![]() ![]() He opened the second half of the show with a clip of South Park that parodied his show,” The Dog Whisperer.” I have a friend who talks all the time about how much she hates when Millan “tssts”. Millan showed a clip from South Park, which parodied the famous dog trainer. Keep in mind that I’ve never seen “The Dog Whisperer,” so what Millan shared last night I can only assume was what he considered his best work, and what is most indicative of his methods and technique. And after intermission, I got to see it for myself. But what he glossed over is exactly where the problems lie. I think most trainers – even positive trainers – could agree with much of what he said in the first part of the show. Unfortunately, technique is the problem that many have with Millan. He mentioned that there are different techniques to achieve those solutions, but he didn’t go into detail. He talked about problems like fear and anxiety and aggression being the outcome of problems rather than the problems themselves, and how addressing the root problems in body, mind and heart would be the path to the solutions. In other words: we Americans humanize our dogs too much. Dogs in modern countries are chunky and they have psychological problems,” that our dogs have everything but are experiencing instability. ![]() He said, “Dogs in other countries are skinny but they don’t have psychological problems. He also made a lot of great points, talking about a dog owner’s need to be a stable leader, to be calm, to meet the dog’s needs of body, mind and heart, to understand how our own behavior can lead to anxiety and instability. But he was open and honest (qualities he stresses in training) and he was thoroughly entertaining. He made jokes about his immigration status – he came here illegally but is now a citizen. I thought some of it was in poor taste – he joked that Mexicans trying to cross the border invented the first agility courses. He’s a natural storyteller, and has an uncanny way of demonstrating animal behavior, pointing out mistakes humans make while making us laugh at the same time. Whether Cesar Millan was imitating a yapping Pomeranian or lying on the floor demonstrating a cat giving itself a bath, he had the crowd laughing. I mean, laugh out loud hysterically funny. The first half of the show was hilarious. He smiled, waved, took off the coat, and got down to business. In the dog world, Millan is apparently a rock star. The show opened when Cesar Millan stepped onstage wearing a giant puffy parka, earring sparkling in the house lights. I needed to see for myself.Īnd after watching Millan’s performance last night, I now have an opinion. Honestly, I can’t form an opinion based on that. I’d heard comments that ranged from “He’s rude” to “Let’s get the shotguns”. As a Christian, I’ve been on the receiving end of the judgmental finger pointing so I try to avoid doing that to others. So when people talked about what a horrible, inhumane trainer Cesar Millan is, I really didn’t have an opinion about him one way or the other. I had seen him profiled on CBS Sunday Morning and found him charming and interesting, and was impressed that he had about 30 dogs off leash while I was at my wit’s end with three warring dogs and a cat. I’d never seen his show, never seen him train a dog or talk about training a dog, never read his book (although I do have a copy of “Cesar’s Way”, picked up at the used bookstore, in my to-read pile). ![]() In the interest of full disclosure, until that point my exposure to Millan was limited.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |