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Dismantling Cesar’s House of Dominance

Jul 18th, 2009 by

I’m feeling a little sick to my stomach this morning having just spoken with a friend who has a friend who worships Cesar Millan. Let’s name her Melissa. Melissa has totally bought into CM’s simplistic and wrong-headed belief that just about all the problems you have with your dog can be ridiculously reduced to one idea: your dog is dominating you. Show your dog who’s boss and most behavior problems will cease.

So Melissa, did just that. At least she tried to. But, Stanley, her dog, was getting fed up, apparently. He had had enough ‘alpha rolling’, being stared down, and leash corrections for not walking at a stifling close heel while wearing an asinine contraption called the Illusion Collar. He had become a ‘ticking time bomb.’

A few days ago Stanley bit Melissa, after a bit of a power struggle, when she tried to slip the collar over his head. “You will wear this collar.” “I will not.” “Yes you will.” “Will not.” Stanley won.

Fortunately, Melissa did not sustain serious injury. And, best of all, Stanley’s vet, no fan of CM, told Melissa she’s lucky Stanley didn’t dish out worse.

The good doctor advised Melissa to stop watching the Dog Whisperer and start watching Victoria Stilwell, a positive dog trainer with real dog training credentials, on Animal Planet’s It’s Me or the Dog. She also told Melissa to immediately seek out the services of one of several positive trainers in the area to repair her relationship with Stanley. And, oh yes, “Destroy that idiotic collar.”

I hope Melissa follows through. Not knowing how much of the CM kool-aide she has consumed, whether or not Melissa can be rehabilitated remains to be seen. I will feel very badly for poor Stanley if his mom is beyond recovery.

While talking with my friend about Melissa’s predicament, I recalled two excellent articles I read last week that debunk alphadogma, as I call it, specifically as is spouted by CM. If you haven’t already discovered them, let’s take a look.

The first one I came across, I do not remember how, is by Lisa Mullinax, CPDT. She leaves no CM claim unexamined in “Dog Whisperer, Dog Psychology, and Cesar Millan.” 

From CM’s flawed “dog psychology” to his assertions about “exercise, discipline and affection” to so-called “rehabilitation,” Lisa covers all of this and more. 

In a nutshell, Lisa says:

Is exercise important? Absolutely! Do dogs need rules and boundaries? Certainly! Do humans need to stop equating dogs to humans and gain a greater understanding of dog behavior? Definitely! But how these goals are accomplished are of equal importance. 

A basic understanding of canine behavior can give dog owners the knowledge they need to determine the right training methods for their dog and avoid those methods that offer new age explanations or pop psychology to sell old and potentially dangerous methods in a new package.

The other article was tweeted by several tweeps on Twitter. If you missed it, it’s  by Dr. Sophia Yin, entitled “The Dominance Controversy and Cesar Millan.”

Sophia’s piece is interactive, fun, and informative. She’s inserted video clips of CM from his TV show as well as videos of herself working with dogs. 

For instance, she says:

Watch the following (CM) videos and and answer the questions based on what you know about the definition of dominance.

  • Video 1: (Exuberant firehouse puppy.) Is the puppy trying to assert higher rank here?
  • Video 2: Why do you think the dog chases the cat? Is he trying to dominate it?
  • Video 3: Is the dog trying to dominate the point of  light fluttering across the floor?

After each video, Sophia offers her explanation of the dog’s behavior. HINT: It’s not dominance.

In a manner of speaking, Sophia also asks, “If not ‘Cesar’s way’, then what is the way?” In answer to this question she provides several engaging videos that demonstrate behavior modification in action.

In one example Sophia compares her way of working with a dog that is fear-aggressive toward other dogs with ‘Cesar’s way’ of working with a similar situation. There’s no need to include a disclaimer — Don’t Try this Home — at the bottom of the screen in Sophia’s video. 

And, Sophia addresses a question many every-day dog owners wonder about: “Why (do) some dogs seem to improve with force?” 

Both articles are chock full of links that help you dig as deep as you would like to go into all the topics they address from the truth about dominance, to changing the underlying emotional state of dogs, to medical causes of some behavior problems, and more.

