Dog Whisperer to Critics: My Techniques Are "Instinctual"

Maryann Mott
for National Geographic News

July 31, 2006

Cesar Millan, star of the Emmy-nominated TV series Dog Whisperer, has amassed legions of fans with his boyish grin and his stern but effective techniques for rehabilitating dogs with extreme behavioral problems.

On the show, which airs on the National Geographic Channel, Millan helps troubled canines get back on track through his formula of exercise, discipline, and affection—in that order (see a Dog Whisperer video clip).

(National Geographic News is a division of the National Geographic Society, which is part owner of the National Geographic Channel.)

Many of his clients have sought professional help before contacting him but were unsuccessful in solving their pooches' problems.

"I am the last resort for a lot of people," Millan said.

But the canine expert also has critics who call his methods old-fashioned, cruel, and ignorant.

What's more, two lawsuits were filed against Millan earlier this year, one of which charged workers at his Dog Psychology Center in Los Angeles, California, with injuring a Labrador retriever.

Millan says the handler responsible was a friend—not an employee—and says he no longer allows outsiders to use the center for rehabilitations.

In an interview with National Geographic News, Millan takes on his detractors, talks about dog training, and discusses how he felt after learning that an animal had been hurt at his facility.

On the show it seems that results happen quickly. In real life what is the expected time for consistent changes in behavior to occur?

It varies from seconds to minutes to hours to weeks. Super, super extreme cases, where I tell people their dogs have to come to the center, require two weeks.

Others are incredibly quick, but that's because they were not too bad, even though they seemed really bad.

Most trainers and behaviorists advise clients to have their dogs examined by a veterinarian first to rule out possible health problems that could be causing unwanted behavior. Do you suggest this to your clients?

Absolutely. Anything that can create balance in dogs is great. If veterinarians can give you the solution and give you why this is causing the behavior, of course. Anything that is good for an animal, let's do it.

You've worked with choke collars, flat collars, and head haltis [training tools that look something like muzzles] on the show. What's the best type of collar for people to use on their dog, and why?

It's not so much the tool, it's more the energy behind the tool. It's more psychological than anything else.

And, of course, I teach people how to use the tool in a humane way.

Of all the cases shown on the Dog Whisperer, what percentage has successfully been rehabilitated? Will there be episodes revisiting past cases to see how those dogs are doing?

We have done the revisiting part and 99 percent of them are rehabilitated … (see photos of some of Millan's four-legged clients).

Again, we work with rock-bottom cases, so those people are already in a very desperate need. When they see that it's possible—and other people have shown them no possibilities—they're going to stick to it, because they obviously love their dogs.

When I go and work with people I never say, Your dog is changed for the rest of its life. It's like a diet. You've got to maintain a discipline and ritual in your life to keep a certain figure. It's the same thing with a [dog's] mental behavior.

There's an old joke that the only thing two dog trainers can agree on is that the third one is wrong. Do you believe there are other training methods besides yours that are just as effective?

Absolutely, there are other methods. I'm not the only person who can help people. There are 68 million dogs in America—I can't get to all of them.

So we need all the professionals to help and accomplish the same goal, which is a balanced dog. How you accomplish that is up to you, as long as you use a humane approach.

I'm open for possibilities. I'm open for choices. I always welcome new ideas. I'm always eager to learn. I'm never going to close my mind from learning.

You provide the dogs at your facility with a tremendous amount of daily exercise: four hours of hiking in the morning, one hour of running while you skate with them in the afternoon, and a 20-minute game of fetch at night.

For the average owner, who does not have the time or resources that you do, what's the best type and duration of exercise?

The average owner doesn't have 40 or 50 dogs. That's why I walk so long and why I maintain my pack in a tired state, because the bigger the pack, the longer the migration.

The reality is, if you have a high-level-energy dog, it's not going to be happy with a one-hour walk. Those types of dogs are going to require more than one hour of physical challenge in the outside world.

There is a way we can intensify one hour. A dog can carry a backpack, so this way the one-hour walk becomes [the equivalent of] two hours.

In situations where it's cold weather or very hot weather or very rainy weather, I've shown people how to utilize the treadmill so the dog gets the benefit of all this drained physical energy.

The [outside] walk is the most primal, important activity for a dog. But if you have no choice, consult a professional—somebody who can help you condition a dog to be OK with a treadmill.

If viewers were able to follow you around for the day or even see unedited footage of your show, is there anything that might surprise them about you or what you do?

That it's real. The editing is more of when we're talking to the humans. We really like to put all this real timing in [about] how long it takes for the dog to give up aggression, nervousness, fear—so people experience the emotion. And, of course, [the viewers] see the transformation.

You use what's known as the alpha roll [flipping a dog on its back and holding the animal in that position to emphasize the human's dominance] in your training. This is a highly controversial technique among trainers and behaviorists.

What's your response to those who feel it should not be done and that it's harmful to use this technique?

That's their point of view.

It's the difference between going to school and the dogs being your school. One is the intellectual knowledge, the other one is instinctual. I am instinctual.

I'm open to [other trainers'] beliefs and I'm open to their knowledge.

They close their minds. They say their way is the only way, and my way is the wrong way. That's not a very good leader.

If you study a pack of dogs, the first authority figure is the mom, and the mom does pin the puppies down. It's an instinctual relationship that I have to establish with them. It's for the benefit of their species.

The reason why I'm able to accomplish what I accomplish is because I am calm-assertive to [the dogs]. So the mother is the first calm-assertive energy they know, then it's the pack leader.

Domination, dominating, and the alpha roll exist, and will exist, until we get rid of the species of dog.

[In his 2006 book Cesar's Way, Millan cautions the reader that only a professional should ever forcibly put a dog on its side. With a dominant or aggressive dog, he says, an inexperienced person could be bitten, mauled, or attacked.]

Earlier this year a dog was allegedly injured at your dog psychology center. The National Geographic Channel stated you were not there when the injury occurred nor had you worked with the dog.

That's correct.

How did you feel when you learned what had happened?

Obviously I feel bad. My goal is not for a dog to get injured, especially at my place. That's not how I gained my reputation.

The dog was injured by the handler. It was not premeditated. Nobody wanted to hurt the dog. It was an accident.

I guess that's the price of fame. Instead of addressing themselves to the person who is responsible, they are going after the Dog Whisperer. It's just not fair.

I already offered my apologies and, of course, I feel bad about what happened to the dog.

It's just an unfortunate thing that happened, and we're trying to resolve it so that everybody is happy.

Is there anything else that we did not discuss that you'd like to mention?

What I would like to really express is, don't get stuck on one thing. Always create your own techniques and your own formula.

Exercise, discipline, and affection is Cesar Millan. And calm-assertive energy—you heard it from me.

Just don't get stuck in one way. Then you close your mind and stop growing.

I like that about dogs. They don't close their minds to one way. Humans do. Dogs don't.

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