Victoria Stilwell VS Cesar Millan
After the many, many years of research into the subject, there still seems to be a great divide in the world of dog trainers and behaviourists which has resulted in a long-continuing debate on which dog training methods are ‘correct’ and which behavioural philosophies ultimately explain why dogs behave as they do.
Standing either side of this great divide are celebrity dog trainers Cesar Millan and Victoria Stilwell.
Both parties are familiar and well-loved household names but each holds an opposing view as to how dogs should be trained and understood.
Cesar’s Way
Cesar’s ethos tends to focus on alpha (pack) theory which theorizes that dogs are direct decendents of wolves who live in packs and form a hierarchy. There is an alpha leader who ‘dominates’ the pack and the subordinates respond accordingly.
Cesar believes that this formation of a pack (with the human as pack leader) also occurs within our households.
In this way, it can be argued that a lot of the behavioural problems that may well be present are as a result of the dog being ‘dominant’ or trying to usurp the pack leader and establish himself at the top of the hierarchy.
Alpha theory states that in order to establish yourself as pack leader you should:
* Always walk though doorways first
* Eat before your dog
* Never let your dog sleep on the sofa or on your bed
* Never let your dog demand attention. Only give him attention when you choose to.
* Never let your dog jump up or put his paws on you. If he does this, he is being dominant over you.
* In games like tug, always make sure you are the winner and take possession of the toy. This shows you are the dominant member of the pack.
Alpha theorists tend to use punitive techniques as main training methods which involve:
alpha rolls: This is where the dog is pushed onto his back and pinned, often being held by the throat.
ear pinching: This is to simulate a mother biting her pup to teach it ‘manners’.
choke chains / prong collars: These are correction devices which tighten around the dogs neck (although some trainers claim that it is merely the noise of the chain clicking which acts as the correction) and inflict some pain as a punishment for the dog behaving in an unwanted manner. For example, pulling on the lead. (Please see my previous entry about the damage these collars can do).
e-collars: These are punitive correction devices which deliver a nasty shock to the wearer (there is a youtube vid of a human wearing one – not many people could argue they aren’t really painful after watching that!)
manhandling: This is where dogs are forced into positions such as; sit or down rather than the dog carrying out the behaviour by himself.
The essence of this style of training is to firmly establish yourself as pack leader with your dog as a follower. The idea is that as a follower, your dog will look to you to control the environment and therefore this will suppress any unwanted behaviours as the dog will not need to fill a ‘leadership role.’
Victoria’s Way
Victoria Stilwell has enjoyed much success as the star of Its Me Or The Dog!
She has researched into both ‘old school’ aversive training methods as well as the effect of different types of reinforcement on how dogs learn and has become an advocate for Positive Reinforcement (R+).
She, along with other leading experts in the field, such as Karen Pryor, Jean Donaldson and Ian Dunbar, is working hard to promote the benefits of training your dog in a positive way.
Victoria states that ‘Positive reinforcement (i.e., giving the dog a reward in the form of praise, play, food, toys, etc. when it responds and offers an action or a behavior that you like) has been shown to be the most effective way to train a dog because rewarding good behavior will increase the likelihood of that behavior being repeated.’ (Stilwell, 2010, positively.com)
Therefore if a dog experiences a good ‘outcome’ (reward) for a behaviour, the chances are high that the behaviour will be repeated (which should then be reinforced – ie lots of repeats and rewards – to a high reliability so that the behaviour ‘sticks’).
This does wonders for us dog owners with regards to our training as we can literally see our dog’s mind ticking over and see them come to the understanding that a particular behaviour will result in a particular outcome (reward).
The fantastic thing about R+ is that it is a kind and effective way of training a ‘command’ or modifying behaviours with great success which allows the dog to learn at it’s own pace. Victoria Stilwell explains that ‘Ultimately, positive training results in a dog who follows an owner because it wants to rather than following out of fear, while traditional training uses punitive methods to force a dog to behave, often resulting in a ‘quick fix’ that never truly identifies the root cause of the misbehavior while promoting insecurity and negative behavior.
As you begin the process of modifying your dog’s behavior, BE PATIENT – positive training relies on consistency, repetition and the following general rules:
* Identify WHY the dog is doing what it is doing. You cannot deal with a behavior unless you know the root cause.
* Once you know the WHY, then you can ask yourself HOW to treat the behavior. It is vitally important that you understand your dog.
