Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
NARRATOR: Do not attempt the techniques you are
about to see without consulting a professional.
On this episode of The Dog Whisperer.
AIMEE BURCH: I did not realize that Buster would be biting
everyone that drove into our driveway.
My greatest fear is that he'll hurt someone.
CRAIG PASETTA: Renee had called me and told me
Holli was run over.
I hopped in the car and ran over to the vet's.
I was really concerned how long would her injured leg last.
CESAR MILLAN: This was one of those cases with the only thing
we needed to do was to bring the right dog home.
VIRGINIA: Oh, he's getting a little jealous Jack.
NARRATOR: When good dogs go bad,
there's one man who's their best friend,
Cesar Millan.
CESAR MILLAN: No dog is too much for me to handle.
I rehabilitate dogs.
I train people.
I am the Dog Whisperer.
NARRATOR: In the rural farming community of Juniata, Nebraska,
three dogs help protect the home of Aimee and Justin Burch.
AIMEE BURCH: Because we live along a busy highway
and there are people that walk around and,
and walk from town to town and they're not always friendly.
NARRATOR: Two of the canines,
Chihuahua Mickie and Papillion mix Jackson,
perform their dog duties as expected.
Buster, a blue heeler mix, also known as an
Australian cattle dog, does more than just
take a bite out of crime.
AIMEE BURCH: We noticed that Buster was barking
aggressively at the mailman, the UPS man,
it's definitely escalated.
Now it's anyone.
I did not realize that Buster would be biting
everyone that drove into our driveway.
Most everybody that I know does not come to my house
without calling first.
AUSTIN BURCH: When people want to come over, they wait in their
car until we come out and tell them it's fine to get out.
SCOTT: I've been coming around since Justin and Aimee built
this house, and basically every time I come out here,
Buster attacks me.
AUSTIN BURCH: He tries to bite Scott every time he comes over.
I don't know why though.
SCOTT: I helped carry in a TV one time and
he bit the back of me a couple times.
I usually end up in the back of the truck or
running for the house.
AIMEE BURCH: Buster, just for some reason dislikes Scott.
SCOTT: Yeah, he's, he's pretty vicious.
JUSTIN BURCH: We would like to have a,
kind of an open house for friends and family and
everybody and it's just tough to do that with
Buster taking after people the way he does.
AUSTIN BURCH: It would be nice if people could just
drop on by and come on in. But they can't.
AIMEE BURCH: I want Buster to bark, not bite.
I want Buster to alert us still,
because I don't want to lose the watchdog capability,
but I don't want him to bite anyone that comes in.
My greatest fear is that he'll hurt someone.
NARRATOR: Cattle dogs such as blue heelers
were originally bred to herd livestock, not houseguests.
Dog behavior expert Cesar Millan often sees dogs
whose natural instincts have been allowed to go
out of control.
CESAR MILLAN: So, how can I help you guys?
JUSTIN BURCH: We have our dog, Buster,
he's mostly an outside dog and, uh,
just when we have people come over unexpectedly,
is when he will chase after them.
CESAR MILLAN: And what, what breed is he?
AUSTIN BURCH: Uh, blue heeler.
CESAR MILLAN: Blue heeler.
So he just does what he does to cows, release.
JUSTIN BURCH: Yes.
Our friend, Scott, he's over here once in a while.
But every single time, Buster still will go after him,
and it doesn't give him any, any breaks.
AIMEE BURCH: And every single time he puts Scott
in the back of the truck every time.
It's a good thing Scott's really limber and nimble.
JUSTIN BURCH: And it is most of the time when people
are kind of turning around usually is when
he'll go after the feet and nip at that.
CESAR MILLAN: This is a good example of a dog that is being
territorial. But we have a blue heeler.
Blue heelers target the heel and they wait until you turn around.
So it's a territorial combined with being a cattle dog.
All right, so what have you tried so far?
To control the behavior?
JUSTIN BURCH: Um, we have to run outside and try to call him
and grab him so that whoever it is can get out
of their vehicles.
CESAR MILLAN: What I like about this story is there
was no story, there was reality.
"Cesar, this is our problem,
this is what we need, this is what we don't like."
All right, well I'm, I'm ready, I'm,
I mean it's nothing much to talk about,
let's just do it, hands on, let's do it farm way.
AIMEE BURCH: Okay.
JUSTIN BURCH: Great.
CESAR MILLAN: I knew that he already bit people.
So for me not to develop a hesitation,
I needed to make sure I was protected so I can move forward.
So it made sense to me that, well,
I had a racquet available, and the racquet is going
to fill the purpose of me feeling protected.
