I have puppy fever! Anyone read/watch Cesar Millan?

[Julie Billingsley]

I have puppy fever SO SO bad and am thinking of finally putting a deposit down on a puppy. But I want to read and absorb all I can before making that step. I've heard the thing to do is read Cesar Millan and a quick search on Amazon showed several books and videos. I see he has a book coming out in October regarding puppies, but until then, where do I start?? Or is there a better source? I want to be a good mama to a fur baby and am ready to learn!

[BrattyMeg]

is he the dog whisperer dude? I like his show on animal planet. but...sorry haven't read his books so i'm no help

[jocelinsmommy]

he is so amazing.....the shush thing he does--works....I have FIVE dogs---yes i'm insane LOL...and they're all the best behaved dogs---well not all the time but they've had some lessons to learn. I hate to say....don't get a weenie dog--I have 4. They're the hardest to potty train...very stubborn (personal opinion...like I said I have 4.) It's taken us FOREVER to potty train them and they've finally at the ripe ages of 4,3 and two that are 2 have caught the idea. We also have a huge Siberian Husky and he's very playful (he's still a puppy at 8 months old) and is the one who I've used the method on the most. We even have the nintendo DS game, but the book I bought was his Puppy Whisperer and then I bought his The Dog Whisperer A Compassionate and Nonviolent approach to train your dog. My favorite method is to use the spray bottle all 5 of mine hate the spray bottle and it's helped alot. I've even given one to a friend whose 2 dogs are toatlly out of control and it works amazingly.

[Jennifer]

I'll be watching this thread--our puppy is learning quickly, but we still have soooooooo far to go...

[Julie Billingsley]

Originally Posted by jocelinsmommy

We even have the nintendo DS game, but the book I bought was his Puppy Whisperer and then I bought his The Dog Whisperer A Compassionate and Nonviolent approach to train your dog. My favorite method is to use the spray bottle all 5 of mine hate the spray bottle and it's helped alot. I've even given one to a friend whose 2 dogs are toatlly out of control and it works amazingly.

oh good! I'll look for the Puppy Whisperer then to start with. There is a game?? I think I'm more of a reader or video watcher.

Originally Posted by jocelinsmommy

I hate to say....don't get a weenie dog--I have 4.

No, my oldest was attacked by a weenie dog, so I know that isn't happening as he now hates that breed. The breed that I am set on is a Shiba Inu. I've actually almost gotten one a few times and then had life stuff happen that derailed that. (divorce and then a move to an apartment). So I'm finally set in my life that I have done 10 years of research and admiring of this breed. (Gone to shows, etc, although I do not want a show dog.) So anyway, this decision is well thought out and now I need to figure out the whole how to be a good mama part Thanks for the feedback on that it is working for you!

Do you know if he recommends crating at night? I don't know how I feel on that, but I was curious.

[jocelinsmommy]

Oh I agree on the reading more than the game but lol it's an interesting thing it's suspsoed to be "hands on" and for our foster son he wanted it to maybe help him learn things as far as our large dog goes.

It's neat that your looking into an Inu, our Husky looks color wise like one along with his tail. I have never seen the breed. They are absolutely beautiful! I would say for a big dog though crate training at night is a must! Even for little dogs but my 4 weenies are spoiled rotten so they sleep in the bedroom on they're very large bed on the floor. I was attacked by my moms friends weenie dog so I can't blame your oldest at all. I used to be to the point I couldn't stand them but my husband was raised with them. We got our male, and then after hurricane Katrina we ended up with a female from a breeder we knew and then they had puppies. We ended up keeping 2 of her 4 (We currently own 4 male dogs, a male cat and then 1 female dog!) after having a bad experience with a couple who bought one of her puppies. Thankfully we're on the last one getting fixed. OHHH I know one thing---since it's a big dog if your going to get a male---I can not emphasize getting them fixed before they get big...our Husky is 8 months old and is now weighing over 55lbs and he before being fixed was all over the place. The vet said we should have gotten him fixed sooner then he would be something easier to handle.

Crating is used for a million different reasons and our Husky is crated at night as it makes him feel safe, he doesn't tear things up because he's "bored", he has his bed in there along with his toy jack rabbit and a bone to chew on incase he gets bored. I know he gets bored since we go through several bones a month! Our weenie dogs since for the longest they'd never been crated (I currently work from home so they're free to run around) if we left they'd tear up everything from toilet paper to carpet because it was by the door and they wanted to be near someone or something etc so crating just helps keep ur things in one piece lol that's another reason we use them now especially after buying our new home. During the day though for the most part they're free to do what they want until they do something wrong and it's into the crate. That's another way I know alot of people use it is to show they're dogs that there are actions to they're misbehavior.

I'm rambling and it's really late where i'm at...pardon my babbling off to bed!!

[Julie Billingsley]

Originally Posted by jocelinsmommy

OHHH I know one thing---since it's a big dog if your going to get a male---I can not emphasize getting them fixed before they get big...our Husky is 8 months old and is now weighing over 55lbs and he before being fixed was all over the place. The vet said we should have gotten him fixed sooner then he would be something easier to handle.

that is good to know! I'm really wanting a female, but since litters are unpredictable, I will have to be open to either. Thankfully, Shibas are more of a medium sized dog and typically don't get to be over 20-25 pounds. You might be thinking of their bigger 'cousin' the Akita, which is a more common dog than the Shiba.

