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NARRATOR: This difficult dog is in desperate need of a home.
Cesar Millan is the best man for the challenge.
CESAR MILLAN: Like I always say,
I rehabilitate dogs, and I train people.
NARRATOR: From hundreds of dog lovers willing to adopt...
CHILD: We are ready to adopt a dog.
NARRATOR: ...these three candidates
will be put to the test.
Only one will be the perfect match for this dog.
CESAR: Do you have what it takes to be the leader of the pack?
Little dogs that are aggressive towards other dogs
can seem cute.
But aggressiveness leads to a fight,
and little dogs can get hurt.
This is a story of a little dog with big issues.
[barking]
NARRATOR: Dora is a young, cute Yorkshire terrier mix,
and she's a handful.
She's spent the last few months in the shelter that rescued her.
But she's not ready for a new home.
Even though she's a small dog,
her behavior has become a big problem.
GEMMA: She can be very intimidating towards other dogs
and can be quite forceful and quite dominant towards them.
And it can come across as though she's being really aggressive.
NARRATOR: A small dog that is aggressive towards other dogs
might not be safe for children.
She could also provoke a fight with the wrong dog
and end up seriously injured, or worse.
GEMMA: Dora's been with us for a lot longer than the usual dog.
I hope that she finds the right owner,
and that she doesn't end up being returned.
NARRATOR: If her behavior can't be transformed,
Dora could spend the rest of her life in a shelter.
[barking]
CESAR: Good boy, good boy.
Obstacle, great attributes, bonding. Whoa!
Stay.
I think our new dog is here.
Let's check it out.
Come on, Junior! Come on.
Come on, Junior.
CESAR: Hello! GEMMA: Hello!
CESAR: Hello, Cesar Millan. How are you? Who's this?
GEMMA: I'm Gemma.
CESAR: Hi, Gemma. Nice to meet you.
GEMMA: This is Dora.
CESAR: Dora. Very, very, very cute.
How old is she? GEMMA: About seven months.
CESAR: Seven months? And why did she arrive to--
GEMMA: To the shelter? She was a stray.
CESAR: Oh! What about that?
GEMMA: It's 'cause the other dogs are around.
CESAR: Right. GEMMA: She gets very...
CESAR: Excited, right?
What surprised me the most
is that Dora is projecting too strong of an energy
for a seven-month-old.
Little dogs can be affected the wrong way
when you're carrying them.
She's very focused on Junior.
Dora felt that she needed to dominate the whole world.
So the chances of her being adopted get smaller.
Well, come on in.
What is it that she has
that you want me to help you with?
GEMMA: Her issue with other dogs. CESAR: Right.
GEMMA: She's not very social around them.
She likes to intimidate them. CESAR: Right.
GEMMA: She will pin them down,
and she will not let them up at all.
CESAR: Let me evaluate Dora with Junior,
'cause Junior is my right hand.
Junior is the balanced dog that I'm always gonna get a feedback.
GEMMA: Want me to put her down? CESAR: Would you? Yeah.
CESAR: A little bit stiff.
Dora went after Junior.
Just no common sense.
And Junior just gave a little bit of avoidance,
like, "No, I'm not gonna get into it."
That's the right thing to do, ignore her.
That's when you know a dog's stable, you know?
'Cause they don't really get into a fight.
If Dora does this behavior to a bigger dog,
a dog that is not stable like Junior,
the bigger dog is gonna kill her.
Oh, has lots of energy!
GEMMA: Yes. CESAR: Is she always this way?
GEMMA: Yes.
CESAR: Junior is gonna be focusing on the ball only.
No sense of direction?
I haven't seen that in a long time, you know?
A dog that is clueless.
That just shows you the dog has not been exposed
to the world that they live in.
Oh, wow!
That's pretty ignorant of her part,
to go against a dog when he's running.
The energy she shows is typical in a high-level energy dog.
A lot of times it's pent-up energy.
The dog is not fulfilled properly.
The dog is not exploring as much as she should.
She's frustrated about her style of life.
And being a predator,
the easiest way to release frustration is by biting.
From here, we're gonna go into a treadmill. Ready?
GEMMA: Ready. CESAR: Come on!
NARRATOR: Cesar wants to see if running on a treadmill
can help focus Dora.
CESAR: Let me see how you do it
so I can check on your skills,
how you invite the dog.
All right, I see.
So, you do whatever you do.
GEMMA: Come on.
Dora, come on. Come on.
CESAR: A dog knows what makes you weak
and manipulates you.
"Oh, if I throw myself on the ground, the human gives up,"
'cause that's the weakness of the human.
So, here...
If you have a dog that's shutting down...
GEMMA: Yeah.
CESAR: There you go. See it?
GEMMA: Okay. CESAR: There you go.
I'm gonna see, how can I invite her to move in?
I can--there you go. See it?
