In order to experience Sessions with Cesar, you must ensure that you have the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player and that JavaScript is enabled in your browser.
Please visit Sessions with Cesar Help for additional information on technical requirements.
I haven't purposely taught our son how to "command" the dogs, he has seen us use Cesar's methods and picked it up all on his own. He often has problems telling us what he wants and just shows us, but has no issue conveying to the dogs what he wants (he does speak small sentences). These are two dogs that came to us last year with fear and aggression issues, one even used to bite children (they were abusing her). Now both dogs are happy and balanced after a lot of hard work, and I am now floored when my son has them do things. He can walk up to them and demand a toy or bone, and they will spit it out in his hand. He uses our "shhtt" correction with the dogs. Our son can have them sit by his body language, they haven't learned to respond to the verbal command from him yet. He tells them sit and points to the ground, but they don't understand him. They can get overly excited or anxious and he will correct them before I do, and they LISTEN to him. Sometimes I think they may listen better with him, than with us, he has them achieve total relaxation and submission before he goes back to his playing. I haven't ever seen such a young child command dogs successfully and it still floors me every time. I'm used to having to deal with dogs knocking down children ect. But with Cesar's methods, things are great, and I have my own little dog whisperer living with me. It's hallarious to be ruff housing with my son and he will stop all the sudden at the first sound of the dogs needing to be corrected, and he corrects them, he never misses a beat with them. Sometimes he walks with us on their daily walks, and I have the dogs walk beside him and he is beside me, they know not to pass him. I never would have imagined these two shelter dogs with issues, doing so well and my son having such a big part in it too. Amazing, I am so greatful for Cesar's ways and teachings.
Our dog breeds are Vizsal/Pit Bull and a Chihuahah/Fox Terrier, both almost two yrs old now.
Renee, thank you for giving me a morning smile :) children can teach adults so many things, really I wouldn't get him to ask them verbally to sit when he is able,the dogs are responding 100% to his body language, I think it is better communication with children because they have not learnt fear or anger all that negative stuff, they also at that age haven't learnt to rationalise the way we adults do, you know muddle it round until it has turned into something completely different, children when so young just react, I also think that is great that the girls are showing him respect, so if he has this amount of pecking status then I would encourage it all the more, and also encourage him just posturing and the hey or ssshhhtt ,I think by what you have written they will more than likely move or stop before he say's anything :) well done my friend, you have already made a big difference to future dogs!
I am very proud of you Rob and the girls my friend, i don't want to say "i told you so" (not the buddha way)............. but did I not tell you so!ha ha my heart is truly gladdened guys you should be very proud of yourselves from where you have come and the girls also.
much much metta to you all particularily wee Robert..:)
peace and light
jofi
"Being around children that small, you see how they naturally gravitate to the the light.They are not cynical yet.It takes many years to unlearn that innocence"
Kayla was a crazy thing when she was a puppy. She'd get overexcited whenever we met someone on our walks (could be that they were overexcited meeting her!). But there was one little girl in the neighborhood who could command my hyper dog's attention like a little dog whisperer. She LOVED Kayla and Kayla loved it when Clarissa was outside as we walked by. Rissy would come right up to Kayla and say "sit down doggie!" with such authority! And Kayla would immediately go into her sit and look at Rissy like "what next?" This was before Cesar and it taught me a LOT about handling my dog and how to be calm/assertive -- this from a two year old!
Rissy moved but she's now a student where I teach and she still asks after Kayla, even stops by to see her sometimes when she's on a bike ride. She also has a dog of her own and I'm sure she's got it well trained! :-)
Hi - kids and animals - what astounding things we can witness if only we watch carefully and truly pay attention. I was a clinical social worker for 26 years working primarily with child victims of abuse and trauma. Now, our tiny farm is host to an animal facilitated therapy program serving troubled and traumatized children and adolescents. Through all these experiences I have learned that when it comes to troubled animals and troubled children amazing things can and do happen.
Last February I was asked to keep - originally for "just a few days" - a horribly abused and extremely traumatized Yellow Lab. Unfortunately, at the time the woman who runs the dog portion of the therapy program was out of town. Therefore, the responsibility for this dog fell on me. The dog was one of the most shut down dogs I've even known. I placed him in a horse stall as a temporary holding area while I readied a pen in the kennel area. But, when I went to get the dog he refused to come out of the stall and would not allow me close. I didn't want to further traumatize him, so I decided to leave him alone for a few hours. When evening came and the temperature dropped close to zero, I became worried about his becoming cold in the unheated barn, but he still refused to budge from his corner of the stall and whenever I approached he tightened into a smaller ball. This went on into the 2nd day and I had pretty much given up on the dog and was hoping the rescue group would come the following morning to pick the dog up. I was way over my head and had little idea of what I could do to help the dog. That afternoon the guardians of one of our program children came to the farm with the child in order to meet with me about the child's on-going issues. While we talked in the office, the child wandered into the barn. Frankly, I had blanked on the dog still being in the stall. About an hour later I suddenly remembered about the dog and in something of a panic we rushed to the barn. There in the stall we found the little boy sitting with the dog's head in his lap. This severely traumatized child and this severely traumatized dog had found one another. I asked the little boy if he would lead the dog into the heated tack room where I had set up a bed. As we adults stood aside, the boy walked with the dog following, right into the tack room. The dog never hesitated once! From that day on the dog and little boy were inseparable and both started making amazing progress. Today the dog lives with the boy and both are doing terrific.
