Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Narrator: On this episode of The Dog Whisperer.
Judi: Tina who's here?
It's like having two children
from a different marriage and the kids hate
each other and you're fighting over the kids.
Oh God!
Oh, will you stop it?
Stop it!
Daughter: Nugget eats everything.
He eats soccer cones, trampolines.
Nancy: Shoes, ties.
I mean, I found nails in his mouth.
I've found hairpins in his mouth.
Russ: My daughters can actually be truthful when they
say, 'my dog ate my homework'.
Valerie Schomburg: In New Orleans, you
just saw a bunch of, um, animals that were thrown
out of their element and had to learn to survive.
Cesar: I like to help any dog in need.
I want to be the human who helps them become
physically healthy and mentally healthy.
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.
Burl Barer: Well I met the wonderful
Judy through the personals on the internet.
Judi Faye: It was late at night and Burl and I
are like two night owls.
And I get online and we started to talk.
Burl Barer: I was immediately attracted to her calm,
demure, sensitive demeanor.
Judi Faye: It was just like I went wow, he's so cute.
Burl Barer: And she had a dog and she liked animals.
Judi Faye: You know how you put a whole profile?
I went, must like animals, especially dogs.
And he has a picture of himself holding Isis and
I went, oh my god, you have a dog too.
We have so much in common.
Burl Barer: And then I tried to get the two dogs together.
Judi Faye: And it was like wow the dogs are gonna
have love at first sight.
Tina who's here?
Oh my God, hi Burl, come on in hon, how are you?
Hi Isis, hi!
Oh God, oh will you stop it!
Stop it.
Stop it.
Instead it was hate at first sight.
Burl Barer: We just can't seem to get those dogs together.
Judi Faye: The two of them went at each other,
I thought they were gonna kill each other.
What's wrong with you two, what's wrong with
you, you love everybody.
What happened?
I feel horrible, I mean I meet a guy who I'm madly
in love with and I can't even be with him
half the time because of the dogs.
And you know like parents with their own children,
he sticks up for Isis, I stick up for Tina.
And it's like having two children from
a different marriage and the kids hate each other and
you're fighting over the kids.
Burl: There must be some way we can get them together.
Judi: I don't know.
We could split because of this, that's the problem.
I hope not, but we could.
I'm sorry Burl, you better take her home honey.
Burl: Relax, Isis.
If Cesar can make it possible for our two dogs to get along,
this paves the road for Judi and I to have a
potential fulfilling romance that right now is being road
blocked by canine misbehavior.
Narrator: Dog behavior expert Cesar Millan is not
a family counselor or therapist,
but he's often called in to mediate when dogs stir up
conflict in human relationships.
Judi: Nice seeing you, come on in.
Burl: Good to see you Cesar.
Cesar: So how can I help you?
Judi: Long and short of it we start dating,
we get our dogs together.
Biggest mistake we ever made.
They're ready to kill each other two seconds
into seeing each other.
And it's hurting our relationship because I can
never see him more than two or three hours.
He has to run home to Isis, I mean it's ridiculous.
And I said it's me or the dog.
Burl: I've bonded with the dog.
I've had the dog longer than I've been dating her.
Judi: He chooses the dog over me.
What can I tell you?
Cesar: Only in America.
Judi: Only in America.
Cesar: That's amazing.
And do you want both?
Burl: This is very, very important to me.
I have a lot of emotional energy, heart energy
invested in this fine demure young woman.
And um, I want it to work out.
Narrator: During the consultation,
Cesar learns that Burl has experienced dealing
with unstable minds.
Burl: I'm an Edgar award winning author,
investigative true crime journalist
and I love non-fiction, a lot about people with
abhorrent behavior, you know, sociopaths, psychopaths.
So I know about crime I know about, uh, anti-social behavior.
But when it comes to dogs, I'm clueless.
I figured the Dog Whisperer is better than me yelling.
Cesar: Burl works with people who
detach themselves from emotions.
So I always explain this in my seminars and I always
explain this on a consultation.
Their animals don't care about emotions.
If they're not in a balanced state of mind,
they don't care about killing a cat, a dog, a kid
or a human, period.
Because they don't have this understanding of if I hurt
or kill somebody, other people are going
to get hurt.
The dog has separation anxiety.
The dog has charged.
The dog is dominant.
Burl: She charges, yeah, overcharges.
With severe interest.
Cesar: So it's not that we're gonna get rid of the boyfriend.
It's not that we're gonna get rid of the dog.
What we're gonna get rid of at this moment is to
treat dog as human.
Judi: Yes.
Cesar: So at that moment, they're not Isis or
they're not Tina.
