Owens explains the effectiveness of reward-based training with a glint in his eye, “Let’s say every time you came to my house, I gave you $10,000 whenever you sat on a particular chair. Where would you want to sit? And how often would you be visiting me? … And after a while, even if I only gave you something really great every second or third time you came over, just the anticipation of a possible reward would keep you coming back to that chair! That’s why people play the slot machines—ultimately just the possibility of a reward is all the encouragement that’s needed.”
Owens and a long list of the most respected animal behaviorists and master trainers concur that nonviolent training methods are the most effective and the most long-lasting—but most importantly, they are safe for both humans and dogs. And Owens says that if people do their part, then his methods work every time. Nonviolence, it turns out, is not only the most peaceful answer, but also the most practical and economical solution in dog training.
Owens and Grady. Photo: Brian Stemmler, Stemmler Photography
Until man extends his circle of compassion to all living things, man himself will not find peace. ~Albert Schweitzer
Once the dogs at GHS have received their socialization and nonviolent behavioral training, they are ready for adoption, and humans can apply for the happy privilege of inviting a furry friend to join their family. The prospective human companions and any pets they might already own are evaluated, in order to find the best match. Then the humans attend a Pet Parenting Program with Russell, and an hour-long, private training session with Owens, where they learn nonviolent training methods and how to speak “Dog.” Like a canine version of match.com, GHS invests heavily in crafting a perfect match, so the dogs they place will stay placed.
Will the REAL Dog Whisperer Please Stand Up?
The title The Dog Whisperer has caused some confusion, since it has been applied to two very different approaches.The Annandale Radio News notes that, “The more famous dog whisperer, National Geographic television’s Cesar Millan, displays a training philosophy that is much more aggressive and warlike than Owens’s.”[13]
FOX-owned National Geographic’s use of the “Dog Whisperer” moniker as the title of Cesar Millan’s [14] TV show seems incongruous. Millan’s confrontational methods couldn’t be further from whispering. His techniques include jerking, leash and scruff hanging, and the use of choke collars—labeled “medieval torture devices” by Tamar Geller, author of The Loved Dog—and which can cause neck and spinal damage from even a “mild” jerk.
According to Newsday, “Owens was the first to use the Dog Whisperer moniker in both books and DVDs. A yoga practitioner and staunch believer in nonviolent training for dogs, he is about as diametrically opposed to Millan as you can get.”[15]
Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain
Aversive training methods, such as those Millan employs, were universally accepted until a couple of decades ago when behavioral scientists found they were not as effective as positive-only methods—and could, in fact, be dangerous. However, it’s taking time for real-world trainers to catch up with the scientific evidence, and aversive methods are still widely taught today. Other well-known dog trainers who still predominantly use aversives include Matthew “Uncle Matty” Margolis and the Monks of New Skete. “Aversives” include pinning dogs to the ground to show dominance, hitting,[16] electrical shocking, and “flooding.”[17] Flooding is physically forcing dogs into situations they deeply fear, and is accomplished by physically holding dogs next to the feared object or dragging them with leash and choke collar into the situation they fear.
The application of the word “whisperer” to these inhumane training methods is just one more example of the nomenclature spin that has been so popular lately, such as in the labeling of the Patriot Act and the No Child Left Behind Act. From my perspective, these names are carefully crafted to convince Americans that up is really down, and wrong is really right.
As E.B. White’s title character in “Charlotte’s Web” pointed out, "People believe almost anything they see in print." Today, Charlotte would surely add, “… or anything they see on television.”
The Seduction of Violence and Abuse
In dog training, jerk is a noun, not a verb. ~Dr. Dennis Fetko
What “traditional” trainers call “discipline,” many behavioral scientists call “force” or “physical punishment,” and if applied to humans, some of these techniques could be labeled “torture.” Aversive training methods shut down a dog’s responses, rather than repattern unwanted behaviors.
Dr. Nicholas Dodman, the director of the Animal Behavior Clinic at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine of Tufts University, says "Cesar Millan's methods are based on flooding and punishment. The results, though immediate, will be only transitory. His methods are misguided, outmoded, in some cases dangerous, and often inhumane." In a New York Times article,[18] Dr. Dodman says of Millan's show, "My college thinks it is a travesty. We've written to National Geographic Channel and told them they have put dog training back 20 years."
Jean Donaldson, author of a half dozen books on dog behavior and Director of the Academy for Dog Trainers at the San Francisco SPCA, calls Millan’s TV show, “pretty ferocious stuff.” She notes that it might be prudent to question the need to run a disclaimer that admonishes viewers to “not try this at home.”[19]
