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Narrator: Do not attempt the techniques you are about to see
without consulting a professional.
Narrator: On this episode of the Dog Whisperer.
Alison Smith: When I moved into my apartment now,
he started to get aggressive.
If I try to intervene he'll focus on me.
I've been bitten more times than I can count.
Lori Polydoros: If I cough or I clear my throat he instantly
wants to get away from me.
He'll go out to our tree house area,
he'll get on the wall and he'll tightrope these really high
walls and then he'll just leave, you know,
and I'm really scared that, you know, he'll get hit by a car.
Debbie Fisher: It could be the pizza man,
it could be a neighbor, someone he's never seen, anyone.
He gets upset when they leave. He just has this fit.
For such a little guy he is loud.
It's just a piercing bark.
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.
Alison Smith: I was living in New York at the time I got Stan,
which was about a year and a half ago.
I was volunteering at the ASPCA and it just wasn't enough for
me, I wanted a dog of my own to have at home and
be there with me.
When I moved into my apartment now, he started to get
aggressive.
Rachel Yates: Ali is a sweetheart and she's done
everything for this dog.
But Stan,I think a lot of people would have given up on him.
Thomas Fink: Stan is a little crazy. He's a little loopy.
He takes that door pretty seriously upstairs.
He guards it with his life.
Alison Smith: If I try to intervene he'll focus on me.
I have been bitten more times than I can count.
I am very friendly with my neighbor Maria, adore her.
And I adore the dog she babysits. Her name is Ally.
Of course, she's a lovely wonderful dog.
Maria Xiques: I live right across the hall from them,
they never know when he's gonna snap and when he's not
gonna snap.
Alison Smith: It just keeps escalating.
Look at his face. Hey, hey, sit. Sit.
When people come over, I tell them, I will put the dog away.
And then you can come in and have a seat.
I will go get the dog, bring him out and whoever's over,
the guest must ignore the dog, not make eye contact with
the dog.
Kind of don't move really until Stan comes over,
checks the person out, gives a little sniff and has settled.
Then before the person leaves, the person has to tell me,
"Okay I'm going to get up now."
So I have to put Stan away, because if I don't,
he will just absolutely go after the person.
When he's alone with me, he is just a love.
He's my little shadow, he follows me everywhere in the
house.
He loves to sit on my lap, sitting next to me on my couch.
And, and that, I feel like that's his true nature.
That's when he's relaxed and everything is cool in his world
and that's who I want him to be with everyone else.
Narrator: Cesar knows that big problems often come in small
packages.
Just as small problems can quickly become bigger without
proper pack leadership.
Cesar Millan: Okay, so today is August 28th,
yesterday was my birthday, it was a great day.
And I know that every day after my birthday is a new challenge.
And I can't wait to see what the challenge is all about.
Small dog. Territorial.
Territorial but frustrated.
Alison Smith: Hello. Cesar Millan: Hello.
Alison Smith: Come in.
Cesar Millan: When I was behind the door,
what I heard was a territorial bark with little frustration.
Narrator: Stan's issues are so apparent,
Cesar decides to skip the consultation and get right down
to business.
Cesar Millan: See you later, bye! Tsst.
Hey. That's. Tsst, Tsst. Let's hear that. Tsst.
Okay. Yeah, Tsst. Tsst.
I'm gonna help, look, this is still, see if, if you would,
if we would be using the wrong energy he would not come to us.
Alison Smith: Oh certainly not.
Cesar Millan: You see. See this is.
Narrator: Dog Whisperer's director gets an on-camera role
when Cesar asks her to assist in Stan's rehabilitation.
SueAnn Fincke: See ya later buddy.
Cesar Millan: Bye! Tsst. Wait, wait. There we go,
this is, there we go.
This is good. Tsst. Tsst. Tsst.
We can't let him walk away until he surrender.
Because that's what we tell him, look what we want you to do is
for you to surrender.
Because he went into a fight mode, right?
Alison Smith: Yeah.
Cesar Millan: He, he chase, even though he was doing this whole
thing, it was so not intense.
You know? So from 0 to 10, that was level two.
