01x03 - Canine Quarantine

[bunniefuu]

CESAR [off-screen]: When I
started my journey and people

started calling me
the dog whisperer,

the only thing I wanted to
do was to teach people that

there's no such
thing as a bad dog.

WOMAN: Oh my God!

CESAR: Give me the leash!
She's safer with me.

CESAR [off-screen]: Today,
I'm still doing what I love,

but the pandemic has
changed the world.

Dog adoptions have hit a
record high the good news is

dog shelters are empty,
the bad news is...

People. Still. Need. Help.

WOMAN: He
doesn't listen to me.

WOMAN 2: Like,
the problem is me.

MAN: What do I do?

CESAR [off-screen]: Mo' pooches,
mo' problems, right?

This is why he
doesn't listen to you.

KYLE: No.

CESAR: So many things
you can fix already. Tsch!

MARLON: Sorry, sorry!

CESAR: Ignore the excitement.

MEGAN: I just don't
want you to get bit.

CESAR: Do you know who I am?
MEGAN: Yes.

CESAR [off-screen]: Together
with my superhero pack,

our mission is to teach the
world to honor the "pack code,"

honesty, integrity, and loyalty.

Once you get this, you
gonna have everything else!

[cheering].

CESAR [off-screen]: That
is how we create better
humans and better dogs,

one pack at a time.

NARRATOR: Today, Cesar makes
an urgent call to a family of

emergency medical workers who
have a crisis of their own.

ERIC: I'm Eric.
This is my wife, Jennifer.

JENNIFER: We're a
family of first responders.

I'm an ER nurse in the
middle of a pandemic.

ERIC: Yeah.

JENNIFER: My husband
is a fireman paramedic.

And my son is an EMT.
We have three dogs.

Bubba is our oldest dog.
He's eight years old.

He is a pitty mix.

Bubba is just an old guy who
just wants to live his best

life on the couch.

We also have Angus.

He's definitely
the most spoiled.

He loves affection the most,
so I feel like he does get

away with more than he should.

ERIC: Yeah.

JENNIFER: And
then we have Bella.

ERIC: Let's go!

JENNIFER: She's
also a pit bull.

Bella is our craziest girl.

She needs to be in
control in every situation.

She's always on edge,
always ready to go.

ERIC: Yeah.

JENNIFER: Any toy
that they have, she wants.

We just have zero
control over Bella.

It's just a
recipe for disaster.

[barking].

She definitely is
a party k*ller.

If the boys are
playing around,

she wants to
immediately intervene.

ERIC: Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!

One of the biggest moments we
had when one of our sons was

just laughing,
it triggered her.

He got bit pretty bad,
where he needed stitches.

JENNIFER: Yeah. Bella! Bella!

Bella is dog aggressive.

So we're having to watch
her with the other dogs
in the neighborhood.

ERIC: You get to that point
where they're seeing red.

[barking].

Bella, come on!

JENNIFER: And then,
so she causes anxiety
with the other dogs.

They get riled up.

Recently, she all of a
sudden, attacked Bubba.

[barking].

He immediately started
attacking Bella back and

bit her through her shoulder.

She actually needed
surgery and put drains in,

and it was a pretty
significant injury.

It didn't stop her though
because when we got to the vet,

she was trying to
attack all the other
dogs that were in there.

I am worried that we're
not going to be able
to stop it one day.

And now, I'm trying to wrangle


You know, they're going to
fight until one of them

kills each other.

[barking].

CESAR: It's pretty.

We're going to
respond to the responders.

[knocking].

[barking].

JENNIFER: Hey, hey, hey!

Stop!

Hi.

CESAR: How are you?
JENNIFER: Fine.

Oh, hold on. Stop.

ERIC: Get back.

CESAR: That's pretty bad.

JENNIFER: Thanks for coming.

CESAR: Absolutely. Wow.
That's a bark right there.

JENNIFER: Yeah. That's
a, that's a strong bark.

CESAR [off-screen]: This family
called me for Bella,

but they've had some brutal
dog fights within this pack.

I can't just take Jennifer
and Eric's word that
Bella is the problem.

I have to assess
the entire pack.

If you don't mind,
we can go for a walk.

JENNIFER: Okay.

CESAR: And the best way
to do that is to see how
they walk as a pack.

Let's go and
experience the energy!

ERIC: Bubba, come here.
JENNIFER: Come on.

ERIC: Hold Angus.

JENNIFER: Hey! Bring him.

CESAR: Oh, man.

I just want to follow you and
just take me through your route.

ERIC: Okay.

JENNIFER: Do you want to
go with us or you want
to just give him?

ERIC: Okay.

CESAR: Seeing them
leave the house,

that was pretty dangerous.

JENNIFER: Super fun walk.

CESAR: Because they're
allowing the dog to be in front

full throttle, full force,
full anxiety, full aggression,

full excitement, all of that.

The humans are actually
serving like a deadweight,

so they're not guiding.

Shoulders up.
Shoulders up.

They're walking, but
they're not in control.

ERIC: Good boy.

CESAR: The dog should
not be in front of you,

especially walking
in the neighborhood.

ERIC: Good boy.

JENNIFER: Bella.

CESAR: Bella's
really pulling hard.

She's about to pull
Jennifer out of her shoes.

So the first thing we
need to do is to get
that dog under control.

Jennifer, bring it over here.