They're two animals who you're trying to put together
and your goal is to make them surrender to each other.
So that would be the ideal way to introduce
two aggressive dogs, or two dogs who have
anti social behavior.
And when you put two dogs together,
it's best if they move forward instead of facing each other.
That's how boxing gets, you know, that's gladiators.
They have to be at eye contact.
Without the eye contact, there's no fight.
You see it?
They can do this, but they're gonna get tired and
then eventually surrender.
So the ideal way of introducing dogs that
live in different homes, especially when they're
not raised together, is to walk them together
without seeing each other first.
Then next to each other, but they're not
looking at each other.
Until you lower the level of energy,
slowly you bring the dog that's much submissive
to the other dog.
So we're making the dominant dogs submissive
just by us bringing the submissive dog towards her.
So the human have to be the one who's controlling the orchestra.
Burl: I'm willing to commit myself to do whatever
it takes to make this work.
If I have to approach my dog differently.
Cesar: Okay.
Burl: Speak to her differently.
Buy her different outfits than I've been doing.
Whatever it takes, I want to commit to it
because I want this to work.
Cesar: Alright so let's meet the girls.
Judi: Sounds good.
Burl: There we go.
Narrator: Can Cesar bring peace
to these clashing canines?
Narrator: Burl Barer and Judi Faye's dream romance
begins to fall apart when their respective
dogs, Isis and Tina, discover hate
at first sight.
They hope Cesar Millan can restore peace
and harmony for all.
Cesar: Judi and Burl believe the dogs are keeping them apart,
but that to me is not the reality.
The reality that is keeping them apart is the lack of knowledge.
And the lack of knowledge is not just not knowing what
to do with dog psychology or the psychological
world of dogs, is they're
not playing leadership role.
We needed to empower somebody.
We needed to begin to empowering somebody.
And I know that in order for us to remove red zone dog,
we have to remove the source when it becomes red zone.
The source of Isis was Burl.
So once we remove him out of the picture,
it was easier for us to start introducing Tina and Isis.
Yeah, we can't.
There we go.
Shh.
Narrator: Because Isis is a red zone case,
Cesar insists that she always has a muzzle on
when she's around Tina.
Cesar: I'm gonna bring her close so she, there we go.
This way she's gonna sense the different energy from her.
Hey, hey.
This is very typical from dogs that have had already experience
in attacking another dog and have never been
blocked from the owner.
So this not a negotiation here.
This is what she has to do.
She can't look at her with the, with the
intentions of attacking.
There we go.
This is good.
Shh, very good, hey, every touch that I'm doing is a bite
and I'm not thinking pulling the leash.
I'm not thinking touching with my feet.
I'm not thinking touching with my hand.
Every touch that I'm doing comes as if I was
a pack leader telling her, this is not what
I want from you.
Judi: Um-hmm.
Yes.
Cesar: What she wants to do is to destroy her.
When dog wants to destroy another dog,
there's no emotions, that's why it's easier for
them to destroy.
So what we're doing here is not to bring emotions.
It's just to bring calm submission.
Which that allows her, just because she attacks,
she has to go on the ground.
Hey, and she have to stay on the top, because she's
being submissive.
See this dog means no harm, this dog means harm.
We have to make sure the tail is not between the
leg when we're doing this exercise.
Tail between the leg becomes fear.
I don't want her to fear.
I want her to submit.
So my next step is to keep putting her next to her
because I need to make sure, the closer she is with her,
the more the brain wants to attack.
Judi: Yes.
Cesar: So the more the brain wants to attack,
the more I have the more I have the access to block.
And the more I block, the more I achieve what I want.
Right?
So every time she goes into that state, I do this,
I touch her with my feet, I pull with the leash.
So what I want you to see is your whole body is a tool.
Judi: Yes.
Cesar: So if your hands are busy you can touch with your legs.
Not like this.
Judi: But just.
Cesar: Firm.
Judi: Firm.
Cesar: That's right.
Judi: Yeah.
Cesar: Like that.
This is really good.
So what she's seeing is she's at the highest
level of calm submission and she's not
trying to harm her.
Hey.
See and then she goes right back into that
state of mind, ssh, hey, the touch have to be
firm, because she's definitely projecting,
I want to kill you right now and that's it.
I want nothing to do.
I don't want to you smell you, I don't want to play with you.
I just want to kill you.
This is very obvious.
This is the one that kill.
Judi: Yes.
Cesar: Because they're quiet.
They're snipers.
Narrator: Cesar brings both dogs together so they can stat
to behave properly as a pack.
Cesar: She's pulling her around.
There we go.
This is good.