Alison Smith: Okay.
SueAnn Fincke: Bye, see you later.
Cesar Millan: Bye. Tsst. Hey. Tsst.
So look, this.
See, so I'm using my body just to block. Tsst.
And telling him do not move forward.
There we go, good boy. Very good. Good job.
Alison Smith: Good boy Stan.
Cesar Millan: My timing is not just good as,
as a disciplinarian, my timing is also good as a person who
knows when to reward.
Alison Smith: And knowing the signs of,
how to read the signs that show what state of mind he's in as
well.
Cesar Millan: Yes. And, and when you are internally quiet,
then you feel his internal energy.
Energy, to me, is more important than timing.
Timing you can learn it by observing, you know,
certain things.
But the energy is the most powerful tool we have.
Narrator: Cesar's energy theory gets a real life test case when
Alison's neighbor Rachel comes to visit.
Cesar Millan: Turn around.
That, tsst, that, that only makes, tsst.
Tsst, hey.
There you go. Watch Rachel. Tsst. Hey.
Rachel: I get scared.
Stan bit me and he, every time I see him he tries to bite me.
So I have learned to stay away from him.
Cesar Millan: So you say bye and you start doing this thing.
So you are saying come and bite me, come and chase me, come and,
you know, dominate me.
Rachel: Really?
I did that, I didn't know that I did that.
Cesar Millan: Look, look, come over here.
Rachel: I guess 'cause I know how he is when you leave so I
got scared a little bit.
Cesar Millan: I know, that's what I'm saying.
But see in your mind you were saying bye to the humans and
then here is Rachel say bye.
How do I look, Rachel?
Rachel: Scared.
Cesar Millan: That's right. But look at this.
Bye guys, thank you, you know. How do I look Rachel?
Rachel: Confident. Cesar Millan: That's right.
Rachel: Okay. So it's my energy that is affecting him.
Cesar Millan: Well, he has a problem, but you
only intensifying the problem and making yourself a target.
Rachel: Yeah. Well we, definitely as Ali's neighbors
need to learn this too.
Cesar Millan: I always teach people how to influence or
inspire or motivate friends, family members how to help.
I, I think if we all join in, in the rehabilitation of a dog,
the accomplishment is quicker and accomplishment is permanent.
It's not just the owner of a dog,
it's everybody involved in the life of Ally.
Rachel: I'll see you later. Alison Smith: Okay.
Cesar Millan: Bye guys. Rachel: Bye.
Cesar Millan: Very nice. Stay right there. Wait.
Right there, stay right there, it, it's not time yet.
There we go, see it?
Just turn around, yeah there we go.
Alison Smith: Good boy. Good boy.
Narrator: Building on the success with Stan's barking,
Cesar decides to tackle another problem issue when Alison
mentions that Stan hates to be groomed.
Cesar Millan: Right here.
So you all, you also have to introduce the scissors as a
scent, then as a sight, and last thing as sound.
Alison Smith: I was trying to hold the scissors here doing
this until he relaxed and it just,
he didn't start out relaxed so I guess clearly he wasn't gonna
become relaxed.
Cesar Millan: So here we gonna start with the scissors
backwards because I want him to relate scissors to massage.
Slide it, very nice.
The scissors were on him giving him a massage where normally the
scissor create this fear and this aggression. Beautiful.
Alison Smith: Nice, good boy Stan.
Cesar Millan: Very good, perfect. Tsst, tsst.
Very good. That's good.
He's gonna draw, the more he does that the more energy he
draws and that's bad energy.
It's like an exorcist right, they want, they want
the person who goes ahh! They want that. Tsst.
We ride away and then he calm down, and then he sees,
well even if I do that this human stays calm and assertive.
Alison Smith: It doesn't work, it doesn't, yeah,
it doesn't work.
Cesar Millan: Yeah. And the introduction again.
Very good. I, myself, will end that way.
Alison Smith: Okay.
Cesar Millan: My main goal on the grooming ritual was not so
much to cut the hair, it was more to help Ali to be calm
instead of frustrated.
To be calm instead of tense.