I have longed believed that the reason why children and dogs often do so well together is because both live very much in the present. Dogs and children don't obsess about what should be or what has been, they live right here, right now and do what seems natural at that moment. They don't care about appearances; they sense and know what is real, inside and at the heart of people. Your baby picks up on your dog's building anxiety before you do because a child senses rather than reasons at this age, which is exactly how dogs live. While you and I - and all adults - must learn Cesar's methods, a child and a dog live those methods as natural, rather than something to be learned.
Carney, that is an amazing story that brought tears to my eyes. It speaks to what I love most about children and animals.
To Jofi: Yes you told me so, and I am glad for it. Our girls are doing so great, we couldn't be happier. With Missy's recently found confidence, we have started some obedience training with her, Robert has seen us do that, so he tries it out himself. I do try to get him to not use obedience commands, but he starts it back up after seeing us work with the dogs. The dogs do respond to his body language 100% of the time, sometimes it seems maybe faster than they respond to mine at times. Back when we had to correct the girls for nipping and snarling at our son, I would have them go into the back yard until they were calm and not begging to get back in. This always upset Robert so much, since he doesn't like the dogs to not be at his side as much as possible. If the girls go down stairs while he is still up stairs, he will call them back and play with them for a while. He can say Daisy's name (always has been able to) but can't say Missy, so he calls her "Miss Miss", she picked up on the nick name he gave her after about a week of him starting it, and so they both come running when he calls them. Recently the girls have learned how to play with Robert and play so gently it's neat to watch, all three of them will have a blast together. Any way back to my methods of early correcting their snarling/nipping, I would have Robert stand in front of me at the door, and had the dogs calmly wait for permission to come inside. Robert would be a part of that too, since I would turn him side ways with me to allow them in. This way they rely on his body language to know what is expected from them. The reason I would put them outside for aggression to Robert is that Cesar says take what they really want and use that to your advantage, they really want to be with their pack, so it worked.
Missy has learned to sit, stay, lay down, beg (one of her favorites, she loves being on her hind legs so I taught her when it's ok to do that), and jump (her absolute favorite, she jumps 4 feet in the air for her treats), it took a month to teach her all this and she loves training. Also Missy no longer runs off after other dogs when free roaming, something we had come up recently. We used treats to get her to ignore passing dogs and to stay with her pack no matter what. Funny enough, it only took one time of working with treats, and she hasn't done it again since. She thinks every dog she see's, is a potential play mate, and invites them to play right after the meet and greet process. Before if I saw the dog first and let her know not to run after it, she wouldn't go, but if I didn't see it, she was gone. Now she doesn't do it anymore, she just plays with her pack. She has come a long way for being a strictly outside dog with no training or manners, not even having an understanding of a leash.
All is well here, and we have so many happy days to look forward to.
Peace and Light Jofi
Renee
To KarenK: I love your story of Kayla and your dog, I have seen one dog and little girl just as you discribe and they were adorable together. It was my husband's niece who was at the time 5 when we were there in MI where she lives, I hadn't ever seen such a devoted dog to such a little girl, but that dog most certainly was. I loved watching them, their family hasn't ever watched Cesar, but hold themselves in a natural calm assertive mode all the time. I think the daughter just learned to be that way since she grew up being around that energy with the dog. Her dog is a golden doodle, and will do everything Jasmin says without hesitation. They are so cute together, since Sady (the dog) follows her around for most of the day, willing to play dress up or what ever Jasmin wants to do. So cute, back then I didn't understand what made their relationship so different, since I had just gotten back from living out of the country for 4 years and hadn't ever heard of Cesar, but now I know and am so glad for Cesar. I think it is wonderfull that generations are going to be able to grow up knowing how to handle dogs from early ages, things should get better for the canines in the world, hopefully it will. I think it will improve greatly one day, can't wait to see it happen. I smile when I see people out in public using Cesar's methods, and find myself wishing I could help coach them a bit. But I wait until after I have a chance to get to know them a little bit before I offer help, since I am afraid of being misunderstood and offending someone.
To Carney: Your explination really does make since, and helped us understand just how our son is able to handle the dogs so well. Your story of the troubled dog and the boy was touching. I have heard about troubled animals and people connecting in a unique way that helps both. It's always so neat to hear their stories unfold. I get goose bumps just from reading that the dog and boy are fine these days, and living together after helping each other through their difficult problems. Thank your for your words, they are greatly appreciated.