Not to hurt him, not to hit him with it,
it's just to protect myself from him charging me.
I'd shake a bottle full of rocks when he was moving
away from me, and that only intensified
the retreat behavior.
He came to me with the head low looking for my heels.
I moved towards him without me using physical touch.
I just block him with the racquet.
He touched me but I didn't back away.
So he gave me his best shot and because he used
all he had and I didn't back away,
I psychologically defeat him.
We don't want him inside.
And I'm using this once he's retreating.
Right?
So eventually, just by doing this shake, he moves away.
We are using a tool that empowers us because
the reality is,
we are not, our body is not more powerful than a bite.
You don't have to use a racquet,
it can be a stick that is in-between him and you.
Most of the emperors carry something because
they feel powerful.
NARRATOR: Buster's nemesis, Scott Anderson,
arrives and triggers another outburst.
arrives and triggers another outburst.
CESAR MILLAN: And you can't be angry when you're
disciplining animal,
but you have to disagree with the behavior.
So having the racquet in front of him.
Let him throw it.
Let him release all that.
It's like, it's a rattlesnake biting
something and releasing all the poison.
The more he releases the poison,
the more weak he becomes.
There we go.
See, I'm just moving the racquet around so he can
release, you know, I'm not pushing,
I'm not shoving it in, I'm not hurting him.
See the gums are not bleeding.
So it's just, he just holding, holding, holding,
holding and I'm just removing, removing, removing.
I want to psychologically challenge him.
Physically you can't control an animal physically,
it's best if you do it psychologically.
What is the word that you use to like discipline him?
JUSTIN BURCH: Usually it is just a strong no.
A strong no.
CESAR MILLAN: Okay, come with me.
Just say "No" exactly when he is about to bite that right there.
JUSTIN BURCH: No!
No!
No.
CESAR MILLAN: There we go.
Because he is so used to your sound already,
it makes sense for him again.
Hey, I have done this for him before.
JUSTIN BURCH: Yeah.
CESAR MILLAN: It's you're telling him to back away
from your friends.
All right, so you want to do that exercise that I did?
Okay, don't wait for him to come to you,
make sure you go to him.
Again, use his strategy.
JUSTIN BURCH: He's never tried this before and neither have we.
AUSTIN BRICH: What's he trying to do?
JUSTIN BURCH: He's gonna work with the racquet and
try to back Buster off with it.
AIMEE BURCH: There's no doubt in my mind that
Buster would go after Scott.
I was just hoping that he wouldn't draw blood,
quite frankly.
And that Scott was feeling good enough today to jump
in the back of his truck.
CESAR MILLAN: Let's see how much Scott learned.
AIMEE BURCH: When I saw Scott walk in the back
door of my house, it was amazing because he's never
been able to walk from his vehicle to the house
with Buster outside,
and knowing that Buster was just three feet away was wonderful.
CESAR MILLAN: I saw you doing this, then like this.
If you are like this you create an insecurity.
Right here.
SCOTT: And just confront him?
CESAR MILLAN: Yes, see the difference,
see the body language?
This is more, okay, I'm using the racquet but
I'm not using myself.
SCOTT: Now I know, I approach the dog and
basically I attack the dog.
So I sent him to his kennel instead of me in
the back of the truck.
CESAR MILLAN: Scott is not going to have a problem
any more, I guarantee you that part.
Scott feels now that he can come in and not get bitten by Buster.
Simple as that.
He's optimistic about it.
Now we have to make the family feel the same way Scott feels.
Once you guys start practicing,
it's going to make more sense to him.
AIMEE BURCH: Now is this going to make him stop
barking, cause we would like an alert that someone
is here, you know, if we're in the house.
CESAR MILLAN: Well, see, he's being aggressive,
not so much alert.
So we're just removing the aggression part of it.
A dog that is a follower protect pack leader.
But a dog that is a leader overprotect the pack.
We not getting rid of instincts,
we are just controlling aggression.
AIMEE BURCH: Will we ever be able to have a barbecue?
CESAR MILLAN: Yes.
That's, that's, you set that as a goal.
Right now you don't trust him.
You follow?
Even though you love him, but you don't trust him.
So the way you gonna, you're gonna gain the
trust back, is by him respecting you.
Okay?
JUSTIN BURCH: Honey?
It's alright.
CESAR MILLAN: I don't think she felt it was real.
She's so caught up on what happened yesterday.
And that's the example, you can't live in the
past, you can't live in the future,
if you want to help a dog.
Very personal thing.
