Milan seems to use the “whisperer” title at least half ironically. Basically, his philosophy is that a dog is essentially a machine that receives certain inputs, processes them based on evolutionary instinct, and gives outputs (behavior). It’s a very mechanistic (behavioralist?) view to dog training: I don’t care what the dog “feels”, I care what it does.
He’s also very big on being your dog’s “pack leader”, but that’s more because he thinks dogs are evolutionarily pack animals, and if you aren’t the leader, the dog is, which means it isn’t doing what you want.
He’s also very big on being your dog’s “pack leader”, but that’s more because he thinks dogs are evolutionarily pack animals, and if you aren’t the leader, the dog is, which means it isn’t doing what you want.
Heh, I’ll agree with this for sure. We get some of that from our cats also. The youngest one will test the fences sometimes and assert her authority. It’s important to establish pretty quickly that, no, you’re not in charge here.
I just found out that I’ve been laid off from my cushy telecommuting job. Right now my head is kind of spinning from this news. I just spent the last month training to use new software, and now all that work seems like a waste. I’m bummed about it, but I also knew this wasn’t a job I wanted forever, so I’m somewhat anxious/excited about what’s in store for the future. I’m eligible for unemployment, will receive severance pay, and they want to use me as a consultant when needed, so let the summer of funemployment commence.
Caesar Milan is really entertaining and quite effective. I’ve only seen a few episodes but they were great.
One of them there was this really aggressive dog that though it was the Alpha wherever it went. Milan has this yard full of dogs (a dozen dogs it seems) where he brings animals in to socialize them with other dogs. This problem dog of course was aggressive and was snarling at the other animals. Then he bring it over to the cage of the one unneutered animal he owns . . . a huge make pitbull. He brings the dog over there and lets the pitbull out. The pitbull is not aggressive or anything, but it must just exude “I AM A FUCKING BADASS”. The problem dog immediate went submissive to this dog. Pretty amazing.
EB: I don’t watch much TV either, but you need to turn it on more often or get out more if you’ve never heard of that guy, hehe. I think a few people complain about his techniques, but I think he’s a great human being overall.
My wife was almost in tears when we saw the 100th episode special last night on the DVR and found out that his pitbull sidekick Daddy is already 14 years old.
Lorini
1866
What software was it, delirium? Maybe you can search job postings for the name.
I can’t argue with Milan’s results, though his theories on dog behavior come a little too close to those of some behaviorists who insist that animals are little more than biological machines with no capacity for personality, problem solving or wit.
Arguing that animals have no personality is insane. We have 2 cats and they are as different as night and day. They have personalities that are impossible not to notice.
nlanza
1869
The only problem with his show is that there really are only a couple episodes.
I mean, they filmed dozens and they all have different dogs in them, but it’s the same few episodes over and over.
After a while I just didn’t need to hear him say “calm assertive behavior” anymore.
A bunch of his suggestions really worked well on our dog, though, so I’m definitely not complaining about him in general.
He’s also a proponent of the Alpha Roll, which is one of those things that can work with some dogs. But if the wrong person is doing it or doing it on the wrong dog or does it the wrong way, it can go very, very, very badly.
Yeah despite all the disclaimers I’m sure some people screw things up, but I can’t even fathom how many big aggressive dogs he’s saved directly and indirectly from being destroyed.
Re: Milan’s viewpoint, I think he is teaching that you can train a dog based on certain evolutionary responses in spite of personality quibbles. Just like every human will avoid pain, seek shelter, etc., dogs have certain things that are common to every one of them. Personality probably just extends or contracts the training time a certain percentage.
H.
Dog people, I own this book and think it’s pretty interesting.
I just contacted a local dog obedience school which I’m passed by several times that’s near me. When I asked how much the classes cost they started in on this spiel about how they had full time staff and their facilities and all this stuff. When I interrupted and asked them directly how much it costs, they said “Our classes start at $1400 and …”. Then I stopped them again and said “I want him to be a little calmer, not do my taxes.”
And just to put this tangent to bed: in almost all these shows it’s the human’s fault, not the dog. The premise of the show is “exercise him, tell him ‘no’ occasionally, and love him the right way, you numbskull!” :)
It’s web survey programming software called Confirmit. I think I’m probably going to move on from the public opinion research field, though.
They just announced a Metal Gear game for 360. That’s what interesting happened to me.
Don’t know how interesting you guys will find this, but I literally stumbled upon a nest of newborn bunnies in my yard yesterday. I’m pretty sure they’re fine - not abandoned - but I’m going to put a couple of pieces of thread on top of the nest covering tonight so that I can better tell in the morning whether mom shows up to feed the li’l critters. They usually nurse between midnight and dawn, from what I’ve read.
Man, they are the weirdest combination of ugly and cute at that age, all hairless and blind…
Scrax
1880
If you have any cats or dogs be sure to keep them away from the nest. They will get into it.