So Tina because she's having such a great energy
and such a great behavior, we are making
her the role model.
My girl here cannot look at Tina one second
because her intention is still to kill Tina.
I'm not trying to favor Tina.
Judi: Yes.
Cesar: I'm just giving Tina that attention
because she's in the state of mind that we want.
Not, not that we are, don't like her,
it's just that she can't receive this kind of
attention right now.
What she's getting is rules, boundaries and limitations,
which that's going to allow her to
eventually free herself from wanting to kill another dog.
So we're really doing what is best for her.
I strongly believe that the best thing for us
to create a better relationship is during the walk.
Dogs walk every day.
Dogs become partners or become team by walking
and dogs develop bond by walking, not by
going behind walls.
Once they're in that same state of mind,
I'm gonna pass you the leash but you're not ready to
touch the leash yet.
Judi: Okay.
Cesar: Okay?
They need somebody with experience right now
to keep them in that state of mind that it's
important to be in.
So I needed to empower the female human being
to become the dominant one of two female dogs.
Whatever comes automatically to you,
as long as you stay in the zone.
Judi: Yes.
Cesar: Okay, now just lower your arms.
We're in a relaxed matter.
So this is an exercise, they're in front of you which
is really bad, but at least they're not
going after each other.
Judi: Yes.
Cesar: And when Burl came into the picture,
but at that time I was influencing the dog,
Judi was influencing the dogs.
And that's two pack leaders in the picture.
So it was important for me to tell Burl, you know, ignore,
just come in as you're going to interview one of your clients.
Same way, same energy.
Because he follows what I say and then I immediately
gave him the leash and say stay in the moment,
keep moving forward.
Like I said Burl has great skills controlling dog.
Burl Barer: The things I found most fascinating
was those exact same techniques that I use in
my field are the same techniques that he uses with the dogs,
reducing aggression, uh, bonding by approaching them
from where they're coming from, which is they're animals.
Cesar: This will be the ideal way to introducing
them for travel for a long period of time,
become a pack.
Burl Barer: To be out there walking our dogs together,
side by side, without them attacking
each other is nothing short of a miracle.
Judi: And the dogs were dogs and the humans were with humans.
Burl Barer: And it was so distracting to have
this problem.
We haven't been able to concentrate really
on building our relationship.
Judi: Yeah.
Burl Barer: Because we were so concerned about
the dogs relationship.
Judi: Cesar thank you so much.
Cesar: Well thank you for listening to me.
Judi: Really, really appreciate it.
Narrator: Cesar's solution is no mystery.
Judi and Burl must walk their dogs side by side every day,
they must act like calm assertive pack leaders
while on the walks and they should keep Isis' muzzle on
for the time being.
Cesar: If they can practice every day I don't
see why this case could not be very successful.
Burl Barer: Cesar is absolutely incredible.
He should have his own TV show.
The guy's fantastic.
Judi: What a wonderful walk.
Burl: Oh yeah.
Nancy: When Nugget was a puppy we started to see
bad behavior almost immediately as far as just
being really wild, especially at night.
He'd run around, get really hyper,
just start chewing everything.
Megan: One morning he came in my room.
He like took my socks and he just started eating them and I
was just kind of like, what are you doing?
And I thought he was just being a puppy.
Russ: A year and a half later he's probably a lot
worse than he was when he was a puppy.
Courtney: Nugget eats everything.
He eats soccer cones, trampolines.
Nancy: Shoes, ties, dishcloths.
He goes in the bathroom, gets the bath towels out.
You leave a pot holder on the counter.
He chews that up.
Russ: He's eaten plastic bottles, he's eaten
plastic bottle caps.
He's eaten part of our chairs.
Nancy: I mean I've found nails in his mouth.
I've found hairpins in his mouth.
Russ: He's tried to eat ant bait.
He's chewed on batteries that he's found from,
from the clickers from the TV.
He's chewed on our clickers.
My daughters can actually be truthful when they say my
dog ate my homework, 'cause he possibly could've
eat his homework.
Could've eaten the calculator.
Could've eaten the books.
Could've eaten the back pack, 'cause that's
just the way he is.
He eats everything and anything.
Narrator: Nugget's weird eating disorder turned deadly
when the two year old Great Dane/Hound mix literally
bit off more than he could chew.
Nancy: There was one day last year when it was
raining in November and we left a rug inside
because the dogs were inside because it was
pouring down rain.
Megan: We came home and like a quarter of the rug was missing.
And then like he got really sick.
Nancy: We took him to the vet,
and then he took an x-ray and he found that he had
an obstruction, bowel obstruction from the rug.