I can trigger it, or I can move her,
but I'd rather her to be willing to do it.
So, now...
There you go.
This is all normal.
It's actually Dora doing that to herself.
I'm just holding the leash.
That's what I have to convey to her:
"Look, really, once you get on the top of this treadmill,
nothing bad is gonna happen."
There you go. See, that's more...
That's more smooth. There you go.
See how the brain is now looking forward?
There you go.
A dog like Dora is going to benefit
from someone who gives direction before affection.
So, can you see a difference now?
How the brain is now focusing on this side?
I want to bring her with the rest of the pack.
She needs to take a nice shower of dogs,
just like a cleanse.
NARRATOR: Cesar's best tool
to tackle Dora's dominance problem
is the pack.
A pack of dogs could overwhelm her and put her in her place.
CESAR: See the pack that I am choosing?
GEMMA: Yes. CESAR: Very soft pack.
Look.
Look at the ears back, look at the tail, look.
See, the tail is high, her tail is low.
So she's sensing her weakness.
When you do rehab,
you want to bring dogs that are compatible to her
and gradually introducing her to the next step.
You get to see Dora like,
"This doesn't happen to me every day,
and I don't know how to deal with it.
My survival skills is telling me,
do not fight, there's many of them."
Look at his eye contact. See it?
GEMMA: Yeah. CESAR: A lot of power!
I'm overruling her behavior.
She has learned to dominate dogs.
But I'm saying, "That's not even an option."
Come on, Dora. GEMMA: Dora! CESAR: Let's go.
GEMMA: Come on, Dora! CESAR: She got it.
So, situations like this make her more and more submissive.
The more submissive she becomes, the more she listens to you.
NARRATOR: Cesar has finished Dora's evaluation
and started her rehab.
Now it's time to find the perfect family
to keep her on the right path
and out of trouble.
GEMMA: After seeing what I've seen today,
I hope Dora is gonna be a lot more sociable,
the more dogs that she meets.
And that will give us better chance of re-homing her.
CESAR: Dora is way too dominant for her age.
She has all the attributes
for people to make all the mistakes in the world.
We definitely need to find a match
that can set rules, boundaries, and limitations right away.
Let's meet the candidates!
GROUP: Hi. Hello. Hi. Hi.
CESAR: Good morning, everyone. I am Cesar Millan.
I want to welcome you
and thank you all for coming to adopt a rescue dog.
There are countless dogs in shelters
or living in the streets.
Our goal is to raise awareness
by finding a home for one of those dogs.
Her name is Dora.
Dora needs a strong leader.
First, tell me a little bit about yourselves.
Let me begin here.
MALCOLM: My name's Malcolm.
I'm a retired vet,
and this is our little dog, Arthur Rex.
MAXEEN: I'm Maxeen, Malcolm's wife.
When we brought Arthur Rex back from Tobago,
it was to join our elderly Jack Russell.
CESAR: Oh, you had a dog before.
MAXEEN: He was also a rescue dog.
But then the Jack Russell, very elderly, passed on.
And we really felt that Arthur would appreciate
another companion.
But we have tried once or twice, and he's finding it difficult.
CESAR: Really? Well, I can help you with that.
What about you, guys? What do you do?
The only one without a dog, so...
CHARLIE: My name's Charlie.
I recently graduated from university,
having studied zoology.
And as you said, as of yet, we haven't got a dog,
but hopefully that will change.
WOMAN: I've always wanted a dog,
but now my daughter has joined in,
and there's two of us that want the dog.
MAN: Three. CESAR: Dad?
You're part of the pack, right?
MAN: I'm the leader of the pack!
CESAR: Oh, there you go! Okay.
Why do you want to rescue a dog now?
CHARLIE: Having recently graduated,
now would be the perfect time for me to get one,
'cause I've got a lot more free time.
CESAR: What about you guys? What do you do?
FRASER: My name's Fraser. I'm from East London.
SUE: I'm Sue.
FRASER: This is Charlie. He's our first dog.
CESAR: First dog? FRASER: Our first one ever.
We wanted a dog, and we've got Charlie,
and we're more than happy.
CESAR: Why do you want to rescue another dog?
SUE: I think, since we've had Charlie,
he's really kind of enriched our lives.
And I'd really like another dog for him, as well,
as a buddy for him.
CESAR: That's good. Three of you are here,
but only one of you will go back with Dora.
Only one of you will be the leader of the pack for Dora.
Are you ready to meet Dora?
GROUP: Yes. Definitely. Yes.
CESAR: Let's get started then!
NARRATOR: Seven-month-old Dora
is a big problem in a small package.
CESAR: Yeah, you're right about that.
NARRATOR: She's so aggressive,
the shelter couldn't find a new home for her.
Her bad behavior could put her in a dangerous situation.
Cesar has started Dora's rehabilitation.
