Quite a long time ago I wrote a series of posts about different dog trainers / dog people I follow a bit here and there, most on Youtube. One that has been added is Shield K9 (their website here) i USA – it is mostly the owner who talks/shows in their videos, and I'm a little unsure of what his actual name is. Men – yesterday I saw a live broadcast he did, where, among other things, he liked everyone's man to love or hate – Cesar Milan.
I thought that it was very interesting to hear what a professional dog trainer had to say about Cesar Milan. My spontaneous thought when I started watching was that now Cesar Milan was going to have a lot of rubbish said about him, which I feel most people would like to do. But not actually – this dude had a lot of respect for Milan, although he also said that the techniques Cesar uses are not something he would use himself. And that's ok – we are all different.
But on that overall, I was deeply impressed by this dude's attitude towards Cesar. It's no secret that I, unlike many others, actually like Cesar Milan. What this guy from Shield K9 was most critical of was not the methods Milan uses (the thing that most people are bothered by), without what Cesar talks about which is so hard to put your finger on what it is and how the hell you do it – this about energy, to shape and direct it, and to actually read dogs. Or, the reading of dogs is what the K9 guy was most impressed with – but that other, to use their own energy.
And that is hard to explain how to do it. It feels like the entire existence of this blog is about explaining in different ways what it means, and as far as possible, what is required and how to actually do it. But it is difficult, because it is something that exists within one – or it doesn't. Some people have it naturally – Cesar Milan is one such, and he has received the gift in abundance. Other people have it, but it has hid – there it can be lured forward. And other people again, don't have it at all, and no matter how one goes about it, they will never be able to bring out the ability.
That K9 dude mean with his criticism is that while on the one hand Cesar has this ability to read dog language frighteningly well, and also has the timing in his communication, so he has difficulty conveying exactly this with how to actually do it. How to use your energy to communicate with the dog so that it understands.
Personally, I have no problem understanding what and how Cesar Milan means. But then, on the other hand, I have had an interest in energies and exactly how to shape and direct them, since many, many years back. Translating it into dog language is neither difficult nor strange for me. However, I can understand that others may have difficulty grasping it.
Another thing as this K9 dude brought up is the question of whether Cesar Milan is a dog trainer or not. I'm surprised he's even asking the question, because Milan himself adamantly says that he is not a dog trainer. He rehabilitates dogs and teaches people how to handle dogs. And the K9 dude figured that out as well, At least for me, is so obvious – No, Cesar Milan does not train dogs. He is one “dog behaviourist” – and hundbeteendevetare, or dog psychologist as it is more common to be called here in Sweden.
Yet another thing that was brought up was that most of the dog trainers, just, who criticizes Cesar Milan, would never be able to handle the dogs presented in above all the first TV series with him, the Dog Whisperer. It's something I believe in 110% on. I am certainly not a dog trainer, but I would never in my life dare to rehabilitate dogs of that caliber. I have far too low a pain tolerance for that and am very afraid of my body parts. 😀 But above all, the K9 dude means, because positive reinforcement in such situations does not work. Of course, I can't have a direct opinion on that because I haven't tried it myself – but my personal opinion is that the K9 dude is absolutely right about that.
Positive reinforcement can be good for a lot, but not to everything. In some situations, a different approach is required, quite simply.
What I, however can say about Cesar Milan now, is that he has a completely different energy around him than before. Don't know how many of you follow him on Youtube, but his whole way of being around dogs and how he approaches them looks completely different than how he was presented in just the Dog Whisperer. I have not once in everything new produced with him, seen a case of aggressive dogs where he had to be as uncomfortable as most people think he is.
That I personally think is best with Cesar Milan is not how he handles reactive, aggressive dogs, but how, with his basic attitude, you can enter into the relationship with your dog and prevent and ensure that there will never be any problems right from the start.
But it is I, the. You can think exactly what you want. 🙂