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Do not attempt
these techniques yourself
without consulting
a professional.
On this episode of
the Dog Whisperer.
Ronette: He wouldn't let
me pick him up or touch him.
You just can't trust him.
Cesar: This dog
has many problems.
Christy: No Boomer.
No Boomer.
Cesar: The dog does
not listen to them,
ninety-nine percent
of the time.
Jody: Boomer!
Eula : Sueki.
She has never
walked on a leash,
she doesn't want
to walk on a leash.
Come on honey.
John: The impression we
got was that this was behavior
that couldn't be fixed,
and he would eventually
harm our children.
Cesar: I know what I do
is rehabilitate dogs,
but this is beyond
rehabilitation.
Narrator: When
good dogs go bad,
there's one man who's
their best friend.
Cesar Millan.
Cesar: No dog is too
much for me to handle.
I rehabilitate dogs.
I train people.
I am the Dog Whisperer.
Christy: Boomer.
Jody: Boomer.
Christy: Oh, my god.
Throw it! Throw it!
Throw it!
I love dogs
and my intention was to paint
every breed of dog in a costume.
Cause, I just think dogs
look so cute in costumes.
Boomer could only be a clown.
He has such a personality,
and does such goofy things
and like of course,
Boomer's a clown.
Boomer's just a
natural born clown.
Narrator: Two and a half year
old Chesapeake Bay Retriever,
Boomer's always
played the family clown.
Whether obsessing over
balls lost under the sofa.
Christy: Come on, Go on!
Narrator: Or paddling madly
in the pool for hours on end.
His playfulness
is what originally endeared
him to owner, Jody Sherman.
Jody: I picked Boomer
out from-from this
litter of seven puppies.
I've been a dog
lover my whole life.
My first job when I was eight
years old was at a pet store.
I've always had
at least one dog.
And Boomer's probably my
favorite dog that I've ever had.
He's just a little nuts.
Narrator: Lately, Boomer's
craziness has been putting
a strain on Jody's relationship
with his girlfriend,
Christy Thom.
Christy: When I met Jody,
he already had Boomer,
so Boomer came
with the package.
He barks non-stop
'til he gets his way.
He's like a little kid
that-with, you know,
with Turret's that
just won't shut-up.
He's just pay attention to me!
I have a Great Dane,
his-his name is Beau.
When Beau was a puppy,
uh, Boomer, you know,
had to beat him
up a couple times,
to show him who's
boss and you know,
show him who's dominant
dog of the house.
Boomer's favorite
thing is when nobody's
paying attention to him,
he'll take a toy and
he'll throw it underneath our
desk or wherever we're working
or sitting and then,
he'll bark at it.
We can't even put the toy
away because, he'll just,
you know, go to wherever
we put it away and bark.
Jody: Probably within
about two weeks he figured out
that he could get
attention from barking and
then I think it went
from there to him just liking
the sound of his own voice.
Christy: There's
a door to our office and
a door to our living room.
And we leave the door to
the living room open for him
when we're here so
he can just run outside.
So he goes
around the open door comes to
the closed door and barks at us.
Just barks at us to let him in.
Then we let him in,
he does it again.
Comes around to the door,
barks, and barks and barks.
Boomer, no!
Jody: He's a dog that
always needs to be in your face
letting you know he's
around wanting to play.
Narrator: For Boomer, play
time is all the time.
Christy: I like the
long sleeve a lot.
Jody: Okay, that's three
shirts he's ruined.
Christy: Boomer!
Jody: I'm definitely gonna
need more boy stuff.
Narrator: Jody and Cristy call
on dog behaviorist, Cesar Milan
to help save their
relationship and their sanity.
Jody: Hey.
Cesar: How you
doing, Cesar Milan.
Christy: Hi I'm Christy,
nice to meet you.
Cesar: So, how can
I help you guys?
Christy: Barking is our
biggest problem with him.
Jody:
We had to consider at one point,
having him surgically debarked.
Because our neighbors
were so frustrated by it,
at you know,
two o'clock in the morning,
four o'clock in the morning.
And there's no way
to turn him off.
So that's,
you know, that's a like a
really big concern of ours.
Cesar: Anything that you try.
Jody: We've had
actually two trainers.
Two, you know, trainers that
come very highly recommended.
And that have, you know,
gave us some things to help with
but nobody's been able to
do anything with the barking.
Cesar: It didn't work because
you stopped the process?
Or you'd just.
Jody: If he'd start
barking, we'd correct him,
the way we were shown
how to correct him.
Christy: But, he barked
through the corrections.
Jody: He would bark
through any correction.
Christy: I mean
he, you know, the corrections
don't matter to him.
He's just, he loves to talk.
Cesar: Do he represent to
you just like he's a human being
or he's a dog in your mind?
Jody: He's like a furry human.
Christy: He's like
a child, yeah.
I mean, He's like
a, like a really naughty,
naughty, demanding child.
Cesar: Yeah, but
consciously or unconsciously
you're going to use
human psychology on him
when you're supposed to be
using dog psychology on him.
When a dog is waggling too
much and doing all this thing,
he's not happy, he's anxious.
That's anxiety.
