Cesar Millan, born in 1969 in Sinaloa, Mexico grew up working with animals on his grandfather’s Sinaloa farm. He was called el Perrero, “the dog boy” because of how naturally he interacted with the dogs on his grandfather’s farm.
After illegally crossing the border into the Unites States when he was twenty-one years old, in 2000 Cesar became a resident and eventually became a citizen in 2009. While working as a limousine driver he was befriended by Jada Pinkett-Smith. She was amazed by his talents with dogs and decided to support Cesar by providing him English lessons for a year.
Since September 2004 he has been starring in his own reality television show called “The Dog Whisperer” on National Geographic Television. He has developed a loyal following with dog owners around the world. “The Dog Whisperer” airs in fifteen territories outside the United States of America.
Cesar Millan’s dog training techniques involve handling dogs with a calm-assertive energy. He encourages dog owners to become the pack leader for their animal.
Cesar travels the country helping dog owners with troubled dogs. He has amazing results in a relatively short period of time. The biggest part of his job is actually training the owners to respect and understand what their dog needs and making sure they get it.
Cesar Millan dog training stresses to owners three basic canine hierarchy levels. First is identifying their dog as a canine with canine needs. Owners have the tendency to place human needs on their dog instead of learning the canine needs of the animal.
Secondly, owners need to understand the specific breed of their dog. Different breeds have different energy levels and behavioural instincts. Thirdly, owners can see their dog as their pet, by the name they gave them. This hierarchy must be respected in that order.
Millan stresses basic canine needs in the following order… exercise, discipline and affection. He says that without proper exercise the animal will have pent up energy that they have nowhere to place and it could come out as aggression or excitability. It is the owner’s responsibility to provide proper exercise for their pet, provide clear communication as well as boundaries and limitations. Doing this will give the animal a proper balance.
Providing affection at the correct time is also part of Cesar Millan dog training. Making sure affection is given only to encourage positive behaviour. Negative behaviour should be corrected not encouraged with affection.
Cesar is famous for using unique mouth sounds to communicate with his dogs and encouraging owners to come up with unique sounds that suit them and their animal.
In 2002 Cesar Millan founded the Dog Psychology Center, originally in South Los Angeles. The focus of this centre is to rehabilitate especially aggressive dogs. It is at the dog psychology centre that is home to Cesar’s training pack. This pack consists of up to 50 dogs that have been rescued and rehabilitated to assist Cesar in his training methods.
Cesar’s methods have been criticism by other animal behaviourists through the years. He has been ridiculed over his use of choke chains for fearful dogs and confronting aggressive animals. An article was published in 2009 outlining the link between dog bites and owners who copy what they see on television.
Cesar Millan dog training has been the subject of many books over the years. Most written by Cesar himself. He has been invited on several high profile talk shows include The Oprah Winfrey Show on two occasions.
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