Welfare Groups Write Open Letter

[Steve]

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_an...icle7044473.ece

Lady Gaga headlined on Saturday. Next Sunday Lily Allen joins Dizzee Rascal for a singalong. Bon Jovi has booked the stage for the summer. But on Wednesday night, the O2 Arena, in Greenwich, southeast London, welcomes a group of very different, but no less demanding, performers.

Some will be angry, some will be timid, some — the organisers claim — will be inspirational. On past form, the chances are at least one will be scared of linoleum. All will be dogs. And training them — as well as possibly wrestling them — will be the US superstar, Cesar Millan: dog walker to Hollywood; founder of the world’s first dog psychology centre; bête noire of animal welfare charities and recalcitrant rottweilers everywhere.

Millan is the Dog Whisperer. He believes that to control a dog you have to think like a dog, act like a dog — and prove to the dog that you are its pack leader. If that means rolling it on to its back, jabbing it in its face, and attaining the near-universal condemnation of dog behaviour experts, then so be it. Tens of thousands of devoted dog owners — and a handful of specially selected troublesome dogs — appreciate his approach, and have tickets to his UK tour to prove it.

A consortium of 26 animal welfare organisations, meanwhile — including the RSPCA, the Australian Veterinary Association, the Kennel Club and the British Veterinary Association — has written an open letter ahead of the show, warning that Millan’s methods will lead to “pain and fear”, and are “not only unacceptable from a welfare perspective, but not necessary for the modification of dog behaviour”. Some, privately, say that they will be attending to see if he breaks animal welfare laws.

Millan is used to this criticism and his producers have a standard response letter. “The canine experts, pet shelters and rescue groups around the world that agree enthusiastically with Cesar Millan’s techniques far outnumber Mr Millan’s detractors,” it says.

In any case, Millan is a man with a higher mission. “The goal that God and I have together,” he says, “is the whole world transformed through a dog.”

Divine or not, all that’s important, say his many clients, is that his methods work. Millan has trained Jada Pinkett Smith — Will Smith’s wife — to be pack leader to her rottweilers. The action stars Vin Diesel and Nicholas Cage have been shown how to be alpha males in their own homes. Oprah Winfrey, who previously called dogs “little people with fur”, was chastised for not showing any canine leadership to her dog Sophie. They are all grateful, and highly remunerative, clients. And 2010 is the year that Cesar Millan expands his doggy empire into Britain: starting with a national tour and leading to a British version of his hit TV show, The Dog Whisperer.

All of which is very impressive for a man who began his career 20 years ago as an illegal immigrant from Mexico, without any English or any money. Millan’s legend — a canine American Dream — is by now familiar to most of the 11 million Americans who watch his TV show. Penniless in California, he found himself in a world of dog beauty clinics and dog birthday parties. Originating from a Mexican village, where he was known to his family as El Perrero (dog boy) this was confusing.

He started walking dogs, handling difficult animals and inevitably, this being LA, gained some extremely powerful clients. It was then that he started to formalise his theory of dog behaviour, which, at its core, is simple: dogs are pack animals, human beings should be the dominant pack member.

“If what you do is say, ‘I’m sorry, baby, Mommy has to go, blah, blah, blah’, the dog only understands that you are in a soft state and he is dominating you,” Millan explains. This is not good for you, or a healthy dog. “If a dog is OK with just love, I would not be in business,” he says. Dogs need discipline, they need to know you are in charge. “Don’t let a dog walk in front of you. You’re the leader.” His fans love this approach, but to conventional animal behavourists it is snake oil.

“Basically, with a smile, he’s going to war with these dogs,” says Nicholas Dodman, a veterinary behaviourist.

If it is a war, then it’s a war fought with the rhetoric of a self-help guide. “Anything that is realistic, if I create it in my mind, it can become reality,” Millan says of his ambitions. He says he likes dogs because “they accept you as who you are . . . but they won’t be around unstable energy.”

On the covers of his books — Be the Pack Leader, Cesar’s Way, A Member of the Family — his grin is so fixed and dazzling, his forehead so tight and tanned, that every picture looks as if it could be the same headshot, Photoshopped into different, soft-focus doggy Utopias.

Alas, however, his is not quite the doggy Utopia it once was. Daddy, the pitbull star of so many of his shows, died last week. The obituary on Millan’s website described him as “one of the most influential pitbull ambassadors the world has ever known”. And for those who might consider the world of pitbull ambassadors to be too rarefied, it adds: “His name is now added to that honourable roster of dogs gone by whose influence is still felt today . . . Rin-Tin-Tin,Lassie.” It is not an idle boast. Beneath are 50 pages of condolences, each containing 50 comments. Some of those commentators will doubtless be watching on Wednesday night, eager to learn from the world’s greatest dog guru.