AIMEE BURCH: It's just a relief to know that we'll
be able to have people over, have a normal life.
And he's still a good dog.
CESAR MILLAN: Oh yeah, they're,
they always have a good side of them,
you know what I mean?
It's not that you're dealing with a human.
Yeah, that's the good thing about it.
So now that you see you that you can create this
trust, you just have to go and do it over and over
and over and over until that nervous feeling that
you have evaporates, it goes away.
I think I, today I gave Aimee a different way to
see life, optimistic.
AIMEE BURCH: We're going to have our friends come
over and work with them, just getting in and out of
the vehicle and us being more assertive.
See he's never, ever laid over there with people here, ever.
CESAR MILLAN: I would like for this family to work as a team.
They love each other, you can feel the energy here.
Sometimes you can call people,
"Come over so I can challenge my dog,
and this is how we're going to do it.
I learned this today."
So pretty much what you have to do is to buy a whole bunch
of racquets and give it to everybody that comes here.
AIMEE BURCH: We'll keep one at the mailbox.
SCOTT: I'm keeping this one.
CESAR MILLAN: It's my gift to you.
JUSTIN BURCH: I think we all want the same thing,
the same end result.
So we're all going to work together pretty hard
to achieve that result.
CESAR MILLAN: So we can throw a barbecue right
now, if you want to.
JUSTIN BURCH: I'll bring the grill out.
AIMEE BURCH: I think the future holds a calm,
happy life for all of us, with lots of friends over
and barbecues and Buster being the good dog that
we all know that he is.
It'll be nice just to have a normal life.
NARRATOR: Can Cesar help a dog that's been injured
in an accident?
CRAIG: Easy, easy, easy.
NARRATOR: And later, actress Virginia Madsen
needs Cesar's special skills.
I am Cesar Millan you are watching Dog Whisperer
on NatGeo Wild.
RENEE RALEY: I found Holli almost three years ago.
She was probably two months old when I found her
and I was jogging, as I do every morning,
and I felt something nipping me at the, on my ankle.
And so I finally turned back and it was this
little puppy, and she just jumped in my arms.
To me it was a miracle.
And I thought, oh my gosh, this is meant to be.
I looked around to see if there was anybody around
that owns her, did she get loose from somewhere.
And I ran home and I called Craig and said,
"Craig you won't believe this beautiful dog I found."
No one claimed her, so we kept her.
CRAIG PASETTA: When Holli found us, Holli became,
you know, the, the center of attention,
and she was a handful.
Lot of fun, lot of energy.
She learned all of her basic obedience pretty quickly.
NARRATOR: Eight months later,
Renee and Craig's happy life with Holli took a
shocking turn.
RENEE RALEY: I was running and I had Holli on a leash,
and she ran out and the leash came of my arms
and she ran in front of a school bus.
CRAIG PASETTA: Renee had called me and told me
she had been run over.
I hopped in the car and ran over to the vet's,
and when I saw her, I thought she was a goner.
Pretty devastating.
NARRATOR: The surgeon saved Holli's life,
but her right front leg was severely damaged.
The accident stripped the skin off her leg.
CRAIG PASETTA: The vets did offer amputation as
an option, for the injured leg.
It wasn't an option because Holli was only 11 months old.
And I was really concerned how long would her
un-injured leg last.
DR. SARA ENGELSEN: She had to have a very large skin graft,
and so in order to do that, the surgeon pulled
her leg back across her thorax
and insert it under the skin, so the skin that covers
the thorax grew over her leg.
As the skin attached and became healthy,
they gradually released the leg.
CRAIG PASETTA: I ended up taking off three or four
months at work to stay here with her,
do bandage changes, physical therapy,
back and forth to the vet's for recheck,
stressing of the graft.
It was, it was my life.
But once she was injured, I realized that she was
gonna be really limited.
Before she had even finished recovering from
the surgery, I started gathering up the parts
so I could build her her own side car.
RENEE RALEY: That is her favorite thing.
That was the best thing in the world
that Craig could do for her.
CRAIG PASETTA: I believe, if she was able,
that she would do it for me.
Holli loves riding on her motorcycle.
Well, she's just really sassy when
we're driving around sidecar.
We'll do what I call drive-bys.
She'll be real quiet as we approach somebody and then.
RENEE RALEY: She loves to do things with us,
she wants to go places with us.
She's not just a house dog,
she's very adventurous.
She wants to get out there with us.
NARRATOR: Holli is the perfect companion when
she is riding shotgun.
But whenever they take a walk,
Holli turns into an uncontrollable rebel.
CRAIG PASETTA: Let's go, let's go.