That's excitement.
When
they're happy is when they're
in a calm, submissive zone.
That's when they're happy.
I have to make
sure he goes into this state of
mind for me to share my love.
If I share my love with him,
his mind is out of control,
and then I'm nurturing out
of control state of mind.
Christy: I've never known
how to be dominant over my dogs.
They've always been,
like my-like my babies.
Always.
Cesar: And when you have
a submissive type dog,
go right ahead
and baby him because you're
nurturing that state of mind.
But with a guy like
this you can't.
Christy: We know that he's
incredibly dominant but
we just don't know what
to do with that.
Narrator: When we continue,
can Boomer's bark be banished?
Narrator: Jody Sherman and
Christy Thom are fed up
with the annoying
antics of Boomer,
their two and a half year
old Chesapeake Bay Retriever.
After assessing the situation,
dog behaviorist Cesar
Millan senses that Boomer
has a case of cabin fever.
Cesar: A dog like Boomer,
high level energy dog,
this is not the type
of dog that should live in
the city or with a family.
This is the
type of dog that need to be in
search of rest and relaxation,
a hunting dog, a farm dog.
This dog will be extremely
happy in situations like that
without people ever getting
frustrated from his presence.
Christy: Boomer's our dog.
We love him.
You know, we're
keeping him forever.
So we need to learn
how to live with him.
Cesar: They don't want
to get rid of him.
So in order for Boomer
to be happy and them be happy,
they have to change their
behavior around Boomer.
Christy: But,
so when he's barking at you and
will not stop, what do you do?
Cesar: Grab the leash.
Narrator: Cesar
always recommends putting
a leash high up on the neck.
Cesar: So you can
condition, Shhh!
Hey!
Knock it off!
That's enough!
Christy: So we keep the choke
chain on him all the time?
Cesar: Ah, yes.
Any tool that gives you
the access to control him.
So you don't become
insane with him.
And then that's the
tool you need to use.
It's a combination of
many things but the most
important one is that
you have to learn to
share calm assertive energy.
Because that's the
only way this guy will see
you as the pack leader.
He's doing pretty good.
Jody: Yeah, that's unusual.
Cesar: He doesn't know
that my name is Cesar Millan
he doesn't know
what I do for a living.
He just know that my
scent has this energy.
See I am a scent
he pick up my scent and
then he pick up my energy.
But my energy
is calm assertive you see and
that's what he knows about me.
You are a
scent with energy, okay.
So sometimes you are
the dominant one,
sometimes you're not
the dominant one.
You have to be consistent
a hundred percent of the time.
In your case, she's always
the follower because
dogs for her are babies.
Right?
Jody: Way to go.
Christy: My dog's not bad.
My dog's good.
Jody: See, this is
part of the problem.
My dog versus her dog.
Cesar: Yeah, I
can see that.
But that's something,
you guys gotta fix it.
You know, uhm, uhm.
Christy: It's hard to
get close to this dog.
Cesar: I think they have
to speak and they have to talk,
they have to communicate
as a couple and
come to one conclusion
where they both share,
same feelings towards dogs.
Not just one dog is better
than the other dog.
I don't think that is fair.
Regardless if the dog is
a Great Dane, a poodle,
a Chihuahua, or
Chesapeake dog.
Christy: He'll just come
and bark at us and bark at us
and bark at us until we
get up open the door and
then he'll come around and
bark at us, bark at us,
bark at us again and
you know, I mean,
how do you get close
to a dog like that?
Cesar: You have to
bring compassion,
because
you're not bringing compassion,
you're bringing frustration.
Christy: Yeah.
Cesar: Do you
want a dog who just mellow and
who can be baby all day long.
But that's who-what you want.
What about what he wants?
Christy: Yeah.
Cesar: You understand?
So we have to be fair.
Just walk him.
Walk him everyday.
You have trails all
over around you.
They stopped being
consistent with what
Boomer really needs which
is the challenge, is a job.
Christy: But, Cesar, he's sort
of-he's been leashed trained.
Cesar: Yeah, but don't stop.
You just have to
keep doing it.
You know, you-you
have to be consistent with
something that gives you power.
But you're consistent with
things that give you no power.
You understand?
You are consistent,
but you're consistent
with the wrong things.
Christy: I'm consistently wrong.
Cesar: Consistently wrong.
They you are.
Christy: Exactly.
Cesar: So, he's
cooperating nicely.
Shhh!
The licking part is obsession.
Christy: Right.
It's him starting
to get agitated.
Cesar: So you have to
learn the symptoms.
That's a symptom.
That's a symptom.
Jody: That's him starting
to get heated up.
Cesar: That's a symptom.
See it?
And before the bark.
Jody: I've gotta be
on him instantly.
I can't yell at him five
or six times first.
Cesar: Because he needs to hear
the sound when the mind is calm,
submissive so he
can relate it to it.
Jody: He's got natural
guard dog instincts.
When he hears the door,
he starts barking.
Cesar: See this.
There we go.
Shhh!
Jody: Now, normally we'd
be going nuts right now.
Normally, it's you know,
15, 20, 30 seconds of,
you know, non-stop
loud barking.