Now the candidates must show
that they can keep her out of trouble
and give her a good home.
One of them will go home without her today.
CESAR: Have you guys ever been in a pack of dogs?
CHARLIE: I have, yes. CESAR: Oh, yeah? When?
CHARLIE: I volunteer with a dog behaviorist.
CESAR: So, he has a pack.
I just want to see you in action.
CHARLIE: Give it a shot? CESAR: Yeah. Good.
CHARLIE: My name's Charlie.
This is my mom, Caryn,
and my dad, Peter, on the far side.
We live in Gloucester.
I've always been fascinated with animals,
hence why I did a zoology degree.
I would absolutely love to be a dog behaviorist.
I thought it would be a good idea
for me to take the next step and actually get my own dog.
PETER: I don't mind watching the dog we have
as long as it does the ironing, cooking,
and the washing of the dishes.
I'd be happy with that, very much so.
CARYN: I'm really looking forward to having a dog.
I've always wanted animals.
CHARLIE: To become a dog behaviorist,
I don't think you really need many skills.
You just need to be very interested
in the behavior of dogs, and you need to be patient.
CESAR: I'm gonna follow you. I just want to see.
You're in a safe environment. You have any questions, ask me.
CHARLIE: I won't hesitate. Don't worry.
CESAR: Yes, please. Can we follow?
CARYN: Okay, then. After you.
CESAR: Charlie just graduated from university,
and she's a zoologist.
That's very intellectual.
It's not a hands-on knowledge
that she's bringing into the picture.
Okay, so here, what I want you to do is,
I want you to go in the middle and go down.
Go in the middle.
A little hesitant.
See, the animal is seeing this.
You see it? The animal has to see this.
And then you spread a different energy.
Your calm energy is overpowering your assertive energy.
CHARLIE: I'm more submissive. I need to be more assertive.
CESAR: Exactly. If you learn to control one pack,
controlling one dog is a piece of cake, right?
Charlie has mastered some things.
She's a zoologist.
But when it comes to dogs, you can see she never had one.
So, let's just go see Dora,
and then we bring Dora into the pack.
CHARLIE: Yeah, okay. CESAR: Let's go in, then.
CESAR: Where is Dora? There. Right there.
CHARLIE: Oh, yes. CESAR: There you go.
CHARLIE: Okay. CESAR: Yeah.
CESAR: What kind of energy Dora has?
CHARLIE AND CARYN: Excitable.
CESAR: And then we're gonna bring her into the pack.
CHARLIE: Yeah, which will be disastrous.
[laughing]
CESAR: What are you guys doing right now?
CHARLIE: Ignoring her, hoping she will calm down.
CESAR: Remember, you have two options.
You can ignore, or you can address.
CHARLIE: Right. Tsh.
CESAR: You chose the option of addressing.
CHARLIE: Yeah. CESAR: That's good.
Now, what you can do is put a leash on her, right?
See how she reacts once she has a leash on.
CESAR: What does that mean to you?
PETER: Submissive, I would have thought.
CESAR: Excitement.
CARYN: I was gonna say she wants to play. CESAR: Yeah.
CHARLIE: I was quite surprised at how energetic Dora was.
And I realized it's actually quite hard
to calm down excited dogs.
CESAR: Let's see how you open the door and what happens.
CHARLIE: All right.
Tsh!
CESAR: There you...
There we go. Shoulders up, there we go.
That's better.
Even the way you carry your shoulders
express or talks.
NARRATOR: Charlie must keep Dora calm,
even amid the pack.
CESAR: We want to raise your confidence level to the highest
in a matter of two minutes.
Let's go.
That's good.
CARYN: This one's excited by it.
CESAR: Look at the hair. It's high. That's not good.
CARYN: Beagle's fine? CESAR: Beagle is fine.
There's a lot of tension going on.
CHARLIE: 'Cause this one seems quite, quite tense.
Is that play?
CESAR: He wants to play. Yeah, you can let her go now.
There you go.
CHARLIE: Most of them stayed away.
They were quite happy to stay in the shade.
But some of them did come up to her.
And it was quite interesting to see their behavior.
I wasn't sure if they were being aggressive
or they were just showing interest.
CESAR: What you do right now is all about trust.
And once you trust, and then what?
Confidence goes up.
You see it?
So, nothing bad happened.
CHARLIE: I realized that you can read as many books as you like,
but you need someone with practical experience
to show you what to do with that knowledge.
CESAR: Notice they're not doing the affection ritual
that most humans would do because Dora acts pretty cute.
But look how they do it.
CARYN: I think Charlotte handled Dora very well,
so it's a great possibility
that Cesar could offer Dora to Charlotte.
CESAR: That's all that she can give us right now.
Thank you, guys. CHARLIE: Thank you.
