Nat Geo: Rescue Ink and The Dog Whisperer - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

**CavySpirit** · #1 10-23-09, 09:04 pm

I've just seen some episodes of those two shows. WOW. I am so impressed.

What a refreshing change from Animal Planet.

Go National Geographic. New fan.

**angiekay** · #2 10-23-09, 09:22 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by CavySpirit

I've just seen some episodes of those two shows. WOW. I am so impressed.

What a refreshing change from Animal Planet.

Go National Geographic. New fan.

Oh my gosh, I love Rescue Ink, and Ceasar Milan, love him!!!! I record most of his shows. I hope they keep it up with new episodes of Rescue Ink also, second that huge fan!!

**juliaaa** · #3 10-23-09, 09:30 pm

I am a Dog Whisperer fanatic! His knowledge of dog behavior never ceases to amaze me.

**JD In Van** · #4 10-23-09, 10:04 pm

I love Dog Town too.

**ameyjaney** · #5 10-24-09, 07:12 am

Dog Whisperer - Amazing

. My dad sits and watches it with one of the dogs.

**Jenni_Feathers** · #6 10-24-09, 10:08 am

I'm not at all a fan of Cesar Milan, but I do enjoy Dogtown and Rescue Ink.

**CavySpirit** · #7 10-24-09, 11:12 am

What's dogtown? Is that on NatGeo, too? What don't you like about Cesar?

**JD In Van** · #8 10-24-09, 11:42 am

Yeah it's usually on right after the Dog Whisperer or right before. It's about a Canine Rescue and really goes a long way to show how much goes into a large scale rescue operations. Having done cat rescue work in the past and now small animal rescue I really appreciate them showing all of it. Like the rehabilitation and medicale care that go into treating the dogs from puppy mills and stuff. And what the foster homes have to go through to help these animals both the adoptable and the unadoptable.

DogTown | DogTown - National Geographic Channel

**juliaaa** · #9 10-24-09, 11:45 am

Dogtown is great. Yes, it's also a NatGeo show. It's about this huge rescue organization for dogs that takes in pretty much any dog, no matter what it's problems are, and they will try to rehabilitate it for adoption. However, if for some reason the dog can't or won't get adopted, they will let it live there for life. If I remember right, they took in a group of Michael Vick's fighting pitbulls and tried to rehabilitate them. It's wonderful.

**Ama4884** · #10 10-24-09, 12:44 pm

I love the National Geographic Channel. They always have interesting shows on. I'm just a big nerd like that.

**CavySpirit** · #11 10-24-09, 01:39 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ama4884

I love the National Geographic Channel. They always have interesting shows on. I'm just a big nerd like that.

Yeah, I'm becoming a new fan, too.

The one thing I heard on one of Rescue Ink episodes which gives me a new hatred of Michael Vick is the fact that despite the public outcry, dog fighting has increased dramatically with these low lifes because now it's cool.

------------

And of course, like everyone else, I'm a sucker for seeing these big bad ass guys with their soft spots and hearts for animals.

**SheriMartini** · #12 10-24-09, 02:07 pm

I'm not a huge fan of Cesar Milan either. Some of what he does makes me uncomfortable. His own producer sued him back in 2006 "claiming his Labrador retriever was injured at Millan’s training facility after being choked with a collar and forced to run on a treadmill." (quote from ?Dog Whisperer? sued by his producer - More reality TV news, features- msnbc.com )

That being said... I love the crap outta Nat Geo!! It is like one of the three channels I watch all the time!

**blackarrow** · #13 10-24-09, 02:27 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by CavySpirit

What's dogtown? Is that on NatGeo, too? What don't you like about Cesar?

Cesar is very controversial in dog circles. I will give him that he's a good "reader" of dogs but that is exactly why the average dog owner shouldn't try to do the same thing he does at home, because if you're NOT as good a "reader" of the dog, you're apt to end up getting bitten. It also seems he has a very one-track mind that everything that is a problem with a dog can be boiled down to a failure to submit to a person, and that's something I very much disagree with, but that's also probably because the breed I love best is one most easily ruined by a person who tries to subjugate them. And exercise for a dog is great but a treadmill is a horrible way to go about it, as the dog has absolutely no way of controlling it, and it's at least as boring for the dog as it is for a human.

I've watched a little Dogtown because we've taken dogs from them before but the few episodes I've seen were like watching paint dry.

**crazywiggy** · #14 10-24-09, 02:32 pm

I've never seen Rescue Ink - might have to try and catch that one at some point.

As for the "dog whisperer" don't get me started. The guy is a dog abusing scumbag, relying on pain and fear in the name of training.

His theories were debunked as BS decades ago, and we have come a long, long way since then. Sorry - I mean we had come a long way. Thanks to Milan, humane, effective dog training has been set back a good 20 years. Yay for the old yank and stomp, me master you slave methods.

Quite frankly I would not let this guy within a hundred yards of my dog.

**MissGinger** · #15 10-24-09, 02:55 pm

I love rescue ink!