Cesar: Now we gonna
do it without the leash
because this is reality.
Jody: Right.
Cesar: Shhh!
Jody: There you go.
That's never happened before.
Cesar: Shhh!
Hey!
Shhh!
No!
Jody: I originally thought
that there's just no way
anybody was going to be
able to do anything with him.
So, I'm, you know, obviously
I'm much less skeptical now.
Now,
you know, in less than an hour
I saw a dramatic change in him.
Cesar: He can just wear
the choke chain or you can
just touch him on the side,
but you have to do it on time.
And also if he if he
gets too escalated,
all the way to ten, lets
say your taking a shower
and its way too
late no problem.
The only thing you do is
you grab the choke chain
all the way here and just
pull him or correct him
and then he slows down.
Once he slows down,
then you let it go.
Christy: Okay.
Cesar: You see it?
So, eventually the mind
learns to just stay quiet.
Jody: Yeah, I figured
we-you'd come over here
and talk to us and
then leave frustrated.
Cesar: I'm glad I didn't,
I'm glad I didn't.
Narrator: Will life of Boomer
remain a three ring circus?
It's all up to Jody
and Christy now.
Cesar: Hopefully,
now they get the truth
out of our conversation
that they will now do
their homework all the way.
Ronette: Come on, Josh, let's
see if we can brush you today.
Narrator: A year and a half ago
Ronnette Tomlinson spotted Josh,
a nine month old,
Maltese poodle mix on her
local shelter's death row.
Her heart went out to him.
Ronette: He was put in a
cage with three big, huge dogs.
And there was
a sign on the cage saying
"Beware of Vicious Dogs."
Please, Josh.
I felt so sad for him and
I was also told that
he was gonna be put down
the next day if someone
didn't come and rescue him.
Josh, please!
They said, you can
go in yourself,
into the cage and-and get
him at your own risk.
And so I did.
Come on, come on.
That a boy,
go get it go get it.
Bring it to mommy,
come here Josh.
That's a boy.
Narrator: Ronnette
adores her troubled dog.
But she's the only
one in his fan club.
From the day Josh first arrived,
Ronnette's daughter, Tricia,
has seen only
his darker side.
Tricia: I couldn't
look at him for weeks.
I just can't trust
him with people.
And little kids.
Especially little kids.
Morning, Josh.
Hey, baby.
Ronette: I noticed Josh
had problems right away.
He was even so difficult
for the groomer that the
groomer told me that,
I couldn't bring him anymore.
Okay.
Okay.
Come on.
Let me just, Oph!
Don't bite.
Narrator: At her
wits end, Ronnette,
calls on dog specialist,
Cesar Milan.
Ronette: Hi. Oh.
Cesar: Hi. How are you?
I'm here for the
consultation.
Ronette: I was
looking for a little,
tiny lap dog that I could take
everywhere and have him all,
you know, nice and
neat and clean looking.
And, that, that's my dream.
He growls at everybody,
even people he knows.
Like my daughter, even
though he sees her everyday.
He'll, he'll just growl at her,
especially if I'm holding him.
Cesar: Um, share with me
when do you guys met.
Ronette: I found
him at the pound about
a year and a half ago.
Cesar: Uhm, hum.
And what was the reaction
from the family?
Tricia: Oh!
Ronette: They were shocked.
Cesar: Were they
expecting a dog?
Ronette: Ah, not really, no.
Tricia: No.
Ronette: It was a surprise.
Cesar: It was just a surprise.
Mom!
Ronette: Yeah.
Tricia: I had, just had to put
another dog, my other dog down.
So it was in the same
weekend and I did not want it.
Cesar: Oh, I see.
Ronette: And she
wasn't ready for that.
Tricia: It's not my dog.
Cesar: Right, right, right.
How you feel now?
About it?
Tricia: He's grown on me.
Uhm, he still is her dog.
Ronette: Even my husband,
Josh sleeps in the bed with us.
And sometimes when
my husband comes in,
he'll even growl
at my husband.
Even though he,
he's been sleeping with
him since he's been here.
Cesar: Oh, I know.
But, he, in his mind
you are his female.
Ronette: Oh, yeah, I see.
Which is, ah, not healthy.
Ronette: Oh, yeah.
Cesar: This is a challenge
between two boys.
And of course, that's his
kingdom in his mind, of course.
And you're a part
of his kingdom.
You're his follower.
Ronette: I see.
Cesar: So we have to
definitely change that.
In order for you
to achieve, everybody have
to be his pack leader.
Even, even if some
other family member say,
might say,
"no, that's not my dog."
Everybody have to be
part of his life as a pack
leader or authority figure.
Because, because, when you
want to bring friends,
without you taking the
authority figure role,
you're not going to set
rules, boundaries, limitations.
He's not gonna be
a friendly dog,
he's going to be the dog
that he's been so far
which is an unstable
little dog.
So what we lacking here
is trust from this part,
from this side of the family
and this part is respect.
If we combine both and then
we have the perfect dog owner.
Ronette: Oh, that
would be great.
Cesar: You see that?
Yes.
And, now, now, share
with another thing.
