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Narrator: Do not
attempt the techniques
you are about to see
without consulting
a professional.
NARRATOR: On this special
episode of "Dog Whisperer"...
WOMAN: When Holly is eating,
she turns into an animal
that doesn't even
resemble a lab to me.
[growling]
She has bitten my husband,
and she has gotten me
a few times as well.
MAN: Our biggest concern
with the baby
is just having food in his hand.
We don't know how Holly's
gonna respond to that.
WOMAN: I never thought
I'd be living down here
in the river bottom,
pregnant and homeless.
There's many drug addicts
down here who can rob us.
The dogs are
an early warning system
if someone's coming.
If I'm in a shelter
with other women and children,
he can't be protective
and on alert,
how he is down here.
[barking]
NARRATOR:
When good dogs go bad,
there's one man
who's their best friend...
CESAR MILLAN: No dog
is too much for me to handle.
I rehabilitate dogs.
I train people.
I am the Dog Whisperer.
NARRATOR:
Kelly and Hyrum Lai always knew
their picture-perfect
life together
would include a dog.
KELLY LAI: When Hyrum and I met,
there was never any question
as to whether or not
we wanted a dog.
We both knew that we did.
We were in the parking lot
of a sporting goods store,
and there were these
adorable lab puppies there.
I chose Holly, and here we go.
[laughter]
HYRUM LAI:
It was bad timing, I think,
'cause she was pregnant.
And what it turned out to be was
taking care of a baby, Griffin,
and a baby, Holly.
KELLY:
Holly was a wonderful puppy.
We had a wonderful time
with her.
HYRUM: Kelly and I, we do live
a pretty active lifestyle.
We just had to
work our schedule a little bit
so that we had
more time in the day,
getting up a little bit earlier,
making sure
Holly had the exercise,
so we were
committed to her for sure.
NARRATOR: But even with Hyrum
and Kelly's commitment and love,
Holly took an unexpected turn
when she was just
five months old.
HYRUM: Just like that,
she just started growling at me
and just hovering over her bowl.
I went in to tell Holly, "Easy,"
and that's when she turned
and tried to bite me.
And that was the first time
that it manifested--
her food aggression.
Okay, good girl.
KELLY: When Holly is eating,
if anybody comes near her,
she will turn into an animal
that doesn't even
resemble a lab to me.
HYRUM: The hair on her back
is completely straight,
her tail
is straight up in the air,
and her teeth,
she just is growling,
and it's menacing.
KELLY:
She has bitten my husband,
and she has gotten me
a few times as well.
HYRUM:
Killer Labrador right here.
Holly is more aggressive with me
because we have gone
a couple rounds.
Yeah, at this point,
after we're done,
we can't touch her
because she's gonna bite us.
Back, back, back.
Holly, back.
Good girl.
We've been through
three trainers.
Trainer number two
came up with the idea
for us to put the food
on the ground.
Didn't work.
Same thing.
In fact, what we do now,
is we feed her
and we just leave her,
we just leave her to the food,
and when she's cooled off
after a few minutes,
we go back outside, and
everything is back to normal.
Can you throw the ball
for Holly?
KELLY:
She's great with the baby,
even though she's very hyper
and excited around other people.
But with the baby,
she's always so sweet.
GRIFFIN: Yay!
HYRUM: Our biggest concern
with Griffin,
being 18 months old,
is just having food in his hand.
We don't know how Holly's
gonna respond to that.
KELLY: The stress of having
Holly with this problem
can't even be measured.
We can't even imagine
that a dog so lovable
turns into almost
a wolf-like creature.
HYRUM: Holly didn't have a say
to come to our house.
We've got to do
everything we can.
We're down to the last wire now,
if we can help Holly,
and that's what we hope
Cesar can do, is help Holly.
KELLY: Hi!
Nice to meet you!
CESAR: How can I help you?
HYRUM: We have...(laughing)
We have a terrible
food-aggressive Labrador.
CESAR: Oh, wow.
HYRUM: Basically, any time
the food is in our hands,
in a cup, she's okay.
We can command her,
we can tell her,
"Get back, sit down."
But once we put it
on the ground,
she goes over to the food,
she gets pretty angry.
Wait. Okay.
I've gotten bit before
by being near her.
She's great
in all other aspects.
It's really just the food.
We have an 18-month-old son,
and that makes us
pretty nervous,
just because we don't know how
she's gonna react.