And they gave him probably about a 50/50 chance
that night that he'd make it.
Narrator: The Briley family waited anxiously
as Nugget underwent a two hour emergency surgery.
Russ: Afterwards they showed us the baggy of
what they took out of his um, intestines and
it was pretty scary.
And we had no idea that he'd even eaten and
because it was gone and it was in his, inside of him.
And it's just really.
It's scary because the doctor did tell us that the
next time you know, he could die
because it's, it was very very serious and
it was really touch and go at this time.
Nancy: The main thing I hope that Cesar can do and help
us with is keep this dog alive, because I tell my kids,
I don't think this dog is long for this
world because he eats so much stuff.
And we just can't control everything that he eats.
Narrator: Can Cesar stop Nugget's eating binges?
Narrator: The Briley family's Great Dane-Hound
mix Nugget eats anything that's
not nailed down, including nails.
When Nugget required emergency surgery after
eating a section of carpet, the family asks Cesar to
help stop Nugget's potentially deadly habit.
Cesar: So how can I help you guys?
Russ: Oh we need help.
Cesar: Alright.
Russ: He uh, poor dog, he chews everything.
Cesar: This is good.
This is normal.
Russ: It is normal?
Cesar: Yes it's good.
Russ: Chews everything.
He eats everything actually and he had a major surgery
a few months back.
He almost passed away.
And we're very, very concerned because we
obviously love the dog.
Cesar: Yeah.
Russ: He's got his problems but we love the dog and
we don't want to see him die.
Cesar: So what do you guys um, do for him besides the house,
besides the affection, besides the food.
What do you guys do for him as, for him to release that
energy somewhere.
Nancy: We do take him on walks.
Cesar: Okay.
Nancy: Maybe not everyday but probably 3, 4 times a week.
Cesar: 3, 4 times a week.
Nancy: It's hard to take, we have a littler dog and
it's hard to take them at the same time.
So I usually take him by himself.
And you know, first he's pretty good going uphill.
But as soon as we start going downhill,
I really lose control of him.
He gets, you know he starts running ahead,
pulling, you know he's really difficult to walk.
Cesar: Um-hmm.
And that's why you only take him three times a week.
Nancy: Yeah it is.
It's kind of an adventure when I take him.
Cesar: So Nancy shared with me that she would
take Nugget for a walk three times a week, whoa.
To me this is a good example of a dog that
is not getting enough challenge.
When a dog destroys a house and chews things,
it's just like a physical exercise.
When you get a dog that is working type and you don't
have anything to share, any activity to share,
they develop issues, like the one you have.
You have destructive behavior because you're
not utilizing his energy in a positive manner.
I didn't really think that the family was gonna be
able to pull it through.
They're seemed to be too calm.
So a walk is therapy.
The walk is like Prozac without side effect.
Russ: Is there a certain amount of time you
have to walk him?
Cesar: 45 minutes.
Russ: How long?
Cesar: 45.
Russ: 45, huh.
Cesar: Minimum.
Cause, see, the dogs lives behind walls 24 hours.
Right?
So walls create frustration.
So, if you don't remove excess amount of energy,
that is going to become explosive energy.
So 45 minutes is actually a small amount of time versus what
they can actually do, you see.
But I know, let's be realistic, ya
know, we're working type people.
That's why I'm going to show you the type of walk
that is going to make it a very intense.
Russ: Okay.
Cesar: You know very psychological, very mental.
The dog is going to focus on you, not on the rocks.
Not on the floor.
That's the kind of walk we need to learn to do.
Alright let's go for a walk.
Russ: Okay great.
Cesar: I'm going to make sure they understand
the meaning of a walk, not the walk that everybody
thinks of which is a dog doing whatever he wants.
No, no, no, this is a walk that has a structure.
Now because the door is open, the brain's
supposed to go in front.
This is a walk with every step you make is controlled by you.
Russ: He's usually just bolting and dragging
you down the walkway.
Cesar: Yeah but see from the moment I put on the leash.
I created what I wanted.
This is good.
I want him to put up a fight because I want
you to see guys that, that you have to stay
there no matter what.
Russ: Right.
Cesar: You have to stay here.
Russ: Don't give in.
Cesar: Don't give in.
Okay so now.
Sssh, ssh, sssh,
right so that is another exercise.
Russ: I was just amazed.
We found out everything we're doing was
the wrong way to do it.
And just by watching him and by how gentle he is with him,
and how you can still get everything accomplished
without being harsh or rough, it was amazing.
Cesar: So right now is he can't smell.
He can't look around.
He can only follow us.
Russ: Right.
Cesar: So at the same time that I'm talking to you,
I am controlling the reaction that he's making.