What type of activities
do you do with him?
Ronette: I walk him.
I love to hold him, he's just,
he loves to just sit in my lap.
Cesar: So most of the
activities you do with him
are based on affection.
Now, because he came
with issues you're not
going to be able to help
him to get rid of those issues,
because affection
nurtures anything.
I'm not saying you're not
gonna be as lovable as you are.
I'm saying you have to share
the psychological side of you.
The authority
figure side of you.
The leadership side of you.
Ronette: I see.
Cesar: And being dominant
is not that you're
being mean about things.
You're just going to make
sure they follow rules,
boundaries and
limitations.
Narrator: Coming up, a
devilishly difficult haircut.
Cesar: They're just punctures.
Narrator: After Ronnette
Tomlinson rescued
a Maltese poodle mix
from death row,
his nasty attitude
continued to grow.
Dog behaviorist Cesar
Millan plans to show Ronnette
how to deal with a
canine that's out of control.
Cesar: Which one
would you like to see?
The grooming?
Ronette: The grooming.
Narrator: Before the
grooming showdown,
Cesar takes
Josh for a walk.
Which Cesar considers
a vital bonding ritual
between human and dog.
Cesar: Josh is a very
nervous dog, very, very
nervous, very insecure.
Unfortunately, when he
was adopted by them,
they gave him a
dominant position.
So, the insecurity and the
fear combined with domination
and that's when
she's charging people.
And so, what I'm doing
right now is to taking the
dominant away from him, so
this way he doesn't move forward
and try to bite when
we are doing the grooming.
This is just part of
how we gonna help him,
for him to see me as somebody
who has this authority figure.
See, I took him
away from his kingdom and
asked him to follow me.
Now he threw like
five temper tantrums.
You see that?
And, that, so, what
I did is, I didn't listen
to the temper tantrum.
I ask him to keep
following me.
And that-that's the beauty
of becoming the pack leader
because anything that you,
they use to dislike.
They just learn to like it.
And they, cause
they have no choice.
Ronette: Oh!
Cesar: So he learn that he
can respect and trust
this new human, I just
came into his life.
Ronette: Uh, huh.
I can't believe it.
Cesar: I'm using
a 25 cents leash,
cause I don't really care about
how expensive the leash can be.
Shhh!
This is good.
This is good.
Shhh.
This is part of it.
Ronette: When I
realized that Josh had bitten
Cesar, I was horrified.
I just felt so bad.
Cesar: That's him.
It's like a rattlesnake.
Ah, trying to strike you.
Which he did strike me but
it's not gonna, you know,
make me back away.
Shhh!
Relax, relax.
Shh!
So they gonna throw up a lot
of punches, you know, papapapa.
And it's what you do
when they throw the punches.
I just want to wash
my hands cause I don't want to
get him, get him full of blood.
It's nothing, it's
just punctures.
You alright, Mom?
Ronette: Oh, yeah, I guess.
Cesar: I want the
positive energy from you.
Ronette: You just have to
hold it for a few seconds.
Cesar: Oh, there you go.
In looking at my fingers, she
shared that she was a nurse.
I said, well, that's what
you have to be right now.
Because when we work
with unstable animals,
that's the only energy
that is going to help this
animal to go back to normal.
Tricia: When Cesar was
grooming Josh and when
Josh started to react the
way that way I was like
I thought oh no they're
gonna leave us and
Josh is gonna be
like this forever.
Cesar: Relax relax.
The grooming begins.
They gonna throw fits,
they gonna put up a fight.
No, no!
Don't, don't do that.
A lot of little dogs have
an issue with clippers and
scissors in front
of their faces.
And they will panic.
And when they panic, they
going to scream like
you're killing them or
they going to show you teeth.
But if you back away from this
behavior from that point on,
they learn to keep people
away with that way of being.
He's getting there.
Narrator: Cesar's
grasp isn't hurtful,
it's firm and assertive.
He uses his hand to simulate
the bite of a more dominant dog.
Ronette: He just
kept on going,
smoothly and confidently
and I see that made
a really big difference.
Cesar: Poor thing, he's, he's
full of this thing in his eyes.
Shhh!
Relax.
Relax.
Now we can see your
beautiful eyes.
Relax.
I'm not choking him,
I'm just holding him.
There you go.
You see that?
Yeah.
He, he's getting relief,
cause there's all that
baggage that he's been
carrying for all this time.
Ronette: Uhmmm, is it.
I'm just hoping
that I can do this.
Cesar: Now can you
help me here, Mom?
Hold him right here and
then you just finish.
Ronette: In the same way
it relates to my profession
that's the way
I have to be with Josh.
I have to know that it's
not that I don't love him,
not that I don't
care about him,
that I'm doing certain
things for his own good.
And
I have to do it and I have to be
strong and confident about it.
Cesar: Another burst of
energy, so that's very typical.
Hold, hold on.
Ronette: Am I doing okay?
Do a little more?
Cesar: See this is where you
have to bring your nurse energy.
Ronette: Yeah.
Cesar: You're a
little nervous.
It's like when
somebody, you know,
who doesn't wanna take
the shot and then a whole
bunch of nurses come in.
