Method or Madness?

My guru, if that's the right word, when it comes to dog 'training' is Cesar Millan. I put the word training in quotes because Cesar says "I rehabilitate dogs. I train humans". His philosophy is that the issues our dogs have is a result of us not taking the leadership role within our 'pack'. Too many of us humanise our pets and don't allow them to be the animals they deserve to be. I'm certainly guilty of that; more than one of my friends has pointed out that we adopted Gypsy at the same time as my daughter left to go to University.

Anyway, I've got his books and recorded his series, The Dog Whisperer (National Geographic Channel) on sky + so let's see how I get on. If you've seen any of his shows I think you'll agree that his methods get results, but can an ordinary human like me achieve the same?

Cesar Millan - The Dog Whisperer
(picture - National Geographic Channel)

The first principle of bonding with your dogs and taking leadership of the pack is plenty of exercise. It probably goes without saying that dogs need to be walked but I think many owners, myself included, have been a bit neglectful in this respect from time to time. And it's not just taking them for walks, it's about being in charge from the moment you put on the leash to the moment you walk back through the door. If I can master this, I'm one third of the way to a harmonious relationship with Billy and Gypsy - apparently.

Sounds great, right? Also sounds like it's gonna take a lot of time and patience; that's the commitment you make when you decide to bring a canine friend into your home I guess.

Our current experience of walking the terrible two involves Gypsy getting over excited and rushing towards the door after trying to chew through the lead. Both of them will try and rush out the door before us and will pull on the lead - not such an issue with Gypsy as she's light and easier to pull back into place, but Billy tugging you up the road is not fun. As the walk goes on, they'll calm down a bit but Gypsy will whine and bark if Billy gets ahead of her. If we meet other dogs, Gypsy will try to run over and jump all over them whilst Billy (normally very timid) sometimes lashes out at the stranger.

Me? I'm a good girl!

All this results in my husband and I getting angry or frustrated or both and no one enjoys the walk, dogs included. So, I'm going to start taking Cesar's advice from today and establish myself as pack leader.

My next blog, then, will update you on how I get on this week with THE WALK! I'd love to hear your experiences of walking with your dogs - good and bad!