NARRATOR: Because Dora has shown aggression and dominance,
meeting the candidates with dogs could be especially tricky.
CESAR: Ladies first.
FRASER: I'm Fraser. SUE: I'm Sue.
FRASER: And we live in East London.
FRASER: Come on, mate.
SUE: Charlie is our first dog, and he's a Cairn terrier
crossed, we think, with a Pomeranian.
He's got very much these terrier instincts.
He does like to sort of chase a bit of wildlife.
He definitely has a bit of trouble
with dogs that are sort of younger than him.
FRASER: I'm actually looking forward to getting another dog
and the challenges that sets, and it's quite exciting.
SUE: We've got to make sure that they're good together
and then sort of growing up together.
I think now is probably the best time to do that for us.
CESAR: What about Charlie?
How's he get along with his own kind?
FRASER: He seems to have a little bit of a problem
with younger dogs.
SUE: He tries to be dominant with them.
And he does a lot of the touching
and the paws on the shoulder thing,
and he kind of growls.
CESAR: Some breeds are very vocal,
and Charlie is one of those.
Growl is not always a bad thing.
We're gonna bring Charlie to meet Dora. Is that okay?
FRASER: Absolutely. CESAR: Come on.
CESAR: Dora can be an excited girl...
if you let her be.
So, one thing that you don't do with a dog that is excited
is to encourage that.
If I'm gonna adopt a dog, who do I bring? My right hand.
I want Charlie to dominate her, 'cause as soon as that happens,
he introduces me to the primal connection.
Ultimately, you guys will control, right?
But right now, you're giving him energy like that,
so it's teamwork.
FRASER: First impressions. We've got to give him that.
CESAR: That's right. Here, come in, there you go.
He didn't know what to do after--
There you go. Beautiful. Yeah, that's nice.
He's in a dominant state. She's in a submissive state.
Charlie moved assertive enough to tell Dora,
"That's not what I want."
In order for this thing to be harmonious,
one has to be dominant
and the other one has to be submissive.
See, he's already setting rules, boundaries, and limitations.
Rules is, "I begin the game."
The boundary is, "You don't pass my personal space."
And limits, "I tell you when to stop."
Oh, whoa. He wants to play.
Eventually, Charlie invited Dora to play.
In the back of my mind, I'm already thinking,
"Wow, how would the dynamic change
once we get home?"
Success for Dora
is not that somebody has to make her excited.
We know she's excited,
and we know that this is how she gets in trouble.
Charlie doesn't know that he can get in trouble with that.
FRASER: Slightly dominant behavior now.
CESAR: Mounting is not always mating.
It's just a sign of imposing dominance,
but it's not always mating.
Look at that. SUE: Yeah.
CESAR: That's a picture.
Please, somebody take a picture of that!
FRASER: I was a little bit apprehensive
that energy might not have been very good for Charlie.
CESAR: That's just Romeo and Juliet, you know?
SUE: When you see him get into that real playful mood,
it's just fantastic watching him do that.
So, if we could have another dog that he does that with more,
that would be just great.
CESAR: I don't think he wants to leave.
SUE: No.
FRASER: I think he'd stay all day.
CESAR: Well, thank you. Let's go this way.
So looking forward for this.
I want to see why Arthur Rex has not been able to bring a dog,
when Arthur has a vet in house!
MAXEEN: I'm Maxeen, and this is my husband, Malcolm.
He's a retired vet.
Our dog, Arthur Rex.
MALCOLM: Arthur Rex, that's right.
We live in a large Victorian house
on the outskirts of a town called Crewkerne, in Somerset.
Arthur Rex came into our lives in 2004.
We went to Tobago for a week.
And on our last day there,
suddenly this little terrier came charging along the beach,
chased by a pack of hounds.
MAXEEN: He came back to the U.K.,
and we've been with him ever since.
We have tried to introduce another dog into the family
about a year ago.
But Arthur Rex was very aggressive.
MALCOLM: I feel that he would like another dog as a companion.
I'm not so sure whether he thinks so at the moment.
CESAR: I created two options for you.
One is for Arthur Rex to be with a group of dogs,
or for him to go and straight meet Dora.
Which one do you feel more comfortable?
MALCOLM: I think it would be head to head with Dora.
CESAR: Head to head with Dora?
MAXEEN: I agree with that.
CESAR: So, with that in mind, take the leash off...
We're gonna do it in a very primal way.
This is the next step, right, for him, is "Where am I?"
MALCOLM: It will be a lot of...
CESAR: That's how they make the place familiar.
It gives us a reading of confidence, right?
How confident a dog is, how quick he marks.
All of those things that a dog like Dora actually requires.
All right, so, where is Arthur Rex?
Come on. Come on, guys, we've got to go.
This meeting is already on.
MALCOLM: Yeah.
CESAR: Sorry, but...
You guys in front.