**blackarrow** · #16 10-24-09, 03:13 pm

Teresa, I'll put in a plug for It's Me or the Dog (on AP I think) over Dog Whisperer any day. One thing you might not know is that the American Humane Association actually requested that NGC take Cesar Millan off the air.

**JD In Van** · #17 10-24-09, 03:24 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackarrow

Teresa, I'll put in a plug for It's Me or the Dog (on AP I think) over Dog Whisperer any day. One thing you might not know is that the American Humane Association actually requested that NGC take Cesar Millan off the air.

I didn't know that!
I agree with you that his tactics are... antiquated. He handles the dogs the way we used to wrangle our farm dogs 25 years ago.

**CavySpirit** · #18 10-24-09, 06:43 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazywiggy

The guy is a dog abusing scumbag, relying on pain and fear in the name of training.

Wow. The three shows I saw didn't show anything close to that. Not at all. Quite the opposite. But then, I only saw three shows and don't know anything else about him.

**crazywiggy** · #19 10-26-09, 04:06 pm

I must admit I try to avoid the show these days - I've seen enough. It just tends to me make me feel angry and violent, or depressed and sick.

From the episodes and clips I have watched I have seen:

Dogs scruffed. In some cases he has physically lifted dogs with a handful of scruff in one hand, and a handful of skin from the rump in the other.

Many dogs on choke chains or prong collars. He doesn't even make an effort to use them correctly (not that I support them in any case). For example, he has dragged dogs around by their chains - inc up the stairs, used chokes on breeds such as bulldogs and whippets (which should NEVER be walked on chokes as the risk of injury is so massive).

Do you know the term "hanging"? In at least one or two episodes, Milan has subdued a dog by suspended it off the floor by its choke chain for some time, until it gave out, at which point he pins it to the floor. This is asphyxiation. The dog is not "calm submissive", it is starved of oxygen, terrified and in pain.

He also deliberately places the chain as high up the neck as possible. His own "Illusion collar" is specially designed to hopld the slip right up under the jaw. This is supposedly to give maximum control. Of course it does - because this is the most sensitive part of the dogs neck - the place where the chain/slip is going to be the most painful and the most likely to cause injury.

Electric shock collars. Enough said there. Not forgetting the dog who reacted (unsurprisingly) with redirected aggrsesion, and bit its owner after being shocked.

Striking the dogs. The finger jab thing - he tells you not to hit dogs, I want to know what the difference is. Use an open palm or a closed fist and it is "hitting", but use your fingertips and that's ok?

The "alpha roll". This is an aggressive action; the canine equivalent of grabbing a person by the throat and pinning them against a wall.
Some dogs submit to the threat, others bite (thanks to the fight or flight response).

Routine use of "flooding" to treat phobias. The equivalent of putting an arachnaphobic into a pit full of spiders and leaving them there till they stop screaming. This does not "cure" phobias. All it does it cause the animal to emotionally shut down, something called "learned helplessness". It is simply too terrified to even respond any more.

At least one dog, showing clear fear-aggression shut in a crate. Milan claimed it was dominance (as always) and approached the dog. This dog was trying desperately to back away, ears back, tail down etc. Milan walks over, looms over the crate sort of hugging it, staring at the dog in a threatening manner. The dog is literally shaking with fear - and Milan has the cheek to claim "its shaking because its learning". He then proceeds to get the dog out of the crate, put a choke chain on it and yank it around.

If I remember correctly there was also at least one dog that actually urinated in fear.

I also have issues with his take on the importance of exercise. I absolutely agree that exercise is vital and most dogs get nowhere near enough - but treadmills is just ridiculous. Dogs don't just need to walk - they need to run, jump, sniff, mark, play, explore, socialise etc. A treadmill does nothing to stimulate the dogs mind, and mental work is more tiring than physical exercise alone. I certainly do not agree with attaching a dog to a treadmill, especially on a choke chain. (One dog dead already).

Sorry to be so negative, but this is not my idea of humane training, and it certainly isn't my idea of entertainment.

**VoodooJoint** · #20 10-26-09, 04:38 pm

I too am not at all a fan of The "dog whisperer" the "dog terrorizer" would be a better name. Cesar has been caught being abusive and terrorizing repeatedly. He uses shock collars in some instances and he is not an advocate of spaying/neutering. If I remember correctly most of his personal dogs are not neutered.

People need to keep in mind that what they show on T.V. is highly edited. Only the stuff that makes a happy ending is usually allowed but if you pay attention to what he is actually doing you will be appalled.

If people want to see someone creating a real partnership with dogs they should watch Gloria Stillwell.

Cesar Millan - The Dog Whisperer: Critics Answers
TAGS Tail's: Comments on the Dog Whisperer from Debra F. Horwitz, DVM, DACVB
Veterinary Behaviorists Take a Stand Against Cesar Millan
Cesar Millan Dog Whisperer Faces Criticism - DOG Training TOYS

There are more links but I think that is a pretty good representation.

"Thank you, SheriMartini, for this useful post," say these 3 members:
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