Funny, in my house the dogs all know my father is the biggest softie and sucker there is. Nor do they listen to my brother. So who do they listen to? That's right, the women, me and my mother, because we actually discipline the dogs if need be. We ask the dogs to behave--sit down or lie down before we give them treats. We only let them onto the furniture if we invite them, as opposed to letting them run rough shod over the couch. I can point and stare at my dog and she'll leave my room because she knows I'm telling her to leave. Why do they listen to us? Because they know we mean business. My father, well, they know he doesn't.

It's the totally outdated training methods Millan employs which I suppose are reflected in his outdated stereotyping. People cling so hard to this whole "alpha" dog mentality that it's extremely frustrating to anyone who has actually done studies in this field in the last 30 years.

I suppose in this sort of environment where you have to basically psychologically break your dog in order for it to be a "good" companion for you then men might indeed be better at it than women. The whole idea of "dominating" your pet quite possibly plays to a man's more traditional strengths than a woman's.

The dog whisperer? Please. He's obviously paying very little attention to the nuances of the animals he's working with, simply applying the same method across the board and not showing us the dogs where it just does NOT work.

Cool! I was never down with this "humanity" thing anyway.

Serriously. These comments are laughably sexist, not because it's not true that some women have overindulged, pampered, bratty dogs, but because he calls women A SEPARATE SPECIES. Like, there's dogs, humans, and women.

He also implies that as a separate species, women are wired differently from *all* other creatures. Because every species on earth practices giving discipline before affection, except women. I'm sure my cat would have liked to know that when her mom was holding her down and forcibly grooming her at the age of 6 months. (I could almost hear the "Mooooom! I'm big enough to clean myself!" "No, honeysnookums, you missed a spot. Let Mommy do it.")

I will agree that the people who have bratty little dogs who were never disciplined are usually women, just as I will agree that the people who have mean, rotten dogs who were abused into being vicious killing machines are usually men. What this has to do with ordinary, average dog owners, however, I have no idea. Every normal woman with a normal dog I know has had no trouble giving out discipline for bad behavior.

Mr Millan was making a general statement about the differences between the male and female dog owners he has encountered and the issues they have with their dogs.

Wow! I can't believe I agree with johnfairfax!

You know, I don't see a lot of men lugging around spoiled little "baby dogs." The kind of overindulged "baby dogs" that have never EVER been disciplined in their coddled little lives. The kind of dogs who charge my 70 pound mixed breed without a brain in their heads. Because little "Precious" has never, ever played with another dog since it was brought home, it has no idea that it is, well 10 pounds. So I am always left holding the bag, trying to pull my dog away while he is being attacked by yet another senseless pipsqueak witha Napolean Complex. Because if my dog were to harm a hair on little Precious's head WE would be in trouble.

I like Ceasar's method because he gives an alterative to whacking the dog with a newspaper. Which was how my family disciplined our dog. My dog is naturally dominant and really does need the discipline first, or he gets "ideas" about who's in charge. My guy is a shelter dog who had some trust issues. We have a pretty good relationship. All I have to do is give him a hard stare and he knows he messed up. And that's for pretty bad behavior. He does look to my husband and I for leadership. (And I do have to remind my husband to "give him some sugar" every once in a while.) His favorite part of the day is his training time. Which suprised me. One of Ceasar Millan's mantras is, "Respect the working dog." Currently my dog is my personal trainer. He also "babysits". OK. He barks when the kids leave the yard. He gave himself that job. In the winter he will pull me on skis, in the sport of skijorring. We have a great time together. He is a lot of fun AND a lot of work!

For me the most important part of his message is that you need to WORK your dog! Give it a job. A reason to live. It will improve your life and the dogs life. Hey. Bucky has a home, and I have gone down two pants sizes! How great is that?

Sadly, I cannot watch the show as much. Bucky gets very excited by those other dogs barking. Ah well.

I did try the Alpha Roll (Not From Ceasar) and it was a huge mistake. The dog thought we were equals and it took two months to straighten that out. I did notice though, that he most often onthe show rolls little dogs that have had NO discipline and only affection.

It looks to me as if Mr Millan was making a general statement about the differences between the male and female dog owners he has encountered and the issues they have with their dogs. Surely, if anyone is qualified to make such an observation it would be Mr Millan himself. If it pleases some to extrapolate from his one innocuous statement and attempt to attach a variety of reactionary views to Mr Millan, views he has not expressed, does that not say more about those people than it does about Mr Millan?