Dog Whisperer Brings Dominance to the Classroom

by Stephanie Feldstein · 2009-12-08 08:00:00 UTC
Topics:

I'm not the only trainer who shudders every time Cesar Millan, the so-called "Dog Whisperer," makes the news. Through his popular TV show and bestselling book -- and now his magazine -- he preaches outdated dominance theory and punishment techniques for dog training, which not only misrepresent the reality of training, but can also be downright dangerous. The latest bit of disturbing news? His book, Cesar's Way, has been approved as a textbook for English and Science classes in public schools.

Cesar's website says he has "a primal communion with nature," which would be fine if he was only training dogs without really understanding their behavior in the privacy of his own home. But he's on TV, and bookstore shelves, and now in schools, attempting to teach others how to relate to dogs through domination, physical corrections, and traumatic overstimulation. There are volumes of commentary from some of the best trainers in the business, vets, applied animal behaviorists, and other dog experts on why Cesar's methods are dangerous. In the past year, there have also been a number of studies showing that dominance doesn't motivate dogs, and dominance-based training can escalate aggression and backfire on the trainer. This is what Santa Monica and Malibu school districts think children should be learning?

In theory, someone who has been able to elevate dog training to pop culture status should be a good thing. After all, training adds to your dog's quality of life and helps solve a number of the problems that cause dogs to be turned in to shelters. But Cesar's methods are often abusive and, when they backfire, other trainers are left cleaning up behavior situations that been made worse. He does promote a positive image for pit bulls, but again, he seems to do this with little thought about the big picture. Instead of promoting rescue, especially since there were about 100 puppies born in a temporary shelter after the country's largest dog fighting bust over the summer, his latest addition is a puppy from a friend's litter.

Unless Cesar's Way is used as a text on what not to do, it shouldn't be in schools. It's not hard to find a better role model, someone who will teach compassion instead of aggression. Our dogs and our kids deserve that much.

Photo credit: Dog Whisperer, Season 1

Stephanie Feldstein is a Change.org Editor who has been part of the animal welfare and rescue community for over a decade, and most recently worked for an environmental organization.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Breaking Unjust Laws: Clarence Darrow and Inherit the Wind
NEXT STORY:
Super Bowl Countdown: 5 Actions in 5 Days to Protest Skechers' Dog Racing Ad

COMMENTS (81)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.