So we just keep them
totally separate.
Kelly's been bitten
recently, too.
When it first started, her tail
was between her legs.
KELLY: Yes, but now she's up.
But now she's straight up,
like...
CESAR: Yeah, so it did begin
telling you,
"I am unsure
about how to be...right...
how to go from primal behavior
to domestic behavior.
I really don't know
how to do it."
Aggression is not the problem.
It's the outcome of a problem.
Aggression is a symptom.
That's not normal for her,
you know,
to distrust their humans,
when she's eating.
There you go.
This is Argos for assistance.
All right, so let's do
the introduction.
NARRATOR: Argos and Junior
help Cesar evaluate
Holly's reaction to other dogs.
CESAR: Look at Junior.
He's charging him already.
So I'm definitely gonna
take advantage of that.
Exactly what they said
about their dog--
he's not very sure,
he's actually submissive.
I want to see the reaction,
how he reacts to them here.
Very jumpy.
See, this is the way
they're supposed to behave.
Now, I'm just getting
a feedback from him--
what is his...
what is his reaction for?
So, now...
Now it begins
the ritual of claiming.
Nobody--
the greyhound can't touch it,
the pit bull can't touch it.
The Labrador can't touch it.
This is a fine line right here
of submission or bite.
See it?
Just a matter of waiting,
this is a...
I can feel it.
You probably can see it.
I can feel it.
There you go, finally.
So I got the imprint.
I got the imprint
that I wanted to achieve.
It was really fast.
But now I have to play the game
a little bit more realistic.
The pack is not gonna be here.
Now let's do it
without the dogs.
See that eye contact?
That is bad.
That's submission.
I'm gonna let her lick me,
because he's showing submission.
So I'm gonna move now,
and then I'm gonna
take him away from the food.
Look, now he doesn't want
to touch the food,
because the food
belongs to me.
CESAR: But that's wrong.
NARRATOR: The cameraman suggests
Cesar give a release word
for Holly to approach.
CESAR: Okay, get the food.
Go become aggressive.
Okay, come on, okay.
Then you confuse them.
Shhh.
Shhh.
Look, he's confused,
right there.
There you go.
This...saying okay is really...
it broke my heart to say okay,
'cause he's a robot right now.
When a dog sits down
and waits for the sound,
that's not natural.
Now we are asking him
just to go to a natural state
so I can give you food.
I'm gonna reward
your natural state.
Forget about your trained state.
See, this time was no need
for the touch.
This time
it was just the approach.
HYRUM: When I was watching,
you know, through the glass,
I couldn't believe it.
He was working with Holly,
and she was great.
I mean, very little aggression,
and I thought, "Holy cow!"
CESAR: We're gonna bring Hyrum.
I want him to be the first one.
I want to see him
in action, obviously.
I want to see the reaction.
HYRUM:
And then when I went outside,
and when she saw me,
it all kind of changed.
CESAR: So here, this silence,
it has two...two states.
And that's where
he becomes dangerous.
All right?
So he's not calm. Right?
You can see that...
That's calm now.
HYRUM: Got it, okay.
CESAR: See that?
That's a bad eye contact.
So it can switch from
one second to another second.
So let me have it.
Here.
Come on.
He's addressing it to you,
'cause he knows
I'm claiming it right here.
So that eye contact is bad.
That's why you get hurt.
HYRUM: And I can see
her ears dropping, too.
That's usually right before
she does something.
CESAR: He knows that the only
energy that is not assertive
is yours,
'cause he sees that my energy,
even though
it's closer to the food,
which I'm a better target
to him.
Remember to walk your dog,
but not yet.
There are more great
Dog Whisperer stories coming up
on NatGeo Wild!
NARRATOR: A food-aggressive
Labrador named Holly
turns feeding time
into an exercise in terror
for Hyrum and Kelly Lai
and their toddler, Griffin.
CESAR: So what I did here
right now
is claim the food and claim you.
HYRUM: I gotta claim myself.
CESAR: Exactly.
Because otherwise
you can't claim your son.
So if you touch your son
with the energy
that he's seeing right now,
your son becomes a target.
HYRUM: Okay.
CESAR: Yeah, he's ready.
He's ready to come after you.
HYRUM: But as I watch her tail,
does that have any sense
of relaxation?
CESAR: No!
HYRUM: No, not at all.
CESAR: No, no, no.
HYRUM: Got it.
