Zen Master Ceasar Millan for the Dogs

This guy is my new hero.

We recently got cable for our new big screen TV. Hubby has been TiVoing my would-be new favorite TV shows. Yes, he knows what I like. Two words: Animal Planet!! Victoria Stillwell is a British dog trainer who goes to people's homes and train little spoiled yappers into obedient lapdogs. Her show is aptly called, "It's Me or the Dog." I love her British governess ways and smart training techniques for really bratty dogs.

But what Victoria of Animal Planet does is almost comedic compared to what Ceasar Millan can do. He is the self-proclaimed "Dog Whisperer," which is also the name of his show on the National Geographic channel. This Mexican native has no formal training but had a love for and profound connection with dogs since his childhood. He illegally crossed the Mexican-US border in his 20's, lived on the streets of San Diego for a month before finding a job as a dog groomer. The rest is history, as they say. Today, he owns the Dog Psychology Center in Los Angeles and is the host of a #1 show. His specialty is rehabilitating some of the most violent and troubled dogs from shelters and abused situations. For example, he's worked with pitbulls from dog fight rings and displaced dogs from Katrina. In some instances, he will bring an unsociable dog to his psychology center where a pack of successfully rehabilitated dogs live and let the "power of the pack" do the work. It's amazing watching him handle dogs. Ceasar Millan's techniques are not without controversy, but whatever, I love the show. He's fond of saying "I rehabilitate dogs and train people." It should be no surprise that many dogs are violent, unsociable because of their human counterparts. As one dog lover once told me, "there are no bad dogs, only bad human owners." I believe that, like many other things wrong with our world, humans are usually at the root of the problem.

I'm so grateful for Hiro who has none of the troublesome characteristics of the dogs on the shows. He is just an amazingly happy and lovable little dog without an ounce of aggression or dominance. Sometimes we go on walks and will come cross a dog that wants to jump out of his leash barking at Hiro half a mile way, but all Hiro wants to do is go up and give a nose kiss with a wagging tail. I don't understand why some dogs are one way while others are not. Perhaps we just got lucky with Hiro. Perhaps some of my early rudimentary training to exert myself as pack leader during his puppyhood worked. But Hiro is not perfect, and watching the animal training shows have motivated me to do more training with Hiro. For example, he gets way too excited when visitors come, jumping up and down, and he's not a perfect leash walker, liking to pull on the leash for the amusement of his nose.