Three more recent articles that factually and artfully dissect the CESAR phenom in all it's
regressive glory.
This will PROBABLY be my last post on this, as I prefer to spend my time on the more fun stuff and preach to the converted...

I will say ABOUT myself. I initially trained using choke collars, pack theory and more aggressive tactics...I had been training for less than a year at that point. When i saw Clicker Training and more humane methods presented to me for THE VERY FIRST TIME, there was no debate for me. I wanted and still want LESS aggression in my life, from every angle. I absolutely did not need another way to legitimize aggression in my life. That is one of the main reasons i choose to train non violently. I feel GOOD about what I do *and* how I do it.


Esquire article


Jean Donaldson's article on force and aggression in dog training.

review of Cesar's book by Pat Miller




Article on IAN dunbar [antidote to CESAR Millan}

I'm prepared for the firestorm...but here's where I stand..
there's a [what i consider] great article blasting CESAR MILLAN currently on the NY TIMES website from last week's paper.

It basically covers and dissemeninates what most working, progressives in dog training have been chewing on since this guy started selling his witchcraft on the tube.
There's very little good to say him and the show aside from the fact that his show at least gets people THINKING about training their dogs.

His methods are archaic hocus pocus that he basically INVENTED...
He's SELF TRAINED in a field that offers VOLUMES of information ON HOW ANIMALS LEARN, and yet he knows NOTHING of that information...HE actually MYSTIFIES dog training rather than making it understandable.
DOG Training is a SCIENCE...the application can be artful, but there are simply rules that stand up to scientific inquiry.
It's easy to deny the existence of these rules if you don't understand or know them....make up your own rules and fool the world.....oy.
And the show says, "don't try this at home???", solid progressive, positive dog training is something EVERYONE should try at home...
I think dogs deserve better than being hurt with choke collars, kicked 'gently' in the flank or run on treadmills and stressed repeatedly until they exhibit his "quiet submission" when they haven't been given half a shot at learning WHAT TO DO, vs WHAT NOT TO DO...

I'd rather see him train unicorns...seems more appropriate...
HERE'S THE ARTICLE.
CESAR BLASTED


A slightly less biased article about him appears here on the malcolm gladwell blog.
gladwell blog


Lastly, i heard cesar was on charlie rose last week, and a friend describled it as " the greatest sixty minutes of television since
Jimi Hendrix fell asleep in the middle of a 1969 Dick Cavett interview"

look critically my friends the emperor wears no clothes.

In London a guard dog hired to protect a children's teddy bear museum went on a 'vicous plush toy rampage' destroying priceless children's toys.
THE IRONY is, the museum ONLY hired the dog at the request of their insurance company....
IDIOTS....

Teddy Rampage

This article appeared in last week's NY Times. You can use animal training on your partner. I always knew this, but perhaps I need to open a sideline business saving relationships through training and positive reinforcement.
So guys and gals, it's work, but you can change another person...
Ny times article

I attended a dog training seminar several weeks ago and picked up some REALLY cool information and some tips on some new things I can integrate into classes and rehab. On top of that though, part of the lecture consisted of the evolutionary biology of dogs.
Recently, they've begun mapping the dog genome.
It used to be that we could not really distinguish Domestic Dog's DNA from that of Wolves. They were so similar and we weren't equipped to do it yet. However, those days are over and we have started mapping out the genome so we can tell a golden Retriever from a Poodle, form a chihuahua now, simply by looking at the DNA. AWESOME.
So you'll never guess which Domestic breed of dog is the closest to the wolf, both in similarity of DNA and chronologically closest [ time wise to a split from wolf/dogs to selectively bred dog?
The whole first tier of domestic selectively bred dogs are ASIAN breeds, suggesting that the first people to SELECTIVELY breed dogs for traits were in ASIA.
and the Shiba Inu, Chow Chow, AKita are all there...but the ACTUAL ..2 dog?
The SHARPEI...
can you believe it...who would have guessed...


for demystified info on this, check out this articlebbc genome article



if you think you want to PARTICIPATE in the GENOME project or learn more, go HERE
Genome PROJECT

So, the fourth of July is a dog's worst nightmare. I'm a bit late with this, but suggestions for extremely NOISE phobic dogs. [print out for next year, or the next Thunderstorm]

1. close all the windows [ keep noise out, and as importantly keeps dog inside]
2. turn on a bunch of other noisy things in your apt. [ tv/ radio/ blender/ dryer/ white noise machines, AC, etc]
3. In extreme cases, XANAX [from the vet] seems to be the drug of choice to medicate dogs with phobias to Tstorms and acute noise like fireworks.
4. some people have had success using a 'coat' called an anxiety wrap. It relies on the principle of compression/swadding. Jury's out on whether it really works.
5. Some dogs anxiety is not so acute that they shut down entirely. If your dog is relaxed enough to take [REALLY DELICIOUS] food during a NOISE EVENT, you can use that each time to gradually relax them more for the next time. [ see b.f. skinner on Classical Conditioning and Desensitization]