MALCOLM: All together? CESAR: Yes, sir.
MALCOLM: Great. Here, Arthur. Hey!
CESAR: If we would have not opened the door
as quick as we did,
they would have gone into fence fighting,
because the frustration of wanting to be with each other.
This is all nose-eyes-ears. MAXEEN: Yeah.
CESAR: That's okay. This is okay.
This is really good.
She has to earn his trust.
There you go, see it? The roll over? MAXEEN: Yes.
CESAR: You can nurture that, sir. Touch the belly.
MALCOLM: I can do that as well? CESAR: Yes!
MAXEEN: Touch the belly!
CESAR: Doctor, I don't think that's what you want right now.
You're breaking the rules, Doctor!
MALCOLM: Well, yes, but both of them....
NARRATOR: Cesar has been evaluating
how two dominant terriers, used to being singles,
would blend as a pack.
CESAR: You're breaking the rules, Doctor!
MALCOLM: Well, yes, but both of them....
CESAR: He wants to keep her submissive.
The doctor made her excited and he's like, "No!"
MALCOLM: Exactly. CESAR: "She can't do that!"
Arthur Rex does exactly what I told people.
A dog like Dora needs rules, boundaries, and limitations.
This is normal. We do that all the time.
"Hey, stop it! Don't come in!"
We put signs. We display territorial behavior.
The dog is telling the doctor,
"We've got to keep this girl calm.
Don't you hear what Cesar said?
She needs strong leadership!"
Look at him. See, for him it's all about,
"Look, you're respectful with me, I'm okay with you."
MAXEEN: She's flirting with him. CESAR: That's right.
So, I see him this way. I saw her this way.
It's like, that's a match made in heaven!
MALCOLM: We haven't done that for a long time, dear.
CESAR: You got to learn. You got to learn to do that!
MAXEEN: I think he was very, very interested in her,
right from the moment he set eyes on her.
CESAR: So, it's not really about sound--
"What's your name? My name is Arthur Rex."
It's exercise, discipline, affection.
Body, mind, heart.
And you got to see it from Arthur Rex--body, mind.
"I give you my heart later."
MALCOLM: A love-at-first-sight story.
Well, certainly we were worried
that it might be love at first bite.
And it turned out that no,
they behaved as they should have behaved
for two dogs meeting for the first time.
CESAR: You had fun? MALCOLM: Yeah.
CESAR: I did have fun. That was funny!
MALCOLM: I know what I'm gonna have to do tonight.
CESAR: When I first met Dora, she went after Junior.
People see that she's a puppy, she's small,
but it's very important that whoever is gonna take Dora
understands what she can become.
This is an ideal case, where people can rescue a dog
and really learn to prevent unwanted behavior.
The biggest problem is gonna be
which home is gonna offer calmness.
I evaluated three candidates, and I made my decision.
Everybody is in love with Dora, but I have to let somebody go.
CHARLIE: I think we could get on quite nicely.
I wouldn't spoil her.
She's a toy dog,
but I wouldn't be the person that would pick her up
whenever I saw another dog come by.
So I think I could be good for her.
FRASER: Yeah, I started picturing Dora in the house.
That's terrible. I'm really jumping ahead of myself there.
I could see...I thought, "This is where she'll be."
I can see them in the garden, I can see 'em over there.
SUE: I can see us walking the two dogs.
MAXEEN: We would love to have Dora.
She is absolutely adorable,
and we feel that our dog could actually be good for her.
MALCOLM: I genuinely did feel something for her,
quite extraordinary, so early on in our relationship.
CESAR: Good afternoon.
GROUP: Good afternoon. Hi.
CESAR: This morning I told you
that Dora needs rules, boundaries, and limitations.
She can be very pushy.
She may be small,
but a Dora without a leader can easily take over.
Compatibility is the most important thing
when adopting a dog.
One of you is not compatible for Dora.
One of you is not gonna be the leader of the pack for Dora.
Charlie, Caryn, and Pete,
I love your eagerness to learn about dogs.
It's clear you want to adopt a dog.
Malcolm and Maxeen,
when we met Dora, it was clear who the boss is.
Arthur Rex!
He set the rules with Dora.
My concern is, would you be able to maintain those rules?
Sue and Fraser,
for new dog owners,
I love that you're open to learn new things,
and Charlie has changed your lives.
He has great energy, and you're blessed.
My concern is
what kind of energy will Dora and Charlie have at home?
Charlie, Caryn, and Pete, I am sorry.
You're not the leader of the pack for Dora.
Dora's energy is not a good energy to start with.
CARYN: That's okay.
CESAR: Charlie, I think it would be great
to have hands-on experience with other dogs.
You should foster dogs with different energies
and learn from them.
Thank you guys for participating.
Thank you for coming over.
CHARLIE: I kind of had a guess
that he would send us home today.
