For the hundreds of supportive and in agreement emails, notes etc. that have been received regarding my 'CM Experience Blog' post; I would like to share what was sent my way by someone that is very pro-CM.

Just before going to bed in the wee hours of today, I was checking my email and I came across a submission entry to our BHRR Guest Book from one Ms. Bebenek. This person was very quick to fire off accusations and some erroneous comments not to mention an insult or two made about my Blog post re: CM; such as CM having more experience. Well, in fact; as someone that is not even 6 months younger than CM; my Career is to work with dogs all day, every day. 😉 AND I have almost 25 years of hands on direct experience to date. This person was very strong in stating that Cesar Millan never uses 'fear, anger, exhaustion, or treats as a means of training dogs'. I particularly loved the comments about how *I* was not providing my name?? Hmmmmm, is it not all over the BHRR Website, the BHRR FB Group and on our BHRR Twitter Page plus in the biography section about who I am? 😉

This person defended CM's use of a treadmill and found it acceptable that if a person cannot get out to walk them, it is ok to treadmill them. 

I also found it very interesting regarding their comments about the Saint Bernard named Riley and for the benefit of Ms. Bebenek; please do let me post this video link.  AND in fact, this is an 11 month old Saint Bernard being 'choked' with a choke chain. I would like Ms. Bebenek to show me and others who have watched this video 1) WHERE is he NOT using the metal choke hardware around the Saints neck? 2) WHERE is CM not running this dog outside first and not once yet the video indicates 3 times? 3) WHERE is CM not using force to drag this dog up the stairs? Ms. Bebenek is 100% convinced that only positive training methods are being used here and that they 'have 'never seen CM use a prong or choke collar'.

AND they state that CM does not use the world 'loyalty'….hmmmm, lets see 7,500 people in Kanata alone that night and the word 'loyalty' was actually on his presentation slides and gosh, how many times did he mention that word. On another note, what is wrong with CM using that word anyway??

Something else I found quite amusing was that they felt that I had spent thousands of dollars in my education and was 'frustrated' because of that whereas CM learnt all he did for free in Mexico……OMG! Seriously?? Clearly proper Education is of no import to Ms. Bebenek.

I am so glad that Ms. Bebenek is going to send their child to the person who's been taking care of children for 40 years and not the one who's read about them in books. I am so glad that they are going to hire the gardener who's been gardening for years as opposed to the one who's been educated on all the varieties of plants through books. Furthermore, I am also SO lost as to how these words of theirs applies to myself when I possess not only 10+ years of current formal education(and another few+ more years to come re: my Ph.D.) but almost 25 years of experience in the behavoural and training trenches that so many others will never even touch because of the type of the cases that I do.

AND another part I loved in this person's message was that how CM is successful every time, another CM fanatic out there for sure you are Ms. Bebenek! 😉

Yet here is more food for thought, can you please explain to myself and so many others out there how CM is NOT choking Shadow(in more metal hardware – choke chain) in the attached video link? The poor dog is on the ground opening and closing its mouth gasping for air, it has been so deprived of Oxygen. AND here is input on this Cesar Millan video by Debra F. Horwitz, DVM, ACBD, a board-certified veterinary behavourist. Some of which I am posting here –

"I admit, it was a difficult video to watch. In this video, Cesar Millan uses a choke collar to subdue an aggressive dog, finally pinning it on the ground. Millan is bit several times in the process, and I question the health of the dog during this clip (blue tongue). Within the first 5 seconds, the handler kicks the dog in the abdomen.  When the dog turns toward him he is jerked off his feet.  A struggle ensues where the handler gets bitten several times and the dog is seen to be struggling for air. Finally he gets the dog onto the ground and the dogs tongue is blue and the dog is gasping for breath.  When he finally gets the dog up it appears that there might be urine on the ground and that the dog voided his bladder in distress. What you have witnessed is not dog training but abuse.  Not only does the dog suffer, but clients are at risk if they attempt these interventions themselves.  These are not appropriate measures and compromise the welfare of the dog and the safety of people.  His explanations are false and not based on science as we know it. '

Here is a Website for you Ms. Bebenek – Beyond Cesar Millan

AND in my very short email summary response to Ms. Bebenek, I typed; 'How unfortunate it is that the importance of what was being written about in my earlier Blog has been completely lost on yourself.'