To make sure a dog learn from a nose, eyes, ears point of view.
Narrator: Coming up, Alison tests her ability to stay calm
and assertive when Stan meets his arch rival,
Ally the bull dog.
Narrator: Alison Smith's little Chihuahua Stan has big problems
when he meets other dogs or humans.
But his aggression masks a deep insecurity.
Cesar knows that the key to dealing with Stan's insecurity
is diffusing his aggression before it escalates.
To help him demonstrate this, Cesar brings Baby Girl into
Stan's territory.
Cesar Millan: Hey. First he was curious and then he became tense
Because I know Baby Girl's energy I know that even if she
gets attacked by or chased by Stanley I was only going to have
one dog who was a negative source of energy.
And, and Baby Girl will become positive source of energy.
I send him back so he gives the space for her to come in,
so that makes her the dominant one.
Alison Smith: I see.
Cesar Millan: We're empowering a dog that it has no willingness
to take over. So, he change right here.
See that, that's a different behavior. Unsure, tense. Tsst.
Thanks, thanks buddy. There we go. Tsst. Hey.
You, you practice this, you practice what you normally do
and this guy have to stay right here observing that his owner
can practice, give affection at this point to be in a social
position not in the intimate zone.
Alison Smith: Because if he was in intimate zone than I would be
being submissive and he would take over that.
Cesar Millan: He would take over her.
Alison Smith: Interesting.
Cesar Millan: Yeah. There's a big relief for him not to be in
control of the situation because he can now be himself.
Very gentle with the approach, look how he's holding himself,
look at the position of the tail is in the middle not,
not high up.
There, this is him, this is, this is who he is.
The Stanley they keep talking about,
that was a past experience of Stanley.
I was seeing a dog who was in the moment.
So I was seeing what nobody was able to see.
Narrator: Alison gets another chance to practice when her
neighbor Maria brings Stan's arch enemy,
Ally the English Bulldog, to the apartment for a visit.
Stopping Stan's fear based aggression in its tracks is
critical because even the most stable dog will eventually
react to such threatening behavior.
Maria Xiques: For some reason he gets to her and she gets really
all riled up and upset and normally she doesn't do that
with other dogs.
Like she's getting really, more and more annoyed and agitated at
the fact that Stanley just is always vicious towards her.
Cesar Millan: Hey, hey. Tsst. They just came in and walked in.
I would have done it in a different way so we can prevent,
you know, possible unwanted behavior.
But this is just what happened and it happened for a reason.
Much better.
Alison Smith: Wow.
Cesar Millan: He wants to mate with her, look. See?
That's what he wants.
Alison Smith: Are you kidding me?
Cesar Millan: No. That's, that's what he's.
He switch from wanted to mate to bite because he didn't let her.
So he's a little, he was a little confused, hey. Tsst.
Follow again, follow through. Very nice.
So now he's given space for her to be and that's good for her to
go and, and in, in his house because that takes over
the territorial factor. Tsst, hey.
And he have to allow her to make herself at home.
Again, Tsst. Tsst, hey.
See right there, look at that. Tsst. No. I'm sure, yeah.
Maria: She's wagging her tail.
Cesar Millan: Yeah, she wants him.
Maria: She's wagging her stump.
Alison Smith: She's wagging, yeah.
Cesar Millan: She's inviting. Hey. Unsure, but he wants to.
Just put, there we go. See that's unsure. Tsst.
So if he's unsure I can't put tension on the leash.
Notice that I only, I only give tension when he gets aggressive
or, or when he gets a little fearful. There we go.
Tsst. Very nice.
he gets tense.
Alison Smith: She wants to play.
Cesar Millan: Yeah, she, hey. Relax.
Now the bulldog has kicked in.
So she was, she was very nice and then the bull dog kicked in.
So that can switch, okay.
Because she can become the attacker now.
See how she's looking at him.
The tables turned, Ally became the one,
I'm going to dominate you, it's enough of this unstable
behavior.
Did you want to meet me or do you want to fight me, what,
which one?
That's when Ally turned into a bulldog and that's when I said
okay, let's remove her from that state. So that's redirection.
