"Dog Whisperer" Aims to Train Humans Too

Stefan Lovgren in Los Angeles
for National Geographic News

September 23, 2008

The dog may be man's best friend, but Cesar Millan has become the next best friend to millions of dog owners.

On his hit National Geographic Channel show, Dog Whisperer, the canine behavior specialist rehabilitates problem pets as well as teaching their frazzled masters how to deal. And these aren't just dogs that bark at postal workers—they're hyperaggressive, frantically phobic, even pathologically jealous animals.

Millan just celebrated his hundredth episode on September 19. He spoke with National Geographic News about his sometimes controversial methods, the show's toughest cases and the canine mind.

(The National Geographic Channel is partly owned by the National Geographic Society, which owns National Geographic News.)

What's the secret of Dog Whisperer's popularity?

It's a show that tells you you're responsible for the balance of your dog. Everybody in America said, "Let's train the dog." Nobody was saying, "Let's train the human."

You treat dogs with severe behavioral problems. What are the most common issues you see?

My expertise is aggression—what I call red zone cases. The [canine] mind can do four things: fight, flight, avoid, or surrender. The goal is to [instill] a surrender mind.

But when the mind is in a fight state, it means the dog is dominant, territorial, aggressive, or hyper. When the mind is in a flight state, the dog is insecure, fearful, panicky, or neurotic. In the avoiding state, the dog is going to run and ignore humans.

Sometimes we see a combination of all of these minds, which is a very lethal cocktail.

What are some of your most challenging cases?

That's going to be Gavin, the ATF [U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives] dog. [Gavin was sent to Iraq for 45 days of active duty and developed post-traumatic stress disorder.] Gavin is a hero who helped out the country, but he became very traumatized.

(Related video: Dog Whisperer Tackles Pit Bull Terror.)

From a human point of view, the most challenging case was Bandit [an aggressive Chihuahua]. The owner was in denial about correcting the dog. She would rather protect the dog and forget about the family, which was mind-blowing to me.

That's the only case that I almost walked away from, not because of the dog, but because of the owner.

Studies of canine cognition show that dogs have greater mental capabilities than some scientists have given them credit for. Should we treat them like humans?

No. We must respect the identity of the animal before we fulfill our needs with them.

Dogs have the capability to do things that are beyond human behavior—they may know when you're about to have a heart attack, they could tell you that an earthquake is coming. But they do it from a dog point of view.

Do they observe behavior? Absolutely. Do they see people grabbing a phone and getting things done? Absolutely. But can they dial the phone? No.

How did your personal experience—growing up in Mexico and arriving in the U.S. as an illegal immigrant—influence the way you work?

It's been a big advantage for me to grow up in a Third World country where you're going to use instinct and faith, because access to intelligence is not as available as it is here in America. I have a big imagination, because that's all I had growing up.

To have a Ph.D. or a master's degree in behavior doesn't influence the dog's mind as much as my growing up with packs of dogs. My clients can be Harvard graduates, but they can't [properly] walk a Chihuahua.

How do you respond to criticism that your methods are based too much on punishment?

I always say that punishment and discipline are two different things. I don't punish the dog, I discipline the dog. Punishment comes with frustration and anger, discipline comes from calm, assertive energy.

Never, ever do I apply frustration and anger during discipline, because it doesn't work.

Are some dogs so brutalized that there's no way to reach them?

The only dogs I can't help are those with neurological problems. Dogs live in the moment, and for them to let go [of problematic behavior] is the easiest thing in the world. Of course repetition of the new treatment —which is exercise, discipline, and affection —is going to be key, or the dogs will go back to panic and fear.

Have you ever been scared of a dog you're working with?

When I'm around dogs, I have no fear, no anxiety, no nervousness, no tension, no instability. It's a beautiful state of mind to be in. If you have the wrong energy, you're going to trigger the wrong reaction in them.