Easy, easy, easy.
Now when she pulls like this,
it's *** my back and it's *** my arm.
So we're both gonna end up orthopedic wrecks.
DR. SARA ENGELSEN: Craig likes to use the harness on her
in order to help her to alleviate some of the weight.
Unfortunately she's pulling and,
and hopping on the good leg because she can't use
her bad leg,
and she has injured her shoulder because of it.
CRAIG PASETTA: I would like her to stop pulling
so I can help hold her up and bear some of that
weight on that front leg.
NARRATOR: In addition to damaging her other leg,
Holli becomes so fatigued on their walks that Craig
usually ends up carrying her back to the house.
CRAIG PASETTA: I would wish that Cesar could help
me get through to Holli that by holding on that
harness and holding on that leash,
I'm not trying to hold her back,
but that I'm trying to help her.
NARRATOR: Whenever Cesar goes on a dog
rehabilitation mission, he first wants to find out
all he can about the owners and their passions.
CESAR MILLAN: Teach me about motorcycles.
I don't know anything about motorcycles,
so what would it be me going against the rules of motorcycle?
CRAIG PASETTA: It's definitely not like driving.
When you're out there, you are a target.
And if you are out cruising along on a
motorcycle, you need to feel like a target.
I think most people when they're driving,
they don't feel like a target.
CESAR MILLAN: What would happen to me if
I'm driving a motorcycle nervous?
CRAIG PASETTA: Bad decisions.
CESAR MILLAN: You see what I mean?
Even to drive a motorcycle,
you have to be calm, assertive.
At the end of it is if you're calm and in
control, you gonna control your space, right?
And people will give you respect.
Cause you're not, you know,
in a nervous state or an aggressive state,
you understand?
Or in a fearful state, you are not projecting that.
Even in a motorcycle, who you are is energy.
So for a dog, who you are is energy.
CRAIG PASETTA: She's reading what I'm feeling.
CESAR MILLAN: What energy are you giving me at
the moment you are trying to help me?
The people who owns a motorcycle feel that
they have a spirit, you know, that they have a personality.
And it's real because they believe in it.
A dog never talks to another dog and say,
"My name is this."
They don't introduce themselves to a name,
they introduce themselves through energy.
This will be, "I feel nervous about you."
This will be, "I feel dominant about you."
This will be, "I feel insecure about you."
This will be, "I feel fearful about you."
And that's how they introducing themselves.
But they're not saying, "Hi, my name is Holli.
What's your name?"
Understand?
The introduction is energy before anything else.
CRAIG PASETTA: I think what I've been doing is
I've probably been doing her more harm by treating
her as Holli, than helping her than I would if
I treated her like she was the dog.
And that's, I'm sure that's where I'm failing
to get, get my message through to her.
And I suppose it must be the guilt and the emotion
that's preventing it.
CESAR MILLAN: You hit a very important thing,
animals live in the moment.
So if you change what you project and how you
fulfill, they change how they react about you.
They first connect instinctually,
then emotionally, then spiritually.
So you're following this: spirit, emotions, no instinct.
You have to have instincts to drive a motorcycle.
It can't just be emotions and spirituality.
CRAIG PASETTA: No, that would be dangerous.
CESAR MILLAN: You see!
Well it's the same thing.
That's dangerous, because she can get hurt.
Would they always willing to go back to balance?
Yes, it's not even a question.
Don't give any emotions, just be in the moment.
Enjoy.
A lot of people, when they see a person on a Harley Davidson,
they immediately judge them as a negative thing.
That's the beauty about this guy who you might see
on a motorcycle and might look rough and he might look tough.
But he has a big heart.
It's wonderful to meet people that really love
a dog to the highest level of love.
But at the same time, it's a good example,
not just because you love the dog so much,
and the dog becomes your little girl,
or the dog becomes your soul mate,
you are in control of what you really want,
which is being able to walk with the dog.
That's really what Craig asked me today.
What he asked me is, I don't want my dog to pull
me because I don't want to hurt my dog.
NARRATOR: Can Cesar put a halt to all of Holli's
relentless pulling and keep her from damaging her other leg?
NARRATOR: Holli, a 3-year-old American
Staffordshire terrier,
lost the use of her right front leg after being hit
by a school bus.
Now, Holli pulls so *** walks,
that Renee Raley and Craig Pasetta fear that she will
irreparably damage her other leg.
CRAIG PASETTA: Here, Holli.
CESAR MILLAN: There you go.
Right, do look.
Even if we don't go anywhere,
right here is a perfect thing.
