Just to be clear, I've watched two (three?) full seasons of "The Dog Whisperer", and I still don't buy the energy thing. It might be because I tend to be more logic-oriented, so telling me to change my energy means a lot less than "speak more slowly to your dog."
I have to say it really annoys me that so many episodes of TGW show Cesar doing something "magical" - he makes a hand gesture and suddenly the insane, dangerous dog is totally submissive. That doesn't seem like helpful dog training for normal people. That just seems like "Look at how great Cesar is!"
I do also worry because his training is SO dominant, and I really think it's bad for dogs, ESPECIALLY in the hands of someone inexperienced. If your dog is afraid of the clippers, yes, you can hold him down and run the clippers near him until he exhausts himself in a frenzy of terror and "breaks". Or you can just give him a treat every time you use the clippers. I did this with Thor recently. He freaked out when I kissed him, so I started kissing him with a treat in my hand. After maybe two hours total training, he doesn't mind when I kiss him.
The important thing here is that I am not an expert dog trainer, so if my training doesn't work, maybe Thor is a little fatter and doesn't like to be kissed. If I try to "break" him and then kiss him, maybe it works, and maybe I traumatize him.
I think the clippers is a good comparison, because both Cesar and Victoria have had episodes with dogs who hate grooming, and the differences in approach is quite striking.
Anyway, after all that hate, I DO agree with Cesars message that dogs need boundries, exercise, discipline and affection. Dogs are much, much easier to train if they are not hyper, and I think there are a lot of under-exercised dogs out there.
Just my opinion, of course. Just please don't alpha roll your dog unless you really know what you are doing. |