CESAR: So even
if my tail is low,
look how I'm looking at you.
Watch this.
So grab.
See, that's unsure.
That's not submission.
Okay, good girl.
You have to give them a moment
because the brain
got stuck this way.
So you stay there.
HYRUM: She didn't do that
to you earlier?
CESAR: No. Not like that!
No, no. Not at all.
HYRUM: Okay.
CESAR:
No, this is the first time
I've seen this behavior.
So, you see, just relaxation...
It's an understan--
I didn't see that coming.
All right,
she have to go to the center.
I didn't see that coming.
It's pretty bad.
Not yet, not yet.
I just want water for now.
CESAR: No, not submitting yet.
But now I can see the aggression
that he was showing to him.
It's pretty bad.
That aggression cannot be
allowed around babies.
DIRECTOR: This is gonna hurt,
but here's peroxide.
CESAR: Yeah, yeah.
I was about to faint
right in front of her face.
It's better. Open mouth.
I gotta go get some ice.
DIRECTOR: Ice, Christina, ice.
HYRUM: Cesar, I'm sorry.
CESAR: No worries, man.
That's my job.
Don't worry about it.
KELLY: Is he okay?
Oh, my gosh.
That was really bad.
DIRECTOR: She needs
major rehabilitation.
That's okay.
That's why we're here.
CESAR: The worst part
about being bitten
is the energy that a dog
gives you when he bites.
So, it wasn't so much...
see, now I feel better.
But it wasn't so much--
this is the canines, right?
But it's when they're biting,
they're also giving you
their negative energy.
And that's what really
threw me off.
KELLY: What if that
could have been Griffin?
Or what if that
could have been the neighbor?
CESAR: I have to go
to the urgent care,
just to put some stitches there.
KELLY: Right then, we knew that
something needs to be done.
NARRATOR: In the weeks
following Cesar's visit,
Holly's aggression worsens.
HYRUM: This is Holly
inside her crate.
I just put her in,
and was gonna let her out,
and she started
to growl at me again.
NARRATOR: One month later,
the day finally arrives
when Cesar is available
to start Holly's rehab.
KELLY: Today,
finally for the first time,
I feel like this heavy weight
is off my shoulders--
this heavy weight of fear
that what if
she hurts somebody else?
CESAR: The last time
I saw Holly, she bit me.
But I do remember
the last thing she did was...
And that was
perfectly enough for me.
I'm excited
'cause I know I'm gonna help.
We got Louis, a little insecure.
That's Junior, happy-go-lucky.
To help a dog
with a pack of dogs,
you need a little bit
of everything.
All right, just let her go.
Let her go.
Come over here, guys.
Just straight towards the dogs.
Don't hesitate, just move in.
Shh!
I told you. See that?
What Junior is telling her
is, "Not nervous,
don't come in nervous."
Normally Junior helps me
with his body language,
evaluating another dog.
But this is the first time
that I can tell you
that he's helping me
with his mouth.
They're gonna let her know
right away what's allowed,
what's not allowed.
So a lot more insecurity.
And that's the buildup.
So I am going to work
on helping her insecurity.
That is the source
of the problem.
All right!
HYRUM: Thank you.
CESAR : Thank you.
We're excited.
KELLY: We're excited, too.
Thank you again.
CESAR: Thank you.
Say hi to the baby.
KELLY: Oh, we will!
HYRUM:
You're staying here, girl.
CESAR: Once you go through
the door, just close the door.
That's how you tell them,
"You stay here."
It's normal for a dog
to want to go.
This is an unfamiliar place.
It's the first time
she's been here.
Very nice.
That's it. They just leave.
That's all I needed from them.
That's how they let her know.
HYRUM: See you later, Holly!
CESAR: No! He said goodbye.
"Goodbye, Holly"
creates excitement.
So when you create excitement,
you make the brain do this.
But when you leave calmly,
you make the brain
stay behind the gate calmly.
NARRATOR: While working with
a food-aggressive Labrador
named Holly,
Cesar discovers
the extent of her problems,
first hand.
Now Cesar begins Holly's rehab
at the Dog Psychology Center.
CESAR: We want Holly
to feel comfortable,
but know that we have a plan.
That's all I need.
So right now I use Junior
to move her out of the plate.
That's all I did.
So what I know is not to
touch her when she's tense.
So for me
to evaluate with Holly was
I brought my three strategies,
which one is Lola.