My original Blog post is 'my' own personal and professional positioning and one that is not only shared by other professionals in the same areas of expertise yet many on a personal level too. A message to everyone, 'love' the Man or not; that is each person's choice; yet with everything; I would hope/recommend that people would make their decision based upon that decision being a a well informed one at the end of the day.

As someone who possesses their Masters in Animal Behavour/Development and is currently working on their PhD and does a lot of behavoural consulting; last night I had the opportunity to witness Cesar Millan firsthand at the Scotiabank place in Kanata, Ontario. THANKS so much to Dr. Wright for the amazing 107 level tickets for myself and my son and we were 12 strong from KAH with 5 more of my own behavoural clients in attendance. KAH was also the hospital in attendance on hand in case there was a cause for medical intervention. Contrary to what I have seen posted on at least one board; KAH did not 'choose' the dogs that were in attendance at the show. I even ran into my handler plus her family there! BIG social time! 🙂

While I deeply disagree with many of his techniques and have always been so honest about my viewpoint and professional plus personal positioning when asked – His use of force, intimidation, fear & exhaustion techniques such as treadmilling plus that he has had no formal training is a cause of deep concern for many of the behavoural and training experts in the world –  he did present a few good basic core messages to the dog owners out there. AND that was so surprisingly wonderful to experience him doing so. 🙂

Before attending the show last night; I had read yet two more anti-CM articles sent my way along with a disturbing video of CM running a young Saint Bernard until they were heavily panting and then literally dragging and choking it (it was wearing either a choke or a prong collar; hard to tell for all I could do is mostly focus my eyes in horror upon this poor animal with what was being done to them) up a flight of stairs. Positive training methods????

However; last night; he was quite general and as I have said over and over again, training is one of the least regulated professions out there and many are self-taught or do a 1 month online course and then call themselves trainers. WORSE, so many of them now consider themselves behavoural experts and truly, after 10+ years of formal education in this area and another almost 25 years of experience AND another 3+ more years of formal education to finish off my PhD to come; I am still learning!!!! RESEARCH! RESEARCH! RESEARCH before taking on a 'trainer' or 'behavoural' expert. So many will also want to push one 'training registry' over another as being the best and only 'true' training registry in all of Canada and that is not necessarily true either. I tend to sit back and only input when I do feel absolutely necessary when this debate gets very controversial on the boards for like many other topics, there is not one easy answer BUT I do know that by all of these people 'fighting' instead of working together; it is only going to continue to drag on without effective resolution. I fear that not in my lifetime will something that I am so passionate about and try to educate and fight so hard for shall ever become properly regulated. 🙁

One should have a minimum of a Masters Degree in Animal Behavour to be considered part of the behavoural consulting/expert world and there are so few of us in Canada yet many would like to lead you to believe otherwise. I ONLY know of 12-15 of us in ALL of Canada yet is seems they are on every street corner. AND while those of us in the behavoural trenches are also or were trainers – VERY VERY VERY few trainers are behavoural experts. KNOW the difference! Once you start delving into the trenches of aggression, fear, separation anxiety; you are no longer on the surface of the basics of 'sit', 'down' and 'stay' training. I receive hundreds of emails every day from people that have used X Trainer or X so called Behavoural Expert for help with their dog but now the dog is either not better and in many cases much worse and can I please fix the dog. I do not work just with dogs, I work with the owners so that they are properly armed with all the tools/aids needed to be not just good owners but great responsible/accountable owners so that they can be a team with their dog(s) to be assets to not just home yet their community. My job is easy as I tell them for I have rules from the moment I begin to work with them and their dog(s). I do not let the dogs take a mile from day one; whereas they now have to be retrained as do their dog(s) on what is appropriate and acceptable behavour. While having someone such as myself working with you and your dog(s) is not cheap, it is also can be one of the best investments out there so that your dog can be the best he/she can be and for the owner(s) to be the best that they can be. NO dog is perfect, you can only make them as perfect as they can be and behavour is not changed, it is modified! That is something so many people do not understand….. So many want that quick fix solution and if you are not dedicated, committed, responsible, patient and consistent, failure is destined to happen. People need to stop trying to make the dog into something the dog can never be…..people need to make their dogs the absolute BEST they can be!