And, you might or might not be aware of this. It came as a bit of a (pleasant) surprise to me. Many people in top-notch mainstream publications have been issuing warnings about the so-called dog whisperer’s ideas and methods for years. Lisa and Sophia both include links to some of these articles.

Here are a few that I didn’t know about:

“Pack of Lies,” Mark Deer in the New York Times 

“The Dog Whisperer Should Just Shut Up: Misguided expert of the year,” Curtis Pesmen in Esquire 

“‘Dog Whisperer’ Approach More Harmful than Helpful” in American Humane 

As I sign off  to take Sadie for the walk she’s reminding me I promised her, I want to acknowledge that many positive dog people are weary and bored with rehashing all the dominance theory nonsense and, in particular, CM’s popularization of it. Me too.

And, there are many new and fun avenues in the positive arena to explore. Debbie Jacobs (@fearfuldogs on Twitter) today mentioned that Kelly and Ian Dunbar are devoting this year to how we can improve our relationships with our dogs. I like that. A lot!

Nonetheless, I’m hoping that fine articles like Lisa’s and Sophia’s provide us with tools for dismantling the ‘house of dominance’ and strengthening our ‘pawsitive palaces.’ 

Okay. That was sappy. You’re right. 

I just couldn’t think of another ending and Sadie REALLY wants to go for that walk. NOW!

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Posted in Alpha dog, Article review, Behavior, Dominance, Ian Dunbar, Lisa Mullinax, Positive training, Sophia Yin, Uncategorized, Victoria Stilwell | 24 Comments »

Stop the Stress Express!

Jul 13th, 2009 by

Fix in your mind a stress-free, relaxed, easy going dog. Ms.or Mr. Go-with-the-Flow.

Perhaps this is your dog. Or, maybe not. If you are, like I am, parenting a not-so-stress-free pup, call to mind a chilled-out doggie friend. Forrest, the adopted St. Bernard who owns Mary Lee who owns PC’s Pantry comes to my mind. He drapes himself across the bakery floor like a flokati rug.

Hold that image in your head and answer this question:

  • How many hours a day is it likely our easy-going pup sleeps or rests ? 8? 12?

Nope. Would you believe 17 hours of sleep or rest per day, minimum? That took me by surprise. It also made me feel a lot less guilty about Sadie commandeering the couch for a few of hours after breakfast and most of the evening.

As for Forrest? He’s a champion ‘rester’. Bakery patrons walk over and around him. Dogs sniff him. And, Forrest pretty much ignores it all. Whiffs of liver loaves fresh out of the oven do, however, rouse him from his reverie.

Let’s try another one.

  • Dogs are social beings and need companionship. We all know this. So, our carefree canine is so because he is not regularly left home alone for hours on end. Right?

Wrong again! Being left alone for 4-5 hours a day is optimal–probably because the dog is knocking off a chunk of those 17+ hours of sleep when no one else is around to bother him. Next best? Just as you, or, at least I, suspected–zero hours being left alone.

That would be Forrest, and Sadie, too, for that matter. She always has human and/or doggie companions with her. Both most of the time.

Just one more.

  • Most dogs love walks. Which dog is more likely to be generally relaxed like Forrest is? The dog who gets 2 or fewer hours of walking per day, or the one who spends 3 hours or more on daily constitutionals? That could be an hour in the morning. An hour mid-day. An hour’s evening stroll after dinner.

What guilt relieving news I found this to be! Two hours or less of walking per day is less stressful. Rare is the day that Sadie doesn’t walk or hike for about an hour. Some days less. Some days, like today, more. Two hours and 20 minutes to be precise. Anything over 3 hours on a regular basis and we’re asking for trouble. Thankfully, most of us don’t have enough time or energy to submit our pooches to such an exercise regime.

Okay. Now we’ll switch gears from a mostly stress-free dog to one who is stress-full. Think of a dog that is a bundle of nerves, poor thing. Hmm. What signs would we look for?

  • As for physical ailments, recurrent digestive problems, vomiting and diarrhea top the list.

Some of the most common behavioral indicators that the dog is over-stressed? Here’s a very short list:

  • Very frequent display of calming signals (yawning, blinking, tongue flicks–You know, all those things that Turid Regaas has taught us about.)
  • Frequent barking or whining.
  • Inappropriate aggression.

