[QuickSilver]

Maybe it's splitting hairs. The dog was opening and closing its mouth in such a way that it was clearly trying to gasp. Imagine if you yourself were in that situation - someone you don't know has a firm tie around your jugular while you are walking and out of nowhere you feel a "tap" on your butt. You would naturally whirl around, and then if this stranger pulls back on your jugular, it's going to pull tight when you fall back to the ground. Would this not panic you and make you start scrabbling at the stranger to get off your neck? You still don't know what potential threat made contact with your rear.

This is why you shouldn't pull a dog away from a fight by its collar. Almost any dog worth its salt will automatically redirect a bite at this new, unfriendly restraint, in this case your hand.

I guess we have different interpretations, and I have not covered "red rocket" body language, so I'm not going to stake my life on my understanding. As yes, Cesar maintained his composure. But I don't think it should be shrugged off that there was no need to start the dog off in a high pressure situation. The owners in the clip said this dog had shown a lot of aggression towards other dogs before (Cesar said it was actually a wish to dominate), but obviously, that dog was going to be under a lot of pressure.