Russ: So every time he pulls, you kind of pull back.
Cesar: That's right, 'cause I have to disagree
with him going in a different direction.
Russ: Right.
Cesar: So that's how I disagree.
When was his last walk?
Nancy: 2 days ago.
Cesar: 2 days ago.
So we're dealing with a dog that has 2 days of energy.
Russ: Right.
Cesar: You follow what I'm saying?
That, that's why he's not getting, get what we want.
I wasn't accomplishing what I wanted which is a dog
that pays a hundred percent attention to me.
And the reason why Nugget was not paying attention
to me hundred percent is because he had way
too much physical energy.
So then I say you know guys can you wait
for me a little bit.
Let me just run with Nugget.
Russ: This is unbelievable.
I just can't believe he's being that good.
Nancy: I know.
Russ: And he's going as fast as he is.
He's not trying to take him out.
He's fast.
Cesar: So I run with Nugget half a block.
You know after that Nugget would feel great.
And when we came back, I can tie the leash around
my waist and then ask him to be at my pace now.
So this way you can have like, ya know your weight
or you can have your cell phone.
So your turn.
Megan: Oh no.
Cesar: Yes.
Come on, you gotta give me a different
state of mind.
Daughter: Okay.
Cesar: You say oh no, that's not a good state of mind.
We're going down the hill.
Megan: Okay.
Cesar: Your biggest nightmare.
Come on, this way.
Tell me what you're feeling.
Megan: I think this is amazing because usually
he'd be like pulling me down the street, like really hard.
Cesar: Even if your family is in the back, you are in control.
You are the leader right now.
So then I showed them how to walk Nugget the right way.
Up, up, there we go, relax, relax, okay.
You're in control.
You're in total control.
Nancy: It's amazing.
Cesar: Bring him over here.
And then relax the arm.
Very good.
I knew that the whole family was going to have one great
time, one great 10 minutes, 'cause they never had one
great 10 minutes.
So what do you have right now?
Russ: I feel like I'm in control.
Cesar: Yeah, that's right, right there, that
was a good reaction, very good.
And you have what, a dog that is doing what?
Russ: Following.
Cesar: Following.
Just to keep it simple.
You see that, just keep it very simple.
I want them to see that they can do two things at once.
Control dog and having conversation.
Because the idea would be for the whole family to
walk with Nugget one day, right?
So they can have a different type of family day.
Alright so what we're gonna do now is we're
going to take advantage of him being a little tired
and he's been listening to all of us already.
We're gonna put the objects that he normally
chews on and we're not going to allow him
to touch them.
Alright.
I put the objects that he normally swallows,
you know what I mean, these are the objects that
sent him to the emergency room.
I put them right in front of him,
but I put it in front of him after I challenge him.
So I told him I'm here to lead you and to tell you what to do,
which he didn't have a problem with it.
There, that's even better.
Russ: He just turned away.
Cesar: That's even better.
Mom: Right.
Russ: 'Cause it's not tempting him.
Cesar: So Nugget did more than I was expecting.
What was I expecting was just a dog that just
looked away from the objects, but Nugget finished actually
turning around from the objects.
That's even better.
Nancy: That's just amazing.
Russ: That's amazing to me.
I can't believe that's the same dog.
Nancy: 'Cause yesterday he would've been
eating all those things.
And half those things he did try to eat yesterday.
That's just.
Russ: Yesterday was one of the worst days
we've had with him.
Cesar: Yeah?
Russ: With him, he was just grabbing everything.
Cesar: A little affection.
Sssh.
Russ: I can't believe that everything was
just controlled by just a walk.
And it makes me feel bad because if I,
I haven't really participated as much as
I should in the walking and now I'm
going to make a big point of doing it.
Cesar: So how do we end the exercise?
Simple, we move him away from it.
After they realized, they understood where I
was coming from.
Then they saw themselves, okay, it's us not Nugget.
That's a great start.
Narrator: Two weeks later, Nancy and Russ visit
Cesar's Dog Psychology center to give an update
on their progress with Nugget.
Cesar: Ah hah, You did it.
Russ: I think the main thing is the walks cause he gets a
lot of exercise and he's huffin and puffin by the
time he gets back.
Nancy: He's just a happier dog.
We're walking him twice a day so he just is much more
under our control, we feel better,
we are rearranging our entire schedule for him.
It's working and the little dog's happier
and they're not barking like they used to and just
a lot of things are falling into place that we didn't
even anticipate.
Russ: It's not only Nugget that's benefiting from all
of the walking but it's also for the good of my
waistline too, cause now I'm walking and I'm
feeling it too, so I'm feeling a little better.