* Learn to talk and think dog. Good communication serves to increase the bond between dog and owner considerably.
* Find what motivates your dog to learn and use this while training. Rewards in the form of food, toys, praise or play are powerful, but every dog is different, so find what reward motivates your dog the most. Ignore those that say training your dog using food and/or treats is bribery. For a food motivated dog, using treats in the training process is vital in helping your dog learn. Not only that, food literally changes the way a dog’s brain functions in certain situations and can help rehabilitate a fearful or aggressive dog. Food is a powerful tool and is an essential ingredient when it comes to dealing with many major behavior problems.
* Be Kind! Never hit, scream at or yank your dog. Don’t combat fear with more fear – recognize your dog’s concerns, then slowly and gently help him learn to overcome them.
* Go very slowly when dealing with anxiety-related behaviors. The best way to rehabilitate an aggressive dog is to change how he perceives the stimuli that make him anxious. Do this by slowly showing your dog that the thing he fears is no longer scary.’ (Stilwell, 2010, positively.com)
Positive reinforcement encourages us to work with our dogs and to make training something both dog and handler can thoroughly enjoy.
So Which Way Is The Best Way?
In the field of dog training and behaviour today, dominance and alpha theory is now considered outdated and aversive training techniques, cruel and archaic.
There have also been studies conducted that show punitive training methods can actually result in ‘inhibition of learning, increased fear-related and aggressive behaviors, and injury to animals and people interacting with animals.’ (avsabonline.org)
This means it can cause both physical and psychological damage to the dog – which doesn’t bode well for a healthy, happy relationship between dog and handler.
In my humble opinion, to have the option to train a dog with a kind and effective method which often results in the dog offering a miriad of behaviours in order to receive a reward, but instead using an outdated, punitive method to force the dog to comply seems to make absolutely no sense at all.
Why anyone would want their dog to be afraid of them is completely beyond me. Unfortunately a lot of people seem hung up on the idea of dominance (come on…do you really think dogs spend their time plotting how to overthrow your rule in the castle?) and believe that dogs should do as they’re told because ‘I’m the boss’…rather than realising how much more they could achieve by motivating their dogs to want to work for them.
There are also a lot of people in positions of authority who give out very bad advice to joe public like you and me. One labrador I met, who was extremely nervy and submissive, was taken to the vets. In the consulting room, the dog was fearful and sat on his owner’s foot. To my mind, this dog was in need of reassurance and chose to sit close to his owner as a way to make himself feel ‘safer’. However, the vet cried ‘dominance!’ and sent the client home with worried thoughts about how her dog was trying to establish his dominance over her.
The problem is, for people who aren’t familiar with doggy cues and body language (in this case the client was a first time dog owner), it can lead to serious problems as they come to believe their dog is dominant…begin implementing ‘pack leader’ techniques to establish their own dominance and end up with troubles far worse than they started off with!
The good news is that the power of R+ is steadily increasing with more and more behaviourists and trainers using this method to train their dogs or modify problem behaviours.
There is so much research and evidence on the net (and of course in libraries!) that every dog owner has a wealth of information at his or her fingertips – and if you really want to understand your dog, you should have a nose about! Ask questions, read theories, watch how your dog communicates with you – every noise, tail wag, ear wiggle…and please, I beg, plead and implore you to run a mile from any punitive trainers you may come across in your training travels!
References
http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/images/stories/Position_Statements/Combined_Punishment_Statements.pdf
www.canineconcepts.co.uk
www.cesarsway.com
www.positively.com
www.en.wikipedia.org
Please note that whilst providing details for reference purposes, I have not linked to sites which I feel are detrimental to training and understanding canine behaviour.
All copyright respected. No infringement intended.
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great post as usual!
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Super great post. Honest.
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I love it!
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It hits me as the author of this article is a bit biased to Cesar’s ways of teaching. from what I get from his shows and books there is far more to it then what is posted here.
Hi Julian,
Thank you for your comment. You are completely right, I am biased. But that is due to the extensive research I have done into what the real experts in the field say (Jean Donaldson, Karen Pryor, Ian Dunbar et al) as well as the courses I have undertaken which have shown that dominance theory is so outdated and doesn’t really work.
I’m an R+ trainer all the way I’m afraid!
Many thanks,
Hayley
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Have you actually seen one of Cesar Milan’s shows? Reading this article I don’t think you have. I think you have instead just read what your ‘experts’ have said without researching on your own.