If it weren’t for all that Sadie is teaching me about what she needs to chill and be happy, many of these afflictions would still describe her. Especially digestive problems! Oy! What a ride it’s been to finally calm down her insides. Later I’ll write about the rough road we’ve traveled to the vomit-and-diarrhea-free-zone (mostly) we now inhabit, and (fingers crossed) will continue to inhabit.

By now you’re probably wondering, “Where is she getting this stuff?”

Let me tell you. It’s from a little book called Stress in Dogs: Learn how dogs show stress and what you can do to help by dog trainers Martina Scholz & Clarissa von Reinhardt and based on their research. Recently translated from German, it’s published by and available from Dogwise.

Here are a few more things they found:

  • The least stressed dogs have an opportunity to run free daily and meet other dogs. Just running free doesn’t cut it. Dogs need contact with other dogs.
  • Dogs that were walked on leash and had no contact with other dogs were the most stressed.

This might seem like a no-brainer, but, still, it’s worth noting.

  • Dogs that frequently or often feel threatened to the point of behaving fearfully or reacting aggressively are at serious risk for stress-related complications compared to those dogs who are never or seldom threatened.

Think about it. Our dogs might well feel threatened quite often by people, dogs, sounds, or whatever, and we don’t notice. We need to learn to notice and act.

How did the authors arrive at these, and other, conclusions? Martina and Clarissa, analyzed data from a 40 item questionnaire they gave to friends and clients. They also made the questionnaire available on the internet. In all, 224 surveys were returned to them.

Needless to say, their research is just an early step on the trail of sniffing out the many ways stress harms our dogs and what we can do to help them.

And, reading their book raised at least as many questions for me as it answered. Take this counterintuitive finding. Dogs who were not played with by their owners were considerably less stressed than the dogs whose owners did play with them. Really? While we can speculate as to why this is–too rough play, over stimulating play, dog forced to play when she didn’t want to–the answers aren’t in the data

Also, I could quibble that the questionnaire (reprinted in the book) included items that were vague and resulted in answers that were open to way too many interpretation. But, I won’t. That’s not what’s important right now.

What is important about this little book? Martina’s and Clarissa’s message. They are shouting out loud and clear–Wake up! Pay attention to the stress overload many of our dogs are suffering right in front of our faces. Our unnatural modern world and our hectic running-here, racing-there, and seldom-home lives create a living hell for many dogs!

The authors implore us to open our eyes, to learn to ‘see’ our dog’s stress signals and relieve them because unrelieved stress makes our dogs sick. And, it kills.

Thankfully, they don’t leave us hanging with “OMG! Now that you’ve alerted me to how my poor dog is suffering–what can I do?” Martina and Clarissa include stories about several of the dogs that they have helped. My personal favorite was Lucia, the collie, who slept and slept and slept her way back to health in the care of her loving and understanding foster family. They also offer lots of suggestions for de-stressing our dogs’ lives, and, might I add, by extension, ours too.

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Posted in Fearful dogs, Greeting behavior, Jean Donaldson, Uncategorized | No Comments »

What Makes Your Dog Really Happy?

Jun 29th, 2009 by

You will never have a ‘normal’ dog no matter how much counter-conditioning and desensitization you do. No matter how many hours of training you invest. At least that’s how I condensed Dr. Nicholas Dodman’s lecture on fearfulness and fear aggression.

“You can rehabilitate, but there is no cure. And, there is a tendency to relapse.”

Thanks. I needed that.

It’s not that I don’t know this, mind you. I just hate being reminded of it. It’s like my doctor telling me, “Now remember, no matter how carefully you avoid gluten, or how good you feel as a result, you still have celiac disease. All hell could break loose if you lighten up your vigilance, even just a little.”

Just like gluten seems to be in everything, frightening things turn up anywhere, anytime, and often unannounced. I’m constantly ‘on duty,’ assessing every situation for it’s likely rank (1-10) on Sadie’s ‘Scale of Scariness,’ or SOS, as I affectionately call it.