He's not bouncing off the walls and trying to eat things.
And every so often he'll grab a wash cloth and I'll just do the,
like you taught me, just drop it and he'll get
on the couch and I go wow, that's pretty cool.
Cesar: It's amazing, you know, you guys only did it in one day.
Russ: Yes.
Cesar: Most of the people have to come back in ten days
or ten times or a hundred times and they
still don't get it so I'm very pleased when you
guys make this, you know, turn around
and just created what you wanted.
Russ: Yeah.
Nancy: It's only been two weeks.
It hasn't been that long, so he's doing just incredible.
Cesar: But that's the beauty of dogs living in the moment.
That's a great example of it.
Nancy: I do feel like it's a sense of accomplishment.
I mean, he was a great little puppy.
He was so sweet and just we just fell in love with
this little dog and as he got older he just got more
and more wild and more and more out of control
and now he's coming back to us.
Russ: But thank you so much.
Thank you, thank you.
Cesar: Very good.
Russ: Thank you so much.
Valerie Schomburg: You just saw a bunch of animals
that were thrown out of their element.
They had to learn to survive.
Cesar: I like to help any dog in need.
I want to be the human who helps them to become
physically healthy and mentally healthy.
Narrator: August 2005.
Hurricane Katrina devastates America's Gulf Coast,
causing over 400,000 to flee
and leaving at least 1300 people dead in its wake.
But there are tens of thousands of other victims
left behind, they are the silent victims.
Not long after the winds died down,
over a thousand volunteers pour into the
wounded city of New Orleans, wading through filth
to rescue 10,000 animals.
Tom and Valerie Schomberg are among them.
Tom Schomburg: The first thing I noticed when we got
to New Orleans was the smell.
I mean, it was just a moldy, musty, muddy smell.
Valerie Schomburg: These poor animals were left in houses,
or on roofs, or swimming through the water trying to survive.
That's what really just, kind of, tugged at my heart.
Tom Schomburg: From what I understand,
most people thought that they were only going
to be gone a few days.
So, they left food and water enough for those few days.
Only to find out there weren't going to be
able to get back for weeks.
Valerie Schomburg: There were some that we had seen
that did unfortunately drown because they were
still chained up because they didn't have
a chance to swim away.
Narrator: The volunteers' efforts are rewarded by over
two thousand emotional reunions,
with more occurring every day.
But not every pet's owner has been found.
Cheri Lucas: When I heard about Hurricane Katrina
and the innocent victims that the dogs were,
it just broke my heart and I wanted so badly
to get involved and help in some way.
I received an email that was sent to a lot of different
Human Societies in California, of a group of
people that were trying to get some help to these dogs,
and they had funding to get a flight here from New Orleans,
and they asked if we would be able to take some dogs in.
So, I jumped at the chance.
Woman 1: I love this one, too.
Oh, these guys really need a bath.
Look it.
He's typical of what you'd find.
Woman 2: Look it, this one's stepping on my foot.
This one's.
Cheri Lucas: When I first went to Torrance,
which was the holding area for all of the dogs,
we were expecting about 150 dogs in,
I didn't really know what to expect.
This is ours.
OK.
And when I got there, I was just overwhelmed.
It was extremely emotional.
It was very emotional.
The dogs were in such bad shape, and skinny and
dehydrated and filthy.
No, the water can stay.
We'll just take the crate.
Narrator: Cheri is able to take 11 dogs back to
her southern California shelter,
the Second Chance for Love Humane Society.
Cheri Lucas: The thought that goes through my mind
more than anything as I watch this tragedy is not
only how sad it is for these people who have lost everything,
but how incredibly intensified that would be
if you had to leave a member of your family behind,
meaning your pet.
Because for many of us, our pets are part of our family.
I can't even imagine what it would be like to have
to abandon your pet in order to save your own life,
to evacuate your home.
And I wonder, when I look at these eleven dogs that I got,
if someone is looking for them.
It's a good one for Cesar here.
Cesar: Cheri is a friend of mine,
and also a person that I'm training to rehabilitate dogs.
Cheri Lucas: I called Cesar, and just mentioned in passing that,
"Oh, by the way, I'm getting dogs out of New Orleans.
Along with some other rescue groups."
And he offered to take three of them.
And he said, "Why don't you just evaluate them and
give me the worst cases," and so I thought,
"Yeah, whichever dogs would benefit most from the power of
the pack, that only Cesar has," and so that's what I did,
I picked out three dogs.
Okay, yeah looks fine here, actually.
Nope, he almost got me, too.
Cesar: I like to help any dog in need.
