CESAR MILLAN IS THE PERFECT WAKEUP CALL FOR PET LOVERS SUFFERING DOGGIE NIGHTMARES

“People think that dogs in shelters are broken …

But let me give you a different reality. Let me teach you how to read a dog.” 

— Cesar Millan 

 

CESAR MILLAN IS THE PERFECT WAKEUP CALL FOR PET LOVERS SUFFERING DOGGIE NIGHTMARES

 

Millan Helps New Owners Survive the First Crucial Weeks after Adopting a Dog in New Special Premiering Sunday, November 3, at 10 PM ET/PT on Nat Geo WILD.

(Washington, D.C. – October 10, 2013) World-renowned dog behaviorist Cesar Millan is back doing the work he feels most passionately about: helping difficult dogs find happy homes with loving families. There are millions of dogs in U.S. shelters just waiting for the right owner to walk in and scoop them up. Sadly, many adoptions fail within in the first two weeks when behavior patterns and dynamics between dog and owner don’t gel.

Luckily for hopeful owners, Millan is on a mission to change that. In his new Nat Geo WILD special, Cesar Millan: Doggie Nightmares, premiering Sunday, November 3, 2013, at 10 p.m. ET/PT, he follows two households as they take the giant leap of adopting a new dog and walks them through the process, guiding them in the right direction. For more information, visit www.natgeowild.com and www.cesarsway.com, and follow us on Twitter at @NGC_PR and @cesarmillan.

The Nightmares:

First, a family’s four-year-old son says he’s ready for his very own pet, but with an existing dog in the house, not to mention an infant, his dream rescue soon turns into a doggie nightmare when the new pet lashes out and the boy retaliates. Next, a mother and daughter want to adopt a companion for their misbehaving Yorkshire terrier, but end up with a mutt with serious potty training issues and a crippling fear of the stairs.

The Investigation:

Millan lays down the framework for a trial adoption. The prospective owners have two weeks to get trained and ready to provide a forever home. Each of the families’ houses are tricked out with a high-tech surveillance system that captures everyone’s behavior and gets a clear picture of the situation. The surveillance offers a raw and real look at the natural dynamic between dog and owner when they aren’t focused on performing for the cameras, often with surprising results.

The Process:

Halfway through the trial, both families meet with Millan to evaluate their progress in a state-of-the-art training center. He reviews the tapes to point out exactly what mistakes they made in these critical first few days. Then, Millan works his magic, identifying the problems and offering solutions before it’s too late. Just when these pups’ new parents are ready to throw in the leash, Millan offers them hope in the form of hands-on training and practical advice.

 

The Verdict:

Both families see huge improvements when Millan is around, but can they implement his advice at home? Watch the situations transform as a new relationship emerges between dog and owner. Some problems get better, while others are still a challenge. At the end of the two weeks, the families meet with Millan again to make a final decision. Can he turn these doggie nightmares into lifelong bonds, or are some relationships just not meant to be? Find out as the owners decide to either cement the adoption or hand Millan the leash and walk away.

Cesar Millan: Doggie Nightmares is produced for Nat Geo WILD by Ping Pong Productions. For Ping Pong Productions, co-executive producer is Josh Gates and executive producers are Brad Kuhlman and Casey Brumels. For Nat Geo WILD, executive producer is Jenny Apostol, senior vice president of development and production is Janet Han Vissering, and executive vice president and general manager is Geoff Daniels.

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NAT GEO WILD

For more than 30 years, National Geographic has been the leader in wildlife programming. The networks Nat Geo WILD and Nat Geo WILD HD, launched in 2010, offer intimate encounters with nature’s ferocious fighters and gentle creatures of land, sea and air that draw upon the cutting-edge work of the many explorers, filmmakers and scientists of the National Geographic Society. Part of the National Geographic Channels US, based in Washington, D.C., the networks are a joint venture between National Geographic and Fox Cable Networks. In 2001, National Geographic Channel (NGC) debuted, and 10 years later, Spanish-language network Nat Geo Mundo was unveiled. The Channels have carriage with all of the nation’s major cable, telco and satellite television providers, with Nat Geo WILD currently available in over 58 million U.S. homes. Globally, Nat Geo WILD is available in more than 144 million homes in 140 countries and 28 languages. For more information, visit www.natgeowild.com.

The Harsh Truth about Taking your Dog or Cat to a Shelter

The shelter manager’s letter:

“I am posting this (and it is long) because I think our society needs a huge wake-up call.

As a shelter manager, I am going to share a little insight with you all – a view from the inside, if you will.
Maybe if you saw the life drain from a few sad, lost, confused eyes, you would change your mind about breeding and selling to people you don’t even know – that puppy you just sold will most likely end up in my shelter when it’s not a cute little puppy anymore.