A couple seated at a table outside the Brewing Market, a local coffee house, quietly chatting? Easy. That was a ‘1’. Sadie, enjoyed greeting the seated humans, and even moved in closer for a back rub. Yeah!

A man sporting a flying saucer-like hat silhouetted against the blue sky, teetering down the trail with walking poles? Rank that perfect storm of triggers an ‘8’, at least. 

Sometimes we hit the jackpot. We can go for days without encountering anything higher than a ‘3.’ No doubt this is partly due to luck, but it’s also a result of teamwork. Sadie and I are pretty good at avoiding or maneuvering our way through, say, a gauntlet of construction barriers, tractors and hardhats. Of course, it helped that the crew was eating lunch and the machinery was quiet.

Not long ago, after a few uneventful days, I lulled myself into thinking of Sadie as being a ‘normal’ dog.

Then WHACK! Like the succession of hail storms we’ve endured recently, Zeus hurled lightening bolts of scary things at us, one after the other. The guy in the flying-saucer hat was followed closely by a rickety plank in the wood bridge near the farmer’s market. Sadie hates, really hates, things wobbling under her feet. She freaked and escaped the evil bridge by pulling both of us into the path of an oncoming bicycle. Thankfully the bicyclist’s reflexes were superb. That episode was clearly a ‘9’.

A day later, Sadie was lying quietly by my side while I browsed dog magazines. Then, “Rrrroooffff, rrroooffff!” Sadie’s barrel-chested barking shattered the calm.

“Does she bite?” the startled woman whimpered.

“She never has,” I told her truthfully. “But, you really scared her. I think she felt threatened because you were crouching towards her tentatively and waving your hand in her face.” (I glimpsed this from the corner of my eye as soon as Sadie went off). Rank? ‘8.5.’

Of course I apologized, and, kindly, so did the would-be-head-petter who meant no harm.

The good news is that Sadie is recovering much faster than she used to from these high-ranking SOS episodes. She actually made up to the ‘crouching woman.’ As for me? Not so much.

There are times, like today, when I just feel exhausted at the prospect of getting suited up, so to speak, to ward off the scary things. To be totally ‘on’. What I want so badly–for Sadie to relax and enjoy life, and for me to lighten up and luxuriate in her enjoyment–seems hopelessly out of reach sometimes.

HELP! 

Occasionally when I cry out in desperation, the doggie gods shine their smiling faces on me. 

“Woof! Deborah! Stop twisting yourself up like a raw hide chew! Try writing a list of the things you do with Sadie that makes her really happy.”

Okay,” I agreed, not knowing what they were up to, but not being one to trifle with the doggie gods either.

1. Greeting the people she loves. I know Sadie is crazy happy when she does her ‘tippy toe, wiggle butt’ dance which she reserves for greeting the people she’s ‘head over tails’ in love with. Gigi, our trainer; Ira, her dad and my partner; Mama Kitty and Papa Carl, Sadie’s second mom and dad; Romeo’s (her best friend) moms, Shelly and Paige; Mary Lee and Colleen at PC’s Pantry, her favorite doggie gourmet shop. And, me, too.

2. Tracking squirrels. Her muzzle stretching upwards as if pulled by a thread, Sadie yelps gleefully as she tracks squirrels crisscrossing the canopy of trees in Mama Kitty’s beautiful yard and garden.

3. Playing fetch-the-tennis-ball. Sadie screams as our car approaches the ball field, especially when Romeo is with us. It sounds like she’s in excruciating pain, but really they’re cries of ‘antici-pa-pa-pa-tion.’

And, run? This poodle runs full out to fetch the ball and just as fast to bring it back to me. No trotting to the ball and slowly sauntering back like Romeo, Mr. Cool. Sadie’s enthusiasm is 100%.

4. Splashing after the frisbee in Boulder Reservoir. “Are you ready?” I ask. Sadie sits and unswervingly focuses her attention on me. Her tail twitches rapidly across the sand. Sometimes an excited bark escapes. “Am I ready? Are you crazy? Throw the frisbee, already!”

5. Off-leash hikes. Sadie lives for long, off-leash hikes with Romeo on cool, better still, cold, snowy days. She pounces Romeo, “ruff, ruff, ruff” (he’s very tolerant of her), as they bound across the open fields, their poodle bums and tails bobbing in unison. She sparkles with pure joy.

