What is the Dog Whisperer doing at the 30 sec mark?

Oh I love his show. It's the only thing on my tivo.

He uses his hand the way a dominant dog would use its mouth to nip at another dog. It's just kind of a hard tap with a your hand in a claw shape.

I think he firmly pushed her. It probably shocked her, and made her know she was doing something unwanted. I think she was not used to someone stopping her from all of that jumping. But you are right...really hard to tell. I am just making a guess.

That makes sense Boomerang..couldn't tell

but it doesn't look like there's enough time or pressure applied to call it "a nip". A nip to me meaning causing a quick little pain.

I don't know. I watched a few of his videos, and something just doesn't feel right.

I know a dog is just looking for his place in the pack, and you're the pack leader and all that. But...the ones I watched all seemed a little staged.

I don't know anything about the guy, not even his name, although I know it was said on the video....Milano? So it's not like I have any opinion that might have been biased by prior experience.


Something about that vid in particular just doesn't make sense.

Jabbing quickly at a dogs butt with you finger doesn't seem like, in the midst of all the other physical contact points that could be happening at the same time, it would have that kind of effect.

doesn't look to me like a push.

hit pause and quickly double click to advance a little bit.

I agree with you Chai. A dog shouldn't yelp like that due to a simple touch. I won't put in writing what my real thoughts are.

The dog had a nearly identical reaction when the woman touched it with her foot.

i've seen him do that on tv.
it's meant to stop a dog from continuing a bad behavior.

he claims it's not painful, but i suppose it can startle some of the smaller, high-strung breeds...

Yup. It works.

It's based on how the mother dog handles her pups.

Works.

Damn good stuff.

Cesar Millan. Dog Whisperer. Pack leader.

You can definitely illicit a yelp with a touch that's quite minor if the dog is focused on something else, and you're breaking that focus.

we all could use a little RBL* in our lives...





* rules, boundaries and limitations

Yup.

I was watching Take-home Nanny the other night. Set commented on how similar the training methods are to Cesar's.

Yup. Dog training. Bringing up kids. Remarkably similar when you're aiming for balance and good manners.

RBL

Like This?

Anyway, WTF is he doing when you say nip?

Is he pinching the dog?


The other stuff made sense, taking over the space, claiming it.

In another vid it was showing how people show affection when the dogs getting freaking, telling it that's appropriate.

That all makes sense.

No, he's not "pinching." He forms his hand like the jaws of the alpha-dog, and makes a gesture like a bite on the neck or shoulder, which is not harmful or even painful, and is what the alpha dog in a pack does to make other dogs chill out. In fact, the alpha dog would make it hurt, but Cesar doesn't have to, because he knows it's the gesture that counts. I use that gesture when Mr. Bailey and i are playing "fighty-bitey," and pretending to fight and bite one another. Miss Cleo will yelp like that if you even come close to stepping on her (which happens frequently, because she is so often under foot)--even though you haven't stepped on her, and she hasn't been hurt.

If you want to find something sinister in it, i'm sure you will, however.

no set I'm not trying to find something sinister in it.

it looks like he's poking the dog, I asked what it was, you've given the only explanation that made any sense.

damn, you must think I'm some evil **** or something.

I'm not a dog person, I'm a cat person.

All the cats in my life were trained to stop whatever it was they were doing by me snapping my fingers once, not even loudly. I could do it from the next room.

If someone asked me what exactly I was doing, I wouldn't make something sinister of it.

Everyone chill out!

*makes bitey gesture on necks of all thread participants*

That South Park clip was hilarious, Chai...I'm gonna have to watch the rest of that episode, looks like a good one.

I prefer Victoria Stillwell (It's me or my dog) to Caesar Milan (Animal Whisperer). I guess it's because Victoria is prettier, drives a classic Jag and explains that dog behavior is not an art known only to those who are whisperers. Animal behavior is nothing mysterious, it is just recognition that dogs are dogs and not humans or cats or anything else but dogs.

Another guru of animal behavior is in my opinion Jon Katz (Katz on Dogs). His article on his sheep, the sheepdogs, and his burro are wonderful insights on how not to anthropomorphize animal behavior. One of his most poignant missives was on euthanizing one of his favorite sheepdogs when it was, as he said, no longer to be a dog.

Rap

that is Cesar's bottom line

dog first
breed second
name of animal third

or is it animal first, then dog?

anyway, he's all about dogs being dogs - and the people needing training