I’m still waiting for you to actually watch a Cesar show and read one of his books before you do a review. Speaking as one who has raised horses and also a few hybrid wolves, I can understand if you do not though: it may change what you think.
Hi Mia,
Thank you for your comment but you are entirely wrong. I watched a few series of Cesar on UK tv and was sorely disappointed. I watch youtube frequently with the sound down watching the dogs’ body language and calming signals they usually offer and also note that CM takes little to no notice of them.
I would not comment on another trainer without researching into his methods myself. I am an avid reader and collector of all things canine behaviour wise and can tell you that if YOU read what the real experts say maybe you will learn that CM’s methods are actually detrimental to the dog and can result in the dog shutting down (learned helplessness) and this can then result in even worse behaviour than before.
CM presents a quick fix on tv – real ‘rehabilitation’ and training can take a tremendous amount of time and patience – you don’t just want to stop the undesirable behaviour, you want to figure out the trigger and reasons behind the emotional response to a stimulus to successfully change the response/behaviour exhibited.
We are all entitled to our opinions but please don’t assume I haven’t done research just because my opinion differs from yours.
Thanks,
Hayley
This post is badly flawed. There is a list of characteristics that the author simplistically implies are central to Millan’s methods, misrepresenting Millan. Read, “Be the pack leader”.
I am also confused as to Stilwell’s position on hierarchy. Charts of the position the humans and their dog were shown in “It’s me or the dog” with the aim to get the humans to change their behaviour so that they would act as leaders and relieve the dog of a role it was unsuited for. Stilwell may have changed position on this but I am not sure if the author is misrepresenting Stilwell too. This point should be dealt with in the post.
The biggest difference between Milan and Stilwell’s methods are that Stilwell is a trainer and Milan is not. Milan works a lot of the time by interrupting the behaviour of the dog giving it time to act calmly which he then does reward even if not always overtly.
Both Stilwell and Milan’s ultimate goal is to change the behaviour of the handlers so that they do not reinforce the behaviour that the handlers do not want. Stilwel’s training may well be better understood by western cultures and make it easier for handlers to work on their problems but any one attempting to train without being “calm assertive” will have limited success.
Hayley, if you have researched this in depth you have sorely let your self down by making such obvious errors.
Jonathan
Hi Jonathan,
Thank you for your comment. I don’t dispute the fact that we are ‘leaders’ for our dogs – we have to be as they rely solely on us for basic needs such as food/shelter etc. And yes, a calm demeanour with dogs will surely do more good than trying to train them by shouting and screaming if they do something wrong!
However, my post is highlighting that ALPHA THEORY and not just ‘Cesar Milan’ is an incorrect and outdated method of training. Stilwell has indeed changed her position on being a ‘pack leader’ (as did the renowned John Fisher). You can see this on her website – positively.com
Changing the behaviour of the handler is not enough to change an emotional response to a negative stimulus. If you have a dog fearful of other dogs (to the point of lunging and attacking), using an Alpha theory method, the handler may be told to lift the dog off the floor (or resort to the horrible alpha roll), for example – as Milan did in one episode with a pitbull – which results in the dog struggling to breathe. No surprise then that the dog stops lunging for the other dog in that instant and yes sure, the handler’s behaviour has affected how the dog has reacted. However, at no point has the handler actually spent any time resolving the reason behind the dog’s fear and therefore cannot have successfully changed the dog’s behaviour.
This is what my post is trying to highlight – whilst the handler’s behaviour is important (and of course you need to know what not to reinforce), you cannot modify behaviour without understanding the dog’s mind. In my opinion, CM does not do this. Being a ‘pack leader’ is not enough.
Thanks,
Hayley
I have seen both trainers use all 5 “quadrants” of the learning paradigm but for the most part CM utilizes much more punishment in his training regime because he sees the dog as some sort of status seeking dominance missile. IMO this is an outdated and incorrect view of domestic dogs and it lends itself to easy dismissal of the root causes of behavioral problems and then justifies his use of punishment as a quick fix for the behavior. Sometimes this works but it can often backfire for people that do not have the skills to pull it off not to mention what id does to the dog. Cesar’s way may work for some people that are confident and able to master his bravado at all costs approach. But there are almost always methods that do not rely on intimidation to teach the dog that there is another way.
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