Recently Cesar Millan’s publicist sent us a set of his DVD movies, Mastering Leadership: Improving your dog’s behavior through exercise, discipline and affection, to review. I was pretty fascinated watching all those dogs running with him on the beach and on his property, WOOF! It looked like a LOT of fun to be with ALL those dogs, running in a pack, out where I could sniff to my heart’s content, sigh.

Well I’m about to share with you MY assessment of this DVD set…well and my human’s also. It is VERY important to me that my humans learn ALL they can about us dogs and our nature. And they did! My human wasn’t sure what she would think of the DVDs and she was, in her words, pleasantly surprised for the most part…I’ll tell you later about the only part we she wasn’t enamored of and neither was I. We promised Cesar’s publicist we’d give our honest review and that’s what we plan on doing. Not that it will really make or break him one way or the other, hehe! He’s too accomplished for all of that, WOOF!

The biggest thing we both got out out of this DVD is that Cesar really drives home the fact that we are animals and dogs, not furry little humans. That is so VERY important for you humans to REALLY understand if we’re going to have a long-term, good relationship. In fact, it is critical to stopping so many of us winding up as throwaways or thought of as disposable just bepaws you humans aren’t doing your homework! And worse all these insane breed specific legislations that hold us DOGS accountable rather than you goofy humans, WOOF!

Cesar shows you humans what it means to be calm and assertive. He talks about calm energy being the leader. Not nervous energy. And he shows what it all looks like from a dog’s perspective. And while YOU may think that we dogs just want to be cuddled and hugged on, what Cesar does explain VERY well in this DVD series is how to begin to think like us so that WE feel secure, safe, from OUR perspective.

You have heard me bark and blog about Dr. Myrna Milani here and for good reason. She’s been our guest on Animal Talk Naturally a few times. On the last show with us, A Theory of Animal Mind, she said, “We have a choice: we can relate to animals as it meets THEIR needs or as it meets OUR needs. If we must choose – and we must – what’s it going to be?“. INDEED!

Cesar mirrors those sentiments in his Mastering Leadership series.

He also lays to rest all the breed specific BUNK we keep hearing about, WOOF! That warmed the cockles of my big heart!

And he even shows you how to pick out a dog for you not a breed mind you but a DOG (you’ll want to get the DVD series to understand what he says about animal, dog, breed, etc.) by either adopting, getting a dog from a rescue group or from a reputable breeder.

That was another very interesting point. So I’d give this DVD series 3 1/2 paws up. The 1/2 paw I reserve for the vaccines, spay/neuter, and food issues he doesn’t address according to nature.

He does recommend EXERCISE on a DAILY basis, and not just some mamby pamby exercise either, WOOF! He says we dogs MUST get a good long, hearty walk every day. A GOOD LONG one humans! For that he gets the full four paws up, WOOF!

But here is where we had some issues with the DVD and we honestly just think he doesn’t know any better in this area:

1. Food. We dogs are not designed to eat KIBBLE. THbbttt! We are carnivores. We NEED raw meaty bones to thrive. So forget the kibble poop he shares in the DVD. Cesar, read this blog, you’ll discover what we dogs REALLY need to eat!
This may help you out Cesar but we also know you are now feeding raw meaty bones to your own dogs a few times per week – audio programs from Animal Talk Naturally:
Nutrition for Our Carnivore Pets, Vol 1
Nutrition for Our Carnivore Pets, Vol 2

2. Vaccines. OY he says to make sure we are kept up to date on those. You all know if you’ve read this blog for any length of time what we think about those things. So you lose points here Cesar. In fact if he reads this review, I hope he will go listen to our audio program set on Animal Talk Naturally: Pet Vaccines: What You Need to Know

“Routine vaccination has adverse side-effects, either short or long term. With vaccines that are repeated year after year, the frequency and severity of these side-effects in our pets has increased dramatically. Most of the problems involve the immune system. After all, the immune system is what vaccines are designed to stimulate. But they do so in a very unnatural way that can overwhelm and confuse the immune system.” Donna Starita Mehan, DVM

Dr. Ronald D. Schultz, Ph.D.- “Annual revaccination provides no benefit and may increase the risk for adverse reactions. The percentage of vaccinated animals (those vaccinated only as puppies) protected from clinical disease after challenge with canine distemper virus, canine parvovirus and canine adenovirus in the study was greater than 95%.” Current and Future Canine and Feline Vaccination Programs. Dr. Ronald Schultz is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at the School of Veterinary Medicine, UW-Madison. Schultz, R.D. – Current & Future Canine & Feline Vaccination Programs. Vet Med 3: No. 3, 233-254, 1998 more . A chart provided in the report shows immunity levels for all vaccines currently given to dogs lasting a minimum of 5 years with most lasting 7-15 years!

Don Hamilton, DVM -Yearly “boosters” are unnecessary, provide no benefit if given (will not increase immunity). Thus boosters are either a legal issue (Rabies) or a manipulation issue (inducing clients to come in for examination rather than directly suggesting an examination).

Charles E Loops DVM - “Homeopathic veterinarians and other holistic practitioners have maintained for some time that vaccinations do more harm than they provide benefits. Vaccinations represent a major assault on the body’s immune system…. Vaccine induced chronic diseases range from life-threatening conditions such as auto-immune crises to conditions destroying the quality of life of an animal as in chronic skin allergies.”

3. Now for the gonad issue or spay/neuter. Speuter as we often call it. And really if the dog is old enough okay. But to say to make sure ALL dogs are speutered prior to leaving the shelter (regardless of age), isn’t that just promoting more ILL health? Sure it is. Read for yourself what the veterinarian studies are proving on this particular subject: http://www.mmilani.com/spay-neuter-references.html

4. For some REALLY good NATURAL rearing breeders rather than using the link Cesar recommends in his DVD series go to these sites:
www.NRBreedersAssociation.org
www.NaturalRearing.org
www.AuNaturelK9s.org

Because this blog is about NATURAL dog health, we had to take this series down to 3 1/2 paws rather than the full four. So the info in it about dog nature and helping us dogs get along in your human world is pretty doggone pawsome! And we do hope Cesar will learn about the REAL health, from nature the way God intended!

You can pick up your own copy of Mastering Leadership here: www.leadlikecesar.com. We will be giving away one set during our upcoming Christmas show, A Season of Giving, on Animal Talk Naturally, December 17, 2008 at 2:30 PM Eastern LIVE on BlogTalk Radio! Go to http://www.animaltalknaturally.com/a-season-of-giving/ to find out more about our Christmas show.

Have a pawsitively tail waggin, NATURALLY healthy day, WOOF!

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