As a vegan, I fully agree that the only good or correct ways to train animals is to do so without harming them.  That said, I do not agree that Cesar Milan's methods are harmful.  First of all, this video is not representative of Cesar's methods in general. While perhaps it does demonstrate he is capable of mistakenly underestimating how the dog would respond, anyone experienced with dog training, professional or otherwise, can certainly identify with this mistake.  But this is not what you're accusing him of.  Even if this were a completely representative example, it is not the damning evidence of abuse you make it to be...

You say he kicked the dog in the abdomen.  That is a blatant exaggeration.  He made contact with the dog using his foot, but did not do so with any real force, and more importantly, did not do so in a way that would hurt the dog.  Something else that anyone who has trained dogs should know is that physical stimuli is often necessary to get the dog's attention or to break it's focus, etc.  But that does not equate it to harming the animal.  Moving on, the dog is gasping but this is just as likely to be due to exertion (which is apparent on the video) as it is because it was actually being "choked" (which is not apparent on the video). Also, the ground is wet all over, making it rather difficult to say it was due to the dog urinating.  And if you see the clip in context, you'll see that the dog is in an aroused state (has an erection), which Cesar points out, making it not impossible for it to have urinated, but less likely, and also making it less likely (though not impossible) that the dog was in a severely agitated state. 

What I would really like to know is how it is that his explanations are, as you say, "not based on science as we know it" especially contrasted with how the methods you advocate are. 

 

And in response to the comment below mine by LynneBlack, dogs are very different than humans and have vastly differing requirements, so your analogy is utterly meaningless.  If a dog were filled with hatred but obedient out of fear (the way you imply they are, as would children raised using Cesar's methods for dogs), the issues manifest in visible ways.  Just like they would in human children.  That is, long before Junior gets the shotgun, it would be apparent in many other ways that damage had been done.  But instead we find that the dogs Cesar works with remain healthy and well adjusted, unless their owners are all lying because for some reason they don't want Cesar to look bad.  In a nutshell, your comment is ridiculous.

Dr H.,

With all due respect, I think you're misinterpreting the video.  I'm not a dog trainer, and I'll admit that I've watched more than a few of Millan's shows.  Sure he's an entertainer, but he seems to care about Dogs and to help a number with serious behavioral problems, often intervening when an owner has been advised to put down a troubled pet.  My guess is that was the case with the husky type in the video, or that the owners would have to choose between that dog and the quieter black dog being lead by the woman in the clip.

After watching the longer version on Comcast twice, muted first as you recommended, then with sound, I've got a couple of observations:

The ground is wet in that clip, and you see patches of water here and there on the pavement.  It is very unclear if the Dog voided its bladder. 

Yes, Cesar hits/taps the dog in its back haunches with his foot, something he does to distract an animal when it begins to fixate on another animal or person.  This is a regular technique he uses with aggressive dogs, and it seems to be for distraction, not actually hurting the animal. 

Cesar does have the dog collared high on its neck, an unusual placement for him.  But the dog seems to be fighting for the leash, when he's not trying to get a little Cesar snack (sorry, couldn't help it). 

Clearly you feel that hitting/tapping a dog with one's foot is not the best method.  Given the situation of the malamute/husky beginning to go into attack mode against the smaller dog, what's your first action?  Or based on the rest of the 1 or so minutes of video shown of these dogs and their family, what would you have done differently?

For that matter, how do you view the majority of the other cases of his that you've watched?  I'm not trying to denigrate your concerns, but am trying to put them into context and to understand whether this particular case is an aberration or an extreme situation.