Rantings on a Monday Evening: Why Cesar Milan Infuriates Me
So there's the deal. I don't hate Cesar Milan as a person; I try not to at least. I truly believe that he loves dogs. Be that as it may, there is no doubt that his rise in popularity has actually created more problems for dogs and their owners (mostly the dogs, though). The average person doesn't know the difference between his logical ideas (exercise your dog) and his horribly stupid and ignorant ideas (rub your scent on the dog's meals, stare down your dog, pin him down on his back). Most all of his ideas sound somewhat logical to the average person, and that's what really bothers me. "Dogs wanting to be the pack leader" are "dominance" issues and so on. The problem with human beings is that we are bossy, bossy creatures. We like being in charge, and this sort of ideology feeds our egos. It's easy for us to believe that a dog is just being bossy as well when they jump on us or try to take food from our hands that isn't theirs.
Because Cesar Milan loves dogs and because he's really very popular, I feel strongly that this puts him under a very unique ethical obligation not to put out any "information" that hasn't been properly researched. We have known for a long time that dominance training is not the most effective way to teach dogs. In fact, it seemed to have been going out of style for good when Milan showed up a popularized it again. I hear all of the time and see online, "But he gets results! He saves dogs!" Yes, and very, very sadly, no. What Cesar Milan does is suppress behavior. In his methodology dogs aren't taught replacement behaviors; they're continually punished into submission. For instance, if he were teaching a dog not to jump up on someone, he wouldn't teach the dog what to do instead. He would punish the dog so severely that the dog stops jumping out of fear. Instead of counter conditioning to change the emotional state behind the behavior, punishment is administered and behavior (and the dog) is suppressed. The big problem with this training style is the suppression is not elimination, and on top of being extremely emotionally damaging (and in some cases physically) to the dog, owners are put in a dangerous position.
You see, for dogs that already have "aggression issues" (for which the underlying issue is fear), punishment exacerbates the emotions behind the behavior. Instead of lowering the arousal level through desensitization and counter-conditioning, the dog is pushed over his arousal threshold, being punished all the way until he finally shuts down. The hapless owners are left with a dog that is a ticking time bomb, apt to go off at any time, and they are none the wiser. They're convinced that their dog is cured and they are now the "pack leader" that their dog needs... until the behavior resurfaces or escalates. The wear and tear on a dog physically and emotionally should be (and is by many veterinary behaviorists) considered abuse. It really is no wonder that there is such a substantial outrage at Milan from so many qualified professionals (referring to people with degrees in animal behavior and veterinary medicine) and as well as professional trainers.
If Milan wanted to, it would be very simple to change his methods to be more congruent with what behavioral science has known for decades: reward-based training is the best way to solidify desired behaviors and stop unwanted behaviors. However, Milan has decided to ignore the facts and continue to abuse his dogs by hanging them with choke-chains, and kicking, poking, and shocking them (with horrible timing, I might add). Milan isn't doing any dogs or their owners any favors. It's quite the contrary.
Like I said, I'm so happy that Cesar loves dogs. That's great; I do too. What I hate is that he is not pursuing proven, scientifically-based knowledge in the field of dog training. It makes him seem like an abusive idiot to all of the professionals in the industry who do seek to continue learning. And for those "trainers" that continue to push his rhetoric and teach the "dog-pack" based methodology, you make me the sickest of all. These "trainers" in the limelight that continue to use information that is not based in good science make the jobs of trainers to are dedicated to continual learning that much harder. We're fighting an uphill battle, folks! Dog trainers who are living up their ethical obligation to provide dog owners with accurate, up-to-date information, resources and methods, who take the time to read studies and scientific journals about dog behavior are the trainers that need to be heard. I hate that the voice we continue to hear the loudest is coming from a complete nut job with zero qualifications and near zero knowledge. Loving dogs is not the only thing that makes someone a good teacher. It takes (continuing) education, technical skills, social understanding, and the desire to always be learning and growing. Like I said, Cesar Milan may love dogs.... but that doesn't cut it.
It's my sincere hope that as more attention is brought back to science-based teaching that Milan will be forced to learn more about dog social hierarchies, body language, and of course humane teaching techniques. He's charismatic; I'll give him that. I think he could be a fantastic resource and advocate for positive teaching techniques. However if he continues to spew absolute rubbish, he's of no worth to any of us - certainly not to the dogs.
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