Maria: Look at that. Woo. She's like, oh.
Alison Smith: So always have that in your back pocket.
Cesar Millan: Because this what she was doing earlier,
she was just being very, you know,
submissive and ignoring and avoiding until he went and
that's it, that's enough, I can only take it so long, right?
Alison Smith: Exactly.
Cesar Millan: It's, it's anybody anybody has their limits.
So that was her limit. Tsst.
She is imitating, see how she is imitating the energy right now?
Alison Smith: Yeah.
Cesar Millan: Now we got to send him into a surrender state.
Tsst. So she can get the feedback from him.
Relax, there we go. Tsst. Tsst.
He's still not relax so I can't, I can't let her go.
Tsst. Tsst. There we go.
I don't think they realized that Ally was also sending wrong
message.
Fixation to a bull dog is actually empowering them with
focusing on targeting or, you know,
keying on something in a very intense way.
At one point Ally became the instigator. Very nice.
Keep the tension there, there we go. Tsst.
Keep the tension there. Tsst. Tsst.
See much better than earlier. See that?
So she instead of becoming the victim became the one who's
actually triggering the behavior.
Alison Smith: He talked so much today about it's not
intellectual, it's just being.
It's being present, it's instinctual.
And when we were on our walk it all seemed to come together and
that's when I saw the simplicity in it. It really is.
Cesar Millan:What's the feeling?
Alison Smith: Peace.
Cesar Millan: Peace, yes, yes.
I brought a group of dogs so she can practice the pack behavior
and at the same time for her to see, you know,
how other dogs look, how other dogs feel.
There now you can hold this one and control the excitement.
Because that gives you a lot of points in his book that you
control other dogs.
Alison Smith: Oh, okay. Yeah.
Cesar Millan: Yeah. That's big, yeah, that's, that's big,
big points. Very good.
So the only one who is giving you trouble is the new dog if
you notice, right?
Alison Smith: Yeah, amazing. Cesar Millan: And the other two.
Alison Smith: He's just like that.
Cesar Millan: Yeah. Because he was already in that state.
So now the new dog have to join that state.
Alison Smith: It was a huge relief.
As I said I, he's a, he has been a constant source of anxiety
for me.
But now that anxiety sort of just disappeared today.
I know that when I walk tomorrow we'll be, we'll be okay.
We'll be fine.
Cesar Millan: Great. So on that note, I think we're done
for today.
Alison Smith: Thank you so much Cesar.
Cesar Millan: Thank you. In America we have killed so many
dogs because people label them "aggressive" when a dog
is actually nervous, fearful, unsure.
So today for me to learn that many people have suggested
putting him down, uh, it feels like we saved somebody's life.
Bye mister!
Alison Smith: Bye.
Cesar Millan: He's ready to do it. He's ready to go. Success!
Narrator: Next, a Pomeranian that won't stop barking has its
family running for the ear plugs.
Then Cesar meets a woman whose cough literally sends her dog
over the fence.
Barry Fisher: It's about six-thirty in the morning,
and gonna kiss my wife good-bye.
Barry Fisher: Hi, love. See you tonight.
Pomeranians were first on our list,
so when we saw one in the newspaper, we ran after it.
Debbie Fisher: I knew I wanted a male puppy so that I could name
him Shoven, which is short for my husband's nickname I gave
him, "Chauvinistic."
It just came to me, my daughter was very upset,
"You can't name the dog Shoven," and we just had to do it.
And there just couldn't be another name for him.
It's perfect.
Barry Fisher: When you come home after a long day,
he's there to greet you, big eyes,
and his tongue hangin' out.
Shoven started with this behavior early on.
My daughter, Lanie used to try to get him to bark,
she would say, "security, security" and Shoven would bark
a little bit.
It was funny in the beginning, but it really grew to a little
bit out of control.
Debbie Fisher: It could be the pizza man,
it could be a neighbor, someone he's never seen, my sister,
or the kids, anyone.
He gets, he gets upset when they leave.
He practically throws himself at the sliding glass door.