Ronette: Yeah and
hold 'em down.
Yeah, yeah, that's true.
Cesar: Your energy
is much better, Mom.
Ronette: Okay.
Gee, that's good.
Cesar: That's right.
Notice that he's changing
his attitude as well.
Ronette: Yeah.
Cesar: See, I'm not putting
a lot of pressure anymore.
It's all him.
He's allowing us
to do it right now.
And a lot of little
dogs show their teeth,
you know, and people
back away right away,
so they learn to control
people with their teeth.
But everybody feels
that-that, you know,
once they show their teeth
it's aggression but no,
it's not always
aggression.
Sometimes it's just
a nervous reaction.
Shhh!
Ronette: I never thought I would
be actually trimming his hair.
That was amazing.
Is it okay if I hold
him now or go to give him some
affection right now or is that?
Cesar: Well, see you don't
always have to give affection.
Just being relaxed is affection.
Admiring his eyes is affection.
Your smile is affection.
You, you, you understand?
You see animals have
the capability of sensing
how you feel inside.
You don't have to tell him,
"Josh, I'm really happy today.
Mom, I know."
You know what I mean?
It's, it's just very
obvious to them.
They know how
you feel inside.
Ronette: He even
looks happier.
Cesar: Yeah, he's.
Ronette: I mean, he looks
much happier, yeah.
Cesar: Well, we have
remove a lot of toxic energy
out of him and,
and he realize, ay,
that there's
some humans that they can
stand up for themselves.
Ronette: I, I
think I've got him.
I think I've got
my dream dog.
Narrator: Even though
she's retired,
Eula Manocchi still thinks
of herself as a mother,
both to her 43 year
old son, Anthon,
and to her daughter, a five
year old Shih Tzu, named Seuki.
Eula: Seuki is the
girl of the family and,
she's very friendly,
she loves everybody.
She thinks everybody
should love her.
She might bark once in
awhile when the doorbell rings.
I think she picked that
up from watching TV.
She's just a great
dog, in my opinion.
Course, I'm prejudiced.
Narrator: But
sweet as she looks, Seuki
has a stubborn streak.
Eula can rarely
walk her because she won't walk
on a leash, or even stay on one.
Without a leash, she
runs after strangers.
Eula: I hope she will
learn to walk on a leash,
cause I can't just let her
follow me down the street.
Every time she hears a voice,
she runs to that person
who's speaking, like,
"Hello, my name is Seuki.
Who are you?"
You know, that kind of thing.
When I first got her
I was still working.
I didn't really have
time to work with her.
I never tried to
walk her on a leash.
After I retired
and I wanted to take her for
walks, she just flatly refuses.
You put the leash on her,
and usually her butt hits
the floor and it's like,
"I'm not going to do that!"
Anthan: If you pull
her, she will drag.
She will drag as far as
you wanna drag her.
You know, you don't want
to drag her too far.
I'm hoping Cesar can
resolve the leash problem.
Because there's nothing
better I'd like to do than
to go take her for
a walk, you know.
You know, that's one way
to, you know, meet girls, too,
cause they love dogs.
Narrator: Dog behavioralist
Cesar Millan arrives,
determined to subdue
one very stubborn Shih Tzu.
Eula: Oh, hi, Cesar.
Cesar: Hi, how are you?
Eula: How are you? I'm Eula.
Cesar: Hi, Eula, Cesar Millan.
Eula: Hi.
Cesar: Excellent.
Eula: Please, come on in.
Cesar: Thank you very much.
How can I help you guys?
Eula: Well, I would
love it if you could get
Seuki to walk on a leash.
Cesar: Do you remember the first
time when you put the leash.
Eula: Oh, sure!
Cesar: What happened?
Eula: You know, it's
like torture to her.
She thinks that I'm punishing
her for something bad.
Wha, and she's not bad.
Cesar: How old
was she when you put the
leash for the first time?
Eula: Oh, almost
a year, probably.
Because I was working
and I didn't have time
to-when I first got her.
Cesar: And the way she
refuses is how-how?
What is her expression?
What does she do?
Eula: Well, usually, she
just puts her butt on the floor.
And you have to, and
she'll scoot, she won't,
she won't walk.
Cesar: Okay.
So, and that's it! ?
Eula: Yeah, that's it.
Cesar: Well, you made
my life easier then.
Anthan: You think so?
Cesar: Well,
it's a challenge,
I'm not saying it's gonna be
a magical reaction after this.
Obviously it's, you
know, probably four years which
she's been doing this behavior.
Anthan: Yeah.
Cesar: And no one has come
out with the strategy
to make her like the leash.
Eula: It's a
punishment to her.
Cesar: Well, the thing is
you saw it as a punishment.
You saw it as a punishment.
She just reacted.
You didn't stay there
until she surrendered.
You right away made
something out of it.
She's feeling this,
she's feeling that,
she's da-da-dat.
So you created
all this thing.
Can you see it?
And then that's
what happen to you!
What happen to her
was uncomfortable.
Because for all this time,
they carry me around and I,
and they never
put a leash on me.
So you are not really sharing.
Everything that she
needs, in a daily basis.
