Skip to main content

I love Cesar!

Captain's Log, Stardate 02.06.2008

The Wasabi Wednesday winner of
Awaken My Heart
by
DiAnn Mills
is
Angela
Congratulations!








I’ve now finished both books by Cesar Millan and the first two seasons of The Dog Whisperer on DVD. I love Cesar!

Captain Caffeine and I have noticed a change in Snickers since we started watching the DVDs and reading the books. Actually, it’s probably more accurate to say that we’ve changed how we act as dog owners, and so she’s become more calm and submissive.

There’s still some food aggression and dog aggression, but we’ve been slowly and consistently dealing with it. For those two things, we needed both the books and the DVDs to learn how to handle her.

The books talk about his general philosophy for dog psychology, and the DVDs show it in practice (the TV show kind of glosses over his philosophy, while the books go into greater detail so we understand his point on the TV show).

For example, just the other night we realized that we were letting her enter our space between the coffee table and the couch in the living room. She was walking in and lying down under the table—where we put our legs—as if she owned it, not us. When we tried to move her, sometimes she’d growl and not move.

She’s better at listening to verbal commands these days (I think because I started walking her more regularly and establishing myself as a pack leader), so I told her to move from under the coffee table. She moved, probably expecting me to get up.

I didn’t. I stayed, and kept watching Cesar on TV. When she tried to move back, I firmly told her no. Every time she tried to move back under the table, I told her no. Eventually she went to lie down on her dog bed.

Later in the evening, she again tried to move under the table and I told her no. A few minutes later, I invited her next to me to pet her, and then told her to move again. Now she understands that the space between the coffee table and couch is my space and not hers.

In watching the DVDs the other night, I realized that I might need to move into her when correcting her for her dog aggression on our walks (she tries to rush the other dog and sometimes growls). She has stopped growling in past weeks, but she still pulls at the leash, and that’s not good.

Snickers can’t be more stubborn than Jordan the bulldog from the TV show, so we have hope!

Comments

Geekwif said…
I may have to pick up those books. My dog isn't particularly aggressive, but she's a 85 pound spaz who thinks she's a lap dog. Probably our fault since she's so darn cute we have trouble denying her anything.
Delia said…
I love Cesar, too! I'm in the middle of one of his books right now and our whole family loves his show.

My whole way of thinking when it comes to dogs and the way we're supposed to be with dogs has changed with Cesar.

I'm glad his method is working for ya'll and Snickers.
Karen said…
I've not watched or read Cesar, but he sounds very much like the trainer that we are using with our dogs right now. Dave Baron has trainers in several parts of the country (including the Bay Area). Some of that stuff (like showing the dogs whose area it really is) was something I'd never really thought about. We have seen so much change in our dogs since we began the training. It only took one dinnertime to teach our Great Dane puppy (whose head is over the table) to stay in the other room while we ate rather than walk all around the table.

I'm glad Cesar's ideas are working for you.
Myra Johnson said…
Yea, another Cesar convert! I got hooked on him during a Sunday afternoon Dog Whisperer marathon last year while my hubby was away on business and there was nothing else on TV. Now we DVR every new show. Our little black border collie mix actually watches with us--I think he recognizes the sounds of other dogs. Or maybe he's just trying to get a heads-up on what techniques we'll be trying next.

One of the biggest helps Cesar has bee is clipping toenails. Now, instead of fighting with the dogs, we just "be the pack leader," and it's over quickly.
Anonymous said…
Cesar Millan's philosophy has become a way of life in my two terrier dog household. Life has become a lot easier since my husband and I have adopted the leader of the pack mentality. One main thing to remember it isn't something that you do one time and your dog's unwanted behavior is corrected. It is a daily occurrence for the life of your dog. After all if you are truly a dog lover you want what is best for your best friend. Having them be balanced and happy is all they really need from us.

