Great ideas. Now let's see how well they work in practise. Not a detailed book in dealing with puppies.

I'd give it 3.5 if I could, because I am getting some good tips, but mostly its a memoir of Cesar's relationship to dogs. Interesting, touching, even deep at times, but details about how to actually use your new pack-leader self-awareness are far fewer than I'd hoped. Like --

"Never let your dog jump up on you." How? By developing dominant energy. Thanks.

Best tips:
1. corrections, not punishments -- through touch and calm assertion.
2. Collar placement at the back of the head to keep dog at your side at least some of the time you are walking.

But the real secret to a calm submissive dog? Five to eight hours of vigorous exercise a day. (Did I mention the interesting toys, attention-diverting activities, and miles of hill-top, off-leash trails?)

I haven't seen the show, so maybe I'm missing the techniques when they are applied to your average suburban 3-walk-a-day dog with no treadmill or outdoor cooling pool.

Anyway, its a decent read, but not a particularly instructive book.

Terrible writing. TL/DR: take your pack on lots of walks.

The dog guru opens up on how to train your dog; but the reality of it is you are the one that needs the training. Most people in dog circles know who this man is; he is the infamous pack leader, motivational, dog whisperer. I should do a survey on Cesar Millan and the technics he endorses, and I bet they either love him or hate him.
Being a dog owner is one of the most enjoyable things in the world, it can also be the most frustrating! Cesar, at least on his television show, makes training a dog as easy as making microwave popcorn. If only that was the case! What I really enjoyed about this dog guide is how Cesar combines his life story in the chapters along with the basic commands of moulding and shaping the perfect pet. From his humble beginnings in Mexico where he never saw a leash until he came the states, to being a groomer, to getting the lucky break and connecting with Jada Pinkett Smith, this is an enjoyable read that you can come back to every now and then for your training tools. Love him or dislike him, Millan sets the bar when it comes to dog training.

thought this guy was some full o' shit asshole pop culture phenomenon until i saw him at runyon canyon with about 30 dogs running behind him. cesar turns around and his pack stops dead in their tracks and sits. he points to a random few of them: "you! you! you! you!" and said guys & gals zig-zag out and form their own little group next to the main group and then cesar spins around and continues jogging and everyone runs on in formation. it was heaven, really, and i wished he ran 'em -- native-american/buffalo/edge-of-cliff style -- into a large ditch or empty swimming pool so i could leap in and wallow in jowls and paws and tails and ears. no such luck. but i did read his first book. and it's pretty breezy stuff but also kind of amazing. it's about dogs but can also be read as a self-help book using dogs as a metaphor in that the lessons are applicable to any human's life -- but fuckit, what human is worth even half of a good dog?

jack was getting a bit unruly and also somewhat aggressive with dogs with balls so i applied cesar's methodology and had that obdurate motherfucker wrapped around my finger within weeks. no shit. lotsa cool little bits in here, as well, such as cesar's story of crossing over illegally from mexico or how, in his opinion, the happiest dogs in los angeles are those living with the homeless. i kinda wish cesar had taken the time to write a seriously hardcore book about himself, dogs, and his methods, rather than an easy-to-digest, sure-to-be-a-bestseller. but what the fuck. cesar's a millionaire, i drive a scion. also -- don't buy this book if yer looking for a breakdown of the things to do to train your dog. that info is elsewhere. cesar's way basically describes the attitude you gotta take in order to achieve full on shangri-las-adoring style.

This is my first Cesar Milan book that I've read and also my first book about dogs, so I found it pretty informative. I liked all of the information that he had and more or less go along with Cesar's Way. I didn't care for how it was written -- I felt like there was a lot of repetition (and not always in a helpful way) and that it buried a lot of the important information at the very back of the book.

If you're looking for directions about how to work with your new dog, I would actually recommend flipping to the back of the book (Chapter 8 "Can't We All Just Get Along?") which has direct tips for improving your relationship with your dog.

This book starts off telling Cesar's story (fascinating!) and continues on by telling stories of various dogs he's rehabilitated. If you're a fan of the show, you'll recognize a number of them. He talks for a long time about how he'll tell you "later" about what you need to do to get along with your dog, but as I mentioned, that never really comes until Chapter 8.

