Thursday, August 28, 2008

Why I refuse to watch The Dog Whisperer

Some people, mostly my mom and a few friends, know how strongly I feel about the guy in the show called The Dog Whisperer. I would hope that any kind, caring animal lover who watches or has watched this show, would be intelligent enough to realize that Millans' training techniques are inhumane and very cruel. The fact that thousands of so-called animal lovers and owners watch the show and praise the techniques used on the show, makes me incredibly upset and I usually just walk away if someone brings the show up. I have tried countless times to convince people that the show is only doing harm and it's teaching people to be cruel to their animals and cause them pain as a way of getting them to listen, to become scared of their owners. And after I have explained how the techniques used on the show were wrong and people were being misinformed about proper, humane ways of fixing behaviors and training problems, they will often brush me off and go on and on talking about how wonderful Ceser Millan is. Please! Gag me with a spoon. Are you serious???

So I was very happy when I found this article today, written by American Humane, which is an amazing organization who protects the rights of animals and children and goes out of their way to educate the public about cruel and inhumane treatments. They oversee filming laws in movies and videos that use animals and children, they advocate adoption and they are the people responsible for implementing emergency animal rescue relief in times of crisis, like when Hurricane Katrina stuck New Orleans. In September 2006 they wrote this article to the National Geographic channel, asking them to cancel the show. Here is what they wrote:



'Dog Whisperer' Training Approach More Harmful Than Helpful

Denver (September 6, 2006)

The training tactics featured on Cesar Millan's “Dog Whisperer” program are inhumane, outdated and improper, according to a letter sent yesterday to the National Geographic Channel by American Humane, the oldest national organization protecting children and animals.

In the letter, American Humane, which works to raise public awareness about responsible pet ownership and reduce the euthanasia of unwanted pets, expressed dismay over the “numerous inhumane training techniques” advocated by Cesar Millan on “Dog Whisperer.”

Several instances of cruel and dangerous treatment -- promoted by Millan as acceptable training methods -- were documented by American Humane, including one in which a dog was partially asphyxiated in an episode. In this instance, the fractious dog was pinned to the ground by its neck after first being “hung” by a collar incrementally tightened by Millan. Millan’s goal -- of subduing a fractious animal -- was accomplished by partially cutting off the blood supply to its brain.

The letter requests that National Geographic stop airing the program immediately and issue a statement explaining that the tactics featured on the program are inhumane, and it encourages National Geographic to begin developing programming that sets a positive example by featuring proper, humane animal training. In its letter, American Humane said: “We believe that achieving the goal of improving the way people interact with their pets would be far more successful and beneficial for the National Geographic Channel if it ceased sending the contradictory message that violent treatment of animals is acceptable.”

“As a forerunner in the movement towards humane dog training, we find the excessively rough handling of animals on the show and inhumane training methods to be potentially harmful for the animals and the people on the show,” said the letter’s author, Bill Torgerson, DVM, MBA, who is vice president of Animal Protection Services for American Humane. “It also does a disservice to all the show’s viewers by espousing an inaccurate message about what constitutes effective training and appropriate treatment of animals.”

Torgerson noted that the safety of a woman and her German shepherd were jeopardized in one episode by the use of an electric shock collar, which forced the tormented dog to redirect its aggression at its owner, biting her arm. “Furthermore, the television audience was never told that Mr. Millan was attempting to modify the dog’s behavior by causing pain with the shock collar,” he said.

What you read above has not been blown out of proportion, rather when the show first came out, as always when something animal related comes out, I sat down to watch it in hopes that I would be learning some new methods of animal training that I could apply in my own workings with dogs in my life and in my pet sitting business. But unfortunately I was appalled! I remember tears streaming down my cheeks and getting very angry and I didn't even watch the entire show. I got up, left the room and emailed The National Geographic channel about my thoughts and something about 'how dare they show a program that tells people it is okay to be cruel to their dogs. I never heard back from them but I also never watched the show again and I believe that by not supporting the show, I am making a difference. Now I just want to spread the word about the show and try to get the show pulled. So while this article was written 2 years ago, by us bombarding the channel website with emails, it would really help I think to bring this issue back to the present and advocate the cancellation of The Dog Whisperer.