But Millan must know that the crowd will also contain representatives from Britain’s most-respected animal welfare bodies — watching, with equal keenness, to see if the dog-boy-made- good is breaking the law.

Edited March 1, 2010 by Steve

[barkon]

Its a shame those " representatives from Britain’s most-respected animal welfare bodies " weren't spending more time on things that are really breaking the law eg puppy farms, dog fighting gangs etc etc.

:D

[Cosmolo]

Well i would love to see those who condemn recommend something other than euthanasia or medication for dogs with serious issues. I don't agree with everything Caesar does but then again i don't agree with everything any trainer does- 'the only thing 2 trainers will agree on is what the third trainer is doing wrong'.

And i agree with barkon- Caesar Milan is hardly where resources should be concentrated!

[poodlemum]

What a load of garbage, from the usual attention-grabbing idiots, as if they REALLY care about animal welfare

[Nekhbet]

exactly ... christ the man is constantly in the public eye and they need to 'watch him'

how about watching all the underhanded, hidden and sneaky dealings that lead to animal abuse. Oh wait, there's not enough attention in that is there

[WreckitWhippet]

I don't agree with or necessarily subscribe to everything he does, but I respect the connection and the understanding that he has with dogs and the ability he has to show others, that they can achieve it too.

[Aphra]

Frankly, given the number of dogs coming through rescue who nobody had bothered to train at all, which is probably the reason they were abandoned in the first place, I reckon they should be grateful that Milan's message has been so popular that people are actually interested in training their dogs. Dogs are pretty robust in their interactions with each other, they are not sickly infants prone to the vapours if they receive a reprimand. I don't think alpha rolling is safe or effective, but the message about clear leadership and consistent discipline is a good one for dogs on the whole.

Perhaps the British have solved the unwanted dog problem and can now turn their attention to less important issues?

[WreckitWhippet]

It's not just the clear leadership and consistent discipline , CM really drives home the importance of exercise and occupying the mind.

[OSoSwift]

They obviously need to waste more money.

I agree Caesar is a person who has put training and exercising your dog high up in peoples minds. That cannot be a bad thing.

I may not agree with everything he does, but he has helped a lot of people change their relationship with their dog and they now both have much better lives.

I hope they watch and realise there is nothing to fine him with and let him get on with it.

[Kissindra]

if his show is anything like the ones he did in Australia they will have nothing to complain about.

[centitout]

They will find something if they want too

[MissMolly]

They are just using his celebrity to get some free publicity for themselves..

[sandgrubber]

Its a shame those " representatives from Britain's most-respected animal welfare bodies " weren't spending more time on things that are really breaking the law eg puppy farms, dog fighting gangs etc etc.

An open letter is hardly a major investment

I love watching CM, but don't find his advice is particularly useful for my own dogs. Hard to see him as harmful, however.

I sense, from the amount of time the author spent on CM's rags-to-riches bio, that the author is a fan, and has an agenda other than neutral presentation of news.

[Christina]

26 animal welfare people What do they think he is going to do ? Torture & beat them ? I don't think so.

They should be out there on those puppy farms & investigating real cruelty. Doing the job they are supposed to be doing.

Outrageous waste of time, money & resources, which they are always claiming are in short supply.

[Red Ruby]

OMG some people need to get a life!!

[sandgrubber]

26 animal welfare people What do they think he is going to do ? Torture & beat them ? I don't think so.

They should be out there on those puppy farms & investigating real cruelty. Doing the job they are supposed to be doing.

Outrageous waste of time, money & resources, which they are always claiming are in short supply.

Probably cost a few hundred dollars max, and less time than people have wasted responding to this thread.

Come on guys. This is a democracy. Open letter. BFD!!!!! People, and organisations, even misguided organisations, have a right to mouth off.

[GeckoTree]

OMG some people need to get a life!!

Hehehe.. it is 'life' to some, it's what floats there boat, a sence of purpose.

Edited March 4, 2010 by GeckoTree

[Kelpie-i]

Unbelievable rubbish!

Energy spent where it's not required. Leave the guy alone and let him do what he does best, otherwise these organisations should put their money where their mouth is and showcase to everyone how they handle and rehabilitate dangerous dogs.

[justin19801]

CM believes in training the owner not the dog. That is where the vast majority of canine problems lie. Jealousy I believe lies behind his detractors who make money from training the dog, a much harder and longer prospect. I wish I could have seen him in Oz.

[bluecollie]

26 animal welfare people What do they think he is going to do ? Torture & beat them ? I don't think so.

They should be out there on those puppy farms & investigating real cruelty. Doing the job they are supposed to be doing.

Outrageous waste of time, money & resources, which they are always claiming are in short supply.

I agree, what a heap of crap, why can't they just admit they need his advice and thats why they're really going to the show!! :D