The most useful points I learned:

- Your dog needs exercise, discipline, and affection (in that order). Double up on the exercise.

- WALK your dog (ideally 1 hour in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening). This is the best type of exercise because it's closest to what dogs do in nature. Throwing a ball, etc. is good, but it should be treated as "play" time, rather than "exercise".

- You should be a calm-assertive leader (not a hyperactive, baby-talker). Your dog should be calm-submissive.

- Dogs need leaders more than they need affection. (Affection is good, but keep it limited to when they are showing good calm-submissive behavior). They appreciate having a "pack leader". It's nature's way.

- NEVER let your dog leave/enter the house before you, jump up on anyone, bark incessantly. These are dominance-related habits and it means that your dog is being the pack leader in a human-oriented world.

Bottom Line: This book has some great tips, but they're hidden among anecdotes. If you like anecdotes, read it. If you're looking for a more straightforward instruction manual on owning a dog, he might have a better book -- or just start with Chapter 8.

Es ticēju, bet līdz galam nesapratu, kad kāds teica, ka suņi mūsu dzīvē ienāk ar kādu noteiktu mērķi, ka suņi mūs padara par labākiem cilvēkiem. Cēzara stāstītajā atradu vārdus, ar kuriem aprakstīt, par ko suns ir manā dzīvē - calm assertiveness. Mierīga pārliecība par sevi. Mierīgs + pārliecināts, lūk, kur triks. Es mēdzu būt mierīga un mazliet apātiska. Un mēdzu būt pārliecināta, bet nemierīgi agresīva. Drīzāk nevis pārliecināta, bet uzstājīga (dažādu motivu vadīta). Tad, nu, triks ir sajust un piedzīvot mierīgu pārliecību par sevi ikdienā. Ieguvējs būs ne tikai suns. Ne tikai suns. Vienkārša un sirsnīga grāmata. Par suņu rehablitēšanu un suņu saimnieku mācīšanu.

No, I did not think I would ever be rating dog books. But that's before I became a dog person. Now that my family includes two labrador littermate puppies, I need all the help I can get and Cesar is a great place to start. I love watching "The Dog Whisperer," his show on National Geographic where he swiftly demonstrates that most dogs in American are miserable, spoiled, and unstable and of course, it's all our fault. The book outlines the same basic principles as the show and gets you comfortable with the idea that you need to enforce rules, boundaries, and limitations on your dog in order to keep them happy and healthy. He'll teach you to be a good dog owner, but it does take a real investment (i.e. if you're not willing to walk your dog for a minimum of one hour each day, don't have a dog). When faced with two high-energy dogs who really wants to jump up on me every time I arrive home from work and ignore all their commands, Cesar's book seems less like a casual read and more like a survival manual.

Comprehensive look at dog psychology as well as a very enjoyable memoir of Cesar's early years. I really liked hearing the stories of his clients, including the famous ones.

I started watching Cesar's show, The Dog Whisperer, last year. It was just before I adopted two small dogs (a chihuahua and a chihuahua/min pin mix), so I was really interested in the topic of controlling dogs' behavior.

I enjoyed the show, and after watching a few, the basic principles of Cesar's philosophy are apparent. Many of his techniques have been useful with my dogs, although some of the advice (like walking your dogs an hour or more a day) is not practical for people who work a 40+ hour week and/or live in a climate with cold winters.

Reading the book, though, was a bit of a chore because the prose wasn't as artful as in my usual reading choices. The writing was clumsy and bland, and I suspect it was largely ghostwritten. For someone interested in using Cesar's ideas with their own dogs, watching 5-10 episodes of his show is probably just as informative and has more entertainment value.

Well crafted instructions on human - dog behavior dynamics. Highly recommended for every dog owner.
Fun thing - I am not a dog owner, I am a mother of a very special child with Asperger's and ADHD and this book equiped me with some really effective skills.

Interesting book but I don't think I could follow his methods 100%....puppies are just too darn cute! :-) I'm sure I will keep some of his theories/methods in mind and I do have a better understanding of pack dog mentality.