http://netwebmarketer.com/audie/wordpress/

Popular Posts

Tabi socks, part deux

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.25.2008 (If you're on Ravelry, friend me! I'm camytang.) I made tabi socks again! (At the bottom of the pattern is the calculation for the toe split if you're not using the same weight yarn that I did for this pattern (fingering). I also give an example from when I used worsted weight yarn with this pattern.) I used Opal yarn, Petticoat colorway. It’s a finer yarn than my last pair of tabi socks, so I altered the pattern a bit. Okay, so here’s my first foray into giving a knitting pattern. Camy’s top-down Tabi Socks I’m assuming you already know the basics of knitting socks. If you’re a beginner, here are some great tutorials: Socks 101 How to Knit Socks The Sock Knitter’s Companion A video of turning the heel Sock Knitting Tips Yarn: I have used both fingering weight and worsted weight yarn with this pattern. You just change the number of cast on stitches according to your gauge and the circumference of your ankle. Th...

Grace Livingston Hill romances free to read online

I wanted to update my old post on Grace Livingston Hill romances because now there are tons more options for you to be able to read her books for free online! I’m a huge Grace Livingston Hill fan. Granted, not all her books resonate with me, but there are a few that I absolutely love, like The Enchanted Barn and Crimson Roses . And the best part is that she wrote over 100 books and I haven’t yet read them all! When I have time, I like to dive into a new GLH novel. I like the fact that most of them are romances, and I especially appreciate that they all have strong Christian themes. Occasionally the Christian content is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but it’s so interesting to see what the Christian faith was like in the early part of the 20th century. These books are often Cinderella-type stories or A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) type stories, which I love. And the best part is that they’re all set in the early 1900s, so the time period is absolutely fasci...

Captivating, chapter 3

Captain’s Log, Stardate 06.30.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is CONSIDER LILY by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt. My Thursday book giveaway is LOVE ONLINE by Kristin Billerbeck and Nancy Toback . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for CONSIDER LILY and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. Haunted by a Question: Sorry, this is really long again. As before, some things I liked and some questions. Eve—What Happened? The authors say: “[Eve] brought strength to the world, but not a striving, sharp-edged strength. She was inviting, alluring, captivating.” I don’t know if I buy that. I don’t know if I really see how being inviting, alluring, or captivating is a strength. I understand how restfulness (restful inner beauty?) can be a strength, or solidity like a rock. To me, that’s strength. But being alluring? Captivating? Then they talk about “Why do so few wom...

"Sincerely" by TRUE (from Violet Evergarden)

I’ve been watching the anime Violet Evergarden on Netflix and it is possibly the most beautiful anime series I’ve ever seen. The animation by Kyoto Animation is top notch, the storyline (based on the light novel series ヴァイオレット・エヴァーガーデン by Kana Akatsuki (暁 佳奈)) is emotional and unique, and the original soundtrack by Evan Call is out of this world. The vocal songs in the series are also really beautiful, but the best one is the opening song, “Sincerely” by TRUE. She not only has a beautiful voice, but the melody and lyrics are absolutely gorgeous. I can’t rave about this song enough. 知らない言葉を 覚えていくたび おもかげのなか 手を伸ばすの Each time unknown words come to mind, I reach my hand toward the traces they leave. だけど一人では 分からない言葉も あるのかもしれない But there may be words That I can’t comprehend all alone. さよならは 苦くて アイシテルは 遠いにおいがした 例えようのない この想いは とても怖くて だけど とても愛おしくて “Goodbye” is so bitter, While “I love you” carries a far-off scent. This incomparable feeling Is so very frightening… bu...

Window shopping

Captain’s Log, Stardate 03.14.2005 Knee update: I went to the doctor today for a checkup, and saw his assistant. I’ve been concerned because there’s still inflammation in my knee joint, and it’s been almost 4 months since the surgery. She said she’d talk to the doctor about it tomorrow and call me. Sometimes he suggests laying off the PT to see if that causes the inflammation to go away, but I don’t know if that will work because lately I’ve been pretty active outside of PT. At PT today, the therapist did ultrasound and some sort of electrical current on the joint. Hopefully that will make the inflammation start to go down. I’ll know by tomorrow, probably. Writing: Mt. Hermon conference starts this Friday! On Thursday night, I’ll be at the Santana Row Borders bookstore to help out (and hopefully learn a bit, too) at a booksigning for several of the ACFW authors who are attending Mt. Hermon . That should be lots of fun. I had a good brainstorming time at ...