One of the shocks I have experienced this last month, as I came down with viral pneumonia which has had me bed bound for a month now, is how my first Redzone rescue mentioned in Cesar's last newsletter as a success story, changed his behavior with the onset of my sickness!

Because Signal was SO red-zone when he was rescued. I HAD to do 100% Cesar's way (1st Season) 24/7 from the very first moments of approaching him. He was the first dog of what was then an existing 2 dog pack of very humanized dogs being provided very token, inconsistent efforts of applying Cesar's techniques.

What a difference, starting with a dog in the first moments made, compared to trying to transition humanized dogs! So now in his third year of total adherence to the Packleader management style, things should have been routine.

There may have been a compound, when suddenly from walks occuring a good 5 times a week, changed to nothing. Couldnt get stay up, even long enough, to monitor them on the tread mill in the other room.

The moment I went down with this illness, Signal's dynamic changed dramatically! He became very territorial, very protective and more agressive to pushing, nipping, barking at the other dogs if they didnt obey me or respond to me fast enough! (Another pattern change in the pack I noticed almost right away.) Immediately, there were subtle signs of how I had been moved down the pack heirarchy. Things lie jumping on the bed first before I got back to it, laying down, "leaving me" to move into the left over space, and suddenly not responding to my commands or "tsst" to get out of the way.

Even the weakest dog of my pack, a rescue chosen for her low self-esteem/fear issues to rehabilitate, (MUCH more effort to work with, then red-zone dogs by-the-way, moved into a leadership role, leading me down the hall to bathroom or kitchen and back to bed, even jumping on the bed periodically demanding petting and affection!

In retrospect, I can see this happening with my other, Pre-Cesarized dogs in past events (all passed on now), when I was devastated, overwhelmed and exhausted by the last of first my Mom, then my Dad, to long term illness as their primary caretaker, (and to a lesser extent for smaller periods of time the loss of a job, one of my dogs, or even a divorce).

While I had NO idea that I would be sick (and more importantly, so completely, physically, incompacitated for so long, what I have realized from this, is that I had no one who was "trained" in the nuances of the key elements of Cesar's way to be able to take over when I could not sustain the physical part of this lifestyle.

Once I am back on my feet, I will make sure to teach a friend or two, the simple things such as the entering house ignoring dogs, the feeding routine (calmest first, any energy, no food until calm... I will also find a dog walker, who understands the importance of the behavior and psychology of Cesar's Way, and will walk the dogs correctly, according to my directions and not their agenda. The expense of ensuring this will make such a difference,when I resume my active work with my pack, (probably still weak from whatever happened), that I will NOT have to waste energy undoing the negative patterns, some well-meaning person created with my dogs!

We have 3 Jack Russell terriers and just recently a major problem with dominance has possessed one of the dogs. We have mother, son and distant uncle all living together in our home. Just recently we've had to separate the son from the distant uncle. The son, out of the blue, will vicicously attack the uncle and we can barely pull them apart. I am afraid they will kill each other. We don't know what to do and would appreciate some advise. Please email me and let me know who I can contact to help with this situation. We love all three dogs and consider them part of our family. We can't bare to part with any of them but now we have to keep them separated which is extremely difficult to do. Thanks!

When will skyler,cassie and tori air again. I missed the spinning dog but own one, a soft wheaton terrier that spins when you leave and jumps on everyone who comes in the door.

I have a 2 yr old standard schnauzer who is fine when off the lead but when I walk the children to school in the morning and he is off the lead he barks and sometimes lunges at men, not all men, just particular ones that he doesnt like the look of. He also does the same to some dogs that he doesnt know. When I walk back through the park with him on the lead he is a different dog and well behaved? Any suggestions please!

We have just rescued a 6 year old Min-Pin who exhibits the spinning behavior. I missed the show, but logged on to see if I could find out what I have to do in order to help this dog get over this behavior. We already have a 3 year old Min-Pin who is very well trained, and is a pretty normal dog. Thanks for your help.

April 16/07 I hope this episode will air again. I just discovered the dog whisperer. I am getting a French bulldog soon and would love to see this show!

I have two Minature Schnauzers that were sisters in the same litter. They are 1 1/2 years old and were successfully house trained, but of late they have reverted to going in the house again. One is very defintely the alpha and they also do the jumping on people and can drive you crazy. The alpha, Allie wants to sleep on the end of my bed and when I try to push her off the bed, she growls at me. I still push her off, but I don't want to live this way. I would hate to split the dogs, but if I can't get a handle on them, I will at least get rid of Allie.