and however much MN get out of it, there ain't ever going to be enough compensation to undo the sort of longlasting reputational damage this will cause.

The exact contract terms are firmly none of my business, nor anyone else's except the owners of this site.

But I can't see any net benefit to MN for doing this no matter what is being offered by the producers.

[smoggii]

We have a Springer Spaniel with a few issues (she's a rescue so some separation anxiety and she's a bit loopy, she doesn't understand that she's 10 not 1 even though she can't do as much as she thinks) but i've never seen one on your show. Is ours the only one with issues or are they just not a popular breed in the US?

[VallhalaLalalalalalalalaaaaaa]

Nor are they my business cat and I doubt very much if I'll get a direct answer. My point is that MNHQ must be getting something out of this as surely they wouldn't be so stupid as to entertain the man just for the sake of it.

And personally speaking, if that's the case, I find it pretty abhorrent that a group which I'm a member of can profit from someone who abuses dogs, particularly when my contribution to that group has on occasion encouraged people to come over to MN and/or to remain on it and therefore to be subjected to, and presumably influenced by, the advertising which funds it.

I suppose that all I can do is look very carefully at the adverts on MN... and make a conscious effort not to buy from the companies which feature in them.

[MrsRhettButler]

i have a question for ceaser, my 14 week old puppy is crated at night and also if we go out for a few hours in the daytime, she doesn't seem to mind weeing or pooing in her sleeping area, (i thought that dogs don't like to 'go' where they sleep?) we know she can hold it because she does so when crated with my other dog so why can't she hold it if crated alone? (shes not scared or panicky in the crate alone)

she also won't hold it if the patio door is not open the minute she wants to go...

is there anything we can do to discourage her from messing where she sleeps?

she is also car sick :( any ideas about car sick dogs?

thank you

[KittyTwoShoes]

That man makes me sick. Please please cancel, and please tell him why, as well. Just say to him, "Huh, actually, we think you're an animal abuser and frankly a bit of a cruel sicko. So, er, on your bike."

I love our dog, and our puppy. He can sometimes be a handful but I'd rather tell him a hundred times a day to get off the sofa, go hoarse from calling, "Drop!" at him every time he takes my shoes, and get tired muscles from hanging on to his lead every time he sees a squirrel and forgets he's got a lead on every day for the rest of his life than ever let him in a room with anyone who entertains the notion that Cesar Millan isn't a cruel nutjob, let alone the man himself. Please don't let him on here :(

[ShanahansRevenge]

Scuttle...your link only gives "information" from the reputable orgnisiations...and they appear to have been copied onto the site but not in relation to Mr Millan directly.

[MummieHunnie]

I am in shock, I did not realise that there was such an anti cesar thing going on. I like his calm assertive thing, I was bitten as a child and badly phobic of dogs for a long time into adult hood, thinking of being calm etc around dogs and understanding things like their body language really helped me a great deal around dogs. I don't agree with anything cruel, I never saw anything in his show that had nasty electric shocks, the thing that he did that bothered me was the side kick thing, which he explained was a tap not a kick! He said the holding the dogs down was something that dogs do to one another, again this was something that I would not have done myself, otherwise, I didn't see anything nasty, he was very positive and encouraging/patient with dogs, in the shows I watched, taking them swimming etc... Maybe there was a lot in other shows that I have missed, I am sad he is not the person I thought he was

[HarderToKidnap]

I want to add my voice - as someone who actually likes dogs, I find CMs methods appallingly cruel. I can't understand who anyone could watch it and think the things he does are an appropriate way to behave twoards another living being who is part of you family. Please don't do this.

[ShanahansRevenge]

Daily Fail Article

"Mr Millan does not advocate electric collars except in extreme cases where the dog is likely to be put down unless it's behaviour is changed."

[JustineMumsnet]

Evening all. Thanks for all your comments. To answer your question first Valhalla (given your urgency ), we would get nothing out of this except for a certain amount of extra work but we - clearly mistakenly it seems - thought CM would be a popular guest. Certainly my kids love his programmes and he's pretty much the only celeb dog trainer we can think of, though we could be wrong as I don't watch a lot of TV (especially now the Apprentice has finished but that's by the by).

Anyway we were entirely unaware that some people think his methods cruel and obviously we're happy to drop the q&a if folks want us to. Alternatively we can put the question of cruelty of his methods to him - along with those from folk who have a genuine problem they'd like addressed. Either way, we're really not fussed but we clearly don't want to cause deliberate offence (well except to all those who threatened to bugger off to Netmums )

One thing I would say is that we don't actually endorse the opinions/philosophy of our webchatees, whoever they might be. We merely try to bring you interesting, fun and/or learned folk to debate and engage with. Just because we provide a platform for that engagement it doesn't mean we at MNHQ agree or disagree with what they say. Clearly, given that we have politicians on from all major parties, that is the case. We couldn't possibly agree with/endorse all of them. Rather the opposite in fact.

Do continue to let us know your thoughts,
Thanks
MNHQ

[ShanahansRevenge]

Mummie....don't simply beieve what people on here say without question. They're not experts ...only people with an opinion like you.

Form your own.