This is Miss Lola.
She's been here because she was
very, very aggressive,
and now she's gonna
help me with Holly.
Look how much distance
she's giving
because Lola is here.
I like the eye contact.
It's not as bad
as it normally is.
Good.
She's very respectful of Lola.
So that's a good feedback.
Lola can come and take the food
anytime she wants.
She won't bite Lola.
But she will definitely
bite a human.
Then the plate and the hand.
Look at that.
That's avoidance and submission.
Pass me that hand.
Shh!
She threw a punch.
So what the plate
on the floor does,
it puts the food
right between their legs.
That, in their language, is,
"I'm owning, I'm claiming,
it belongs to me."
Oh, wow, he bit the hand.
Look, even the fake hand bleeds
with Holly.
And I brought a ladder,
just a simple ladder,
that allows a dog not to be
so over the plate.
Okay.
See how the body
is more pushed back?
She's still unsure.
So it's normal for...shhh!
There we go.
That was just in the air.
Not really completely,
so that was really good.
But the reason why
it's easier this way
is because her mind
is not on the top of the plate.
So that gives me leverage.
Oh, that's very nice.
Shhh!
That she did on her own.
I'm going to
end the exercise that way,
because that's something
that she has never done
in the past.
She will make sure she finishes
the whole entire food.
Good progress!
NARRATOR:
Over the next several weeks,
Holly will receive rehab
from the entire Millan pack
at Cesar's home.
CESAR:
All right, where's your girl?
How do you feel?
CALVIN MILLAN:
Calm and assertive.
CESAR: Okay.
CALVIN: Sit.
CESAR:
Wow, this is the first time
he's actually wagging the tail.
Nice, good girl.
Look at that!
She never wags the tail.
NARRATOR:
Despite signs of improvement,
Cesar makes a difficult decision
regarding Holly's future.
CESAR: I'm definitely
not feeling comfortable
sending Holly home,
especially having
an 18-month-old baby.
Holly has made big improvements,
but not the right dog for a kid
who is learning, you know,
how to trust dogs.
There is still some tension.
If you don't understand
how to control that
or how to control yourself
in front of that energy,
it's a ticking bomb.
All the way, all the way.
There we go.
So today,
Hyrum and Kelly are coming
to say goodbye to Holly.
Besides here,
she lives at home with us.
KELLY: Okay.
CESAR: So she has both worlds.
I want to show you that
before you say goodbye,
so you see where she is now.
Come on!
Good girl. Good girl.
Shhh!
After that...
So what I do is
to relate for her happiness
right away.
So we let her eat
portions at a time,
and then send her
into an excited state.
KELLY: Okay.
CESAR:
Now watch how this hand...
I'll create...
the hand created a...
So if your baby
hold on this hand,
she will just move away.
The hand has so much power.
But, at the same time,
it has a fine line where
she doesn't want to come near.
Come on, okay.
Sit.
KELLY: Oh, my goodness.
CESAR: And then...
No, no.
Good girl.
Yay! All right!
See the tail wagging?
Which is very normal that a dog
gets excited about food.
She doesn't get excited.
She gets tense.
She's not completely done.
But, doing this activity,
she will definitely get there.
KELLY: Right.
CESAR: Shhhh!
Now, that's my hand inside.
So that's why,
if you hold on to the fear
or to the insecurity,
they sense it.
So they can never move on.
So that's how
we end the exercise.
The last one that was there,
on the plate, was the human.
KELLY: It's amazing.
HYRUM: She's really calm, too,
right now.
CESAR: Yeah.
So hopefully when you guys
are done and finished
and go through
the whole grieving...
This is not a death,
but it's the end of a cycle.
We can actually help you
and find
the right energy dog for you.
KELLY: Correct.
Well, we just really
appreciate you, Cesar.
Thank you so much,
and she couldn't be
in a better place.
CESAR: Thank you
for the challenge.
And thanks for believing in me.
What happens a lot of times
is people feel guilty.
You know, people feel
that they failed.
In my opinion, they didn't fail,
and I understand the guilt.
But it will pass.
I'm just hoping
that it passes quick,
so they can adopt another dog,
and that's how they can
save a life.
That's how you honor the end
cycle of one relationship.
HYRUM: See ya!
KELLY: And that's it.
And that's a wrap.
I am Cesar Millan,
and you are watching
"Dog Whisperer" on NatGeo Wild.
