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 have watched a few of his shows. i can't get them now on my tv. i got both books when they came out, before i did any of my own research or dog training and found ways a bit, well, i had a sharp intake of breath at some of them tbh, but it's only since training my own dogs and talking to the experts and other dog lovers here that i realised just how outdated his methods actually were.

my experience was that my dog was wild. he truly was. some of it was my fault. and then he had to be in quarantine for 6 months unfortunately.
he came out a huge unruly fellow and things went extremely badly till i started applying some principles which i read in his book. funny thing was they sounded right to me- it was like an affirmation of what i instinctively believed. and they worked. boy did they work.
it was truly miraculous.
i honestly believe if i had a child some of my parenting technique would be based on the calm assertive model that has worked so well for me. of course parenting is an entirely different kettle of fish but i will draw upon this.

i agree with you wrt being calm and assertive. i think when dealing with kids and animals that goes without saying TBH and it surprises me that this concept is attributed, by so many, to CM. i guess it just goes to show, if you publicise yourself enough, people will start to think you invented breathing!

fair point!

Very good point, Iloveit.

For anyone who is is unclear, it isn't a case of 'Cesar's way' or cuddling our precious little child substitutes. Any reputable trainer or behaviourist will tell you that dogs are not humans, that they require boundaries and calm, consistent handling, and that they need exercise and stimulation. It's just that most of us don't include electric shocks, domination or asphyxiation in our dog training. Sadly CM makes great tv - extreme cases heavily edited to show an apparently miraculous transformation, but giving out a completely false and potentially very dangerous (for both dog and owner) message. His whole approach is based on an outdated and completely disproven theory that dogs behave like wolves (no, they don't) and that wild wolves behave like captive ones (nope again).

It's fine and healthy to have people on here espousing all kinds of opinions, MNHQ, but somebody who has been so roundly condemned by all the welfare and veterinary organisations, and who has the potential to permanently damage the behaviour of dogs by promoting his 'methods' should be turned away.

how do I stop Duke (2 year old border collie cross lurcher) from thinking he needs to protect up from everyone whoh comes anywhere near the house (including cars that drive down to our road end) by barking like a mad thing and chasing cars, leaping the fence to get to them?

we got him when he was 7 months, rehomed him and he was fine (easter 09)
I have no experience of dog
dh has lifetime experience of dogs
he was dhs right hand dog
dh died aug 09

sive then duke has been desperately trying to be the man of the house and look after me and my three young girls

How do I stop the barking and desperation to chase everything away?

wow should have read all thread

not sure I want his advice now

Temple Grandin would be awesome. She is a legend in the fields of animal behaviour and autism. Amazing woman.

Sounds good, Butterfly. The basic principle underlying modern, reward based dog training is to reinforce the behaviour you do want, rather than punish the behaviour you don't. Trinity - I'd start a separate thread asking Minimu's advice - she's a qualified trainer who uses positive methods. You can't do better than her advice. In fact - I bet if you asked the regulars on here who they'd want a Q & A with, it'd be Minimu

HTH

eek..read SOME OF THREAD.dON'T THINK i WANRT QUESTION ANSWERED THANKS AS YOUR METHODS WOULD NOT SUIT US.

Hi I have a three year old sheltie who behaves rather aggressively to some people who visit the house (usually youngsters- she particularly dislikes teenage boys!)

She will rush up to them and jump up and attempt to bite their clothes- usually the bottom of their jumper or jacket or their sleeves. She has never bitten skin. She will also attempt to"round us up" if we are in the garden- nipping at our ankles but not actually biting.

It's got to the point where I have to shut her away when ever we have visitors.

Any suggestions as to why she does this and what we can do?

thanks butterfly and bella

he started getting out again a week or so ago and we realised there a hole in the fence so we put a pallete thing against the fence but I think he's using that is a sort of help over the fence now lol

so since we realised he was getting out still I have been accompaniying him into the garden for a wee and saying wee wees

when he takes off like a rocket to the spot where he can jump I've been saying, dont you dare really loudly and he has stopped and come back so he knows what he is doing and knows I ont want him too

and then I've benn praising him for coming back and praidsing him whn hes had 'good wee wees' as in I go out with him and he just wees and then comes back with me to go in

but this morning my friend took my kids to school for me and he was in the garden barking through the gate at us whilst we loaded the kids in but at least he wasn't out but as soon as she pulled away (and I'm walking back in through the garage he rocketed off over the fence to chase her car, I had to walk out down the lane and he was half way up the road meadering and taking no noticce of me, he eventully comes back and then when he gets close he cowers from me (I dont hit him) an draces h ome and straight into his cage. i've shut him in it for a bit now

duke has also taken a liking for trying to bite the shoes of one paticular carer, I shut hi in his cage when she comes
I wish I could read his mind

also he still cometely hates the masty neighbour but then he has been hitting him with a metal pole so I dont think he will ever like him(noone does) but I need to be able to reign in the behaviour

Let's set Cesar on Trin's neighbour. An alpha roll might do the trick

That sort never are, are they? Sorry, Trinity - wasn't making light of your situation. As if you don't have enough going on.

Another vote to MN Please do not do this

If CM and his team are not brave enough to do a live webchat and deal with negative, hostile and critical questions (which would be odd, for a man who claims to be able to deal with hostile dogs...) then please do not become a publicity mouth piece for such a controversial figure.

it's ok bella, its not bad to make light of stuff sometimes

he is still being a twat bit of an idiot but his wife is terminally ill and however much I will never like him (for many more reasons thatn duke) I will not allow my dog to bother anyone so we have been very tight on keeping him in the garden except the little slip up just before we realised he managed to get out again

buttefly, yeah he is a sweetie and it is surprising but it also seems to me that he is confused and doesn't knwowhat he should be doing in respect to trying to look after us iyswim

like hes trying to be the man of the house

Justine thank you for your reply. I do not think that every guest you have on you endorse their views. However when you have on MP's for example you get all the political parties covered so that we can make an unbiased opinion.

By just promoting C Millan you are not giving the balanced argument but just giving a very lopsided and outdated and dangerous view of dog training.

Please do not go ahead with this.

The most experienced dog trainers are not and do not have to be celebrities - they are recognised in their own field and do not welcome celebrity status. I can put you in touch with many if you do want an educated web chat or advice.

I think Cesar Milan is the dog's bollocks. He has done lots of successful work with dogs that would otherwise have been put down and has some excellent advice regarding approaching what you may think are big and scary.