by Chance Clever

Created on: March 02, 2010   Last Updated: March 03, 2010

In the battle between Victoria Stilwell and Caesar Milan, the cold hard truth is this: Milan is more concerned with psychology than actual dog behavior training. While America (and perhaps most of the world) is drawn to his heartwarming ways of curing separation anxiety, and ascertaining that the dog in question was beaten in another life, this is not dog training. “Making the family whole again through understanding” is an admirable goal, but the practicality just isn’t there. Meanwhile, Caesar puts emphasis on treating the dog as if you were the mother dog. This is frankly impractical for humans. Try as we might, the dog will never see us as its mother.

Milan is more concerned with physical cues and less talking, while Stilwell prefers the verbal correction and reward method. Milan seems to always have a hand out, ready to poke his subject. This is not insulting nor wrong because as he says, this is what the mother dog would do in nature. Be that as it may, we humans are not mother dogs, and frankly Caesar tries too hard to make us so. Caesar gets down on the floor with the animals, allows them to take out their aggressions on him, and corrects them as their relationship develops. Can you imagine doing this with guests in your house? “Please pass the lasagna…oh I’m sorry I need to stop Rex from barking so I’ll just take a moment or two to wrestle with him on the floor…don’t mind me.” Not how I want to spend an evening with dinner guests.

Meanwhile Stilwell preaches a method that is much more practical for every day human life. She uses methods that include verbal cues and separation where necessary. By allowing the dog to release its aggressions while alone (in time out, if you will), the dog is significantly calmer when it returns to the “pack.” This means less aggravation for the humans, and a much more well adjusted dog. Especially important is the de-emphasis on confrontation between human and dog. In Stilwell’s world, not everything evolves into a battle of aggression between dog and human. Verbal cues are more easily used and reinforced. It is simply a matter of practicality for the human lifestyle. Try as we might, we can not (and probably do not want to) live like dogs.

What I will say for both Milan and Stilwell is they both know that a dog needs to be treated like a dog, and not like a human. As much as we baby and spoil our pets, they are just that, pets. A dog has a biological need to do dog things, whether or not they are pleasant to us humans. This means they need to roll in the grass (no matter how disgusting it smells), run at their top speed (even though we hate to chase them down the block) and sniff (regardless of the fact that the garbage smell is enough to send us covering our mouths to the bathroom). Both Milan and Stilwell successfully address these issues with their clients, who far too often are dressing Princess Penelope up in a tutu and feeding her at the table. “Dogs need jobs,” is often heard from both Milan and Stilwell.

Both trainers are exceedingly successful for good reason, their methods work. The choice comes down to whose methods are most easily employed in our lives. The answer is clear: Victoria Stilwell.

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