Cesar Millan's Dog Training Techniques

Cesar Millan always makes a distinction between dog behaviorists (himself) and dog trainers. Whatever label you choose to use, the fact is that dogs respond to classical and operant conditioning.

Simply put, classical conditioning is responsible for involuntary responses, e.g. a dog salivating when dinner is served, while operant conditioning is responsible for voluntary responses, e.g. a dog sitting for a treat.

Behavior modification and dog obedience training are both based on classical and operant conditioning techniques. Operant conditioning techniques can further be divided into reward techniques and aversive techniques.

Cesar Millan uses mostly aversive techniques, which some consider to be overly harsh or cruel. However, some of Cesar Millan's most effective dog training techniques turn out to be reward based; even though he does not present them as such.

1. Body blocks.

Reward dog training technique. This technique works by taking away space/freedom.

Body blocks can be effectively used to get your dog not to move into a particular space. This space may move, as you move. Once your dog moves into the forbidden space, you correct him by body blocking him and getting him to move back.

Note that a body block is just a block. There is no hitting, beating, or poking of the dog.

Body blocks work very well for keeping my dogs from rushing out of doorways. It is also very useful for claiming space when I am sweeping the floor, or when I do not want my dogs crowding me.

Alternatively, you could get your dog to do a Stay, which also takes away his space and freedom.

2. Consistent use of a non-mark (tsch sound) and follow-up.

General dog training technique for communication.

It is important to be consistent in your communication with your dog so that he does not get confused and stressed.

In addition to obedience commands, there is also a mark, for when your dog is doing something right; and a non-mark, for when your dog is doing something wrong.

Sometimes, trainers have several different marks and non-marks to indicate degree of rightness and wrongness. A mark need not be verbal. Clickers or other devices (bell, keys) can be used to generate a unique sound to mark or non-mark dog behaviors.

Many owners have problems with their dogs because they do not communicate with them (i.e. tell them right from wrong) and because they are not consistent in their communication.

Cesar Millan recommends using a consistent non-mark (the tsch sound) when a dog is misbehaving. If the dog continues to misbehave, it is important to follow-up the non-mark with some action (e.g. a body block or time-out) so that the dog understands that there are consequences for ignoring a non-mark.

However, the consequences need not be a physical correction. In fact the most effective consequences are the ones that take away a valued resource.

For example, if your dog misbehaves with guests, his access to guests get taken away until he calms down.

3. Use treats for putting on a muzzle.

Reward dog training technique. This technique only works if you spend the time necessary to properly condition your dog.

This is one of the few treat/food based techniques that Cesar Millan uses.

In most cases Cesar Millan is dealing with dogs that already have a very negative association with the muzzle. He cautions his clients not to force the muzzle onto the dogs, but to make it into a positive experience. Cesar Millan shows how you can get dogs to put their nose into the muzzle themselves, through the use of dog treats.

This type of counter-conditioning works well, but it requires a fair amount of time. Many weeks or months may be needed to recondition a dog to see the muzzle as a positive object, rather than an uncomfortable restraint that keeps him from opening his mouth.

Unfortunately, Cesar Millan does not have the time to do this properly given the time limitations with his clients. He ends up using a small number of treats (< 10), before forcing the muzzle on.

While it is good that he is trying to introduce such reward based counter-conditioning methods, it would even be better if he verbally instructed people that this is a long process, which may take weeks or months. Indeed counter-conditioning should be performed slowly and according to the dog's comfort level.

4. No talk, no touch, no eye-contact.

Reward dog training technique. This technique works by taking away attention.

When meeting dogs, Cesar Millan always institutes the no talk, no touch, no eye contact rule. You give the dog no attention until he is in a calm, submissive state, then you can praise him and pet him as a reward for being in that state.

This technique works very well but can be difficult to follow. Most people have a hard time not giving a dog eye contact, especially when the dog is so happy and excited to see them.

After using this technique for a very short time, my dog stopped jumping on family members. He still occasionally jumps on strangers because it is rare to find someone who can follow this rule especially with a cute, foxy-looking Shiba Inu asking for their attention.

This technique is essentially a time-out lite. In a time-out, you remove a dog to an extremely low stimulus area (e.g. laundry room) and leave him there to calm down. In this way, you take away all of his freedom, and all of his external stimuli.

With no talk, no touch, no eye-contact, you are not taking away freedom, or stimuli from the surrounding environment. You are just removing your own attention. This technique is especially effective for dogs that are people focused, and highly motivated by owner attention e.g. the Border Collie.

Holding back attention only works in limited cases for training my Shiba Inu, e.g. when he is actively asking for attention. In most other cases, he is perfectly comfortable entertaining himself, and does not ask for, or particularly desire much human interaction.

A full time-out works very well though, because my Shiba Inu likes being around his pack (line of sight), and having interesting things to see, smell, and do.

1. Touch the dog's flank.

Aversive dog training technique. This technique worked in the short term but not the long term.