You don't have to get tense, just, just relax, totally relax.
You don't have to go anywhere to practice
relaxation, you can do it right here,
you can do steps, then, you know,
I learned to drive a car in the driveway of my house.
I went forward, backwards, forward, backwards,
forward, backwards.
You don't have to go to the outside world,
not until you totally are in the zone.
And then unconsciously you just open the gate without
her knowing and you go from here to the next
door neighbor's and then come back.
You can do step by step, step because you are
so into that tense state.
Relax, man.
Look at that!
CRAIG PASETTA: It's habit.
CESAR MILLAN: I know, like a statue.
At that second, when she's about to go,
that's when you have to say the "Halt,"
and then relax.
That's right.
So you're doing the "Halt" part very good,
but then you stay tense.
So that's the part.
CRAIG PASETTA: I think my arm might be stuck that way.
CESAR MILLAN: Yeah.
It's not your arm, it's your brain.
CRAIG PASETTA: Halt.
CESAR MILLAN: So it's like learning how to walk
from the first time.
But what she's seeing is you're in control of every movement,
so that's the picture that she's gaining.
RENEE RALEY: Right.
CESAR MILLAN: As long as she is not pulling you,
the goal is for her not to pull.
CRAIG PASETTA: I think it's easier on her foot
when she's in the grass.
CESAR MILLAN: Well, me too.
Me too, absolutely.
There we go, and then the relaxation.
That's, I like that.
Stop.
Right here, that's good.
Then you turn around and you go back home.
See I told you, you can just,
you can go from your house to your neighbor.
And eventually you increase.
When does she pull the most,
when she goes away from home,
or when she's coming back home?
CRAIG PASETTA: She pulls all the time.
CESAR MILLAN: See, that's where you can help.
He gets so focused on her that he forgets about
what he's projecting.
So that's how you're speaking.
She's not going anywhere, but she still gets tension.
CRAIG PASETTA: And I don't even know I'm doing it.
RENEE RALEY: Yeah.
CESAR MILLAN: That's what I'm saying,
that's why you need that help.
RENEE RALEY: I need to remind you.
CESAR MILLAN: The reminder, exactly.
Now can, now can you see how can you do it?
Is it clear?
That's beautiful.
That's beautiful.
CRAIG PASETTA: I'm amazed at how deceptively simple it was.
I didn't anticipate it would be a really complex solution,
but it's having the insight to see where to go.
That's the first time in months I can think of that
she had not practically pulled my arm off.
CESAR MILLAN: Yeah.
See, there's no magic.
Was no magic, what we did.
We were living in the moment.
RENEE RALEY: Craig seemed a lot more relaxed,
after being instructed, you know,
to calm and not so tense, you know,
while walking her, and I saw Holli responding.
CESAR MILLAN: We remind you to stay in a calm, assertive state.
CRAIG PASETTA: Without the tension that I've been
creating with this thing, and with this thing,
she's, she's not fighting with me.
CESAR MILLAN: So we accomplished something today?
CRAIG PASETTA: I think we did.
CESAR MILLAN: Yeah, you feel good?
CRAIG PASETTA: Yeah, it's a different insight.
CESAR MILLAN: I mean, if you guys feel this hand,
it's amazing.
It's a strong hand, but he's not using that.
He's using the soft side of him,
and that's why she's taking over.
You see it, so you've got the material.
You just have to execute it.
CRAIG PASETTA: Gonna need someone to keep an eye on
me and remind me.
CESAR MILLAN: Ah, that's why I love team work.
Another excuse to be together.
What about the baby steps we created?
RENEE RALEY: Yeah, that's very important is just to
do little steps, not to go on a full-blown walk and
expect to accomplish something.
It's to do the little, and then you feel good, like,
okay I did, something good came out of it.
And then you do it the next time and the next
time and increase, yeah.
Get a lot of successes of these little walks,
eventually she'll get it.
NARRATOR: Craig and Renee now know what they need to
do to really help Holli.
RENEE RALEY: She's moved on, we need to too.
NARRATOR: Actress Virginia Madsen looks to Cesar
for help when adopting a new puppy.
CESAR MILLAN: Stay calm and assertive until
I get back on NatGeo Wild.
NARRATOR: Actress Virginia Madsen is best known for
her Academy Award nominated performance in Sideways.
Away from the spotlight, Virginia and her
11-year-old son, Jack, shared a happy home with Dixie,
a shepherd mix, and Spike, a French bulldog.
But as Dixie neared the age of 14,
her health deteriorated rapidly when she developed
life threatening pancreatitis.