We are in the city of Ventura,
right at the edge of the city,
at what's called
the Ventura river bottom.
NARRATOR: There are more than
1,800 homeless people
in Ventura County.
Many of them live
at the river bottom.
21-year-old Lenie Pictou
has been on a downward spiral
ever since her family
picked up and moved away.
LENIE PICTOU:
About five months ago,
my life really took
a turn for the worse.
Me and my boyfriend found out
that I was pregnant.
My boyfriend got stressed out
and turned to drugs,
and it kinda left me
feeling a little bit hopeless.
Here I am with a dog,
and I'm homeless,
and I'm pregnant.
Sit. Sit.
Living at the river bottom
is hell.
It rains.
We don't have a bathroom.
We have to go up top
to get water.
We don't even have a faucet
or anything down here.
Well, there's
many drug addicts down here
who are thieving and conniving
and who can rob us.
I've had a knife
pulled on me before.
NARRATOR: The month before
the Dog Whisperer crew arrived,
a young homeless mother who had
lived at the river bottom
was murdered.
LENIE: There's a lot
of other homeless women
that I'm friends with as well
that have dogs for their
protection down here as well,
'cause the dog's
an early warning system
if someone's coming.
DAVID CHRISTENSEN: Dogs are
on alert all the time
to protect their owner.
Some of the people even use
their dog for warmth at night.
It's freezing cold
in their tent.
They'll cuddle up to their dog
for body heat
just to try to stay warm.
LENIE: I've had Tucker since
he was a month and a half old.
Tucker loved people.
When he was a puppy,
I'd take him into the stores.
I took him everywhere with me.
He thought everyone
wanted to say hi to him.
He just turned into
this vicious dog
that I didn't even know.
NARRATOR: Tucker's aggression
has gotten so bad,
that Lenie has thought
about giving him up.
LENIE: It was definitely
a struggle with me.
I really looked
into getting rid of him.
I took him to adoption showings.
That was it. I was like,
"I can't get rid of him."
It was just...
it was so heart-wrenching.
NARRATOR: But even in
this hopeless situation,
Lenie, Tucker, and dozens of
other river bottom occupants
are not completely forgotten.
SAM: We started a ministry
called Operation Embrace,
which is
a daytime walk-in center,
which we allow the homeless
to come and rest.
We give them ability
to have a shower,
have their laundry done,
a couple of meals.
DAVID:
Them being able to hang out
and not being judged
and stared at.
And we just started
loving on them and feeding them.
And that was it.
It started out just bringing
10, 15 people at a time.
Now we have hundreds
and hundreds of people a week
coming here.
NARRATOR: The church recently
secured a vacant building,
with plans to transform it into
an emergency women's shelter
that would accept dogs.
Lenie and Tucker
could be admitted,
but Tucker's behavior
might pose a threat
to the other residents.
DAVID:
Tucker is a great dog,
but see,
when you live down there
and you're around the stress
of people fighting,
people on drugs,
people acting bizarre,
these dogs are on alert
all the time
to protect their owner.
LENIE: When I found out
that I could go into a program
with Tucker
and have a house
over both of our heads,
I was very excited.
I was very grateful.
But then I was also fearful
because of how Tucker is
towards other people.
If I'm in a shelter
with other women and children,
he can't be charging people
and he can't be barking
and just being protective
and on alert,
how he is down here.
DAVID: Obviously if somebody
gets bit by a dog,
we could be sued.
So it's a concern, you know,
but that's why we reached out
to you guys for help.
NARRATOR: Cesar usually
doesn't want to know
anything about the canine issues
that await him.
But due to Lenie's
unique situation,
the producers reveal to Cesar
that he and
the Dog Whisperer crew
will be helping move
a homeless woman and her dog
to a safer location.
DAVID:
Getting her out of there
is just such a huge answer
to prayer.
CESAR: People don't realize
that I was a homeless.
I lived in the streets
of San Diego for two months,
so I was a homeless.
So this gives me
a lot of appreciation.
[barking]
Tucker was
pretty much teaching us
how a dog on a farm
has a conversation with you
way before you arrive.
[barking]
Very nice.
Good stance, right?
He's still maintaining
the bark of alert.
This is not aggressive bark.
This is just a bark of alert.
Look at how the bark
is going down.
And your job, as a visitor,
is to wait for that bark,
especially if
the owners of the house
have not answered you.
