May 26 2008
“Be the Pack Leader” by Cesar Millan
Be the Pack Leader by Cesar Millan and Melissa Jo Peltier is an excellent book to read if you’re interested in dog psychology and why it is that your dog does the things that it does (like bark incessantly, dig holes, or develop other strange obsessions like chewing on rocks). Cesar has a real gift with dogs, as is obvious on his show, The Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic Channel. The things that he’s able to do with dogs is nothing short of amazing.
Unfortunately, it’s been hard for me, at least, to duplicate his results on my own two troublemaking dogs. I think Cesar’s method is harder than a “regular” training course, because he doesn’t focus on teaching them tricks like sitting or laying down on command, but instead focuses on making you the leader of the pack, and changing your psychology and how you approach the dog. That’s much more difficult to do, quite frankly, and even though I read and reread parts of his book, I still don’t have a good understanding of how I’m supposed to make this happen. He says things like, “Claim the space” and I want to yell in frustration, “What does that mean? How do I ‘claim the space’?” It’s not simple step-by-step instructions that you can follow easily, but instead requires you to change your psychological outlook on how you deal with your dogs. A part of me really wants to learn it well, and a part of me wants to throw my hands up in the air and just give up.
I am still giving it 4.5 out of 5, because I know that a) Other people may not be as thick in the head as me, and perhaps others would more quickly pick up on how to do this, b) The breed information and how to deal with each specific type of dog was very interesting, and c) The stories he tells and the style of writing are both superb. I really enjoyed reading the book, even if I didn’t “get” everything in it.
Try it for yourself, and report back what you think. Oh, and I should have given this disclaimer before: I don’t have cable TV, so I have never watched a full episode of The Dog Whisperer (I caught some clips on YouTube but nothing full length). Perhaps fans of his show would understand the book a lot better…? It’s a thought.
Happy readings!
Havs
LOL, our dogs lead the pack in our house. I think we need a visit from the Dog Whisperer for the dogs and Super Nanny for the kids. Hmmm… how do you “claim the space” when you dog weighs over 100 lbs?
It’s not your fault; almost nobody can replicate Cesar’s results, which is why I recommend reading Stephen Budianski and Mary Adelman instead. My friend tried a Cesar alpha move on a chow and earned himself a really nice dog bite. Very few of us ooze alpha male.