Ceasar Milan, The Dog Whisperer, addresses dogs and chickens

[tellynpeep]

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Thanks for this post! I know lots of people believe Cesar Milan is a "dog whisperer" but his training methods have been discredited by most modern animal behaviorists. And the "quick fixes" that his show demonstrates make people believe that a serious behavior problem will have a simple solution..... often with dangerous consequences.

 

[2overeasy000]

I just finished reading the link. Thanks for posting it, I found it interesting. But, I'm not sure that the author ever saw the show. It seems like she cherry-picked and edited clips in an attempt to prove her point. I don't know whether or not he is a "Dog Whisperer" and I don't blindly follow anyone. I do what makes sense to me after doing much research. I've certainly never heard anything about quick fixes on the show either. It is always about daily reinforcement and consistency, giving your dog the proper amount of exercise and most importantly letting your dog know who is in charge. You must be the leader and the dog must respect you. This seems like common sense to me.
I've also noticed that he barely ever uses punishment and never raises his voice in anger, unlike what the link seemed to suggest. Instead, he seems to use a lot of positive reinforcement. For instance in the toenail trimming clip, I noticed that she edited out the end where after the dog got its nails trimmed it got a relaxing massage. And it was recommended that the dog get petted and messaged every time it got its nails trimmed.
I'm not sure why she had an axe to grind, but it seems like the two, Yin and Milan, agreed on much more than they disagreed on. Be a consistent leader, use a lot of positive reinforcement and treat the dog like a dog and not a little human. It is a lot easier for us to think like a dog and unreasonable to expect a dog to think like a human.
Anyway, I've been working with dogs all of my life and that's my two cents.

 

[Chido]

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A dog doesn't quite interprets massages as a human does. For a dog, that massage might as well mean you can do whatever oyu want with it, and the dog won't struggle because it fears harm

.

 

[2overeasy000]

Well, maybe we shouldn't be hi-jacking the thread. I just wanted to let the OP know that exactly what she posted in the beginning has worked pretty well for me. I'm not here to defend any show or discredit any dog trainer, just share my experiences, like the OP requested. Good luck on your "Don't hail Caeser" mission and thanks for letting me know how a dog interprets a massage.

 

[HenPenny]

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I trained my Boston Terrier very similar. I totally trust him around the chickens.

 

[hcppam]

My dog is definitely aware of them, but is a good boy and just walks by them.

 

[Moochie]

What kind of dog is that? Very pretty!
His methods never worked for my dogs... The secret in getting Bruno to stop barking is not a "chuh" noise, but those clickers you can get at Petsmart! I'm not sure if it hurts him though, every time I click it he flinches and walks away with his tail tucked.

 

[nzpouter]

cesar's way can work, but only and if only the dog owner is a capable owner....

Our dogs (all sorts of breed) have always live with our other animals, fed raw (blood/ bone/ fur/ feather), and hunt anything that don't belong here. We also babysit chicken killers every now and then, in all cases they settle down within the first week and are free to walk with us and our dogs with no lead among the other animals in this place.... but, when we do return them to their owners they normaly revert to their old habit... another point to watch for, you're introducing 2 types of animals together, just because your dog is use to the other species, the vice versa doesn't always apply..