Now he starts using his nose.
Look. Ears are back,
the tail is going down.
So moving sideways
actually allows you...
to tell the dog
that you mean no harm.
So I'm gonna move
and I'm gonna
sit right there, okay?
But, to have a better movement,
I'm going to remove
this big, big jacket.
Go down, there you go,
right there.
He gave me
a really strong sniff.
He did that with his nose.
He's still not sure about me.
That's what he's saying.
[barking]
What he just told you is
he doesn't know you.
The camera did the forward,
the forward move.
He still says, "That's not
an approach to our home."
That's right.
This is really nice.
Normally I don't allow it,
but this is a dog-dog-dog,
like a feral dog.
Look at those eyes.
That's a soulful eye contact.
That's right.
That's a soulful eye contact.
Don't you?
Look at that.
Look how he's looking at you,
like, "That's right."
[barking]
That's right.
Yeah, he knows I know.
It's obvious that we don't have
an aggressive dog.
This is dominance.
There you are!
LENIE: Hi!
CESAR: Hey.
LENIE: I'm so glad to meet you.
CESAR: Really?
I was telling them
that I used to live,
when I came to America,
I used to live
under the bridges.
So I was a homeless once.
So, do you think you have
a problem with him?
LENIE: I can't believe
you just like totally
like walked up to him.
And I heard him get quiet,
and I was like, "That's weird."
CESAR: He's telling us
from far away,
"This is our home.
I just want you to know."
So he's being respectful
with communication.
It's just the human that doesn't
understand what they're saying.
You don't have
an aggressive dog.
You have a normal dog.
LENIE: The issue that I have
is when we're in public
and out of here,
he's still on alert.
CESAR: Yeah, I'll help you
with that.
So this way
you have both worlds.
You just want to be able
to tell them when to use it
and when not to use it.
What I loved the most
about the story is,
look where the dog is living,
and he doesn't
look unhappy one bit.
LENIE: Yeah!
NARRATOR: Now it's time
to help Lenie and Tucker move
from a place they call home.
CESAR: So do you have
a name for the baby yet?
LENIE: If it's a boy, it's gonna
be named after the father.
CESAR: Oh, what's his name?
LENIE: John.
CESAR: What happened to John?
LENIE: He is in rehab.
CESAR: Okay, good for him.
LENIE: He graduated and will be
going to a sober living.
CESAR: All right, Johnny!
LENIE: I'm very excited to know
that I'm not gonna be
staying here tonight.
CESAR:
Oh, you had a stove in here?
LENIE: As the winter months
are coming,
it's only gonna get
colder down here,
and it's only gonna get rainier.
And it's been freezing.
NARRATOR : Cesar knows
there will be zero tolerance
for any of Tucker's misbehaviors
at the women's shelter.
He needs to devise
the perfect plan.
CESAR:
We gotta do the transition
extremely respectfully.
We gotta bring Lenie and Tucker
from that environment.
We have to create
the right imprint:
trust, respect, follow me.
We're gonna take you
to a nicer place.
Tucker, as far as Tucker
is concerned, that's home.
NARRATOR: Cesar helps a homeless
woman named Lenie Pictou
as she moves into a women's
shelter with her dog, Tucker.
But there will be
a zero tolerance policy
for Tucker's
over-protective aggression.
[barking]
CESAR: Every time
somebody has the opportunity
to move from one place
to another place
gives you an opportunity
to reestablish position.
So we know Lenie doesn't play
the leadership role.
So in order for her to have
a successful state here
and actually to be a role model
to the next people
that are coming here,
which they're going to allow you
to come here
and stay with your dog,
which is unheard of...
You know, it's an amazing thing
that these people are doing.
So what I'm gonna do
is I'm gonna ask Rojo
to keep Tucker outside.
She's never seen it before,
so I want her to experience it.
If she needs to cry, she cries.
If she needs to laugh,
she laughs.
Because Tucker
will not see it that way.
Tucker would see it as like,
"Where are we
and what do you want me to do?"
DAVID: How are you?
Good to see you.
CESAR:
Yeah, man, that's awesome.
It smells like Christmas.
LENIE: Yeah, it does. Wow!
Wow! New kitchen!
Running water!
Love the wood floor.
CESAR: That is amazing.
LENIE: Wow!
Oh, my God!
CESAR: Wow!
LENIE: Oh, my goodness!
A bed!
A bathroom!