VIRGINIA: She got really, really, violently ill.
And I had to put her in the hospital.
And she was so frightened, and I had promised Dixie
that I would never let her die in the hospital.
NARRATOR: Years earlier, Cesar had helped Virginia
cure Dixie and Spike of their habit of running away.
As Dixie lay near death, Virginia sought Cesar's
help one more time.
VIRGINIA: And so I called Cesar, after many years,
and I said, Listen, you know, it's Dixie,
and I don't know how to make this decision.
And he said, Well, you know,
you can keep giving dogs medication and it's going
to hide the symptoms, but the illness is still there.
And you can sense if it's time.
The dog will let you know if it's time."
JACK: Dixie looked at me in a way that I've never seen.
It's just so strange that looked at me like,
spiritual, like my mom said.
And I, and I knew it was time for her to go,
'cause I could tell she was in pain.
And she, she really wanted to go, and I could tell.
VIRGINIA: And so the vet arrived, and he said,
well we give them two shots and one will put her to sleep.
And it was just within seconds,
and it was so silent.
The moment of death was very quiet and very
emotional, you know, for everybody.
What I'm left with is a tremendous sense of guilt
and I kind of feel like I killed my dog.
And I, I know that that's not true.
For all of us in the house it was very quiet and
it was very sad for many, many days.
And Spike got a lot more gray hair around his muzzle
and he got really slow,
he slept a lot and it was really sad.
So then I talked to Cesar about, I said,
"What do I do about Spike?"
And he said, "Dogs grieve, just as you will go
through a grieving process,
and so you must let Spike grieve.
You must give him the time that he needs to grieve."
NARRATOR: It's now been four weeks since Dixie's death
and the family senses it's time to seek a
new companion for Spike.
JACK: It's gonna be really exciting having another dog,
you know.
VIRGINIA: Yeah, cause Spike needs a companion, we thought.
And we have room in our family for another dog.
And, you know, we have the time,
so we can adopt a new member of the family.
JACK: Yeah!
NARRATOR: Once again, Virginia calls on Cesar to
help them adopt a pet that's a good match for Spike.
But Cesar wants to make sure that everyone in the household
is really ready for a new dog after the trauma of
losing Dixie.
CESAR MILLAN: So how you guys doing with the grieving?
VIRGINIA: I think Jack is doing a lot better with
the grieving than I am.
CESAR MILLAN: Yeah?
JACK: Because, now I'm always thinking about her,
that she's in a better place and running when
she's all young again, running on the beach.
VIRGINIA: I know, one time, it was,
maybe about a week later.
He said, "You know, mama, isn't it nice Dixie
doesn't need that leash any more,
and she can run like the wind" or something like that.
I was like, oh my God, you know.
CESAR MILLAN: That's right.
How do you think Spike feels now?
I mean, he went through just like you guys went
through, of course.
How does he feel right now?
JACK: I think he feels good, you know,
I take him for a walk every day and he's going.
VIRGINIA: You know, a month has gone by, so,
you know, it has helped, and, you know,
the first few days it was so strange because
he would be looking for her.
And he'd be rooting in, you know,
his nose in her pillow and just smelling her.
And we would take him for a walk and at a certain
point in the walk he would just lay down.
And now he's running and, you know,
he's back to his old self again and not.
CESAR MILLAN: He already moved on.
Cause they do grieve, and then they moved on.
This was actually a lesson from a kid and a dog.
Everything is a process.
Being born, live, and die, it's a process.
It's how we view it.
Spike and Jack let us know what would be the right process.
Let's go through it, let's embrace it, and let's move on.
What about you, Miss Madsen?
VIRGINIA: Well, I've, I just keep thinking,
what if she got better and then she'd have a,
maybe had a few more weeks or something.
You know, I don't think it was more than that.
JACK: But it's just better because if you did that,
that's just gonna happen over and over again,
then she's gonna get sick, better, sick again.
And would you want that again?
It's like so much more better for her to go,
even if she was better, she wouldn't be better inside.
VIRGINIA: You are a wise man, my son.
CESAR MILLAN: You are a wise man.
VIRGINIA: That's so good.
CESAR MILLAN: You don't need me.
You wanna work for me one day?
JACK: Yeah.
NARRATOR: Virginia and Jack are ready to adopt,
but will Jack be able to pick the right dog to join
their family?
NARRATOR: When actress Virginia Madsen and her son,
Jack wanted to find a new canine companion for their
French bulldog, Spike,
they asked Cesar to guide them into making the right choice.
Laura Sandoval and her daughter,
Angie from United Hope For Animals arrive at
the house with a few adoptable dogs.
