Ahhh... Cesar Millan. You know, i really don't care much for most personalities. They appear almost as blank and lifeless as my potted plant (which is been declared dead as it rots on my front porch). Many people on T.V. seem as interchangeable as car parts and it's difficult to even remotely care about what they are telling you or what is happening to them.
Cesar Millan is another story.
I am no dog trainer. Or, to do justice to Cesar (as he doesn't train dogs) i am no dog expert. The functions and thought processes are so foreign that it's almost impossible for me to consider what life would be like as a dog. I can no more predict what life is like for my cats and my lizard than i can a dog (or hell a shark for that matter)! But i do know that dogs do not care if you get fired. They could care even less if you were broke or ugly or drove a crappy car. They don't really seem to care...about anything. Well, not the way that we care about things. We say that we love things, and that we will never forget them. But animals live for that moment. If they do love, it's in a way we could never imagine; completely and straightforwardly, without complexities or pride...without asking how, or why, or from where. They simply....are.
Here is a man who has a genuine gift. He has a seemingly innate ability to register the energy of a single dog or even a pack of 50. This is apparent when he addresses dogs. He doesn't look at them, he moves forward. He doesn't pet them and kiss them (well, not to the extreme of 90% of the population). He doesn't say "good boy!" in an overly excited ambitious voice. He doesn't let them run and jump on him. Actually, he never lets his pack get away with anything that is out of line or different from what he wants. By understanding the nature of his pack, he has learned to become the leader of it and in return, he gives his dogs lives that are truly and completely full until they take their last breaths on this earth.
You would think to accomplish this, Cesar Millan would have to resort to violence or a tyrannical overthrow of the pack itself. But once more, you would be wrong. He corrects his dogs with a swift touch and he follows through with his method of discipline. He doesn't hurt them or make them feel insecure. He simply does what any pack leader would do with a dog when they were out of line.
For example, we've all seen wolves on Discovery or Animal Planet. They roam for miles in a pack in search of food. It is easy to spot the alpha dog. He (or sometimes she) is always out front. The dogs are usually plowing through snow, following a herd of elk or stalking a young deer. They don't stop to use the bathroom or to bark up strange trees. They keep moving. They follow their leader and if they try to step out of line to say, chase a squirrel, they are quickly brought back into line with a touch that reflects the intensity needed. The offending dog usually backs down, lowers it's head, and then resumes it's hunt. The leader doesn't care that the dog disobeyed him or that he might step out of line again. He can't process this kind of complicated thought. He moves on, along with the rest of the pack.
To see any man take control of a pack in this way is simply amazing. It's impossible to think that this powerful and exacting man is only a few inches taller than me and that he seems to spend most of his life laughing and smiling. I can see him as a teacher walking into a class room and silencing the students with only a look. And like any good teacher, accomplishing this simple task looks as easy as breathing. (The best teachers are usually the ones that have this ability to take leadership and hold it for hours at a time)
People on his show hear the words over and over again (along with people watching), "you must become the pack leader," and something happens. You see people panic for a moment then you see them look at their dog as if to apologize for what they are about to do. The look is only there for an instant but i still see it. Do their thoughts turn to images of wolves fighting each other for pack leadership? Do they think of gnashing teeth and flying blood and fur?
What most people don't understand is that Cesar is working with nature instead of against it and that in reality, wolf packs rarely fight over leadership. Pack leadership can turn hands (or paws rather) in the fraction of a second and to the untrained eye it would be almost impossible to detect. It is the same for Cesar. His assertions of leadership are usually very fast and at the most may take a few hours (though total rehabilitation can take years). There may be some confrontation, but the majority of dogs are happy to let this responsibility go. The dogs even look happier and you could swear you see the smile that crosses their faces as if to thank Cesar for giving them the chance to be dogs again!
But, if he is to control a pack of dogs, he must think and behave like a pack leader. He has to let nature dictate what he can and can not do through careful observation and self determination.
It rings a bell that reminds me of the way that the free market works. You can not try to tame it or regulate it. You can not bind it or hope that it will bend. If you try and fight it or work against it, the results are disastrous in the best of cases and dangerous in the worst.
But if you work with it, learn it's language, and find out it's nature, the market can literally be a mans best friend.
Yet it's just as easy to misinterpret what is really happening. Criticism of Cesar Millan has grown along with his popularity. Why though? Does he mistreat his dogs? Does he not love them enough? Does he use outdated techniques and does treating the dog like a dog really cause unknown psychological harm?
Of course it doesn't! Why? Because he moves with the pack and follows the rules of being a good pack leader. His shoulders are back, his eyes are forward and he presents himself the way a leader of a powerful pack of dogs should. I have even read accounts of people who have met him who say that he's a force of nature and that it's impossible to not be impressed by his honest self confidence and love for his work. I have also read that he is humble, compassionate, and patient with all of the people that he works with and that his good humor is infectious to be around.
This doesn't sound or look like someone who is doing something wrong. It sounds like someone who is working with the nature of things and because of it, he's been able to capitalize on all of the good that he has done and not only in money but in life. Dog rehabilitation to him is what he knows and he's proven that he is good on several occasions. And even though most people who watch his show still hold on to the same skepticism that what he's doing is wrong, i can't help but to hope that they do see the honesty in the simplicity of it all.
It is the same for all aspects of life. To go against nature only results in frustration, loss of money, loss of independence, loss of freedom and private property. But if you flow with the real issue, and you start to work with the situation instead of regulating it, you too may find yourself with your shoulders back and your eyes forward.
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