If you know that I’m a positive-based trainer, and if you know anything about positive dog training, you’re probably taken aback by the title of this blog post. Or, you might think that it’s clickbait – a blog title meant to make people click on a blog post that has nothing to do with the title.
It’s actually neither.
There is one thing I absolutely love about Cesar Millan.
And it’s not the fact that he’s a stone-cold Silver Fox – I mean, he is, duh, but we’re not going to talk about that right now.
It’s the way he talks about energy. Energy is everything, says Cesar Millan.
Wait, human. Stop. Don’t go buy all of his DVDs. I can fit the entire basis of Cesar Millan’s good energy juju right here in this blog post. As for the rest of his work, the majority of his shows will not help you, and may even hurt you if you’re not yet knowledgeable about how a dog really thinks and feels. (Hint: Anything about alpha dogs and dominance is long outdated, disproven and dangerous.)
When To Stop And Take A Deep Breath
Whenever you’re training your dog, walking your dog, grooming your dog – be aware of your energy. Be conscious of your body language, your mental blocks, yours fears and your joy.
Have you ever been so nervous about clipping your dog’s nails, you held your breath the entire time? Felt so anxious about how your dog would react to the mailman, you were startled when he rang the doorbell to get your signature for a package delivery?
Being tense makes your dog nervous. Which results in unwanted behavior.
If you find your stomach muscles tense, your toes curled, your breath on hold – release. Take a deep breath.
When you’re in a nerve-wracking situation with your dog, you need to take control of it.
If the trigger is the dogs at the dog park, get out of there.
Hit rewind on the nail clipping, and reintroduce your dog to the tool with lots of treats and encouragement. Clip just one nail each day, with lots of praise and good feelings before, during and after.
Your Dog’s Aura of Energy
I bet you’re already pretty good at reading your dog.
Most people are. Especially when they look closely.
Here’s a fantastic article about dog facial expressions and body language. It’s full of photos of real dogs with real expressions.
If you know that body stiffness, whale eye, yawning and lip licking are all stress signs, you’re better off than anyone who depends on Cesar Millan to learn about dogs.
How Cesar Millan Ignores Dogs’ Nervous Energy
I just watched this video. I’d recommend it if you love reality TV drama. No other reason.
Here’s what I just loove about this video: a large black German Shepherd, Spike, is so sweet around his family, but attacks everyone else. He lives with little girls, who he kindly tolerates as they climb all over him, even when he eats. That’s not a mark of a good dog. I mean, it kind of is, but what I’m really seeing is a family that doesn’t respect their dog’s personal space and some very lucky girls.
Don’t be like them. Don’t disrespect your dog by letting your kids climb all over her. Even if she doesn’t seem to mind. Not a good dog. Especially not a dog with a history of aggression.
And especially not after Cesar Millan tugs, tugs, and tssts away. Oh, god. Spike is showing signs of stress, pinned ears, yawning and whale eye. So is Cesar’s dog. I’m not saying Spike will eventually maul the little girls or anyone else. But he might.
Cesar has rehabilitated hundreds of dogs, and only a few have attacked people afterwards. That says a lot about the resilience of the canine mind, even when it’s gravely misunderstood.
The few other Cesar episodes I’ve seen – especially the famous one where Holly the lab bites him, as he ignores all the warning signs – are perfect if you need to study the body language of nervous, confused dogs. I’ve never seen so much material for that in just 20 minutes.
When it comes down to it, Cesar is great at giving off an aura of calm energy. He’s horrible at reading a dog’s energy. Unless, in the past few years, he has worked with trainers and behaviorists and has changed his ways. I like to think he has changed. If not, he’s still a very sexy older man, and he has that going for him.
This is a great article. I am not a fan of him at all. I agree with energy and how it affects dogs reactions and actions. Thanks
Thanks Lee! Happy woofing.
Great article. I think it’s so important to understand how our energy impacts our dogs. I took two of our dogs to our new vet today and they were both nervous. I didn’t reward their energy nor did I worry about them. Instead, I just talked to them while we waited and acted like it was perfectly normal. When they realized it was time to go, they were happy to go back to the car and enjoy a car ride home.
Our vet watched their behavior and saw that one of our dogs is very afraid and his sister is reacting to that fear so now Scout gets to go to the vet 2-3 times a month just for a hello and a treat until he becomes more comfortable. I love it.
I also check my moods at the door and if the dogs are causing me frustration, my boyfriend takes over. My negative energy will just make it worse.
And – yes, I’m rambling – I also like what Cesar Millan says about exercising a dog. A tired dog is a behaved dog. Making sure our dogs get plenty of exercise is key in our family.
Wow, Kimberly, you have a great vet. Not all vets would be so observant.
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Thanks Kim!
I like what he says about exercise too – he sells these doggy backpacks because he says it makes the dog feel like she has a job – I’d like to try that sometime.
What a great vet! You’re a great mama, I really like that – you don’t fuss over them when they’re scared, you just show them how to react – like it’s just a normal day.
Great article, Lindsay! Thank you so much for including my article about learning what stress in dogs looks like. I worked hard on that article, and I’m so pleased to know it’s helping pet parents!
Yes, he is good looking but too much grooming. I believe Cesar is in the closet. Time will tell more about this.
Lindsay, Here is the thing, this is the first post I’ve read and I clicked in for exactly the reason you pre-empted in your intro. All this stuff about positive training and she is hearting Cesar?
He undoubtedly has star power, both with people and with most dogs; but his methods do not translate in most normal dog homes.
I salute you for saying what a lot of us have learned – the whole alpha dog/dominance concept is just not really applicable.
It is all about the energy – learning your own dog’s natural way of being.
Hi Lindsay,
I’ve not been hanging around here long but I know you’re a science based force-free trainer. So when I first read the title to your article I had to do a double take!
I’ll admit, I’m not a fan of CM and I’d go as far as saying he’s a danger to dogs, owners and himself. I’ve watched appalling videos where he’s placed so much pressure on an already stressed dog that the dog just shuts down in fear. It’s heartbreaking to watch.
But, I do agree with you on the energy thing. It’s all about being in the right mindset. I learned a lot about this from working with Charley my 9 year old GSD. She was severely abused by her breeder and she was literally afraid of her own shadow when she became part of our family 3 years ago.
Her fearfulness affected me a lot to the point where it would bring me to tears. And even my sadness would have an effect on her. So I had to quickly learn to be in the moment with her. The here and now is important with dogs.
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I don’t know much about Cesar. The one thing I read him say was that dogs shouldn’t be allowed on the furniture, something about making sure the dogs respect the family’s home. He’s allowed his opinion, I’m allowed mine. To me, my family home means my dogs are allowed wherever they want, and we have no issues with “respecting” each other.
I agree! It makes sense when people don’t want their dogs to ruin their clean, expensive furniture, but there’s nothing disrespectful about our animals just wanting to spend time comfy and close to us.
Our furniture doesn’t get ruined. We keep our dogs clean and lay down sheets when we know they’ll have come from outside.
We like a nice, clean home PLUS dogs who are comfy as possible.
That sounds great – you really can have both! 🙂
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