It doesn't matter if the dog went through a horrendous
moment of their life.
Just because they're unstable, I want to be there for them.
I want to be the human who helps them through
to become physically healthy and mentally healthy.
Narrator: After selecting the neediest cases,
Cheri meets up with Delores Burton,
another volunteer to introduce the dogs to Cesar
at the Dog Psychology Center.
Cheri Lucas: Operation Rescue Ruff-u-gee.
This guy is an unneutered Akita mix,
been pretty aggressive since he's been back,
but he's unpredictable, goes back and forth.
And then I've got a female Rotti mix here.
She's in pretty bad shape.
I've bathed her three times and she's got,
she was obviously caught up in something that
I can't get off of her.
She's got some wounds.
But she's very, very fearful.
This guy was quite aggressive with everybody when
he first got off the plane.
He snapped at two vets.
Cesar: Now observe this, ok, observe
that we had an insecure case.
Then we have an aggressive case.
Now we getting a very anxious case.
It's anxiety, right away.
So insecurity can also give you an aggressive dog.
Anxiety can also give you an aggressive dog.
So if they don't calm the anxiety, they can't touch them.
They fight, they flight, or they ignore you, but
they won't submit to you.
It's very important then, that at this moment in their life,
we don't humanize them.
This is when rehabilitation begins.
Today is the most important day.
We are creating a pact to bring my,
to bring this pack to my pack.
I'm going to take the aggressive dog,
and she's going to take the insecure dog,
and she's going to take the anxious dog.
My human team was Cheri and Delores.
I'm teaching both of these women.
These women are learning dog psychology.
Delores is not as advanced as Cheri,
so Delores have to take a dog that is not as dangerous or
difficult to manipulate.
Narrator: Cesar faces two enormous tasks,
rehabilitating three terrified dogs and then
trying to find the original owners or new
homes for these victims of hurricane Katrina.
Narrator: Hurricane Katrina devastated
the gulf coast in August 2005, leaving behind
a human tragedy of unimaginable proportions.
In addition, thousands of silent refugees,
the pets of the hurricane's victims,
also became casualties.
More than 1000 volunteers rescued over 10,000
lost pets from certain death.
Dog behavior expert Cesar Millan offered to help
rehabilitate three traumatized, homeless dogs in the hope of
one day finding their owners.
Cheri Lucas and Delores Burton assist Cesar as he
brings the three frightened dogs into
his Los Angeles center.
Cesar: Wait, wait, wait.
Slowly, slowly, gently.
That's right.
Calm and assertive.
Not just assertive.
There we go.
That's a little too rough, hold on.
Watch this.
There we go.
See it?
They have to also do it.
Especially because it's insecure,
so if you do it too hard, they'll shut down.
So it's a little gentle touch,
and if they can't move on because they shut down,
then you lift them to another place until their
brain starts moving forward.
See it?
Delores: Yes.
Cesar: Got it?
Delores: Yes.
Cesar: So you stay right there.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
You're doing fine.
All right, let's get this.
Let's see protégé number two.
Narrator: Cheri loops a simple leash around the
anxious male mix.
Cesar: It's different right?
Because this is an excited,
anxious case so the excitement pushed them forward.
So now we move into the hard core guy.
It's a lot of bluffing here.
You have to put it on.
You about to strike right there.
So, he, he strike, he charge, he, he try to bite my finger.
But I can't back away.
I'm, I'm already here, I can't back away.
There we go.
I want those feet inside.
There we go.
That's what I want.
I want those feet inside, otherwise, he's not welcome.
See, that's dominance.
That's dominance, right there.
That's cute.
This is good.
Then I invite him out.
You got it.
So the reason why I'm not gonna name the guys that
came from the Katrina Hurricane is because in mother
nature, animals have no name.
So I'm going to leave that to the people who is going
to adopt the dogs, or maybe we can find
the owners.
Alright, so you first.
Narrator: Cesar sends Delores and the insecure
female Rottweiler in first to meet the pack.
Cheri follows next with the anxious male.
Cesar: These guys are not neutered and that's not going to
be very easy for the whole pack, because they are sending the,
the scent of mating, and that sends everybody
into mating time.
That's why it's so important to spay and neuter your dog.
We have to do it for their well-being.
Seems to me that you never had rules.
That's right.
Look how the pack is, is viewing them.
Pack is viewing them very well.
So, hold on ladies, stay right there.
I'm gonna, I think we gotta calm this guy down first.
You have to feel the energy.
You have to read the body language.
And you have to also know what the pack is telling you.
I have to create one unit right away.
Otherwise my pack can kill that pack.
See that tail right there?
He's in a dominant state right now.
