Cesar Millan's Dog Training Techniques

Cesar 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 to 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 "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 uses mostly aversive techniques, but surprisingly some of his most effective techniques turn out to be reward based even though he doesn't present them as such.

1. Body blocks.

Reward 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 at this particular time. This space may move, as you move. Once your dog moves into the forbidden space, you "correct" him by getting him to move back and therefore taking that space away from him. Alternatively, you could get him to do a stay, which takes away his space and freedom. Body blocks work very well for keeping my Shiba from rushing out of doorways. It is also very useful for claiming space when I am sweeping the floor, or when I don't want my Shiba crowding me.

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

General 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 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 behaviors. Many owners have problems with their dogs because they do not communicate with them (i.e. tell them right from wrong) and/or because they are inconsistent in their communication. Cesar 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, timeout) so that the dog understands that if he continues doing something he should not be doing, there will be consequences (e.g. he gets some of his freedoms revoked).

3. Use treats for putting on a muzzle.

Reward 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 uses. In most cases Cesar is dealing with dogs that already have a very negative association with the muzzle. He cautions his clients not to just force the muzzle onto the dogs, but to instead make it a positive experience by getting the dogs to put their nose into the muzzle themselves, through the use of treats. Counter-conditioning works well, but it requires a fair amount of time across many weeks and months to recondition a dog to associate the muzzle as a positive object rather than an uncomfortable restraint that keeps him from opening his mouth. Unfortunately, Cesar 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, and should be performed slowly and at the dog's pace.

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

Reward technique. This technique works by taking away attention.

When meeting dogs, Cesar 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 find it difficult not to give 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 Shiba stopped jumping on family members. He still jumps up on strangers because it is rare to find someone who can follow this rule especially with a cute, foxy looking Shiba 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. Thus 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 my Shiba, 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 too much human attention. A full time-out works very well though, because my Shiba likes being around his pack (line of sight), and having interesting things to see, smell, and do.

1. Touch the dog's flank.

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

This technique is commonly used to stop your dog from obsessing on an external stimulus (e.g. another dog, a cat, a person). Reactive or aggressive dogs often start by focusing/obsessing on their target object. When doing this, they get very still and will not give attention to anything else, even food. From here, they can explode in a burst of energy and lunge after their target object. You want to stop your dog as early as possible, and redirect him to something else as soon as he starts to obsess on an object. If you wait too long, he will lose control and practise reactive/aggressive behavior, that he will be more prone to repeat. Initially, I was able to break my Shiba from obsessing on certain objects by touching his flank. After a few times though, he got habituated to it and was just ignoring the touch. The best technique, I have found, for avoiding reactive/aggressive triggers, is to ignore those objects myself and just move my Shiba along. There are a variety of other techniques for dealing with dog-to-dog aggression and other aggression triggers.

2. Leash jerks.

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

Leash jerks are especially difficult to implement properly, with the proper timing, with the proper force, and with the proper technique. I got many private lessons on how to perform leash jerks well, 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 jerk has to be implemented with the proper amount of force so that your dog exhibits an aversive response. It cannot it so hard that it causes your dog to break down and it cannot be so soft that your dog doesn't notice it or gets habituated to it. This, I found, was very difficult to get exactly right. My jerks were always too soft, and my Shiba quickly got habituated it it. Ultimately, my Shiba just got frustrated and aggressive whenever I did a leash jerk and he would jump and crazily attack and bite the leash. Ultimately it got so bad that my Shiba 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 jerks with greater force. I used both the martingale and the prong, but as with the flat collar, results were good at first, but started degrading after my Shiba 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. This technique may be more appropriate for a less strong-willed breed, but it does not work well on a Shiba. 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 should warn people of some of these dangers, if not in his program, at least in his book.

3. Alpha rolls.

Aversive technique. This technique did not work on my Shiba, but instead made him even more aggressive and sensitive to handling.

It is extremely difficult to implement this technique well and in the proper circumstance. In the hands of most pet owners, it often gets overused and misused. My Shiba 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 Shiba became extremely sensitive towards human handling and restraint. 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 using this technique on my Shiba. Even the Monks of New Skete that first popularized this technique 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 popularized this technique again and I see many people using it in dog parks, dog trails, and vet offices for minor offenses, or even not real offenses at all. The most frequent case that I see people using this is when a rude dog runs up to invade their dog's space. Their 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 their 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 punishing him for trying to protect himself. It also teaches your dog not to growl in the future, and go directly into an attack or a bite.

Alpha rolls are dangerous, erodes trust, and may cause additional 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, 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 should at the very least emphasize that the alpha roll is a last resort action that should only be used by experts like him.

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