This technique is commonly used to stop a dog from obsessing on an external stimulus (e.g. another dog, a cat, a person). Reactive or aggressive dogs often start by actively searching for something to focus on. Once a target is acquired, the dog gets extremely still, and will stare unblinking at the object.

During this time, the dog will not give attention to anything else, even food.

From here, the dog can explode in a burst of energy and lunge after his target when it gets within range.

You want to stop your dog as early as possible, and redirect him onto something else. If you wait too long, he will lose control and practice reactive/aggressive behavior, that he will then be more prone to repeat.

Initially, I was able to break my Shiba Inu from focusing on objects by touching his flank. After a few times however, he got habituated to it and would just ignore the touch.

The best technique, I have found, for avoiding reactive/aggressive triggers, is to ignore those objects myself, and just move my dog along. There are a variety of other techniques for dealing with dog-to-dog aggression and other aggression triggers.

2. Leash jerks.

Aversive dog training technique. This technique worked in the short term but not the long term.

Leash jerks are very difficult to implement with the proper timing, with the proper force, and with the proper technique. I received many private lessons on how to perform leash jerks, and I was still not doing it correctly.

Firstly, and most importantly, the leash jerk has to be a quick jerk or snap. There is only tension for an extremely short amount of time (a quarter-second or less), and then the leash should be loose again.

Most people tend to do tugs rather than jerks, which have very little effect on the dog. Instead, it may exacerbate the situation, because there is continuous tension on the leash, causing the dog to get more tense and frustrated.

Secondly, you must be properly positioned for the jerk so that the force is always to the side, rather than directly back. Jerking to the back, may encourage the dog to lunge forward to oppose the force.

Finally, the leash jerk has to be implemented with the proper amount of force so that your dog exhibits an aversive response. It cannot be so hard that it causes your dog to break down, and it cannot be so soft that your dog does not notice it or gets habituated to it. For me, this was the most difficult part.

My leash jerks were always too soft, and my Shiba Inu quickly got habituated to it. Instead of improving his behavior, my dog just got frustrated and aggressive whenever I did a leash jerk. He would jump and bite on the leash. Ultimately, it got so bad that he would jump on me and bite on my jacket sleeve.

Some people use a martingale collar, prong collar, or choke chain to help them perform more accurate leash jerks, with greater force. I used both the martingale and the prong. However, as with the flat collar, results were good at first, but degraded after my dog got accustomed to the increased force from the prong. I did not use the choke chain because there are some statistics that show that it can be dangerous.

The leash jerk technique may be more appropriate for a less strong-willed breed, but it does not work well on stubborn dogs like the Shiba Inu. As with other pain based aversive techniques, leash jerks can also cause your dog to lose trust in you, and develop other behavioral problems, including aggression.

Cesar Millan should warn people of some of these dangers, if not in his Dog Whisperer program, then at least in his book.

3. Alpha rolls.

Aversive dog training technique. This technique did not work on my Shiba Inu. Instead, it made him even more aggressive and sensitive to handling.

It is extremely difficult to implement an alpha roll well and in the proper circumstance.

In the hands of most pet owners, alpha rolls frequently gets overused and misused.

My Shiba Inu got really stressed (wild eyes, mouthing, screaming, flailing) whenever I did this on him. Even after he relaxed, he got very detached afterwards, and it did not seem to have any effect on his bad behaviors. In fact, alpha rolls made things worse because my dog became extremely sensitive towards human touch.

After a lot of counter-conditioning work, he is a bit better today, but is still skittish of heavy handling and restraint. I am slowly working to gain back the enormous amount of trust I lost by the alpha roll technique.

Even the Monks of New Skete, who were the first to popularize the alpha roll, have recently said that they regretted putting this technique in their book because it has been misused.

Alpha rolls should only be used by expert trainers, who are really good at reading dogs, and only as a last resort for dealing with dogs that do not respond to anything else.

Unfortunately, Cesar Millan popularized the alpha roll technique once again, through his Dog Whisperer dog training show.

I see many people using it in dog parks, dog trails, and vet offices for minor offenses, or not even real offenses at all. The most frequent case of alpha rolls occur when a rude dog runs up to invade another dog's space. The invaded dog naturally starts growling to warn the rude dog off, and tell him that his rude behavior is unacceptable. This is all perfectly natural canine behavior.

Nevertheless, the growling dog gets alpha rolled by his owners, in front of the rude dog. This can erode your dog's trust, because not only did you not protect him from the rude dog, but you are also punishing him for trying to protect himself. It also teaches your dog not to growl in the future, and to go directly into an attack or a bite.

Alpha rolls are dangerous, erodes trust, and may cause additional dog behavioral problems.

I have never seen it make things better, and have seen many instances of it making things worse. Even when expert trainers did this on my Shiba Inu, he did not respond well. It did not stop his bad behaviors, and only encouraged more aggression. Violence begets more violence.

Alpha rolls make for a good television show, but given the extreme risks, both physical and mental, to the dog and the trainer; Cesar Millan should at the very least emphasize that the alpha roll is a last resort action that should only be used by experts like him.