Is it really happening?
Like is it really...
like, am I gonna wake up here
tomorrow morning
and not in the river bottom?
CESAR:
Well, let's bring Tucker.
Tucker is not like
super dominant.
But in the hands of Lenie,
he can be very dominant,
because I saw
how she was holding the leash
and how much tension
she was putting on the leash.
And this is a ritual, shhh.
'Cause he's gonna smell,
all right.
So all the scent in here--shh.
It's like okay,
so how do we take that scent?
Look at the tail,
the tail is low.
So if you ever see
the tail high,
you stay right here
until the tail goes low.
LENIE: Really?
CESAR: Yes, yes.
Tail high is alert.
Tail high is dominance.
And then eventually, you don't
have to wait here this much.
He just knows that to enter here
is always surrendering.
Anything has levels:
low, medium, high.
So if a dog goes beyond medium,
that dog is not going to be able
to be rehabilitated
by that particular human.
Getting to know Lenie
and seeing where she is mentally
and the adjustment that she is
going to do living-wise,
I think it's best if we help her
to take medium level energy
to zero,
meaning no dominance.
What I want to offer,
and also for him,
is for us to take him in
so we can accelerate the process
of him being in the city
more often.
LENIE: Okay.
CESAR:
You know what I'm saying?
So he can stay with us while
you're getting situated here.
And at the same time,
he gets a crash course of being
in different situations.
So that way, when he comes back,
it's gonna be
much easier for you
because this is what he's
been doing every single day.
LENIE: When Cesar told me
that he wanted to take Tucker,
I felt so relieved to know that
Tucker's in a safe place
with someone
who will take care of him.
I can relax,
and I can focus on me
and I can think about me
and just really kind of sink in
that I'm gonna be a mom.
CESAR:
Merry Christmas, Tucker.
NARRATOR: Since Tucker is nearly
all Lenie has in the world,
Cesar pulls out all the stops
in the dog's rehab.
CESAR: Last night
was the first time I knew
how bad his whining behavior is,
which is the anxiety,
the separation anxiety
that he has.
And I decided to use
the e-collar for that
because it was absolutely bad.
He has to learn
just to be really relaxed
and not to worry
about anything else.
[whining]
This gets really bad.
This is just mild.
NARRATOR: When Cesar needs to
travel out of town for a week,
he asks trusted dog trainer
Colleen Steckloff
to continue working with Tucker.
CESAR: So I'm going to
go away for like a week,
so I need your help.
And I want him to experience
different people.
So I know he's in good hands.
Thank you so much.
COLLEEN STECKLOFF:
You're very welcome.
CESAR:
Now you're going with Colleen.
COLLEEN:
The first week I had Tucker,
I really worked on
his, just following,
not darting out the doors,
not trying to be, you know,
first one heading out,
in and out of places,
getting him a foundation
to walk nicely on a leash,
which he really did well.
He was not terrible
on the leash.
Introducing him to dogs,
to the car...
And the big thing we did
was waiting outside stores
and outside, you know,
coffee restaurants
and just being able to wait
while I walked away
for five, ten minutes.
And I know that Cesar donated
a treadmill to the shelter,
so I trained him how to
walk and jog a little bit
on the treadmill,
and he's really good on it
and he enjoys it.
NARRATOR:
After two weeks with Colleen,
Tucker is reunited
with Cesar and Junior
for a new adventure.
CESAR:
I took Tucker to Big Bear.
It was New Year's.
I got to know him more.
He's an amazing dog.
You know, he's great.
He's...he's the total dog.
LENIE: John came down
from Santa Barbara,
and we went
to my appointment at 12:30
and we got to find out
that we're having a baby boy.
We're really excited.
Can't wait to have Tucker back.
I'm so excited to see how much
Cesar has changed Tucker
and all that.
So, I'm excited.
NARRATOR: 21-year-old
expectant mother Lenie Pictou
has just moved in
to a women's shelter.
Also arriving
is her canine companion, Tucker.
CESAR: Big day.
Tucker and Lenie
are getting back together,
and also I heard
that she's getting married.
He knows Lenie is right there,
and he's maintaining
his composure,
so that's awesome.
Big day. Come on.
LENIE: Life without Tucker
has been trying, you know.
I just...it's my dog.
I've had him like every day
for forever.
It's been like the only thing
I've had, and I just miss him.
I miss him so much.
Like I can't wait
to have him back.
