Dearest Cesar, Please help me, I am a desperate woman at the end of my rapidly fraying rope. I have a one year old yellow labrador retriever that is trying the very foundations of my family. Samson is an extremely high strung dog, who seems incapable of following even the simplest of commands. Just last week, he drug my poor sister through three inches of wet, nasty water in my yard while she was trying to control him. And all this while just taking him out to pee!!! He has a puppy's insaitiable need to chew, and has frequently been caught chewing my walls, sofas, shoes and clothes (namely underwear!). We've tried numerous tips from your book and your show, but so far to no avail. Nothing seems to work. Finally, he crossed the line by eating my husbands graduation cake. He graduated from our State Police academy, and we were having a huge party thrown by all his friends and family. The cake was left on the stove and needless to say, the rest is history. Let's just say we didn't have a cake for that party!! Cesar, I know you're a very busy man, but I am desperate for an answer and know of nowhere else to turn. Can you help my family hold on to this dog, or is he a lost cause!!!

Here's Hoping,

Desperately Seeking Sherry

My hat is off tho Cesar Milan. I wrote almost a year ago that I needed help and I needed it now. His book was not due out for another month. I had just purchased a an eight week, amorous little mean, toy poodle named Luke..Almost renamed Lucifer. The first night I had him he bit me on the chin...He was so mad I saw the whites of his eyes. And I was just cuddling! Also he pleasured his toys and my pillows every chance he got. I drew the line at my leg. I truely thought I might have to find him another home. It didn't take me long to figure out why he was the last to go from his litter.
Now..I've yet to see a show on how to raise a puppy and to prevent behaviors but using his technics and principles from the very beginning I now have a well balanced happy dog. Personality to boot.
One thing that helped me the most was keeping in the back of my mind what would his momma do. No, I didn't pick him up by the scruff of the neck with my teeth when he bit me, I used my hand. Now he would not bite me if his life depended on it and has only one special toy. I had him neutered at 4 months but I guess some things are just instinctual.
One of Cesar's principles that I found most helpful was being aware of the energy that I was projecting. When Luke was little I had key words that I used, but it's was my body language that he picked up on first. Eventually he picked up the key words. He amazes people with how many he knows. He's also learned my body language very well... Certainly when he's stepped out of line.
Luke could have been a statistic. My life has been enriched by Cesar and his book. Not only because I have Lucas (his name when he's really good) but also, in appling his principles and technics to my everyday life, I'm an over all happier person.

Please help: My 12 month old cavalier king charles male,is chewing up everying he can find. He has chewed up my pillow the computer cords and all the stuffed toys thats just to mention a few. I give him raw hide even though some people say thats bad for them. I also have two females same breed that are fixed. And they dont chew up anything. He Romeo even digs and goes under the fence. My two girls have never done this. He is driving me nuts. My husband says get rid of him. Please help in Ohio. Elaine

Sherry Jeschke - your dog is obviously out of control, and you need ideas on how to change that. I am a big proponent of Cesars "Way" but I do think he sometimes fails to convey usable techniques for getting the results you need.

Others here will recognize this, as I've advised it before: get a copy of William Koehler's book "The Koehler Method of Dog Training " The first few chapters are going to give you the training techniques you need. And they mesh very well with Cesar's philosophy.

There ARE going to be things in the book you don't like. Just ignore them and use what is appropriate to your situation. You will find most of what you need in the front half of the book.

And it doesn't matter if you get an older edition or the newest one, there's not any difference in the techniques...just in some of the explanations.

But, and this is a big BUT, just as with Cesar's methods you need to follow them, follow through with them, and BE CONSISTENT. And that means you and your entire family. You ALL have to be on the same page about this.

I have three dogs, Mac a American Pit, Blue Boy a Queensland mix, and A rottXlab. For the most part they all get along great.
But Toby the Rott he has a problem with fear. I recued him from the shelter i worked for, i got him at 4 months old and he is now 2 years old. He was fine as a pup but as he got older he has changed alot. When we feed him its really hard to get him to eat, he is just petrafied if the others look at him or my husband doesn`t tell him its ok. and if anyone raises there voice he panics ans shakes with fear. I have tried everything and i at a loss i dont know what to do next. Im disable and he stiks to me like glue. I need help!
Don`t know what to do.
confused in California.