Now back to Cesar Millan – He talked about respect, leadership, trust, education, calmness(that I also interchange with the words 'control' and 'settled' in my own programs), humanizing(what I term the 'projecting too many human emotions upon') plus common mistakes made by owners and he used one of the best kept secrets that my handler and I were even talking about in the foyer before the show last night; SHOW COLLARS as a great training aid/tool! BUT what he did not talk about was using this tool/aid to do a transition to a flat/side release buckle collar as that should be the common goal of any training program.

He used words like 'assertive energy' whereas I use the words 'calm, settled and controlled leadership' with my dog(s) and in working with Clients and their dogs. He uses the word 'loyalty' and I use the word 'bonding' in a similar context. He also talked about 'excitement' mistakes people make plus what I term 'passive ignoring' and 'carrying on/moving forward as if it was nothing big'.

What also was interesting to note that as two puppies he was demonstrating with were no longer food motivated(they had eaten before they came to the show); he lost some patience and interest in trying to find other means to 'motivate' them to listen and be trained. Many dogs are not treat or food motivated and you have to be resourceful in finding other tools/aids to get them to be motivated for at the end of the day; YOU have to be the most exciting, important and interesting thing to them to then WANT to listen to you. OR in his words; to be that 'PACK LEADER'  😉 Yet to CM, if they were simply not interested in the food in the dish he had, forget it re: training them to do what he wanted them to do.

He also talked about how people make the common mistake of giving to much affection and not enough training and discipline in working with their dogs and this has also be a huge core message of mine with clients, especially with those that either adopt from us or rescue from other means. DOGS live in the 'moment' and making a past of abuse 'up to them' is not in their best interest. You can truly kill by 'kindness' and I have posted many a blog post re: seeing Danes and other dogs as just heads and stick legs on a whale of a body due to obesity. HOW does this 'help' your dog besides shortening their life span, increasing their chances of many health problems etc. Not to mention about the resourcing and separation anxiety behavoural issues that can develop with this type of spoiling affection that I term using 'ruination' affection!

I also did very much like his words surrounding 'breed' bans and that banning a breed does not solve the problem, the importance of rescuing animals, not supporting puppymills and that we need to target the 'humans' behind the dogs.

AND what I was not in agreement either were his views that the 'name' of a dog being last on his list of importance. Living in a multi-dog household and that many of my own clients have multi-animal households, the name as an 'identity' is very important as is associating a 'command' with the 'action' being requested of that one specific dog or more than one dog out of many that may be present in a home or park or other training environment by using that very important name(s) ie their identity(ies).

Cesar Millan is very much a HUGE entertainer(lots of laughs last night!) and boy, does he have a 'cult' following. It was almost surreal watching how hypnotized and glazed over so many were at the show. It was almost like being at a rock concert – wait, he did have rock music at several points last night!  !

AND for me, while I am still not a 'fan' of CM, I can honestly state when others say 'well, you have not watched his show, read what he has written, you have not seen him in person' that….I HAVE in fact watched him AND was extremely close to him last night! I am further enlightened re: his methodologies and mindset re: training and some behavour positioning and am much more prepared to have further indepth conversations with my Clients, on some of the boards I belong to or am a Board of Director Member of or Behavoural Advisor of and also in my discussion groups for my PhD etc.

Thank you SOOOOOOOO much again Dr. Wright for presenting this wonderful opportunity with the free tickets to myself and also to my son to be part and witness to CM LIVE and in PERSON! I truly had a very entertaining time – Perhaps CM should do comedy in his spare time 🙂 and I not only hope yet think so many have come away from his show with more to think about and much to talk about!!!!