I'll be in the car, Gina will be in the car,
Barry will be in the car, and Barry or myself will get out and
Shoven just has this fit.
For such a little guy, he is loud.
It's just a piercing bark.
I tried treats, he'll still bark with the treat in his mouth.
We've tried some of Cesar's methods.
We've tried a water bottle with coins in it and shaking it.
Nothing has worked.
Barry Fisher: It's been a pretty wild ride.
Narrator: Shoven's excessive barking has driven Debbie and
Barry to their wit's end.
They hope Cesar can restore peace to their chaotic
home life.
Cesar Millan: How can I help you?
Barry Fisher: We got Shoven about three years ago,
and anybody that he comes in contact with,
even for a couple of minutes, if they get up and leave,
he just goes nuts.
We go to the gas station, fill up, I get out and
Debbie's in the car.
And he just goes nuts. Goes absolutely crazy barking.
I've held him and, you know, petted him and tried to
calm him down.
But once you shut the door to the car, he goes berserk again.
Cesar Millan: When you say he got out of the car and tried to
calm him down by petting him, but he was not in a relaxed
state, so what you were petting was that state.
Barry Fisher: Right.
Cesar Millan: But because when human try to comfort a dog with
human psychology, it's because he sees it as human.
Barry Fisher: Right.
Cesar Millan: Are you aware of that, or.
Barry Fisher: No, I'm not aware of that at all.
Cesar Millan: So in your eyes you don't see them as human?
He's just doing an instinctual reaction because they're,
his followers just walk away from him.
"How dare you guys walk away from me, I'm the pack leader,
so you guys gotta come back."
Most of people who own little dogs see dominant behavior,
aggressive behavior, excited behavior as cute.
But if you want to be in a more logical state of mind,
that is a dog that is expressing dominance, territorial,
or aggression, that's still a dog.
You know, so the human can lose his logical side, you know,
because you end up nurturing the behavior,
instead of getting rid of the behavior from day one.
Barry Fisher: That's a whole, whole different way of thinking,
that you're right, it's totally emotional, you get home,
you pick them up, you pet them. Yeah.
Debbie Fisher: These dogs have just filled the space in my
heart of my daughter being older and growing up and not seeing
her as much, and I've made them my little, my little babies.
Cesar Millan: What I found out is they are actually going
through this empty nester process in their life when
children, you know, go and do their own lives.
And parents left behind.
And the parents having a hard time letting,
letting that process go, so they transfer that feeling into a dog
Narrator: Coming up, a pampered pup learns some new rules.
Narrator: By comforting him when he barks,
Debbie and Barry Fisher have inadvertently nurtured their
dog Shoven's annoying habit of barking to get his way.
Barry Fisher: Okay, see you later.
Debbie Fisher: Bye! Bye Shoven, bye Gina.
Cesar Millan: So when he saw that she picked the keys,
he started going.
Barry Fisher: Yeah, started getting anxious.
Cesar Millan: He start pacing.
So what I did right now when you moved, is catch him here,
block him, and send him back.
Debbie Fisher: Shoven, I'm goin'.
Cesar Millan: Wait, wait, wait, you didn't wait long enough.
You have to calm, there.
You can't walk away when he's still moving.
'Cause as soon as you turn around, he's gonna chase you.
Breathe, and walk.
Barry Fisher: That's amazing. Cesar Millan: Perfect time.
Barry Fisher: Not a peep out of him.
Debbie Fisher: I cannot believe this.
I cannot believe what is, I think it's you.
Cesar Millan: Well of course it's me.
Debbie Fisher: Because if you go away,
like if you were to go in the garage and I were to walk out,
I bet he'd act like this morning again.
He knows you're the Dog Whisperer.
Cesar Millan: Barry and Debbie had a vision,
but the vision was not the vision they really want.
It was the vision where the dog was gonna chase them,
the dog was going to bark, the dog was going to feel bad.
They were already visualizing the very thing that
they don't want.
So I say, let's visualize, let's practice before we actually do
it what you really want and really believe that that's going
to happen, because this is what our dogs get,
this is the message that they get internally from us.
Barry Fisher: All right, see you later.