My son & daughter-in-law got a young neutered boxer over a year ago. The dog gets very little exercise, is kept in a crate in the basement while they are at work and is chained when in the yard. They are convinced that the poor thing has separation anxiety because when they put him in the crate in the morning he gets so upset that he is sick and tries to break out of the crate to the point of hurting himself. When we take care of the dog at our house he gets plenty of exercise walking and running on our 25 acres and calmly falls asleep when he comes in. He doesn't seem to miss them at all. We've tried to convince them he simply needs more excercise, to not be confined so much, and have something to keep him occupied. They insist he has a mental condition. I've ordered one of Cesar's books for them. I hope it helps for the sake of the poor dog. He's really a very friendly & nice guy when he's not bursting at the seams with excess energy.

I have a German Shephard, Jasmine. She is about 3 years old. She is a great dog and my family and I love her very much. She does have a big problem though..She is very aggressive towards other dogs and people who are coming to our house for the first time, we will not walk her because of how many bad encounters we have had with other dogs. We also have another dog Jack, who is 3 years old. I got Jack as my 16th birthday present. Jasmine has attacked him as well and I really thought she was going to kill him. I am very scared and I watch how Cesar changes not only the lives of many animals but also their owners. Jasmine is a great dog and My family and I would like to see her happier and be living a normal life without trying to kill other dogs...I know this probably wont get to Cesar, But I do need advice on what to do with our out of control dogs...Im scared that one day they may try and take Jasmine away from us and I know that would kill all of us. Please help.

This is so true. When I know I'm going to be in class for a long time or I have a 4 hour long rehearsal that I know my service dog is going to have to sit through, I always make sure he can get all of his energy out ahead of time. It really is amazing how well it works. It's so funny that exercise seems to be a cure-all for doggy issues... if you think about it, exercise is very good for a human's mental health (& physical health) as well. People are amazed by how calm my dog is and how he can stay so peaceful and relaxed when he has to stay quiet & still for so long in a theater or in a classroom, but it's no magic trick! It's exercise, plain & simple. Cesar is amazing & I have been absolutely obsessed with his show since I first saw it around the time when I first obtained my service dog. He's really great!

Living on Dogwood Drive:

I am a mother of five children, with a husband who had its share of dogs here on Dogwood Drive. When we first moved here two years ago, we brought with us a small dog which was a female miniture dobermen part something I not sure, who was a street runner, ran behind other male dogs and never came back. Then a stray dog came around our home that we cared for stayed around our home for sometime and then moved on. My husband went out to buy a Great Pyrenees. He ended up injured, taken him to a vet to have surgery, he stayed around the house at least a year until this insident we kept him somewhat still till he healed a bit. We had taken him out for some exercise. Let him loose one day while everyone was cleaning the yard he laid around doesn't go far until later he walked off and was never found.Someone had either stole him or he ran away. We still don't know till this day. He had never ran away before. He was the best dog we ever had, gentle with the kids, he was a great dog. Our family had gone away one weekend, and brought home two beautiful dogs that was germenshepher/rottwieler mixed. One puppy died uncurtain of how it died, and the other puppy ran wild killing my husband chickens, so they ended up labeling him chicken killer, and he got rid of him, and now we have another puppy that is part lab/pit terrior which is still a puppy. He stays in the house most of the time during the week until evening when everyone comes home from work and school to walk him, and on week ends they are all outside all day, the problem with this dog is when he's outside he is pooping all on the front raparound pourch and all on the back deck. Why doesn't this dog go on the ground like other dogs. Is it afraid of going in the grass or what? He's still a puppy about five/six weeks. I heard you once say about a puppy who gives you a curtian (aggressive)look when its youg and when he's an adult agressive he will be. Well this puppy gives this look at times. What do I do with this dog here at Dogwood Drive.

We have a 62 lbs., 10 month old, neutered Boxer-Lab mix. We can not keep him in his crate. He is constantly bending and busting through it. We tried the big plastic ones and he broke through the front door in less than 30 minutes. We had started with a for pin open wire crate that he busted through the top which we have modified. We have zip tied and claw locked all away around it. It took him two times of being in the crate for 4 hours at a time to but through it. I don't know what to do. He tears up our home if he is left free and by himself. The vet had suggested that we "sedate" him when we leave. I really don't want to do that unless I have no other choice. HELP!