And I respect Cesar's decision.
I was a bit concerned about how I'd handle that type of dog.
CESAR: Congratulations. Two of you are left.
But only one of you will go back home with Dora tomorrow.
Both of you will have a chance to see her again.
The funny part is that both dogs were great with her.
But you, the humans, need to be able to maintain those rules.
So I need you to prove
that you can be the leader of the pack for Dora.
So, tomorrow, bring your "A" game.
Congratulations and thank you both.
GROUP: Thank you. See you tomorrow. Thank you.
MAXEEN: Arthur Rex could be excellent for Dora.
We think it could work. We would love to have her.
She's a sweetie, isn't she?
MALCOLM: She's a wonderful dog.
SUE: It just kind of rushes through your head
that you think, "Oh, it could all just stop now, you know."
FRASER: But we weren't eliminated.
And now I can tell everybody I've been in an elimination,
and I survived.
Well, the first step.
SUE: Survived this one, yeah.
CESAR: Arthur Rex's owners
have the advantage of having Arthur Rex.
And Charlie's owners have the advantage of having Charlie.
What I have to think is, who is gonna provide the calmness?
'Cause that's what she needs.
NARRATOR: Dora has shown aggression and dominance
with other dogs.
So feeding time can be one of the most challenging situations
with a dog like her.
CESAR: Come on in, guys. MALCOLM: Good morning.
CESAR: When you have one dog at home,
you don't experience competition.
When you bring a second dog into the house,
you're going to trigger competition.
If you take another dog home,
one of the things that I'm interested in
is what's gonna be the dynamic around feeding time?
Does he ever eat around other dogs?
MALCOLM: No.
CESAR: Well, that can create some challenges, as you know.
Food can trigger a challenge.
Can you prepare whatever you want for Dora?
And maybe Arthur Rex would like to have some of it?
MAXEEN: Right. We went for a bowl of kibbles, it's called,
some meat, and some rice.
And we more or less dished out an equal portion for Dora
and for Arthur Rex.
MALCOLM: Arthur, I think you could be quite hungry.
I think you could be. There we are.
Excellent.
CESAR: This is good. MAXEEN: Yeah.
MALCOLM: They seem to be fine. CESAR: Totally fine.
CESAR: The doctor is in charge of feeding.
And then you see how methodical he moves.
And then you see how two dogs are in the same zone,
calm, submissive.
There was no tension. It was a beauty to be a part of.
MAXEEN: This is Arthur Rex's second meeting with Dora,
and he seems very relaxed with her.
And I feel very optimistic
that they could become excellent buddies,
which is why we're here.
We would love to see him with a buddy again.
CESAR: Absolutely.
MALCOLM: Interesting that he's come back to us.
MAXEEN: Yes, where's his friend?
[barking]
CESAR: What he's doing
is absolutely primal, instinctual, normal.
A lot of dog lovers would read a situation like that
as a sign of distress.
As a knowledgeable dog person who loves dogs,
I'm reading that situation as
this dog is laying rules, boundaries, and limitations,
right off the bat. Bam!
Arthur Rex is just making sure,
"If we're gonna adopt this dog, we're gonna do it the right way,
we're gonna do it a hundred percent,
we're gonna do it in a precise way."
Arthur Rex, come on, buddy.
Take a seat.
The other activity that I find very important as well
is grooming.
I was a groomer myself,
and I find a lot of pleasure in grooming a dog.
It's a different kind of bonding.
So, can we see you with Arthur Rex,
your grooming style?
MALCOLM: Grooming style? Right.
CESAR: How do you normally do it?
Do you put him on your lap? Do you do it on the table?
MALCOLM: That's a little bit unnatural for the dog
to be up on the table,
so I go down to the dog's level. CESAR: Wow.
MALCOLM: Arthur, it's brushy time.
CESAR: Brushy time!
Grooming is a very intimate activity.
You have to be over your dog a lot,
which can cause tension.
Face to face can cause fight.
Normally they put them on tables,
so now they're face to face.
MALCOLM: Very nice.
CESAR: He likes it.
Look at the ears back.
Look at the mouth. He has a smile on his face.
MAXEEN: Loves it. CESAR: I was very impressed--
the way he romanticized the moment with his dog.
It's the first time I've seen his ears down.
She wants a little brush.
"It's my time to brush."
What I loved the most
is when Dora wanted to be part of the grooming ritual.
As a behaviorist, I'm thinking, "This is a perfect opportunity."
But him as a doctor,
he's thinking, "One dog at a time."
I can see how his brain is trained to go step by step,
which is exactly what Dora needs.
You tell me when we switch, Doctor.
MALCOLM: That's fine.
CESAR: Arthur Rex! Pass me a brush, Doc.
MALCOLM: Okay. CESAR: Thank you.
All right, dude. All right, brushy!
There you go.
