dog whisperer show with… bunnehs!!!

[babybunsmum]

and one was a very cool stunt bunny!  the show is about a woman who is confined to a wheelchair and ceasar comes to help her with her helper dog.  one of the issues she asks for help with is that she loves bunnies and has had them as pets before but her dog is not bunny friendly.  so he attaches a stuffed bunny on top of a remote control car and scents it with bunny pee to help teach her how to recognize and stop bad behaviour before it escalates. then they goto a rabbit rescue (yay!!!) and adopt 2 rabbits for her.  it was really cute because since she was experienced with rabbits she helped ceasar with how to hold them while he was introducing all the furries together. 

[Karla]

So it worked out with the dog and the bunnies? I’m quite interested in knowing how exactely they did it? It would be a good trick to know as we are getting a dog. Do share

Say the name Caesar Millan out loud in my country, and you are lynched. His methods are considered animal abuse and his tv shows were taken off air because of complaints from dog owners and animal rights associations. I have never seen his shows though, so I have no idea.

[babybunsmum]

wow seriously?!? i can’t imagine how his methods would be seen as abusive. wierd. he is very compassionate towards dogs. he trains owners to focus on dog behaviour, how their own state of mind influences their dog’s behaviour and encourages owners to be calm pack leaders. he was very successful with the dog / bunny bonding. he used the mechanical bunny to first assess the dog’s hunting instinct and showed how to interrupt the dog’s focus when it got too intense by “sh-shing” to redirect it’s attention. after a while of this the dog basically relaxed and his intensity of interest towards the mechnical bunny was very low. when the real bunnies were introduced to the dog he basically made sure the dog was not at all excited first and he had the dog lay down by the rabbits just to ‘hang out’ and pet them. eventually the rabbits were exploring around the dog while he laid down watching them.

i have a dog who is very bunny friendly myself. the key is to not let the dog get worked up at all around the bunny and to be very ‘hands on’ during any encounters. if my dog starts to nudge the bunny or show any kind of ‘perky’ interest in her movements i distract his attention away from her. he is mostly just bored to death by the bunny.

[Karla]

Ah, so the bunny stunt I used for bonding, might come in handy as well with a dog. Hadn’t thought about that. Thank you

As for CM – well, not having a dog yet and not having seen the shows, I can only speak of what I have heard. Apparently, people here view his approaches as being physical and learning the dog to follow its owner out of fear and not out of play and love. That is why his shows were taken off air. It is still a very touchy subject here with people on both sides arguing vividly But that’s a completely different topic, I guess, but very interesting.

I might see if I can find the show with the bunny on Youtube. It would be nice to have a dog that is bored to death with bunnies

[Beka27]

WOW! I’d love to see that episode! When did it air?

[mrmac]

That was a good episode. I hvae seen that one with the bunny and another bunny one too.

[babybunsmum]

bogart is my first dog and since adopting him 8 years ago i’ve fielded sooo much ‘advice’ on how to train him (some completely unsolicited). i figure all advice is well intentioned but some of the methods just felt totally wrong to me. in the end its a very personal decision. always interesting and beneficial to hear different opinions tho here’s a vid with my dog & bunny sharing some couch space that i recently took http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yypu4VOAXSc

ok… i couldnt find the whole episode anywhere BUT i found part of the episode on the national geographic channel website http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/player.html?channel=39678 “dog and robot rabbit are friends” is under the fear category which is the one segment. its too bad i can’t find the whole episode. this dog is amazing. he is sooo well trained which is i think why they had quick success with the robot rabbit. the dog is trained to help his owner retrieve things from cupboards and the fridge, he turns on & off lights, opens \& closes doors, helps fetch clothes… its so cool.

the next segment – when they adopted 2 rescue bunnies – was really great to watch. i’ll keep looking for it. he basically did what i did with bogart when i first adopted him. i had 2 bunnies at the time and he was a complete tazmainian devil! i had sessions of introduction with him and the bunnies and at first almost had to lie on top of him to keep him calm and in place when in the bunny room. only took a few tries before his excitment faded away and he realized they weren’t toys.

[babybunsmum]

ps beka… i saw the episode for the first time today at 11am but it was a repeat. no idea when the original air date was

[mrmac]

Here’s the link to this clip:

http://channel.nationalgeographic.c…t-2-4.html

[Barbie]

Cool vid. I like Cesaer, but I can see how some people would thinks it’s cruel. I don’t ever condone hitting or abusing an animal (FTR Cesaer doesn’t hit them), but I do think being firm and in command with a dog, especially an “unbalanced” one as Cesar puts it, can really help. With my parents dog, Teddy, I do a combination of Cesear’s training methods and reward training and Teddy is fine =)

I found this article that goes more indepth into the controversy over Cesar’s training methods. http://www.livescience.com/animals/091112-dog-training.html

[mrmac]

This is the clip of the other rabbit related one I saw-

http://channel.nationalgeographic.c…s/03182_01

[Elrohwen]

Honestly, I’m extremely against most of Ceasar’s methods and I do think he’s a horrible dog trainer. His methods are at least 20 years old and he seems to have no clue about the methods of modern dog training and he uses zero positive reinforcement. Plus, following his methods with an already aggressive dog will probably get you a bite on the arm, which isn’t how training should go. He is getting better as his show progresses, but I just can’t watch him anymore. *However*, the bunny episode was awesome! Haha. Mostly because the bunnies were adorable.