Hi, Cesar.
CESAR: That's awesome.
You look great. Look at you!
LENIE: How have you been?
CESAR: Great!
Have you met Colleen before?
LENIE: No, I haven't.
I'm Lenie.
CESAR: Colleen has been
also like a stepmom.
I heard the good news.
LENIE: There's a few
good-news things.
I'm having a boy.
CESAR: Oh, yeah!
LENIE: So, and then I got
proposed to on Christmas.
And then we're actually going
tomorrow to the courthouse
to get married.
CESAR: That's awesome.
I love all of that, obviously.
but I like that
you followed the rules:
no touch,
no talk, no eye contact.
LENIE: Yeah, that was
really hard.
CESAR: It's hard,
but it's the best thing.
LENIE: Yeah.
CESAR: Because the big picture
is, in this shelter,
there's gonna be more women
with babies and dogs,
my goal is to create a scenario
so they can see
how it's going to look like.
So we're going to
create a scenario
that is similar to what it's
going to look in the future.
The only difference is,
these people know dogs.
That is the idea--
to bring knowledge, with love,
to this shelter.
So that's the same thing
that he needs to practice
in every single door you go.
In here. Come on.
Then you can bring him in.
This is how it's gonna look like
once kids start living here.
Right?
A little bit more stuff.
Let him go, there we go.
So see--her as the mom
can tell him how far can he go.
His intention is just to smell,
but at the same time,
he can smell from far away.
You can stop him.
There you go.
So it's evenly...
it's equally with everybody,
not just with Tucker.
LENIE: When Cesar put me
in the real-life situations
with the children in the house
and other dogs around
and the baby,
it was able to put it
in perspective for me.
CESAR: Shhh!
Babies, toddlers are gonna throw
food on the ground, right?
And that could be a situation
where they will
challenge each other.
So, don't wait
until the toddlers
throw the food on the ground.
You purpose& shhh!
Throw the food in the ground.
All right, so that way
you learn to condition them,
and they see that things falling
doesn't mean they go get it.
LENIE: Just because
it's on the ground,
doesn't mean it's theirs.
CESAR: And so this is
more being proactive.
We chose different exercise.
Colleen showed the treadmill
to Lenie.
And that's gonna be a huge help
for anybody who is pregnant.
DAVID: We didn't think we were
gonna be able to take dogs in.
So this is a bigger miracle
because we know how important
their dogs are,
and we don't want to separate
family members.
And that's what they are--
they're family.
LENIE:
Do you remember each other?
DAVID:
And we're just so thankful,
so God bless you guys.
CESAR: It's really admirable
to rather live in the streets
than giving up the relationship
with your dog.
That's beautiful.
LENIE: People always say,
"Oh, it's just a dog.
It's just a dog."
No, it's not just a dog.
It's, you know,
after losing everything--
after losing the place
where I was living
and not having
any family there for me...
that was the only thing
that stuck by me
was my dog.
And Tucker loved me
unconditionally.
CESAR: This is
not about rehabilitation.
This is about us showing
the human can teach you,
no matter where they are
in their lives, you know.
If we call them "homeless,"
they can be teachers.
I really admire you
for not giving up on him.
A lot of people give up on the
relationship with their dogs,
and you didn't.
So that, to me, struck my heart,
and I really thank you
for giving me the opportunity
to experience that.
Congratulations.
I know you're
getting married soon.
LENIE: I'll keep giving
you guys updates about him.
CESAR: Yeah.
Special guy.
One of those special guys.
Have a great day.
Bye, Tucker.
WOMAN: I now pronounce you
husband and wife.
You may kiss your bride.
Whether a dog is raised in
a wealthy or humble environment,
there is no substitute
for the dedication
of a responsible
and loving pack leader.
Holly and Tucker
came from completely different
backgrounds,
but they're both on their way
to living rich
and fulfilling lives.
LENIE: Hey, Cesar!
It's been about six months since
you guys came and filmed me
in the river bottom.
I'm here now
in a great community center
with my husband John
and our little boy John,
and Tucker, of course.
Tucker is now a peaceful, calm,
well-behaved dog.
He's great with the baby.
He's great walking on leash.
He's great walking off leash.
Cesar, thank you so much!
I have a beautiful happy family
with a well-behaved dog now.
Thank you.
CESAR: As you can see,
Holly is doing really great.
And we're so happy to have her
as a member of our pack!