The Dog Whisperer

...JR

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J
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In regards to The Dog Whisperer, i have seen it and i love it. i know it says that his techniques shouldn't be done by anyone other than a professional, but i've tried many and they actually work. No woo here, he just understands that dogs are pack animals, and if you're the only one in their life, you must be the pack leader. He then shows how you do it and what attitude to have.

This does bring up a question that may be woo related about this show. He constantly mentions "energy". "The dog can feel your negative energy and so you must change it." He'll say things like that and well, i can't help but think woo. I thought it was true that dogs can sense how we feel. I only say this because if i walk in my home and my dog has done something bad, i go up to it (no yelling, nothing but eye contact) and the dog knows (i assume) i'm mad and will drop its tail between its legs and leave (which is why i assume he knows). If i walk in feeling very cheerful he will run up to me to be pet and so on...i'm sure dog owners know what i'm talking about.

So is this any sort of "energy" in the biological sense (kinetic?) that could be measured so when you say something like "the dog can sense your calm, assertive energy" you would be saying something of merit with a factual basis?

Whatever he does or however the dog interprets his calm assertive ways, he never meets a dog he can't train (at least from what they show) and he seems to do it sometimes within the first few minutes of walking in. Does the dog sense his attitude already and listens to him unlike it does for its master, or does he simply know how to make a dog listen to him at all times unlike the owners?

I love how this show deals with the fact that the dogs aren't the ones being trained, it is their owners. I have seen some pretty pathetic people on that show and whenever it hits them that it is their fault for their dogs ways and not the dog, the facial shot is glorious...pure epiphany.
 
...JR said:
So is this any sort of "energy" in the biological sense (kinetic?) that could be measured so when you say something like "the dog can sense your calm, assertive energy" you would be saying something of merit with a factual basis?
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I think that emotion affects the human body -- movement, posture, facial muscles, bodily secretions, vocal qualities -- from which the dog obtains information that tells it either (a) things are OK, or (b) the pack leader is angry/upset/sad/nervous. It's only "energy" in the sense that your brain influences your body -- which cues the dog.
 
I agree with CLD. In this context, the word "energy" is interchangeable with "attitude," and there's nothing woo about sensing that about someone.

What I love about that show is that while he's telling people about these techniques to use with their dog, he's often using the exact same techniques on them (the people), and they never seem to catch on.
 
I think CLD should have included smell in his list of what emotions affect. And this is especially important with canines since smell is such an important sense to them.
 
SezMe said:
I think CLD should have included smell in his list of what emotions affect. And this is especially important with canines since smell is such an important sense to them.
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I think that's what he meant by "bodily secretions."
 
CLD said:
I think that emotion affects the human body -- movement, posture, facial muscles, bodily secretions, vocal qualities -- from which the dog obtains information that tells it either (a) things are OK, or (b) the pack leader is angry/upset/sad/nervous. It's only "energy" in the sense that your brain influences your body -- which cues the dog.
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"Energy" is used by a lot of people the way that "vibes" was a couple decades ago. Sort of a vague, catch-all term for a number of different non-verbal cues or qualities.
 
Cuddles said:
Wasn't this a South Park episode?
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Yes, he used these techniques on Cartman who actually became a decent kid. Unfortunately, as soon at the guy left, Mom reverted back to her indulgent ways and Cartman was back to his old self.

I enjoy the show, too and I don't even have a dog. I was never around them as a kid, so they seem unpredictabe to me. Watching this show has shown me at least how to act around them. Resonably well behaved ones, anyway.
 
I'm also a fan of the show yet do not own a dog. I helped out the local animal shelter walk dogs recently and I had pretty good success with keeping the collar high on the neck and having a short amount of slack to keep the dog's head upright and focused, just like on the show. The dog didn't behave perfectly (unlike on the show) but I was able to walk a pretty high-energy dog without too much fuss.
 
I also enjoy the show, but the show's formula is growing tiresome. There are only so many times I can listen to the same ol’ mantra: Rules, boundaries, and limitations. I propose a new season called the Cesar Millan in the Dog House Reality Hour. The show opens with the Information Society - Pure Energy track playing in the background. A group of contestants and their dogs must live and compete with one another as Cesar remotely stands-by monitoring and correcting their behavior via webcams and camera crew. The owners compete for pack leader status, among other things, and everyone's energy levels are individually monitored by Cesar and home viewers.
 
CLD said:
I think that emotion affects the human body -- movement, posture, facial muscles, bodily secretions, vocal qualities -- from which the dog obtains information that tells it either (a) things are OK, or (b) the pack leader is angry/upset/sad/nervous. It's only "energy" in the sense that your brain influences your body -- which cues the dog.
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thank you, that is exactly what i was looking for. I hav quite a few friends who should either start watching his show or seek his services. to bad they'll continue to be horrible dog owners.
 
I agree with everyone else, and would also like to point out that animals, at least pack animals, are often much better at reading body language than humans are. This was shown with the horse Clever Hans, who appeared to be able to read math problems, when really the horse was watching humans for cues when to stop counting. The horse was so good at it that even when the researchers learned what was going on, they couldn't control their body language enough to keep Hans from picking up the cues. Dogs can probably do pretty much the same thing, and so can learn a lot more about people's state of mind than the people realize they are showing.
 
The funny thing is that humans do it too, often on a subconscious level. We call it "picking up a vibe".
 
CLD said:
The funny thing is that humans do it too, often on a subconscious level. We call it "picking up a vibe".
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Or being "psychic". :D

People that work with animals every day (as I do) quickly learn to send out the right "vibe" or "energy" or whatever you want to call it - the right inaudible signals - to get the animal to do what it is you want it to do. Yeah, sure, it can LOOK like magic but it is simply a matter of educating yourself about the behaviour of the animal in question and then paying close attention to the same tiny signals the animal is reacting to in you. The animal can't go check out a book at the local library and study up on human behaviour and learn why we behave so oddly (to them). It's up to US to learn about THEM, because we have the opposing thumbs and big brains. Unfortunately very few people do this. So when someone who has educated themselves shows up, they really look impressive! I am not trying to take away anything from Cesar Milan as I admire his abilities, I am just trying to say that there is nothing magical involved. It's almost like being an actor, in a way.
 
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