You are just a loving mom.
But you want her to do
things for you without
you taking the position
of authority figure.
It's not gonna happen.
Eula: Yes, I see.
Cesar: I'll be
right back, okay.
You guys stay right
here and sending good
energy back outside, ok?
Do not worry.
Narrator: Can Cesar
transform Sueki into
a leash friendly Shih Tzu?
Cesar: We have to allow
her to experience it in her
own time and her own space.
Narrator: Five year old
Sueki has a stubborn streak.
Especially when it
comes to her leash.
Her owners have
tried everything.
Can Cesar win her over?
Eula: You are graciously
welcome to do whatever.
Thank you.
Narrator: One of Cesar's
rehabilitation techniques
is to get a sense of
a dog away from its owners
and home environment.
Cesar: At the moment
I touch Seuki,
I start getting
the picture of how I was
gonna be able to help her.
What I'm creating is the leash
is going to bring her home.
So there's going to
be a positive association
between leash and her.
She's happy, see that's a
good time to put the leash on.
That's right.
There's no relationship between
this leash and the other leash.
The other leash already
has a meaning to her.
Lift your head up, the
leash is not gonna hurt you.
Do you like the Dog Whisperer?
Yes, I like the Dog Whisperer.
Good, cause the Dog
Whisperer like you.
Let's go, Seuki!
Good.
This is good.
Good thing she's not sitting
down, shutting down, anything.
That's right,
that's very good.
See, just me touching
the back part of her,
it-it helps her
to move forward.
Zzzt!
It's not always the leash, you
have to find parts of the body
that can trigger the
reaction you're looking for.
Ha ha.
That's good sign.
A lot of times when
they shut down,
they don't-they don't take
food, they don't pee,
they don't sniff, they
don't do anything.
And this is really good.
See, this is a time that
I'm not even gonna ask her to
be in front of me, next to me.
I don't care where she is.
I just want her
to wear the leash.
The only time she gets
sensation is that,
when she's pulling, when
she is pulling the leash.
It was a collaboration
between Seuki and I
how we gonna please the owner.
And
of course, Seuki needed to learn
how to be pleased by the leash.
Now remember, calm
and assertive.
Alright?
She walked already.
This is, she's going
through the motion right
now, shutting down.
Okay.
She's going to pull
me with the leash.
There we go.
Just turn around, turn around.
That's right.
Eula: When I saw her
walking on that leash with
Cesar I was just
like overwhelmed.
I was so thrilled, so happy.
Cesar: Now, if you understand
you're body lang-that's right.
Never pull, never pull.
Now, this is why it
didn't work, okay?
You're walking like
this right now.
Just relax.
You are the energy
that you project.
From the inside.
Not what you're say.
It's the energy
you have inside.
So if she doesn't
feel that she's calm and
assertive at that moment,
Seuki's always going
to be her pack leader.
It's about being
really relaxed.
There we go.
We just
allowing her to associate the
leash with something positive.
Let me have it and
you just walk on.
Alright.
Eula: Come on, hon.
Cesar: This was one
of those cases which for me
was a simple thing to fix.
No tension, mom.
Just a dog walking on a leash.
But for the owner, had
a huge meaning behind.
Ha, ha.
Very good.
That's the right way
to manipulate her.
You can take the
leash off right there.
Excellent.
Eula: I want to go
walking with her.
I want to show her off
and show her to my friends
and show my
friends what she can do.
Anthan: Absolutely incredible.
I was wondering if
it was the same dog.
Ha ha you know, I thought it
was a dog double or something.
Girl: Oh, what a cute dog!
Hi.
Narrator: For John and Stella
Albert and their three kids,
a family isn't a family
without a least one dog.
John: Love dogs, been
around 'em my entire life.
Stella:
When I met John, he told me
we will only ever have Boxers.
Narrator: The
Albert's first Boxer,
thirteen year-old Mocha,
is calm and easy going.
A little too easy going.
John: Our son was wanting
to play with the dog and
Mocha just wasn't responding.
She wouldn't play with him,
she wouldn't run
with him, she wouldn't
respond to his affection.
Stella: We had moved into
a house and we had a yard
and so we were ready
for a more active dog.
Narrator: Five years ago,
the Alberts spotted, then,
one year-old Coach,
at Boxer Rescue;
he seemed like the perfect pet.
Until they got him home.
Stella: Right away, he
ate two leather couches.
John: So my wife got a dog
trainer, and it did some good.
He didn't eat anything anymore.
Stella: Up until about
the last year he's been
a great family pet.
Cade: Coach is the best
dog in the whole wide world.
And I love him so much.
Narrator: But,
about a year ago,
the behavior of five
and a half year old Coach
took a dangerous turn.
John: Stella would talk to
me about him being very
aggressive when people
would come to the door.
And being very aggressive when
the meter people would come.
Narrator: The situation
went from bad to worse
when coach escaped from the
Albert's yard and terrorized
one of their neighbors.
John: He chased the man
up the hill and scared
the man, uh, pretty bad.
Stella: He was considering
suing us for everything
we had and he pulled out a
pocket knife on him and
was prepared to kill him in the
street if he came any closer.