How would you feel if you knew that there’s about a 90% chance that dog will never walk out of the shelter it is going to be dumped at – purebred or not! About 50% of all of the dogs that are “owner surrenders” or “strays” that come into my shelter are purebred dogs.

No shortage of excuses
The most common excuses I hear are:

We are moving and we can’t take our dog (or cat).
Really? Where are you moving to that doesn’t allow pets?

The dog got bigger than we thought it would.
How big did you think a German Shepherd would get?

We don’t have time for her.
Really? I work a 10-12 hour day and still have time for my 6 dogs!

She’s tearing up our yard.
How about bringing her inside, making her a part of your family?

They always tell me:
We just don’t want to have to stress about finding a place for her. We know she’ll get adopted – she’s a good dog. Odds are your pet won’t get adopted, and how stressful do you think being in a shelter is?

Well, let me tell you. Dead pet walking!

Your pet has 72 hours to find a new family from the moment you drop it off, sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn’t full and your dog manages to stay completely healthy.
If it sniffles, it dies.

Your pet will be confined to a small run / kennel in a room with about 25 other barking or crying animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps. It will be depressed and it will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it.
If your pet is lucky, I will have enough volunteers that day to take him / her for a walk. If I don’t, your pet won’t get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of its pen with a high-powered hose.
If your dog is big, black or any of the “bully” breeds (pit bull, rottweiler, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when you walked it through the front door. Those dogs just don’t get adopted.
If your dog doesn’t get adopted within its 72 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed.

If the shelter isn’t full and your dog is good enough, and of a desirable enough breed, it may get a stay of execution, though not for long. Most pets get very kennel protective after about a week and are destroyed for showing aggression. Even the sweetest dogs will turn in this environment.
If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles, chances are it will get kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be destroyed because shelters just don’t have the funds to pay for even a $100 treatment.

The grim reaper
Here’s a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being “put-down”.
First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash. They always look like they think they are going for a walk – happy, wagging their tails. That is, until they get to “The Room”.

Every one of them freaks out and puts on the breaks when we get to the door. It must smell like death, or they can feel the sad souls that are left in there. It’s strange, but it happens with every one of them. Your dog or cat will be restrained, held down by 1 or 2 vet techs (depending on their size and how freaked out they are). A euthanasia tech or a vet will start the process. They find a vein in the front leg and inject a lethal dose of the “pink stuff”. Hopefully your pet doesn’t panic from being restrained and jerk it’s leg. I’ve seen the needles tear out of a leg and been covered with the resulting blood, and been deafened by the yelps and screams.

They all don’t just “go to sleep” – sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air and defecate on themselves.
When it all ends, your pet’s corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer in the back, with all of the other animals that were killed, waiting to be picked up like garbage.

What happens next? Cremated? Taken to the dump? Rendered into pet food? You’ll never know, and it probably won’t even cross your mind. It was just an animal, and you can always buy another one, right?

Liberty, freedom and justice for all
I hope that those of you that have read this are bawling your eyes out and can’t get the pictures out of your head. I do everyday on the way home from work. I hate my job, I hate that it exists and I hate that it will always be there unless people make some changes and realize that the lives you are affecting go much farther than the pets you dump at a shelter.

Between 9 and 11 MILLION animals die every year in shelters and only you can stop it. I do my best to save every life I can but rescues are always full, and there are more animals coming in everyday than there are homes.
My point to all of this is DON’T BREED OR BUY WHILE SHELTER PETS DIE!

Hate me if you want to – the truth hurts and reality is what it is.
I just hope I maybe changed one person’s mind about breeding their dog, taking their loving pet to a shelter, or buying a dog. I hope that someone will walk into my shelter and say “I saw this thing on craigslist and it made me want to adopt”.
That would make it all worth it.”

Author unknown

Muttnews 2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

19,000 people fit into the new Barclays Center to see Jay-Z perform. This blog was viewed about 96,000 times in 2012. If it were a concert at the Barclays Center, it would take about 5 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Cat People Vs. Dog People

Yeah not exactly what you’re expecting…but hilarious!

Meet Porter. The World’s First Driving Dog.

Dogs this smart deserve a home.
Every year, the SPCA need to find homes for thousands of dogs just like Porter — dogs who have been abused, abandoned, or just forgotten. Our dogs may be a motley bunch, but they’re all smart and they’re all lovable. So please don’t forget about them. Adopt them.
To find out more about our #drivingdogs head to http://www.drivingdogs.co.nz or visit http://www.spca.org.nz today to adopt a dog.