The difference with a dog that is so used to being brushed
and understands the brush as a positive experience,
versus a dog that probably has never had a brush before.
The way I would actually introduce the brush,
'cause she's moving all over the place.
May I? MALCOLM: Yeah, sure.
CESAR: There you go. Right next to Arthur Rex.
It's unusual for them to feel something like a brush.
There you go.
So, I would do it just a little bit.
End up that way.
MAXEEN: She's getting used to already.
MALCOLM: Gradually. Gradually. Definitely.
She's a bit puppy at the moment.
Just once or twice, grooming there.
And she allowed me to do it for a few seconds.
That's fine. I didn't expect her to stay put whatsoever.
I wouldn't have done that as a young pup.
CESAR: So, you think you can teach her how to enjoy brushing
like you have done?
MALCOLM: Absolutely, yes. I enjoy it.
They'll enjoy it as well.
CESAR: Very good. Well, thank you, guys.
MALCOLM: Thank you. MAXEEN: Thank you.
MAXEEN: We would like to get Dora,
particularly for Arthur Rex's sake,
because we feel that already he's bonding with Dora.
In their three meetings, this has become....
MALCOLM: Obvious? MAXEEN: Obvious!
NARRATOR: Charlie is Sue and Fraser's very first dog,
so they don't have a lot of experience.
Feeding two dogs at the same time
could be a real challenge.
CESAR: Charlie, good morning!
You can let Charlie go, if you don't mind.
FRASER: Good boy, Charlie.
CESAR: The new dog always stays in a submissive state.
The dog that already belongs to the family,
he should have the freedom.
That gives him dominance.
There you go, Charlie. That's his signature.
[laughing]
All right, that's some kind of love there.
FRASER: Yeah.
CESAR: All right, so... SUE: Having a great time.
FRASER: Charlie's a bit submissive today.
CESAR: Charlie and Dora
seem like they're really meant for each other.
But Dora was pinning Charlie!
That wasn't good for Charlie.
What seems like fun can get out of hand.
They can still fight for a position within the pack.
One of the rituals that happens every single day is feeding.
So, we would like to see what would be the dynamic
of feeding two dogs at the same time.
All right, you can choose what would you like to feed them.
FRASER: Is this pasta?
CESAR: This is cheese.
FRASER: Queso. CESAR: Queso, exactly.
FRASER: He loves cheese.
I'm gonna give Charlie a bit of cheese.
You do Dora's. What about Charlie's?
A bit of wet food. I'll give him a little bit.
CESAR: Where is Miss Dora? FRASER: Dora!
Must just be scared.
SUE: Come on. FRASER: Charlie! Charlie.
SUE: Charlie! CESAR: There you go. Nice, nice.
FRASER: Uh-uh. Good boy.
Maybe a bit closer. There you go.
I should have put a bit
of Charlie's food in there, as well.
CESAR: What can help here is more like the distance of it.
So, the distance creates a more relaxed moment.
So, one thing that we should never ever do
is bring the plates
and tell them to look at each other.
FRASER: All right, yeah. 'Cause you're creating...
SUE: Yeah, okay. CESAR: Sorry, Charlie.
But I know Charlie likes cheese,
and I know that cheese is a very smelly thing.
So, we bring, we present, and we bring their face in.
Now they're looking at this way.
So, once you get the behavior you're looking for,
and then you provide the plates, right here. See it?
So you're setting up the same state.
SUE: Yeah.
CESAR: Face to face, it creates challenge.
You can send them into it.
And then, at the moment they smell cheese,
the brain goes into fight.
So, that's conditioning.
SUE: I thought that Charlie's food's there
and Dora's food's there, you know.
But Cesar told me it was important
to actually be in front of them.
And it's a more commanding position
to actually look at them and look at their body language
and get that eye contact with them.
CESAR: And right here. Look, this is good.
What she's doing is good because it's respect.
But what I'm looking for is the state of mind.
All of that is great, so I'm rewarding that state.
Look how she's hesitating moving in.
SUE: Yeah. CESAR: There you go, Charlie.
So I'm keeping Charlie in a more assertive state
because I want her to imitate or to copy
all the behaviors that I like from Charlie.
Well, good! Let's move on to the next activity.
That was awesome. Charlie, you did awesome.
NARRATOR: With two dogs as excitable as Dora and Charlie,
grooming can get ugly fast.
FRASER: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Come on. Yeah, come on, baby.
It's a little bit hard, this brush, for you.
This one's best, I think.
SUE: These are the soft ones. FRASER: Yeah.
CESAR: See that? See that...
So, for whatever reason, right, he feels like not sure.
Yes. One way to remove that is cheese.
So you bring the cheese,
you redirect it, and you introduce it.
Wait until the brain goes into that state of mind.
So, here, you can try with her and introduce her to it.
There you go.