Cesar Millan: He did it on his own. He did it on his own.
Barry Fisher: I didn't realize how stressed out we were each
time Shoven had his fits and kinda cringe, you know,
hearing that piercing bark.
It's just weird just walking out, it was so quiet,
just unbelievable.
Debbie Fisher: Okay, bye-bye.
Cesar Millan: And then he's getting the cue from her.
See it? Then he becomes an observer.
When you went this way, if you were to stay here,
then you would create the whole relaxation.
Then you could turn around, walk away.
So what you left behind was a nervous, submissive dog,
which means the body is tense. So you have to wait.
Debbie Fisher: You have to, we have to take the time to get him
to that.
Cesar Millan: Take the time to live.
Take the time to create a relationship, take the time.
And then create the pattern, and then just keep it that way.
Then you are at the top of the world.
Debbie Fisher: Are you amazed right now?
Like, are you blown away like I am?
Cause I'm trippin' right now, seriously.
Narrator: Next, Cesar shows Barry and Debbie how to leave
the house without creating a 'barkfest.
Cesar Millan: Tsst! I'm gonna, I'm gonna show you
how follow through look like. No, no, no, just let her pass.
See, no more distance, that's enough. Right?
So if I go forward, he's going to go behind the couch.
Obviously he has learned that when somebody disciplines him,
he runs away.
This is where you need to take the time so you can understand
the concept that we're trying to accomplish.
Now he's looking to go back into the position that he is,
that's why he's looking for you.
So then he goes back to where, to the very one
who empowers him.
So everybody, you know, have to be in the same page.
No, a little bit more.
Tsst!
Now watch how he's gonna lower that, that, see that's tension,
now we're gonna go for all relaxation and
we just have to wait.
Okay, so he is choosing that position, there we go.
That's what I'm saying, you don't always pin him down,
it's best if they do it on their own.
Barry Fisher: Yeah, he laid right down.
Cesar Millan: It's best if they do it on their own.
Then you can sound it, then you make the sound of the keys when
he's in a relaxed state, so he relates that with that.
That's the perfect time to use sound, you know,
because the mind is in a calm, submissive state.
Tsst! Hey! Tsst! Hey!
See, he's looking for you guys, right?
"This guy is changing our pattern, what do we do?"
And if you guys join in, and then you reinforce what
I'm accomplishing.
See, that's being partners.
In the beginning it was just me and Shoven,
and of course Shoven said, "Well you're new to this thing,
I'm gonna go with them, cause they let me do whatever I want."
But then when they step up into the plate and became part of my
team, Shoven had three pack leaders.
Then they got to see the outcome of raising a pack together.
Barry Fisher: It really didn't feel like discipline to us.
It was more like setting boundaries for Shoven.
We didn't hit the dog, you aren't raising your voice,
it was just so gentle.
Debbie Fisher: We felt like we were helping him to be happier.
Cesar Millan: Bye, guys. That?
So you block the brain right at that moment.
Debbie Fisher: I don't believe it, it's just.
So we just do this same thing whether we're in here or at the
fence when he's barking or in the car.
Cesar Millan: It's the same thing.
Debbie Fisher: Or it's, it's the same thing.
Cesar Millan: It's the same thing.
So make sure you accomplish here first, so you create a pattern,
because the pattern came from here.
You can't fool a dog, so you can look assertive,
but if you don't feel assertive, it doesn't really mean anything.
Our dogs are aware of what energy are we projecting every
single second.
Narrator: The arrival of a pizza delivery man gives
Cesar an opportunity to reinforce
the new rules to Shoven.
Cesar Millan: Tsst, hey!
Pizza Guy: How you doing?
Cesar Millan: Good morning, come on in, please, yeah.
Can you put it on the table? Thank you. Appreciate it.
Pizza Guy: All right, have a good one guys.
Cesar Millan: Thank you man, appreciate it.
See you next time. Tsst!
Debbie Fisher: He was just staying on the couch.
Cesar Millan: With the, where, see this is submission,
this is good.
Barry Fisher:Yeah, this morning. Cesar Millan: I believe you.
