Caesar - II

To follow up with my previous blog the Caesar Millan show in Calgary was great. He actually was hilarious at times and it was quite entertaining. He told us his story about how he jumped the fence from Mexico and came to the states by running for his life away from dogs, police dogs that is. He talked alot about the "pack mentality" and also about how we humans try to humanize our dogs and treat them like humans or kids. I found myself saying, ooops I do that, oops I do that, alot throughout the evening LOL!

There was some helpful information tho about being calm yet assertive when training and praising at the right time. He had some live guests on stage with their problem dogs and it was amazing to see what he can do. The owners were frustrated and hett up. Then he had a guest trainer from the Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind and that guest demonstrated some training in the calm yet assertive manner. It really brought to light the difference and outcome between the hett up owner yelling and the calm quiet Guide dog trainer. Of course the guide trainer is the way to go.

I also found myself agreeing with Caesar with respect to exercise and how much that is needed to have a happy dog and happy owner. He was right in saying that there is no such thing as a wrong breed but that the owners need to pick a dog that would suit their energy level. So a sedate person should NOT pick a border collie. That is so true and I am with him all the way with that. That is why so many high energy dogs end up in rescue with behavioural problems because people DO NOT THINK.

It was a great show and sold out at the Saddledome which I thought was amazing. I didn't realize that Caesar had such a following but it was packed, so I guess he does.

I know there are some things I do with my dog that may never change but that is my decision. I do tend to "baby" Zack a little and I cuddle him probably more than I should but I love that and that's "me" and I don't think I can change my way in that respect.

In conclusion, I have learned some things which I will try and put into my training with Zack and have learned a little more about how dogs view us as people (or their pack) - which I found interesting. What a dog thinks and what their behaviours mean fascinates me and I would love to study more about that in the future.