[Barbie]

I don’t like the way he was holding the bun in that vid. Also, is that pine chips in their cage?

But, regardless, that’s pretty cool to see that dog relax around the bunny and the guinea pig.. the important part after that though is for the owners to keep up with the dogs training.

[hooty22]

Maybe I haven’t seen certain shows, but those that I do watch, it seems to me that he is more of a person trainer than a dog trainer. I think every episode I’ve seen goes something like this: Your dog is crazy indoors bc you are lazy and don’t walk him. Cut to owner walking the dog, and the dog coming home and being good… or…. You are a nervous spazzy person, and your dog picks up on that, and that’s why your dog is a nervous spazzy dog. Cut to the person learning to not be nervous and spazzy around the dog and suddenly the dog is relaxed and calm.

[babybunsmum]

you know something… i started this thread to point out that a rabbit was on this show and NOT to start a thread to bash his methods. personally i RESPECT his methods very much above any others that i have researched. notice that i do not bash those other methods and styles even tho i do not agree with them.

i respectfully request that posts refrain from bashing and keep away from dog training methodology debate. i want to keep this thread respectful of forum rules. thank you.

[RabbitPam]

Yes, please, everyone. Let’s get off the debate of his methods and focus on the benefit to be gained from a training session with a dog for becoming calm around bunnies. It’s possible to simply state that you disagree with those methods.

[jerseygirl]

BBM, you must have been loving it! Dogs, Bunnies, Ceasar.
From the info with that link it said the dog (Beau) was scared of rabbits! That trick with the stunt bunny on a remote control car is too funny. Wonder is anyone will use that method for bonding?
For reference I found that the show is Season 4 Episode 29 Titled “Beau and Q-tip” Edit: Found it as Ep 31 Canine 9-1-1 Part 2 also…

[MooBunnay]

That is really cool that the dog and bunnies got along so well. I’ve always wanted to train some kind of service dog! Funny thing Babybunsmum, I never thought that dogs and bunnies could totally get along until I saw that video where Baby hopped up on Bogart and slid down the side of him, I think I replayed that like 85 times and couldn’t stop laughing!

[babybunsmum]

lol… it’s cool that you remember that vid of baby & bogart

it would be soo funny to see a stunt double / robot bonding bun in action. i think i’d be giggling too much to be an effective bonding moderator tho.

[Elrohwen]

Sorry for getting off track with my post, guys.

[Barbie]

babybunsmum, I went to your youtube page and poked around your vids… is the video you’re referring to this one? http://www.youtube.com/user/chiarodesign#p/u/20/ytOB6Dc8ric

[babybunsmum]

elrohwen i’m also sorry… i came across pretty abrupt earlier in the thread. not my usual self. i’ve been feeling super-sensitive since having a rough day at work on friday and haven’t been able to shake it off yet. hope there’s no hard feelings.

[Elrohwen]

No hard feelings Babybunsmum! It’s just a topic that gets me riled up, but I should’ve thought about it before I posted. I hope things at work get better for you!

And speaking of Bogart videos, I just went through the whole series of videos to show hubby last week because I think Bogart is one of the cutest sweetest dogs I’ve ever seen. I want to come and steal him  I hope when we get a dog some day that it will eventually be able to interact with our bun like Bogart can.

[Lintini]

I was taking a class for choral teaching, its part of the music education classes that I had to take, even though I do not want to be a choral director in anyway…band is totally my thing. Anyways, the professor wanted us to read one of Ceasar’s books because it related so much on how to control your classroom. It was like pack mentality …can’t remember which book it was, but yeah. Interesting. By the way, that professor made me run out of the classroom crying, as well as a few other girls. Yes…a college professor. [*Insert rude name to call him here*] Oh…and I didn’t read the book. *whistles*

[KytKattin]

I remember that episode! I remember another one too, with a dog that wanted to, and already had killed small animals (squirrels, birds) in the past. He took a rabbit and a guinea pig and got the dog to submit to them. After that, plus some additional conditioning by the owners, the dog was no longer interested in killing small animals! Ceasar has taught me that I can have ANY dog I want if I can put the effort into it. When I move out of my parent’s house and can get a dog with my boyfriend I want to get a greyhound that was raced (or a product of that industry anyways), and I also want to have cats and rabbits. I won’t let the ‘breed’ stigma get in the way of what I want the dog to do. Plus if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have been able to raise my chihuahua to LOVE everyone. It’s nice having one of those ‘yappy’ dogs that people like and that doesn’t try to bite their fingers off. Not to mention she plays with the rabbits.

[mrmac]

That episode is the second link I posted. The bunny looks like my Dexter too!

[Author]

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