The methods he uses are not his but years out of date. He does not spend 5 minutes with the dogs, that is what his programme implies. He spends time alone with the dog without the owner and that is the part you don't see on his programmes, what you see is the second day of filming onwards.... who knows what happens on the first day? There is no "quick fix" when training a dog with problems and no matter what the warnings people still try what he does on their own dogs. If you watch what he does with a lead you can see it's pulled up tight right behind the dogs jaw which is a very sensitive area, it also enables him to cut off their air supply thus subduing them faster, it's a practice known as "stringing up" and I think Barbara Wooodhouse may have used it???? You will see he keeps the lead tight and the dog jumps around and chokes all very dramatic looking as though it is doing it to itself when in fact it is reacting to what he is doing.
I don't watch the programme any more because he just gets on my nerves. I used to watch it with the sound off and then again with the sound on and listen to what was being said. The dogs body language does not match with what he says is happening. I'm not even convinced he actually likes dogs other than as a money spinner as he always seems very unnatural in his interactions with them. There is a thing called learned helplessness. This is when the dog cannot escape the situation it is in and so shuts down and appears to be compliant, this is what happens with cesar. He doesn't train dogs, he abuses them and it's marketed for television. The whole idea about domestic dogs and dominance is outdated yet people like him keep spouting about it
The one thing all those people on his show seem to have in common is that they don't bother to walk their dogs, instead they think their gardens are adequate and the result is unsocialised frustrated and unpredictable
You never get the best out of a dog by being physical or intimidating it. confronting an apparently aggressive dog is not only incredibly stupid but downright dangerous and can make the problem worse. It does make good television though and that is what mr millan is about.
There are lots of positive methods that take longer but ultimately work better but people don't want to watch a dog being trained like that because there is nothing "amazing" about it. Dog borstal isn't much better, rattle bottles and water? Geez, welcome to the dark ages of dog training
this is an interesting link, not because it disagrees with "the dog whisperer" but because it provides a lot of information on "dominance" and dog behaviour and body language.
Dog Whisperer, Dog Psychology and Cesar Millan