Debbie Fisher: I just cannot.
We're gonna use these tools and we're gonna take the extra time
so that he doesn't go back to his old ways.
And we don't go back to our old ways.
And hopefully as he relaxes, it will just make our life more
relaxing as well.
Cesar Millan: With his birthday, birthday cake.
I'm telling you, I'm telling you, I love America!
There we go, America.
Narrator: Next, a family lives in fear of their dog's sky
high escape attempts.
Cesar Millan: When we return, what Leo needs is the kind of
cure that only another dog can supply.
Dan Hubbard: Lori had lost a dog named Mo who had been with our
family, been with her even before we met each other.
Lori Polydoros: And I just couldn't be without a dog.
So we started going to the pound, we saw Leo.
And I had taken notes, and next to Leo's
I had written sad and old.
'Cause he just had the big droopy eyes and he came up to
this, you know, the fence and really had that loving look
about him.
Dan Hubbard: At first very funny looking dog,
very unusual looking dog.
And, you know, kind of the face only a mother can love kind of
situation.
Lori Polydoros: Um, he came in fine and, you know,
he was happy, and, but within about ten minutes,
we thought he was outside and our neighbor brought him back.
Grayson Hubbard: He's an escape artist.
I wonder if he was Houdini's assistant, I don't know.
Dan Hubbard: And it kept happening over and over again.
And then we noticed something that it, it coincided,
not every time, but most of the time when Lori was sick.
Lori Polydoros: If I cough or I clear my throat,
he instantly wants to get away from me.
He goes out the doggie door.
And if I continue enough, he'll go up to our tree house area and
he'll get on the wall and he'll tightrope these really
high walls.
And he'll just leave. And sometimes he does it in the
middle of the night when I don't even know if he's gone.
He always comes back usually, I can call him,
and he will be running down the street around the corner.
Go on, get in the house. Get in the house, Leo.
Dan Hubbard: No one else, if I cough, Grayson, Nova,
any of the kids, anyone around, not a problem. Just Lori.
Lori Polydoros: You know, and I'm really scared that,
you know, he'll get hit by a car, you know,
he's fallen off the wall, I found little cuts and, you know,
things all over him, it's probably from falling off
the wall.
Dan Hubbard: He has a great life here, it's like,
why would he want to escape, he's treated like a king,
literally, he's named, you know, Leo the Lion King, you know.
Lori Polydoros: I wanted Leo to have some bonding experiences
with other dogs, because it was obvious that he had not been
socialized, not been around other dogs.
So I found a girl puppy.
And through a rescue group, and then she had a brother,
so we ended up inheriting both, so we got the three dogs.
Taking on three dogs was, my husband was very supportive,
you know, he should've just said, "no, don't do it,
don't do it!"
There they are. Where's Logan? There's Logan.
They're always very happy to see Leo when he comes home.
Leo is a dog who has nine lives, he's almost like a cat,
you know, he's been through numerous fights.
He's gotten hit by a car, he's fallen off a wall and, you know,
and whatever has happened to him before.
So I'm hoping that Cesar can help him keep the rest of his
lives and live a full life, you know, confidently.
He's come a long way but the, the most dangerous thing he does
is when I'm sick, you know, I get colds from these guys.
If I cough or I clear my throat, he's instantly out
the doggie door.
He's found a way to get up our tree house and he walks on
walls. And then he'll just leave.
Cesar Millan: I never hear a case where somebody cough and
the dog run away. Ever.
So, here it is, the first case where you cough and the dog runs
away from your house.
Narrator: To retrain Leo the escape artist,
Cesar must first refocus the dog's negative reaction to
Lori's coughing.
Cesar Millan: Before you practice anything, you know,
make sure he's curious a little unsettled, not very calm.
So, you send him into that state.
Because your job is, after you cough,
he's going to go through whatever he goes through,
and then, you know, I'm going to show you what to do if,
if you need it.
And then we have to send him back to where he was.
That's how he's going to know where to go.
I just gave them some pointers of how to make that cough a
positive experience for Leo. Go ahead.
Lori Polydoros: Are you going to hold it?