John: It raised
our alarms because the incident
happened two houses away,
it wasn't in our yard, it wasn't
on our side of the street.
We talked to a lot
of people about it.
The impression we got was
that this was a behavior
that couldn't be fixed.
That this dog had a
nervous disorder.
And this behavior would
get worse and he would
eventually harm our children,
and, you know, turn on us.
Ah, so we were terrified.
Stella: We made the
appointment to put him to sleep
and the kids knew about
it and we involved them in it.
John: My oldest son was
struggling badly with it.
It's his dog and
he loves that dog.
They, they, they've
grown up together.
Stella: My son wanted to, uhm,
keep some of his fur and
he wanted to bring, uhm,
his blanket, I'm sorry,
so he could smell his boy
before he died so he could die
in his blanket that he had had.
John: We were
thinking about getting a
psychologist for our son,
to see how we should deal with
him if we put this dog away.
Stella: The night before he
was supposed to be put to sleep,
I saw a tiny little add
that said if you have problems
with your dog, give us a call.
Narrator: Coach gets a last
minute stay of execution
when Cesar responds to the call.
Cesar believes that many dogs
are put to death unnecessarily,
due to a simple
lack of information.
Will Coach be one
of these dogs?
John/Cesar: Hiiiii!
Cesar: How are you guys?
John: Nice to meet you!
Cesar: Nice to meet you!
John: I'd like to be able
to open my door to people
and not be afraid of
my dog hurting them.
Cesar: Thank you.
Stella: But if he
were to tell us, no,
he's not for your family.
We would feel more settled
with our decision.
Cesar: How did you guys meet?
Your dog and you guys?
John: We went through
the Boxer Rescue.
And we told them we wanted
a dog that would be great
with our kids and, uh,
would be part of our family
and they showed us Coach
and introduced us to him and,
and ah, we brought him home.
Cesar: How long ago was that?
John: Five years.
We've had him five years.
Cesar: Five years.
And, ah, your problem
is aggression?
John: He's aggressive towards
adults that come to our house.
Cesar: And this
is the first time you experience
something like this with a dog?
John: I've had Boxer's
before that would bark,
but if I opened that gate,
they wouldn't go anywhere.
You know, this one, I
think we open the gate,
he would go and assault.
And that's why we decided
to-to put him away.
We have talked to
a lot of people that said that
his behavior's getting worse.
And the veterinarian said
to us that this is the behavior
that can't be corrected.
He's gonna strike
out at your kids.
Cesar: Have you
ever seen anything, uhm,
unwanted toward your kids?
John: Never.
He's been wonderful
with our kids.
Stella: In fact, he's
almost been protective
of other people
holding their own kids.
Like why are you holding
this other child?
Almost like all
the children are.
Cesar: Belong to him.
Stella: Belong to him.
Cesar: Not good.
When you guys, welcome
Coach to your home,
how did you welcome him?
John: For the
first six months,
we would have a kennel
for him to go to.
And then we took that out
of the house and now we,
then we let him have
free run of the house.
Cesar: Lesson Number One.
When you adopt a dog the
best thing you can do for them
is a long walk before
he comes into your home.
Because he's coming from a
kennel to another kennel.
This is a beautiful kennel,
but it's behind walls.
And, and a lot of times dogs
develop a lot of frustration
and frustration can lead
them into nervous reactions.
When he was nervous and
when he was tense would
you guys touching
him at that moment?
John: We'd say, we'd
try to settle down, say,
"good dog, settle down."
Pet him and stroke him,
and you know, make him, try
to make him feel better.
Cesar: Right.
Lesson Number Two.
If you share affection
when he's under stress
you're going to nurture
that state of mind.
John: Oh, we're saying we
want him to do that.
Which means you're telling
him it's okay to be.
John: So we were rewarding
a behavior we want him to stop?
And we're encouraging it.
Cesar: So it's not
really healthy to them.
It's healthy
to the human because we
releasing our affection.
John: Exactly what we do.
Cesar: If he can
speak to you and say,
"You know what, I love
that you love me but
I also need this part
because this is who I am."
Can I meet your dog now?
Narrator: Is Cesar about to
face a dog who can't be helped?
Narrator: Six year old Boxer,
Coach, is a loyal family pet.
But when it comes to
outsiders, he's vicious.
Can Cesar Millan bring
him back from the brink?
Cesar: I wanna show
you how to meet dogs.
Narrator: Cesar believes
that how you begin an encounter
with a dog is critical.
Cesar: When you meet
dogs for the first time,
you never touch, you never talk,
you never give eye contact.
What you do is you walk in
and you claim that area.
And the way he's behaving around
me is very calm, submissive.
This is not a dangerous dog.
This is just a
dog that is bored.
So he needs challenge.
Your dog needs exercise
and after exercise
and then he needs rules.
Eventually, once
things are in place, then
you share friendship.
In the meantime,
this is not a dog supposed
to be put down to sleep.
Look at this, I mean
somebody who was on death row,
he's not guilty of anything.
I'm blown away they-that
it was actually a decision
to put him down, not only
from neighbors, from doctors.