They are unwanted animals from the dog pounds of Tijuana
where electrocution is a common form of euthanasia.
Funded only by donations, Hope For Animals cleans up
the dogs and prepares them for adoption.
CESAR MILLAN: This was one of those cases where the
only thing we needed to do is to bring the right dog home.
So knowing that Spike is a stable dog now,
and he's having a normal life now,
the best thing that I can do for him is to choose
another dog that is balanced,
so they don't have to change anything about it.
JACK: The ones I really like is the furry one and
that one over there.
CESAR MILLAN: All right, so now what we gotta do is
we gotta get him close to the car,
but not do eye contact.
So what you gotta do is you grab him,
and then face him this way so they smell the rear
instead of the eye contact.
Very good, just put it right there, right on the car.
See it?
There we go.
If we have them face to face, then we create a challenge.
JACK: That one looks so beautiful.
CESAR MILLAN: You like this one?
JACK: Yeah.
This one, right here.
NARRATOR: Jack is attracted to Foxy,
a two year old Pomeranian/Papillion mix
who bears a resemblance to Dixie.
Virginia selects Belle, a very vocal four month old
female Chihuahua mix.
CESAR MILLAN: Let's meet this one first.
The leash is just, just to keep her safe,
what we really want, there we go, right there.
She's a different behavior once they're out.
Not too much attraction from his part to her part.
But this is a good energy too, I mean,
this is a submissive energy,
she was just excited about it, but she totally switched.
You like the size?
Here.
Just put her up there.
No, right there, there we go.
Let's see the behavior.
What we're doing is we're testing right now,
what's the temperament, you know, what,
how she behaves under a stranger just touching and
putting her in their lap.
Some dogs will do this, shaking, you know,
but she's not, so that's a good, that's a good match, right here.
VIRGINIA: Spike, come here.
JACK: Can I see that one?
CESAR MILLAN: Yeah, let's see.
It's a little larger scale, much more outgoing.
There we go.
JACK: Oh, she's so beautiful.
CESAR MILLAN: Spike feels more interested on her.
He's already showing his body language and the whole thing.
JACK: Oh, I love that one so much.
Oh, I love this one, mama.
Mama, I really love.
CESAR MILLAN: Now let's see,
let's see them in an environment where we can
just let the leashes go.
NARRATOR: The group heads out to the backyard where
they can observe both candidates off leash.
Foxy immediately makes himself at home by marking
his territory in the bushes.
CESAR MILLAN: Well see, that's the thing with the males.
That could create competition.
She's more submissive to the environment versus
the male is already becoming dominant to the environment.
VIRGINIA: Where did Spike go?
CESAR MILLAN: Over here.
VIRGINIA: Oh, he's peeing.
CESAR MILLAN: He's competing.
See Foxy already begun say, 'well, this is mine,
this is mine.
I own this.'
So that already can trigger into, 'no,
it's not, this is my house.
I know you're attracted to him over there,
but in the long run, for a healthy balanced
relationship, male/female coexist better.
Look, he's claiming the bed already and he just came in.
JACK: He, he's very affectionate though, to me.
So, I like that.
CESAR MILLAN: Jack went into a little emotional state
instead of staying psychological about it.
She's affectionate too.
Look at that.
They are going to show you how they feel about the environment.
And it's up to you to pick them.
But if you don't see those symptoms,
if you don't see those signs,
and you only focus on how cute the dog is,
this is how people pay the consequence.
JACK: I like that guy 'cause he's really active, though.
VIRGINIA: Yeah, but that's not right for Spike.
So are we getting one for you, or for all of us?
I think we have to find one that's right for all of us.
CESAR MILLAN: I see what he likes about him.
VIRGINIA: Oh, he's getting a little jealous, Jack.
Oh, there's some tension there.
CESAR MILLAN: That's the tension that you don't.
That's right.
Now when they do that, you have to touch back,
cause that's disrespect to you.
Look at that.
Now he's claiming you.
Shh, hey!
Foxy is already exhibiting some of the symptoms that
we should pay attention to,
because he's already becoming dominant to the
environment and he's only been here five minutes.
Because he touches, Shh!
But that's pretty typical, you know,
when you put two males together,
they feel they have to claim the environment.
JACK: Yeah, and then, because eventually,
at first they're gonna do that,
but after awhile they'll kinda get used to each
other like *** and Bocky,
that's what they did at first.
CESAR MILLAN: But it can lead them into a fight.
VIRGINIA: Yeah, and he's too old for that,
for doing that, you know.