He's not unsure about himself.
This guy's very sure about himself.
So we got to be very careful.
That's why, that's what I'm, instead of bringing
the other two, I chose him to be the first to
be introduced to the pack, so he can calm down.
See the tail is going down.
And the whole point of going down is because he's
sensing the pack is not about to harm him.
The pack is actually doing a very, a very nice
welcome wagon here.
See it?
Calm, submissive pit bulls, Rottweilers,
bloodhounds, everybody.
Everybody who's everybody is here.
This is good, so the aggression went away.
They have not sense yet his testicles.
Every time we welcome a dog in need, I grow, and my pack grows.
I, I just get happy that I'm about to learn something.
I'm about to learn something new.
Like I always said, dogs are my teachers.
I gotta create a, I create a boundary right away.
They have to see that I'm in control.
From the aggressive guy that we have earlier,
now we having a calm, submissive state Akita mix.
So the next guy that have to come in is that guy over there.
So watch what happens to him from that anxiety state of mind
when he enters into the other side of the pack.
Just go in, and drop the leash.
Just go in and drop the leash.
Go, go, go, go, go, go.
Go.
Drop the leash.
That's his name, by the way.
"I'm from New Orleans."
That's what he's saying.
Can you see now?
The anxiety, the excitement went away.
It's not magic.
It's just the power of the pack.
Now, insecure dog is coming in.
Yeah, go, go, go.
Go, go, go.
Go, go, go.
There we go.
Drop it.
Now let's see how insecure dogs react to the approach,
which most of the time is insecure.
Stay away.
That's right.
See, they curve themselves, they curve themselves.
The hair up, that's insecurity.
We can't say, "It's okay."
We can't give cookies.
We can't give anything right now.
She have to go through it on her own, and then once
everything pass, you will see that she
recovers herself.
They move on.
Aggressive dog, see.
He is waiting more than the rest.
This is part of the challenge.
We're going to make him work to come in here.
You know, he has to feel honored to come in here.
We honored to have him, but he doesn't see it that way.
Now the tail is totally low.
This pack of dog trust me and respect me 100%.
He has to see it today, because that's how we
going to influence him to live in a different state of mind,
and to feel welcome being with us in L.A.
Tail up, that's not good.
See, the only one who created commotion was him.
All because he walking with the tail up.
This is why it's important to neuter the dogs,
because they immediately go in to try to own the place.
See, very interested about what he's carrying around.
Nobody is mating yet, but the more they smell him,
the more they're going to get into that state of mind.
We're not really playing attention to the other guys.
The other guys are, are already submissive, but this guy,
he keep his tail up in the air, so that to me is a red flag.
I have to keep my eyes close to him until he lower that tail,
otherwise he going to make everybody put their
tail up into the air.
And I work really hard for them to keep the tail in the middle.
So one, one negative energy can make
an incredible ripple effect, where everybody who was
calm, submissive for months and for weeks,
they can go into that state of mind immediately in
order for them to survive.
See, see, so watch this.
That's what I was telling you.
See that pit bull, he wants to mount it.
There we go, there we.
Hey, hey.
Cheri Lucas: Everything that Cesar does,
it makes sense when you begin to see things from
the perspective on how the dog world thinks.
So, it was fascinating to see him work.
Cesar: There we are.
That's good.
He already feels at home.
My hope from, from this rescuing is that
people understand that, yes, it's okay to feel bad about
what happened to their life, but it's also important to move
forward, to move on.
If something we can learn from this group of guys, new guys,
is that they live in the moment and they're happy
to be in any environment where they share balance.
Ilusion Millan: When we first got the Katrina dogs,
our primary goal was to not only rehabilitate them,
but also find their original owners.
I'm gonna, once, I'm gonna type in the description
and all the information on Pets 911 and so people can
try to find their dogs, these owners, yeah.
If we're unable to find their original owners,
then our plan is to find great homes for these dogs.
Narrator: As the dogs from the Big Easy adjust
to the California coast, their photos
go out on the internet, in the hope that someone,
somewhere, is praying for them to come home.
Cesar: Being your dog's calm assertive pack leader
is like working on a diet.
If you don't follow that every day, it's not gonna work.
Although Isis and Tina are not best friends yet,
Burl and Judi now possess the tool to make the relationship
work on every level.
Our friend Nugget is now getting two walks a day,
and is no longer eating everything in sight.
Way to go Nugget!
And the very special Katrina dogs are adjusting
well to the pack.
We're working on finding great homes for them,
but if we're really lucky, we will reunite them with
their lost family.
Until next time, we hope to see you out there walking your dog.
Right Dakota?
Right.