To whisper or to psst

Recently, I have discovered the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan, on television.  I've watched two episodes and have learned quite a bit.  Millan is not exactly what I would call a dog whisper.  He is more of a dog trainer, but I guess that title wouldn't have grabbed people's attention and had them tune in.  I read the Horse Whisperer, and Cesar Millan isn't exactly communicating with these dogs and feeling their needs.  Instead he is communicating with the owners and telling them essentially, "Make these dogs do what you want."  The problem is that these owners don't know how to do that without feeling forceful and so Millan strides into their lives and lets them know it is okay to treat their dogs with forcefulness.

I have learned from Millan that animals are not humans.  Quite profound, and I contemplated that one for quite some time.  I have learned that dogs don't understand a word we say to them when we talk to them.  Millan practically rolled his eyes at one woman who told him how she talked to her dog all the time as if having a conversation with him.  I learned that I should not allow my dog to walk in front of me during a routine dog walk.  This is a particular pet peeve of Millan's.  He believes owners need to establish themselves as the pack leaders.  Dogs need three things:  food, a walk, and some attention. 

Millan uses a signature sound to bring dogs into line.  In each story I watched of the Dog Whisperer he made this "psst" sound.  He explained that dogs don't understand words, but they do understand sounds.  He uses "psst" because that is a sound his own father used with him and he suggested owners use a familiar sound.  Hmmmm....that one really had me thinking.  My mother used a whistle that could be heard into the next neighborhood.  That whistle meant we were to get our asses home so that she could talk to us.  Every kid in the neighborhood knew that whistle and knew what it meant.  If my brother and I might not have heard it, we didn't have to worry because some other kid would tell us and off we would run.  Unfortunately, while I can whistle a tune, I am unable to produce a get-your-ass-home whistle. 

The problem I have with the show is that the announcer sets up this great story, but Millan never works out the story.  For example, my favorite was about a basset hound that wouldn't walk anywhere unless the owner told him they were going to see Pete, the neighbor's dog.  This basset hound wouldn't move if the owner wanted him to go into another room or for a walk, but would instead just lie down and roll over on his side forcing the owner to drag the dog around on his leash.  The announcer kept telling the viewers how the basset hound refused to move, and pictures of the owner dragging this hound down the street kept being shown over and over.  We heard the owner talk about Pete, and we saw how excited the hound got when his name was mentioned, and we saw the two dogs romping together, but when Millan strode into the home he addressed none of the storyline.  Instead he began "psst-ing" and pulling on the dog's jowls to move him when he refused.  I wanted to know why the dog was refusing to move unless it was to see Pete.  According to Millan, who cares?  This is a dog.  Make him do what you want.  End of story. 
 
But having invested my time, and I do think Millan is an excellent trainer, I decided to try some of the advice I learned on Elliot.  I started out by not letting him lead me out the door.  I "psst-ed" and got in front of him like Millan teaches all of the owners.  Then I went out the door first and Elliot followed.  He didn't seem to care one way or the other who went out first.  Just the fact that we were going outside was happiness to him.  Walking Elliot is not a big deal.  He usually is behind me sniffing and smelling, but when he is beside me he likes to be on the outside of me closest to the road.  When we got to the area in the road that has more traffic, I made him walk along the curb by shortening the leash and "psst-ing".  He is oblivious to the "psst", and I'm not so good at making the sound.  He does, however, understand the sound of a car approaching and thus moves up into the nearest yard.  This is due to something my Dad taught us at an early age.  If we did something dangerous and we were told not to do it, my father said, "Go ahead and let them touch the burner on the stove.  They'll only do it once."  Well, Elliot got hit by a car, and now he chooses not to have that happen again.

I wish I had discovered Millan when we first adopted Elliot.  I think we didn't prepare ourselves for a dog beforehand and his teaching skills and advice make sense, but I'm not so sure my dog doesn't understand what I'm telling him.  I mentioned that someone was at the door yesterday and he jumped up and ran to the door without the bell even ringing.  I ask him where Daddy is and he turns his head toward the door that Tom enters every day.  I'm sure Millan would roll his eyes at the talking and the "Daddy" and consider it all nonsense and tell me the dog heard a noise at the door, and that is why I don't consider him a whisperer.  I'm done with his show, but I'll continue to read his website as it offers some nice training advice.  And if I'm really interested in learning why that basset hound feels the need to lie down and roll over when his owner wants to walk him, I'll pop over to the Animal Planet and watch the Pet Psychic, because now that is a woman that has the whispering gift.