Animal cruelty is never ok. Cesar Millan might be guilty for using cruel tactics in his dog training sessions. Read more about what's going on below:
What Millan does on TV sometimes looks remarkable: an undesired dog behavior is corrected with dominance-based training methods, and a dog emerges whose compliant behavior is acceptable to the humans. What TV doesn’t show you is the long-term results that occur when aversive, dominance-based training methods are used.
A dog can show signs of fear by growling and showing their teeth to another. It’s a warning side that says, “I am not comfortable right now. Please stay away.” It is not a sign of dominance; it is a sign of fear.
National Geographic aired an episode of Cesar 911 in which Millan is working with Simon, a dog who has a history of attacking and killing pigs. He does the unthinkable…he floods the dog by exposing him to pigs and forcing him into compliance.
This is inhumane to both the dog and the pigs. The dog is clearly feeling threatened by the pigs and is giving every sign of distress. Millan handles it by trying to gain dominance, an archaic, damaging training method that backfires when the dog attacks one of the pigs and bites his ear.
Similarly, Simon shut down and went into a state of learned helplessness. Dawe states, “That is what frequently happens when dogs are taught through aversive methods, including flooding.” For the uneducated viewer, it can make for good TV, because it looks like the dog is being compliant. But, what you don’t see often goes on behind the camera. You don’t see the long-term, damaging results of the dog’s behavior.
It's terrible to hear about Simon the dog and the pigs that were involved in Cesar Millan's training episode. it appears that his decision to expose dogs to scary situations in order to calm them down is not the best. Hopefully, justice is served and no other dogs or animals be further harmed by Cesar Millan's dominance techniques.
For more on this incident, visit Care2.
Featured Image via: YouTube
Vicki Meadows
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I have a hard time that Caesar Millon would intentionally harm any animal especially a dog – haters gonna hate!
Rosanna Maria
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This is old news
Daniel Smallwood
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Stupid article.
Cathy Teeter
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I love his shows and have a hard time thinking that he could do such a thing. I would be greatly disappointed. Prove them wrong Caesar Millon!!!!!!!!!!!
Josephine Rasmussen
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DISGUSTINGLY UNACCEPTABLE ACCUSATION.
Heather Williams
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This is a really unfortunate situation, in that the pig didn’t deserve what happened….but, the dog didn’t react as predicted. So. Maybe just not do this again? I don’t think he meant to harm the animals at all.
Pat Dawaf
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Some people always want to find fault in others it makes them feel good.
Julie Walters
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It is an old show. I saw it and was shocked that after the dog attacked the pig once, he let the dog go again to attack again. The pig had bite marks and you even saw the blood on tv. I am so pissed!!!!! #animalcruelty
Janet Gonzalez
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Conceivable that you would have trouble with this, since basic spelling and punctuation also appear to be outside your grasp.
Lleneoj Sema
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Sounds like its owner was desperately trying to prevent their dog from being euthanized. Cruel if you do and cruel if you don’t. Can’t please everybody.
Julie Ames
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Wonder if the dog had a history or attacking cats would he have flooded the dog with cats…pigs feel pain and fear too along with dogs. Not a good method in my opinion