‘Dog Whisperer’ Cesar Millan comes ‘home’

Cesar Millan with new Pinoy four-legged friend (Photo by Ed Ramos)

First time Philippine visitor Cesar Millan, the host of the famed “Dog Whisperer” TV show, loves the weather here. “In Mexico I grew up in this nice, moist and hot and beautiful weather. So I’m okay, don’t worry about me,” he said.

More than that, though, he revealed, “The funny thing is people don’t think I’m Mexican. People think I’m Filipino. People say, ‘Are you Peruvian? Are you Puerto Rican? Or, are you Filipino?’ But (guessing I’m) Filipino, it’s more like 60% of people would do that.”

Then he added with a smile, “What I’m saying is, actually, I’m home.”

For a dog-loving nation that probably has more canine pals than we can manage to keep off the streets, we could really do well with someone like Millan. Hosted by Megaworld Lifestyle Malls and Eastwood City, the country’s first truly pet-friendly shopping center, Millan will hold a live seminar in Eastwood Central Plaza today.

“What is hard for me to teach on TV — because TV is about keeping you entertained, (and) it’s very fast-paced – it’s not really about you learning why the dog became aggressive, and this is why a lot of people believe that they have a problem with their dogs. In reality, the dog has a problem with the human. So that’s why I train people and rehabilitate dogs,” he said.

“My goal with the live event is to show people what is possible. We bring dogs on stage, from the Philippines in this case, and you see the transformation, but I teach you how this transformation is done,” he pointed out.

“I’m very disciplined; I practice nose, eyes, ears – no touch, no talk, no eye contact,” he continued. “Once see it live, then you get to see why I’m always creating this calm energy. Most people… when they see a dog (squeals), they get excited. When you represent excitement in the dog world, they don’t see you as pack leader, they see you as friend. That’s why people can’t control aggression. Most people want to be the dog parent or the dog friend, not the dog pack leader. So for you to control instincts, you need to be the authority figure. So that’s when you tell the dog not to do what you don’t like.”

To leash or not to leash

During the pocket interview with Bulletin Entertainment, he talked about his background. “In Mexico, we learned to believe the Americans know everything. Even the movies influence you that way; ‘Here come the Americans, they’re gonna save us!’”

He noted that he grew up watching TV shows like “Lassie” and “The Adventures Of Rin Tin Tin.” Thinking that “all dogs in America are the same,” his dream was to learn more about training dogs from them. He ended up being an illegal immigrant that jumped the border at 21. Once there, however, he realized that “most people in America didn’t know dogs. That’s why I said I’m gonna teach them how to walk a dog and how to be with a dog so they can balance the relationship. I found out I had something to offer when I went to a country that I thought I was gonna learn from.”

Growing up in a different environment, actually in a village Mexicans call “rancho,” he shared, “The dogs were always off-leash. We have a small home and the dogs live outside. When we go to whatever place, the dogs will follow. Millan then noted, “(When) you grow up with that image, that relationship and that behavior, that’s all you know. I never saw aggression… anxiety… (or) fear. The (dogs) were skinny, but they didn’t have problems. In America, they’re chunky and they have problems. They live inside the house, they have beds, they have toys all over the house, they have babysitters, but the dogs don’t know how to walk off the leash; they’re not happy.”

Cesar expresses appreciation after receiving a token — a mini replica of our famous jeepney — from representatives of Megaworld Lifestyle Malls (Photo by Ed Ramos)

Living with this privileged lifestyle in “a very entitled country” has led some humans to influence the behavior of their dog companions in negative ways. “(They treat them) like kids. Kids become very entitled; dogs become very entitled,” he related.

Thinking himself blessed to be an immigrant that has helped people in his adoptive country “to actually change the way they see their relationship with dogs, to start making them more responsible,” Millan’s future goals include possibly building dog psychology centers all over the world, and encouraging politicians to lead in education and in recognizing that banning dog breeds in not a solution, as well as encouraging people to “adopt spay-neuter campaigns because we have an over-population problem right now… You get to help the one that are alive; then when the population decreases, then you bring it back.”

Good vs. bad

More than this viewpoint, though, there are people that not just oppose but downright criticize Millan’s methods, certainly his style that they describe as “poking the dog,” his espousing dominance or “torture” by what they say is exposing animals to what they fear or dislike until he achieves submission, “bullying” by subjecting the dogs to his dog pack, or even his non-use of positive reinforcement like treats.

To these, Millan would only say, “What happens is, they don’t comprehend what I really do. I train people; they are focusing on some techniques with which they don’t agree.”

He added, “They grab a video (of what I do) and they freeze it. They don’t show people the beginning or the end. They are misleading people with information. Obviously my goal is not to train dogs; my goal is to train people so the dog never develops problems. They have no idea what I’m really doing for the world.”

Still, his philosophy really seems to be more about adaptation that leads to modification. “When you go to the country where (for instance) their religion says not to do this, I’m not judging, I’m teaching you how to utilize you energy in a better way, you see what I’m saying? But they don’t pay attention; they don’t slow down and think what it is that Cesar is really doing. They’re just judging.”

Pack love

Millan’s achieved fame and popularity by way of doing what he loves best – reinforced by a number of books he’s written, TV shows he’s been on (the latest, “Cesar 911” on NatGeo WILD) and live appearances. “The American dream,” he called it, a typical viewpoint from outsiders who have come to view America as the proverbial “land of milk and honey.”

A few years ago, his world would be shaken to the core when Millan’s own marriage crumbled. Feeling like a failure (“If I can’t hold on to something that means so much to me, everything else means nothing,” he explained his thinking then), he tried to commit suicide. He has overcome all that, turning to the very companions he’s always offered himself to help. He found his footing again thanks to the pack, he said. “The dogs started nudging me – bringing me back.” Everyone just needs to feel loved, he added.

So, he returns with renewed purpose, still dedicating himself to being the champion of dogs (particularly the misunderstood pit bulls) by showing those of his ilk how it is done.

For someone whose own dog pack helped bring him back from the edge of despair, Millan is living proof that man can return the favor and be the dog’s best friend instead.

(“Cesar Millan Live in Manila” happens only today, Tuesday, April 29, 7:30 p.m. Visit http://ift.tt/1dzCPUC for more details. Tickets info at www.smtickets.com, www.ticketnet.com.ph, http://ift.tt/QnUmBP. Megaworld Lifestyle Malls in Eastwood City is the first shopping center to welcome pets of all shapes and sized, and is an inductee to the Order of the Platinum Paw by the Philippine Animal Welfare Society [PAWS].)

‘Dog Whisperer’ Cesar Millan comes ‘home’

Source: Mb.com.ph (April 29, 2014 at 08:09AM)

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