Cesar Millan – what's behind the dog whisperer?
In the summer of 2014, Cesar Millan is touring Germany. The American is known not least through his television show as the dog whisperer, under whose hands even difficult problem dogs immediately become as meek as lambs. He uses neither force nor visible aids, but works almost exclusively with body language and energy. The successes are unmistakable, and interest in his method is correspondingly great. However, Cesar Millan also polarises: what looks like a miracle to some appears to others as cruelty to animals. We have summarised for you how the American dog whisperer works and what his method is based on.
Cesar Millan – who he is and what he does
Cesar Millan developed his method over the course of many years, in which he initially worked in a dog grooming salon. He is now probably the best-known dog trainer worldwide – but also one of the most controversial. In Los Angeles he runs a huge facility, the "Dog Psychology Center", where his dog trainers resocialise and train problem dogs according to his method. A gigantic media hype has meanwhile broken out around Cesar Millan himself: he has several TV formats, is a bestselling author, sells and advertises all kinds of products relating to dogs and tours the world with his live programme.
Being a pack leader
When it comes to Cesar Millan and his method, the words "pack leader" and "energy" often come up – and indeed these are the foundations on which the entire method is based.
For dog and human have completely different ways of communicating: the dog understands human words only to a very limited extent – the dog's body language, in turn, is not really imitable for humans, since we lack not only the tail but also the facial expressions that dogs can show thanks to their ears, nose and much more.
That is why Cesar Millan advocates communicating with the dog by radiating the appropriate energy. It should be self-assured, calm and firm if you want your dog to perceive you as superior and well-disposed towards it – as a true pack leader, in fact. For only when a dog has a pack leader who is really up to the task can it relax, and a positive relationship between dog and owner can develop.
For, just as in a dog pack, the four-legged friend, when it finds itself in a human "pack", always needs a firm social structure in order to feel safe and to develop healthy social behaviour – and that is, after all, the basis of a good relationship between human and animal.
Radiating the right energy
If you observe a dog pack, the trained eye often recognises very quickly which dog is the pack leader: its posture, its behaviour radiates it clearly. It is this aura that, according to Cesar Millan, the human must make their own if they want to give their dog the secure feeling of having a reliable pack leader who is up to the task.
Of course, a calm, secure aura cannot be forced. A frantic attempt tends to bring unrest. However, there are a few tricks with which you can encourage the radiation of a good, secure energy:
- relax the shoulders
- breathe deeply into the belly
- choose a somewhat lower pitch of voice than normal
- refrain from exaggerated facial expressions and gestures
Timing is the key
Even if the foundations for communication and understanding between dog and owner are already laid with a reliable exercise of the pack leader role and the radiation of the right energy, more is required, especially with "problem dogs", in order to resocialise them.
The key here is timing: only when the corresponding correction of the undesired behaviour takes place at exactly the right moment and with exactly the right intensity can the dog also learn its lessons from it.
Especially with genuine problem cases, a layperson is rarely able to assess situations correctly and defuse them accordingly without expert support. And if the right moment is missed, the mood can quickly change: threatening gestures can then turn into real attacks and bites in an instant. That is why the advice here is always: do not apply the methods without the help of an expert!
Why the dog whisperer polarises
However, the professional world has always been divided regarding Cesar Millan and his methods: while some admire him as a dog whisperer, others rail that his methods are not animal-friendly. What supporters interpret as a gentle correction by means of a small impulse, opponents see as a nasty kick that intimidates the dog.
It is the same with the technique of wearing the dog collar closer to the head than to the body in order to have better control over the dog: while some see in this a small trick with impressive effect, others rail that the dogs are being throttled by it.
If you follow the TV broadcasts of his shows, you are moreover often left speechless, because the dogs shown apparently change their entire nature in a few seconds. What fans see as proof of his skill is seen by opponents as proof that the shows are faked – but who is ultimately right can probably never be judged in front of the television screen.
Forming your own opinion
No matter how much opinions on Cesar Millan may diverge, one thing is undisputed: he is extremely successful! Countless people worldwide follow his shows on TV, celebrities from all over the world clamour for appointments with their dogs at the American dog whisperer's. And ultimately, even the doubters have to admit that the basic idea behind the method is entirely animal-appropriate, even if one can argue about the execution: for the fact that dogs need a stable pack structure in order to be able to develop tolerable social behaviour is agreed upon even by the greatest critics. How much you want to and can take from the Cesar Millan method for yourself and your dog is, therefore, as with any other training method, for you to decide.