Now and again, I talk to people and when I first met Heather and her dog Gracie - who happens to be a Katrina rescue dog - she asked me my opinion of The Dog Whisperer. I frowned and carefully told her my thoughts. To my surprise, she agreed with me. She told me about the show that she had first seen and that it was a case where the dog was scared of other dogs because it had had no social interaction with other dogs as a puppy and apparently the owner couldn't take her dog anyplace where other dogs were. In the show, when nothing else worked, Millan proceeded to use force to try to 'scare' the dog into submission. I had tried to wipe my memory of that show, but as it turns out, this was actually the episode that I had watched as well, so Heather told me what happened. Millan put this dog into a little fenced area, about 4 feet in circumference so the dog was trapped there and had no way of escaping. Dogs who have been abused should never be left trapped like that. Then he let loose about 5 or 6 different dogs, I think a few were his and the dogs just started barking at the dog in the fence and circling him and this poor dog was whimpering and just got down on the ground because there was nothing else he could do. He had the shit scared out of him and he was probably scarred for life after that incident. Millan proceeded to praise the dogs that were outside of the fence, for their behavior and he praised the dog inside the cage for submitting to Millan and his technique. Then he had the owner walk the dog over to another dog, both on leashes. This poor dogs' response was to immediately get down on the ground and cower, not making eye contact or acknowledging that there was another dog in its presence. Watching that made me so extremely sad and I was just appalled at the fact that they - whoever they is - would allow such a thing to be shown on public TV. But of course, I'm blown away by a lot of things that are shown on TV, even just basic cable. But don't get me started on that tangent.

So if you want to be a part of this cause, you can email National Geographic and tell them what you think of the show and why you want the show canceled. It makes a bigger difference when lots of people get together and contact a TV channel to get their opinions heard. So if you care, please take the time to do so.

National Geographics' contact info is: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/contact. There is a form that you fill out. If you want to contact Millan himself and tell him how you feel about what he does, go here: http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/contact/. Thank you!

Monday, August 18, 2008

Michael Phelps is my new hero!

For those of you not watching the Olympics - and if you aren't, WHY??? - you are so missing out! Our country rocks the summer olympics this year. We have done so well. But I am happy to say that because of the Olympics I have a new hero - Michael Phelps. Not just because he's just done the impossible - won 8 gold medals in one Olympics and broken 8 world records in each of his 8 events. But because he is an amazing swimmer and he swims a lot like I do, at least in freestyle, with his shoulders up out of the water and leaves a powerful wake behind him. It has been so awesome and mind blowing watching him swim LIVE on TV and win so many things - plus out two men's relay teams did amazingly well and also broke world records in both of those events. At one relay, we were half a pool's length ahead of the rest of the field. Just amazing!

Here is a list of his medals:

Men's Swimming
Competitor for Flag of the United States United States
Olympic Games
Gold 2004 Athens 100 m butterfly
Gold 2004 Athens 200 m butterfly
Gold 2004 Athens 200 m individual medley
Gold 2004 Athens 400 m individual medley
Gold 2004 Athens 4 x 200 m freestyle relay
Gold 2004 Athens 4 x 100 m medley relay
Gold 2008 Beijing 200 m freestyle
Gold 2008 Beijing 100 m butterfly
Gold 2008 Beijing 200 m butterfly
Gold 2008 Beijing 200 m individual medley
Gold 2008 Beijing 400 m individual medley
Gold 2008 Beijing 4 x 100 m freestyle relay
Gold 2008 Beijing 4 x 200 m freestyle relay
Gold 2008 Beijing 4 x 100 m medley relay
Bronze 2004 Athens 200 m freestyle
Bronze 2004 Athens 4 x 100 m freestyle relay

Here's a link to news on his 8th Gold Medal. So cool!!! http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/17/sports/OLYPHELPS.php?WT.mc_id=glob_mrktg_lnk1&WT.mc_ev=click

Here is a news video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emzsB1b2cWw

And lastly, on this site, under Swimming, you can watch Phelps win all 8 Golds! http://www.nbcolympics.com/racefortherecord/

:)

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Recent California fires

These are a collection of shots taken during the recent Calif fires. So sad how much has burned and has prevented me and others from going camping as well as canceling many different endurance rides :(

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/07/californias_continuing_fires.html

Glad they are starting to go out!