Looks like "Dog Whisperer" Cesar Millan is finally starting to lose that shimmering shekinah of invulnerability! New York Times Op-Ed Contributor Mark Derr heads his critique of the Millan mystique with the phrase:
"Pack of Lies"
According to Derr, Millan's method is firmly in line with a long line of past dog training methods involving mostly stern disciplination and domination. He says "it flies in the face of what professional animal behaviorists — either trained and certified veterinarians or ethologists — have learned about normal and abnormal behavior in dogs." Derr calls Cesar Millan's techniques "confrontational" and goes on to say, "He’s a charming, one-man wrecking ball directed at 40 years of progress in understanding and shaping dog behavior and in developing nonpunitive, reward-based training programs, which have led to seeing each dog as an individual, to understand what motivates it, what frightens it and what its talents and limitations are."
Guess it just goes to confirm that it's hard to find anything really new on the box. The Koehler Method was widely approved when I was a young man, and Millan's tactics don't really seem that different.
Posted by ditkoofseppala at August 31, 2006 08:29 PMGreat Article! Thanks for making me aware of it.
Posted by: Sheryl Franklin at September 20, 2006 01:19 PM