6. A raw meaty bone. Need I say more?

7. McGuckins! McGuckins is a locally owned, everything-you-ever-needed hardware store, and it’s doggie central. Ask any Boulder dog and their tails will tell you that McGuckin’s rocks. All of the sales people wear green vests (easily identified by canine and human customers alike) with pockets full of treats.

Sadie, being Sadie, used to shy away from the clerks. But, now she confidently trots up to a ‘green vest’, looks straight into the clerk’s eyes, and wags her tail. “Treat, please.” Yes!

Such behavior might seem rude to some of you. I know it does to a friend of mine who would never permit her dog to beg. But, as Debbie Jacobs, author of fearfuldogs.com, points out, fearful dogs are entitled to a FDL, Fearful Dog License. I make sure Sadie enjoys the full benefit of hers.

8. Hide n’ seek. “Sadie. ‘Wait.'” Sadie ‘waits’ as I distribute kibble in nooks and crannies throughout the house. When I return, her eyes are bright and her ears forward. She’s ‘waiting’, and ready to leap when she hears “’Release’, ‘go find it!’” Off she goes, kicking up her hind legs as she forages from room to room, floor to floor. 

9. Boxes! Ever since puppyhood I’ve been making cardboard boxes into puzzle toys for Sadie. Into the boxes I place eviscerated plush toys that I have re-filled with crumpled old cloth napkins containing a smattering of treats. Sometimes, like Russian dolls, I fit boxes within boxes, closing each one by tucking the four flaps one under the other

“Sadie,” I call. “‘Boxes!'” She dives into the cardboard, pushing her muzzle into the opening at the center of the four tucked flaps. Sometimes she grabs one of the flaps in her teeth and shakes the box until it flings open and stuffed toys and smaller boxes fly about the room. Then, a rip roaring good time ensues as she shreds the napkins and devours the goodies.

10. Clicker behavior-shaping games. Sadie is limited only by my skill, which, when it comes to shaping new behaviors, is minimal. Nonetheless, she lights up and bounces when she sees the clicker and treats come out.

Lately we’ve been working on a “wobbly board” of my own devising. Sadie, as I mentioned, prefers the ground beneath her feet to not move. So, for fun and to build confidence, we started gradually with the 3’x4′ particle board flat on the floor. Click n’ treat for one paw. Then two. Then three. Then four. Then for walking around on the board.

Next I put a towel under the board to give it a slight wobble. Back to clicking n’ treating for one paw, then two and so on. Now, hoisted on a folded towel, the board rocks, rather like a see-saw, nearly four inches off the ground, depending where she steps. Click n’ treat, treat, treat! That’s huge for both of us!

11. Spending the afternoon with Romeo at his house, ear wrestling and playing ‘catch-me-if-you-can’ around the cedar tree. 

I could go on, but I think I’m getting the point. Thank you doggie gods!

I need to see the bigger picture. Yes, there’s the unpredictable big world out there that we need to learn to navigate using my best counter-conditioning and desensitization skills. And, yes, vigilance is required.

But, life should be fun too, especially for a fearful dog! (What a concept! Sadie and I both think too much and take life way too seriously!)

Nick Dodman did say in the lecture I mentioned earlier that fearful dogs need exercise. It’s helps them to chill out. I want to add that I think they need to have fun too. Lot’s of fun! Sadie needs as many endorphin delivery systems as we can devise. She deserves as much joy juice flowing through her furry brain and body as she can manage.

So now I’m thinking, Okay, every day we do at least three things that makes Sadie really happy. More, if we can.

You see where I’m headed with this. I can’t help but blow it on the vigilance front from time to time, life being unpredictable and all. But, in the “good times department”? I can be a great mom.

“Sadie, girl! What would make you really happy today?”

“Visit Mama Kitty and scurry after squirrels in her garden? You got it!”

“Take a hike with Romeo? You’re on.”

“And after dinner? Boxes! You bet.”

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Posted in Behavior, Clicker, Fearful dogs, Happy dog, Nicholas Dodman, Uncategorized | 8 Comments »

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