Dog Whisperer

I know, sounds cheesy. How many "Whisperers" are out there now? Horse Whisperer, Baby Whisperer (no joke, someone gave me the book), Employee Whisperer, Dog Whisperer. I was skeptical, too, until I met a believer and heard her story.

I was visiting my friend, Linda, several weeks ago and noticed her well-behaved dogs. They didn't jump up on me, they didn't bark at me, and they seemed to "ask" Linda for permission to the things they wanted. When I commented on this, she smiled and asked me if I watched the National Geographic Channel show The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Milan. When I answered that I don't have a TV she immediately lent me her copy of Cesar's book, Cesar's Way. At the time I thought, "But I don't even have dogs. What am I going to do with this book?"

And then it came to me: I do have dogs-in-law. The almost-dreaded Bell, Daisy and Sally - Claudia's three huge blue-tick coon hounds. My mother-in-law, Claudia, used to breed hound dogs and sell the pups for quite a bit of money. Some of her dogs even won top prizes at dog shows. Now, however, she just has these three dogs roaming around her backyard. They bark, they dig, they can even jump over the 7 foot fence and race around the neighborhood. Claudia could only take one dog on a walk at a time because they pull her so hard. She's even dislocated her shoulder once just by walking one of the dogs. I offered once to walk a dog, but soon regretted it. The second I opened the closet door and lifted the leash off its hook, all three dogs charged at me, barking and jumping and so full of what seemed to be excitement that it literally scared me. I ran down the hall, with 3 huge dogs on my heels, and locked myself in the office. The dogs barked and clawed at the door and floor to try and "dig" under the door. I had to wait for JP to come looking for me and pull the dogs back outside before I could leave.

A few weeks ago, JP and I were driving Claudia and one of her dogs, Sally, up to Oregon where they were going to stay for several weeks. I figured this would be the prefect opportunity to read Cesar's book and try out the principles on Sally. Wow! What a difference it made. I'll explain in detail later on.

Cesar writes about dogs being pack animals and how that differs from the way we treat them. People tend to humanize their animals and associate human feelings and behaviors with their dogs. Cesar says this is one of the biggest mistakes a dog-owner can make. The human must show him-herself as the pack leader at all times. For example, when a dog owner returns from work and walks in the front door and his dog jumps up on him and starts licking his face and barking and running around, the dog owner assumes the dog is just happy to see him and must have really missed him while he was gone. Wrong. Jumping up or "mounting" another animal is how a dog shows its dominance. If you allow your dog to jump up on you, no matter how large or small of a dog, you are submitting yourself to your dog and telling your dog, "You are the pack leader and I'm just a follower." Other examples would be:
- Does your dog enter and exit the house first when going for a walk?
- Does your dog get possessive over toys or even over your attention and affection?
- Does your dog bark through the night?
- Does your dog wake you up in the morning?
- Is your dog allowed to eat at the same time as you or, even worse, beg for scraps from the table while you're eating?
- Does your dog walk in front of you when going for walks?

If you answered "yes" to any or all of the questions above, I've got sad news for you. You are NOT the pack leader in your own home. Your dog is. This is setting the stage for potentially dangerous behaviors. I highly recommend reading Cesar's Way and start becoming the leader in your home. Every human in the home, including babies, should be pack leaders over the dogs. Cesar discusses how you do this towards the end of his book. Now, let's get back to our experience with Sally, the disobedient hound dog.

Remember all the barking, jumping, and pulling on leashes that Sally was doing earlier? By the time we arrived at her new temporary home in Oregon, we could take Sally for walks off-leash. She would stay a step or two behind us the entire walk. She no longer barked uncontrollably. She doesn't bark during the night. She doesn't try to "escape" from the yard. She no longer charges for the door whenever it opens. She comes when she is called. She is calm and submissive. You may be wondering what miracle we performed in such a short period of time? We became what Cesar calls calm-assertive pack leaders. It has more to do with our attitude and mental presence than with tricks or tips. Sounds a bit out there - I know. And yet, having tried it on a rowdy dog, I can't deny the affects.

I've been telling everyone I know about Cesar's Way and would love to hear your stories if you've read the book and applied its principles.