Yeah, that's definitely a different state.
Charlie was not very comfortable with the idea of grooming.
But I think the grooming with Sue went extremely well
with Dora.
SUE: Oh, ho, ho, ho. You like this, as well.
She really, really did seem to enjoy it.
And when I see her relaxing as well,
it made me relax more.
CESAR: Look at her. You put her to sleep.
I couldn't put her to sleep.
SUE: I quite enjoyed the experience
of doing that with her.
You do start to sort of build up bond.
I thought I'll just pick her up and take her home now.
CESAR: Oh, Charlie. Hold on, Charlie.
[laughing]
You look better, baby!
[laughing]
What I'm looking is how Dora feels with each pack,
with each family,
obviously, with each dog.
Let's walk this way. They will follow us.
Do your thing, Charlie.
Charlie!
Can Dora find a good home with Charlie or Arthur Rex?
I think she's having a great time.
This is one in a lifetime
for many dogs to have two suitable bachelors,
with great home, great humans.
Now, the rescuer must choose the right family.
That's a big responsibility for me.
Dora, it's time to become a lady.
No more nonsense.
You're ready to find a new home?
Okay, let's go.
Let's go, Dora.
Come on, there you go.
Hello, families!
GROUP: Hello. Hi, Cesar.
CESAR: I can say that today we had great fun.
And I had a sense how Dora would be with each of you.
Every day, hundreds of dogs are left behind without homes.
My goal is to find the right home
for some of these dogs.
And Dora is one of them.
So, no matter who takes Dora home today,
I want to thank you for giving her a second chance.
From what I've seen these last two days,
I've made my decision.
Only one of you
can be the leader of the pack for Dora.
CESAR: From what I've seen these last two days,
I've made my decision.
Sue and Fraser,
you just started your journey with dogs.
And you're doing great,
and I think Charlie is a blessing.
Clearly, Charlie and Dora had a lot of fun together.
Malcolm, Maxeen,
it is clear you have a world of experience with animals.
Arthur Rex has impressed me from the first moment.
I was concerned that you, Doctor,
might not maintain the rules he set.
Any doubts I had were erased today.
Both of you can give Dora a great home.
But adopting a dog is all about compatibility.
It's about what's best for Dora.
The leaders of the pack for Dora are...
Mr. Malcolm, Miss Maxeen, and Arthur Rex.
MAXEEN: Oh, wow! Oh, thank you.
Oh.
FRASER: Look at him.
Well done, Malcolm.
CESAR: Oh, very nice. See that? That is awesome.
MAXEEN: Really, really, good to meet you, and Charlie.
SUE: What we've learned is invaluable.
It would've taken us years
to learn things that we've learned in, you know, in a week.
FRASER: We're up for getting another dog.
I'll definitely be actively looking for one,
but the right one.
CESAR: Mr. Malcolm, Miss Maxeen,
without a doubt, Arthur Rex is what Dora needs.
Dora will benefit from his and your wisdom.
She will be a great companion.
Thank you so much.
MALCOLM: I think we've got a delightful companion
for Arthur Rex.
And I can picture them already getting on like a house on fire,
sharing their beanbag in the kitchen.
So, yeah, absolutely delighted from that point of view.
CESAR: We want you to take this gift from Petco, you know,
as a gratitude of you guys participating
and giving a dog a second chance.
MALCOLM: Wonderful.
CESAR: Here it is--the basket. Thank you so much, guys!
MAXEEN: I'm absolutely delighted.
This is perfect.
I think they may be very happy together.
CESAR: Arthur Rex, you are the leader of the pack, buddy!
MAXEEN: Hello, come on in.
MALCOLM: Hi there.
MAXEEN: Dora fitted in pretty well.
I think Cesar made a very good choice in terms of the match.
And to be matched with our other dog, Arthur Rex,
would have been perfect.
NARRATOR: Unfortunately,
events took an unexpected turn for Malcolm and Maxeen.
MALCOLM: Before Dora arrived,
Arthur Rex went down with a very acute respiratory condition.
And despite being given the best care
he could possibly have had,
he succumbed to that within 24 hours,
which was very, very sad obviously for ourselves,
and the fact that we were having
this little scrap of a dog, Dora,
coming to be a companion for him.
MAXEEN: He's just buried here, in one of his favorite spots,
and we can see him from the house.
And each time we walk by,
we sort of tend to say, "Hello, Arthur."
Our daughter lives across the way,
and she has a little Jack Russell called Ozzy,
and they're doing fabulously well.
They've hit it off really well.
Our grandson sees her on a daily basis,
and they've got along very, very well.
Dora.
Dora, no. No! No, no.
MAXEEN: When she really realizes
that she's never going to be passed on again,
she's here for life,
then we will feel we've made it.
MALCOLM: She will settle definitely
and become a very loving part of our family.