Cesar Millan: Then wait. There you go.
Cesar Millan: Then wait. There you go.
See, once he, once he comes to you, and then you can offer,
there you go.
Right there. Nice. Right there.
Now you saw it, right?
He try to move away, that's what the brain normally does.
Then the brain couldn't move away, the brain came back,
that's when I gave you the cookie.
So that's, that's how you bring the brain back to you,
is the nose always as the nose comes.
Dan Hubbard: That's great.
Cesar Millan: Now let's get the help of family members, right?
So, he, this is good state of mind, right, relax.
Lori Polydoros: Do you want another collar?
Cesar Millan: No, this is, this is great here.
See, and this guy, you bring him to you.
So he brings him back to you.
That guy that gravitate to you, you can do this, cough.
Lori Polydoros: (Coughs).
Cesar Millan: See it?
So this is gonna be you.
And then you rewards that reaction for coming back.
That's the rescue for me, the psychological rescue.
Not the physical part.
Physical part is beautiful, it's very loving.
It's a very loving, humanitarian thing.
But you do rescue a dog when you help him to accomplish balance.
That is when he becomes himself.
Now, when you're ready to cough, just don't touch him,
but keep touching him.
So, because he's going to go through the whole movement away,
okay?
Lori Polydoros: (Coughs).
Cesar Millan: So you, in that case, 'cause he's not pulling so
hard, you can just slightly, bring him, there we go. See it?
Because sometimes they get locked in that state,
so they just need a little bit of movement,
and then you unlock the brain.
And then you tell the brain, well,
since you didn't know how to figure it out,
let me give you the, let me give you directions.
And of course your son can participate,
he can hold the leash and bring it back.
So he, he can, he can give direction to him.
Look, when my mom cough, we come and help.
So everybody participates.
Lori Polydoros: Using Logan as an anchor for that transferring
that calm energy, I think was a brilliant idea,
and I'd never even thought of that.
So yeah, I'm really excited to start putting that in practice.
Cesar Millan: Leo, in this household,
represents a very dangerous situation.
Flight, he runs, he attacks, he gets, you know, very tense.
Uh, but the Leo that I saw today was a very sensitive Leo.
So I just focus on letting him know that I know how sensitive
he is.
And so he saw that I knew who he was.
And from that point on, I, I uncover, you know, his weakness,
and I help him to recover his strength.
Dan Hubbard: It's neat to have that,
that feeling that you do have control over what's going to
happen to this dog.
Whereas before, I think we felt pretty helpless,
and so it's nice to know that yeah, we have.
And now, you know, we have the power to do it,
but we also have the tools to do it now as well.
Cesar Millan: From simple corrections to the most stubborn
issues, sometimes changing a dog's behavior is just going to
take a little longer than you might think.
Alison: Hi Cesar, uh, I wanted to thank you again
for everything.
Progress is a little bit slow. I can take him out and,
and chat with my neighbors in the front yard.
Still don't particularly trust him around other dogs.
A little less than half the time I can get him
calmed down right away.
Before, I could never have him around other dogs,
so small improvements in the dog arena,
huge improvements in the human arena.
Cesar Millan: Keep going, Alison, now that you know
you can influence Stan's behavior, you are getting closer
and closer to having the dog of your dreams.
Debbie Fisher: Hey Cesar, it's been about three and a half
months since we first saw you.
Shovin is doing much better.
We're able to control him when people come to the house,
as well as when one of us leaves.
Um, we're still having issues with the car,
but we're just kind of a work in progress.
But definitely much improvement from when we first saw you.
So thank you so much.
Cesar Millan: Lori also reports improvement from Leo
the cough critic.
Lori Polydoros: Leo is doing much better with coughing,
I actually got him a little bit more accustomed to hearing me
cough and not have so much anxiety about the coughing.
And it's working attaching him to Logan and using that
positive reinforcement, so thank you very much and
they're all doing really well.
Cesar Millan: I believe we don't always get the dog we want,
but we do get the dog we need.
And I hope your dog is helping you on your journey to becoming
a calm, assertive pack leader.