I'm glad to hear of your experiences in crating. The only dog I've ever had was a Westie back as a child and she was never crated so I don't have any experience in that. Your thoughts on it make perfect sense.

Thanks for helping me!

[ColleenSwerb]

1) I adore Cesar.

2) His methods WORK. Tiger was a dominant stubborn biotch when I first got her, and now she's pretty much the best behaved dog anyone has ever met (yes, I'm patting myself on the back here ).

3) HUGE advocate for crate training here as well. Dog are den animals. They like to have their own space where they can go to and feel safe and secure. Growing up with dogs, we always crated so it was a natural thing for me to do. I look at it from the view point of giving the dog their own room. Tiger was a force to be reckoned with if left alone in the house (she's much better now, but we still crate her when we're gone for more than 3 hours), and she also has mild separation anxiety and would get herself into trouble over the stress of being left alone. Putting her in the crate ensured that yes, our possessions stayed intact, but also that she couldn't get into anything and hurt herself in any way. Now, she technically has 3 beds. 1 in our bedroom, 1 in the living room, and her crate in the spare bedroom which is always left open. When I first got her I lived in an apartment and her crate was up against the back of the couch. I would often find her in there chewing on a bone or a toy, just cuz she liked being in her crate.

Now generally, using the crate for punishment is looked down upon (I've gotten into more than my fair share of arguements over it in the past). However, I see it the same as sending a child to their room when they've done something wrong. It also depends on the personality of our dog. For Tiger, being kept in a room away from us while we're home is the absolute WORST punishment we could ever give her. She is extremely attached and is always in a room with one of us. So by essentially telling her "you can't be with us because you've been bad", it gets the point across that whatever she did was wrong and she shouldn't do it again. It's been months since she misbehaved bad enough to warrant a time-out in the crate.

The single most important lesson you will learn from Cesar, is that YOU are in charge. NOT the dog. YOU (and ALL humans in the house) are higher up in the pack order than the dog is. The dog must listen to, and respect, even the smallest human member of the pack. Everything with him is all about the calm assertive energy. And that "tsk" kinda sound he makes? TOTALLY FREAKING WORKS! Lol!

I adore Shiba's, I think they are so gorgeous. One of the apartments in Jordan's building when we first met had a Shiba who would sit quietly on the balcony all day while his owners were gone. I really really wanted one for the longest time, and then one of Jordan's friends got one (a female). Unfortunately, she's absolutely insane and not well trained. I know it's an individual dog and owner situation, but it's kinda ruined the breed for me a bit. That, and I despise dogs that shed like crazy. I barely keep my house clean as it is, let alone all the vacuuming that comes with a shedding dog, lol! And oh boy howdy do they shed! LOL! We even had an Old English Sheepdog growing up! I'm not sure how my mom handled it. Besides, I have such a strong emotional attachment to pit bulls, I'll probably never own another breed for the rest of my life, lol.

Sorry for writing such a novel, lol. I'm a smidge passionate about dogs and training and such.

[azrood]

Another Cesar fan here! We have 4 dogs and his techniques have worked wonders for them/us.

[aggiefamily]

I have never watched Cesar but his methods sound like they would work.

We used the crate when we first got Katie. We put her in it when we ran errands, were eating and at night. We put her in it at night to help potty train. Since puppies can't hold it that long and won't potty where they sleep it taught her to whine to go out. We stopped crating her at night a couple months ago and she does great. Now when she needs to go out she comes up to us and does a little whine (like a mini bark) and nods her head towards the door. And since we crated her when we were eating she also knows not to come into the kitchen when we are sitting down. Unless we have bacon. LOL!

She does tear up toliet paper or anything paper when we leave her alone but I think that is all puppy because she hasn't done it as much lately. If we are going to be gone a really long time we put up a baby gate and leave her in the kitchen.

Her crate is in our bedroom and she will still go in there to rest. I don't use it for punishment but I have never really had to punish her.

[ajf9597]

I have never read the book. I just wanted to say can't wait to see some cute puppy pics Julie!!!

Also, we did crate our 2 when they were pups until they were potty trained, when we left. Otherwise they were out with us. We didn't crate at night, but we did contain them to our room, so they couldn't go somewhere else to pee. We never had any problems and they both potty trained very easy, but we had both females, I have heard that females are easier to potty train, but I don't know if there is a truth behind it or not. I think we crated them when we left until they were a little older and weren't chewing up everything too

[Kiki]

Originally Posted by jocelinsmommy

We also have a huge Siberian Husky and he's very playful (he's still a puppy at 8 months old) and is the one who I've used the method on the most. We even have the nintendo DS game, but the book I bought was his Puppy Whisperer and then I bought his The Dog Whisperer A Compassionate and Nonviolent approach to train your dog. My favorite method is to use the spray bottle all 5 of mine hate the spray bottle and it's helped alot. I've even given one to a friend whose 2 dogs are toatlly out of control and it works amazingly.

I totally agree with the spray bottle!! We also have an 8 month husky, and that's the only thing that works on him. The shush method didn't, but boy is he well behaved.