Cesar Millan - Dog behaviour

Last night I watched Cesar Millan on a DVD someone had made for me - just 1 episode. I found it really interesting. It brought up some thoughts which I'd like to share.

It became very clear that how dogs behave is more often due to other peoples energy, sometimes the owners.

There are certain breeds like Rottweilers, Pit bulls etc. that are commonly reported in the press to be violent or can become easily aggressive. Are they really so, or is it that *we* as humans have imprinted that notion into their DNA with our thinking?

Dogs (and all animals) are so sensitive to our energy. They seem to mimic our thoughts. We feel fear, so do they. We feel sad, so do they. We feel angry, so do they. We get sick .. sometimes they even carry the burden of our sickness.

I've noticed on more than one occassion where someone with their dog was walking along with me and mine, and they would see a certain breed of dog, like a pit bull, and say something like "get your dog on a lead, that pit bull might attack!" and I would see the pit bull tense up and tail in the air, ready for a fight .. where it was quite peaceful before.

Sometimes, it's the owners of Rottweilers, pit bulls etc. that warn me against allowing my dog to play with theirs. Even some owners of these breeds fear that their own dogs can become violent. I always say ... "It's ok, my dog gets on with all dogs" And it's true. I believe we can all get along ... and my dog is so clever, if he does feel a little intimidated, he stands between the legs of the owner of the other dog, knowing that the owner is the dominant one.

I know since I became a dog owner, my thoughts have changed so much. There is no breed I don't like. There is no unloveable dog. There is no *bad* dog. There are only fearful people and fearful dog owners, projecting out those fears ... and having dogs react to them.

To me, ALL dogs are gifts. All dogs are loving and kind. All dogs seek is our unconditional love and they offer it back, when we release our own fears.

Like St Fransis of Assisi, who had no fear, all creatures, great and small were loving and peaceful in his presence. Something we can al learn from.

I'm hoping to see more Cesar Millan DVDs in the future, but unfortunately I only have a UK (region 2) DVD player and I think that currently, all his DVDs are region 1. Tweet