CESAR MILLAN: He's too old for fights.
VIRGINIA: I know that he's prettier, you know,
he's like, he reminds us of Dixie,
but if they're not gonna get along well, you know.
NARRATOR: Cesar suggests removing Foxy for a little
while, so Jack can see how Belle behaves on her own.
CESAR MILLAN: See that, that's one great thing
about her, that you are totally foreign to her,
but she surrender to your touch, that's a big deal.
VIRGINIA: See, she's very affectionate to you too,
whereas he kinda bit you.
Kind of bit you.
JACK: That's cool though.
VIRGINIA: No, it's not cool.
JACK: Can I go see the other guy again.
VIRGINIA: Yeah, you should see him again.
JACK: Okay.
CESAR MILLAN: See what she does to him.
VIRGINIA: Yeah, see, I don't know, Jack.
CESAR MILLAN: See, this is what Spike is gonna get out of her.
She definitely will bring the youth out of Spike,
and if you leave the male with Spike, what,
what they're gonna do is they're gonna do a lot
of wrestling, a lot of fighting, a lot of dominating.
That can be done, but it requires time like
everything else, you know?
With her, with her it's just,
you're just a done deal.
Of course, you have to keep doing exactly what
you already know.
So she just gonna, you know, fit into your program.
That guy, you have to make him fit into your program.
JACK: I don't know what I should do.
VIRGINIA: How about, which energy is better for Spike?
'Cause he's ten years old now, you know, it's like,
should he be challenged, or should he have a companion?
JACK: I think he should be challenged.
VIRGINIA: You know about dogs, Jack,
and I think you'd have a feeling if this was wrong.
See, she's attracted to you more than the other dog.
Plus, I think he needs a girlfriend more than a
buddy, you know what I mean?
CESAR MILLAN: Oh look at that, see?
VIRGINIA: He misses Dixie.
JACK: You want me? Okay, let's pick you. I pick you.
CESAR MILLAN: Oh, look at that. I think it's gonna be a
great companionship.
NARRATOR: Laura Sandoval shares a little of Belle's
history with Cesar and the family.
CESAR MILLAN: Did you rescue her?
LAURA: I did. CESAR MILLAN: From where?
VIRGINIA: Oh, wow.
LAURA: Oh, the Mexican pound.
VIRGINIA: Oh, she was in the pound?
LAURA: She was gonna be electrocuted.
CESAR MILLAN: Electrocuted?
LAURA: That's the process. And, she was next.
She was just sitting there.
They had just washed the run with the hose.
So it was all wet, she was wet.
And I passed by and I go, ooh, I'm taking that dog.
Lucky I was there that day. Lucky for her.
CESAR MILLAN: To rehabilitate dogs who have
become so aggressive is one thing.
But to rescue dogs that are totally innocent,
I think we did a great deed today, you know,
because we bringing this beautiful energy to
the environment.
I think Belle is going to enhance the energy in this home.
VIRGINIA: She's just laying there, it's so great.
CESAR MILLAN: There's a lot of wisdom in this house.
That's why today I didn't give them any instructions.
Because whatever they do with Spike,
they just have to do with Belle.
NARRATOR: But Jack will always treasure the memory
of his long relationship with Dixie.
JACK: Whenever I feel like I miss Dixie so much,
I look at this and I'm feeling,
she doesn't have that white any more,
she has all of her beautiful hair back and
she's running on the beach free now and I don't,
I don't think that she's gone forever,
she's in a very great place.
When Dixie passed away we got this little print.
This is a print of Dixie's paw.
And we even got a lock of fur from her which is really neat.
I love that cause I can always just
feel her fur whenever I want to, you know.
Even if you lose a dog, and you can't see it,
or you can't feel it, that doesn't mean that
it's not there.
It's always with you, there's always a little
piece of him in your heart.
If you think about it and if you think about it really well,
you know that they're in a great place and
they're always with you.
CESAR MILLAN: We all know that dogs bring so much
joy into our life, but in order to have a successful
relationship, both you and your dog have to be fulfilled.
I am happy to report that Miss Madsen, Jack, Spike,
and Belle, they are one big happy family.
Remember, it's important to grieve when you lose
your dog, but it's just as important to move on.
Aimee and Justin report great progress with Buster.
And my friend Scott can now visit their home
without being attacked.
Way to go, guys!
I'm really happy to report that Craig and Holli,
the motorcycle dog, are doing great.
Even better, Holli is using both front legs during the walk.
Amazing!
Until next time, don't forget to give your dog
exercise, discipline, then affection on a daily basis.
Right, Winston?
That's right.