They're not
really coming to evaluate their
psychological state of mind.
Let's help this family
to-to erase aggression,
to erase territory
behavior.
Stella: And it's not
true that because,
he's bitten somebody else that
he's not gonna turn around
and bite one of
his-one of his kids.
Cesar: Now in his mind,
he feel he's the dominant one,
so he have to move
forward to defend his pack.
But they never go against
his pack so this is not a
dog that is gonna bite the kids.
Absolutely not!
You would see signs by now.
Narrator: Cesar insists
that the family start Coach
on a routine of
regular long walks,
to help him work off some
of his pent-up frustrations.
The problem
is the Alberts are terrified
of taking him beyond their yard.
John: I wanna be able to
take him out on a walk and
not be afraid that
if my kid's drop the leash that
he's gonna go hurt somebody.
Cesar: Because, Shh!
No!
Outside.
Good, very good!
Okay, come on.
There you go, there.
Stay!
There you go!
And then, you
put the leash on.
Now, at the moment
I move, he moves.
At the moment I
stop, he stops.
Little bitty tug right
there that I did,
just for him to
understand that I am now in
control of his reactions.
Sit.
Sit!
Come on!
Sit down.
All righty.
A little tense right there,
but if I don't react to
it, he learns to trust me.
See, I make the move outside.
Right here.
So he have to stay right
here in that position.
That means he's following us.
At the moment we stop, he stops.
Not a lot of
struggle, you know?
It would be nice if he
learns to sit down eventually.
I like to manipulate dogs
first physically because
I want them to
become, to relate themselves to
my touch, to my physical touch.
Dogs with each other,
they touch each other,
they bite each other.
So it's the physical touch
that tells them what to do.
So that's what I'm doing.
And now, I'm just moving,
I'm not saying follow me,
I'm just moving because
pack leaders never say
"let's go," they just go.
John: Makes sense.
Cesar: Okay.
So the more you practice
dog psychology,
the more in tune you
become to his reaction.
John: No giddy-ups, just walk?
Cesar: Well,
because you're practicing more
leadership than dog training.
See, dog training involves
a lot of talking.
Sit!
Down!
Stay!
Come!
Heel!
That's a conditioning
after you achieve leadership.
Then you can teach sound.
Right now is more about
energy, body language.
You are communicating.
You're communicating the
way they communicate.
Shhh!
And the more we do this,
the more he knows, okay,
people is over
there with dogs,
I'm not supposed to
be distracted to it.
I'm supposed to pay
attention to my pack leader.
Right now
your dog is antisocial because
he doesn't get to be challenged.
You could have a big castle,
you still have to go out.
You know, when I was
invited to come to this home
they pictured
this horrendous dog.
This dog
has been biting, you know, mail
people, UPS people, a neighbor.
And I get to find
out that we have a dog that just
need a little bit direction.
Ah, definitely, we have to
come back I have to come back
to provide more
information or to make
sure the family is following
with the information
that they received today.
Hey, guys!
How are you?
John: Great!
Cesar: Awesome.
So happy to see you guys again.
John: Nice seeing you again.
Cesar: How things
are going, guys?
John: We can take
him by people without him
trying to get after 'em.
He'll just stay right with
us and about five-ten minutes
into the walk he'll
do what he needs to do
and it won't take
as many corrections.
Cesar: Is anything else
you want me to help you with?
Stella: I was hoping
you could, uhm,
help us correct,
you're getting rid of
completely the gate ramming.
Narrator: Coach used to go
into a frenzy when anything,
animal, man or machine,
approached the other
side of this gate.
Daddy, one of Cesar's
favorite Pit Bulls
plays the role of bait.
While Cesar works on
reconditioning Coach's behavior.
With a sharp pull on
the leash, or a firm,
assertive touch, Cesar
makes sure to correct Coach
before his behavior
is able to escalate.
If Coach can learn
to resist this,
he can resist anything.
Cesar: Hey!
He responded very nicely.
Eventually, you don't
need the leash on him.
Eventually, is just because
you just felt this way
and the animal senses
it and your energy changes.
See, that-that's how in
tune you have to be.
John: Coach!
Stay!
Good boy.
Cesar: And this
is how you're going to condition
the mind to listen to you,
because you say something and
you ask for behavior right away.
Not seconds later, right away.
Cade: I see a big difference.
He's been doing a lot better.
We've been walking
Coach to school.
Cesar: The school is two
blocks away from here,
so now Coach plays part
of being a babysitter.
Head down, ears back.
John: Cesar's done more
for us then just teach
us how to walk a dog.
He's given us the ability
to keep a member of our family.
Cesar: I think Coach is
very happy to be alive,
to tell you the truth.
I am not a psychic but
I can definitely feel
that he trust me in
the matter of an hour.
Um, and, eh,
is he grateful?
Absolutely!
That's just the
beauty of dogs.
They're grateful when
they're next to a person
who truly understand
what is best for them.
Stella: I think Cade is
feeling a huge relief today,
that his dog can stay with him
and he loves Coach so much
so that's huge
relief to our family.
Cade: I feel great that
Coach is still with me
and I feel a lot happier because
I still have someone to talk to.