Cesar Millan is not, as he says, a dog trainer. He is a dog rehabilitator. He takes dogs with issues, whether they be phobias, obsessions, or aggressiveness and turns them into calm, submissive dogs. He won't tell you how to train your dog to sit, stay or heel. What he will do is show you how to be a good dog owner and to maintain your dog's psychological health by being the calm and assertive pack leader that all dogs need.
According to Cesar, messed up dogs get that way because their lives are unbalanced. Their owners too often treat their dogs as little people. But dogs are not humans, they are animals. Try to understand a dog from a human perspective and you will have a messed up dog. What dog owners need to do is understand that their dog is a pack animal, and the pack dynamic rules a dog's life. All dogs need to be in a pack, be that pack composed of other dogs, or sheep, or humans. If a dog's pack is composed of humans, it is imperative that the humans maintain dominance over the dog, for the well being not only of the dog but of the family it lives with too. Dominance doesn't mean beating or abusing the dog. It simply means that the person is the leader and the dog is the follower. To be a good leader, a person must be calm and assertive. Assertive is not to be confused with aggressive!
Cesar has a three point program that compliments the calm assertive leadership role the dog owner needs to maintain. The three points are: exercise, discipline and affection, in that order. He says that the best thing you can do for your dog is make sure it gets plenty of daily exercise. Take your dog for a good long walk, or take it jogging or some similar aerobic activity. He recommends an hour to an hour and a half exercise daily. Next is discipline: make the rules and enforce them consistently. Least important is affection. Affection should only be given when the dog is calm and submissive. Giving affection when a dog is upset and distressed is a human response but just confuses or misleads your dog.
I enjoyed this book and found it informative too. I already knew that the dog owner is supposed to be the pack leader. I didn't really understand about the calm and assertive behaviour needed to be that leader. Or that people tend to give affection when calm assertiveness is what is really needed.
If you own a dog and want a better relationship with your dog by understanding what your dog truly needs, then you will probably benefit by reading Cesar's Way.
Review from The Bark: https://thebark.com/content/cesars-way.
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