I don't make a habit of watching
Alan Titchmarsh's afternoon show - apart from anything else I am
normally at work - but even as an ambivalent non-viewer I was sorry to
hear he was having the notorious Cesar Millan as a guest on his show.
As someone who finds Cesar Millan's programmes, methods and influence an ongoing and depressing problem in both my work rehoming rescue dogs and my hobby teaching pet dogs, I was disappointed to hear that another TV show was giving him airtime. I assumed he would use this time to blind us with his white teeth (certainly not with science), and to promote his upcoming arena tour.
That may well have been Cesar's intention, but what happened was something quite different, and quite unexpected.
If it hadn't been for the heads up on various dog forums I would not have watched it at all. But from the comments I was seeing from people I know and trust, I knew I had to see it and finally at 7pm I got onto Youtube to see what all the fuss was about.
I sat through the first few minutes unimpressed, this was standard Cesar, his humble beginnings, his journey to the USA, his belief that he has a natural understanding of dogs, his psychology centre. He is charming, he has a(n allegedly) cute accent, he smiles a lot. Usually I would have switched off by now.
Then fluffy, cuddly, mild little Alan Titchmarsh surprised me, surprised a nation of dog lovers, and quietly stood up for dogs everywhere. When Alan described what he had seen in videos, dogs being punched and kicked, he mentioned spike and electric collars, and from his actions and body language I could tell he had watched the footage and watched the dogs, and he had felt for those dogs being hurt.
Alan came across as very genuine, very sincere, and that is what worked. He is not an expert on dogs or dog training, he spoke as "normal bloke" who likes dogs, has a pet dog, he found what he saw to be "unacceptable" and the methods "barbaric". He hardly raised his voice, he used no jargon, and he asked some very straightforward questions.
Cesar failed to give any meaningful answers. My favourite part was when asked why he didn't use food rewards, he offered a totally random anecdote about a parrot.
By the end I was tearful, choked up, something totally unlike me. I went and posted a thank you on the show's facebook page - again something totally unlike me.
Thank you on behalf of my dogs? What kind of soppy bunnyhugging nonsense is that?
When you have personally worked with so many dogs who flinch away from hands, who are scared of having any collar on, who run away from the sight of a clicker thinking it is a shock collar remote control, when you see a puppy pinned for hanging on to a toy, dogs who have been taught not to growl, taught that no-one listens when they are scared, who have been labelled aggressive, unrehomable, and when you have seen how hard it is to rebuild their trust, and still years down the line there is a memory and a fear, and you know it was all absolutely avoidable, then you might understand.
People who copy Cesar's methods damage dogs. I know this first hand. I have never met a dog Cesar himself has worked with, but I know that despite what it says on the screen people do try the things they see him do, they try their own interpretations, and their relationship with their dog suffers. I have met plenty of dogs damaged by his methods.
Often the owners damage themselves too, as they do not have his quick reactions and instinct to protect themselves - often they get bitten.
This is not a hate campaign, this is not personal, and unlike the vocal minority on certain newspaper websites today, I certainly don't want to torture Cesar Millan or even shout at him. I want to educate him. This is about making a choice to use humane, scientifically proven, kind, effective training. In conjunction with good management, it works.
Yesterday could be the turning of the tide, it is time society saw through these outdated ways of training dogs, not just the scientists, the trainers, the experts, but all of us, dog owners and non-dog owners alike.
As someone who finds Cesar Millan's programmes, methods and influence an ongoing and depressing problem in both my work rehoming rescue dogs and my hobby teaching pet dogs, I was disappointed to hear that another TV show was giving him airtime. I assumed he would use this time to blind us with his white teeth (certainly not with science), and to promote his upcoming arena tour.
That may well have been Cesar's intention, but what happened was something quite different, and quite unexpected.
If it hadn't been for the heads up on various dog forums I would not have watched it at all. But from the comments I was seeing from people I know and trust, I knew I had to see it and finally at 7pm I got onto Youtube to see what all the fuss was about.
I sat through the first few minutes unimpressed, this was standard Cesar, his humble beginnings, his journey to the USA, his belief that he has a natural understanding of dogs, his psychology centre. He is charming, he has a(n allegedly) cute accent, he smiles a lot. Usually I would have switched off by now.
Then fluffy, cuddly, mild little Alan Titchmarsh surprised me, surprised a nation of dog lovers, and quietly stood up for dogs everywhere. When Alan described what he had seen in videos, dogs being punched and kicked, he mentioned spike and electric collars, and from his actions and body language I could tell he had watched the footage and watched the dogs, and he had felt for those dogs being hurt.
Alan came across as very genuine, very sincere, and that is what worked. He is not an expert on dogs or dog training, he spoke as "normal bloke" who likes dogs, has a pet dog, he found what he saw to be "unacceptable" and the methods "barbaric". He hardly raised his voice, he used no jargon, and he asked some very straightforward questions.
Cesar failed to give any meaningful answers. My favourite part was when asked why he didn't use food rewards, he offered a totally random anecdote about a parrot.
By the end I was tearful, choked up, something totally unlike me. I went and posted a thank you on the show's facebook page - again something totally unlike me.
Thank you on behalf of my dogs? What kind of soppy bunnyhugging nonsense is that?
When you have personally worked with so many dogs who flinch away from hands, who are scared of having any collar on, who run away from the sight of a clicker thinking it is a shock collar remote control, when you see a puppy pinned for hanging on to a toy, dogs who have been taught not to growl, taught that no-one listens when they are scared, who have been labelled aggressive, unrehomable, and when you have seen how hard it is to rebuild their trust, and still years down the line there is a memory and a fear, and you know it was all absolutely avoidable, then you might understand.
People who copy Cesar's methods damage dogs. I know this first hand. I have never met a dog Cesar himself has worked with, but I know that despite what it says on the screen people do try the things they see him do, they try their own interpretations, and their relationship with their dog suffers. I have met plenty of dogs damaged by his methods.
Often the owners damage themselves too, as they do not have his quick reactions and instinct to protect themselves - often they get bitten.
This is not a hate campaign, this is not personal, and unlike the vocal minority on certain newspaper websites today, I certainly don't want to torture Cesar Millan or even shout at him. I want to educate him. This is about making a choice to use humane, scientifically proven, kind, effective training. In conjunction with good management, it works.
Yesterday could be the turning of the tide, it is time society saw through these outdated ways of training dogs, not just the scientists, the trainers, the experts, but all of us, dog owners and non-dog owners alike.
Well done, Alan, very well done!