This is like a halter.

So at least we're going
to eliminate the pulling.

And then once you
eliminate the pulling,

you can ask for the following.

JENNIFER: Okay.
CESAR: Normal.

That's good.
That's all good.

Come with me, Jennifer.

I'm going to use you so
that she can follow you.

JENNIFER: Okay.

CESAR: And then I'm
going to pass it to
you once she starts.

There you go.

So that way we're at least
bringing this speed down,

and we can start
guiding the car.

JENNIFER: Uh-hmm. Got it.

CESAR: Cause right now
you had a car that was
all over the place,

pulling looking for dogs.

JENNIFER: Yeah.
Makes sense.

CESAR: So the dog gets amped.

[barking].

Oh. Tsch. Tsch. Tsch.

It's all good.
This is the redirection.

This is when she's
doing the redirection.

When I say redirection,
I simply mean
redirected aggression.

When Bella is
over-excited by any target,

if she can't reach
that particular target,

she'll redirect that energy to
someone or something near her.

If she can't get to him, she
has to redirect that energy.

JENNIFER: Uh-hmm. Yeah.

CESAR: You know, it happens
to a lot of people when they

can't release their
energy somewhere,

sometimes they end up
releasing it on their
own family members.

JENNIFER: Right.
CESAR: Yeah.

JENNIFER: Punch the
wall or something.

CESAR: Yeah.
There you go.

She gets really excited and
fights the leash hard, right?

Have you ever put
a halter on her?

JENNIFER: No.
CESAR: No, right?

No. She's not used to it.

JENNIFER: Uh-uh.
CESAR: That's a problem.

You were using
the harness, but,

automatically
this gives you that.

You see it?
So this is not a walk.

JENNIFER: No.

CESAR: You're actually
nurturing a fighting mentality,

and that's not
what you're trying to do.

JENNIFER: Right. No.

She's honing in on that
dog barking over there.

CESAR: Yeah. By using the
harness when Jennifer pulls,

that makes the
dog pull harder.

That puts Bella into
scouting fighting mode.

It's not intentional,
but the harness nurtures
the fighting mentality,

which is now carrying
over into their home.

That's sending
the wrong signals.

JENNIFER: Yeah.

I definitely think that Bella
would attack another dog.

Any sort of excitement,
whether it's good or bad,

she redirects.

CESAR: Once the
leash goes on her nose,

you see how the brain changes?

JENNIFER: Yeah.

CESAR: Drastically.
JENNIFER: Uh-hmm.

CESAR: So that's why tools are
so important to understand.

What's the outcome I'm
going to gain by that tool?

That is fighting
right now, pulling.

This is calming and
paying attention.

JENNIFER: Yeah.

CESAR: What I learned is this:
the family can't even walk

their dogs because of
how excited they all get
in the neighborhood.

All of the pulling and Bella's
aggressive lunging means that

they don't want to
go out for walks.

No walks means no exercise.

And no exercise for this
pack means you've got pent-up,

aggressive, dangerous energy.

These three are just raw
power mixed with aggression,

but it's the pent-up energy
that really makes them super

dangerous right now.

So I need to get them off the
street and into a place where

they can begin to burn off
that energy and see what kind

of dogs they are underneath.

NARRATOR: Later that day, the
Calderon family makes their

way to the dog
psychology center.

JENNIFER: So thankful for this
opportunity to help the dogs.

ERIC: Yeah.

JENNIFER: I just felt like,
"Oh man, this is like a
ticking time b*mb."

CESAR: Because these dogs
are so powerful and
potentially volatile,

anything that could trigger
these dogs are locked up safely.

This is a first
here at the DPC,

and we're not
taking any chances.

[barking].

ERIC: Bubba.
Come here, Bubba.

CESAR: Get this guy over here.

That's
excitement we don't want.

This is a little
too excited as well.

CESAR [off-screen]:
Who's the biggest problem?

We still don't know.

We've seen some
over-excitement especially

with Bella's redirection.

The only way we can get a full
picture is after we give these

dogs the best
workout of their lives.

NARRATOR: Cesar's first exercise
accomplishes two things:

Drain the dog's dangerous
energy, and serve as an

example of how to
workout the pack without
redirection or biting.

CESAR: So what we're
going to do right now,

we're going to have
some harnesses.

And here we've got
these big tires.

What we're saying is:
This is where you pull.

You don't pull the human.

JENNIFER: Oh.
Got it. Uh-hmm.

CESAR: Let's get Bubba first.

He's smart, and he'll
show them how it's done.

These dogs never exercise,
and they are known to
attack each other,

so I am going to start slow
and introduce the motion

to one dog at a time
to prevent an attack.

We have to really understand
how to harness the power,

how to manage the power.

This guy, he's
just going to watch.

JENNIFER: Oh, okay.
ERIC: Yeah.

CESAR: Angus should be
watching his brother and sister.

He is 160 by himself.

In his brain, he still has
no idea how powerful he is.

So we want to
keep it that way.

ERIC: There we go. Okay.

CESAR: Good boy.
Good boy. Good boy.

Come on. Good boy.

ERIC: Yeah.
JENNIFER: Doing good, yeah.

CESAR: There you go.
There you go.

There you go.
Look at homeboy.

Look at homeboy. Yeah.

You can let him go.
Let him go.

ERIC: Okay.
Yeah, yea.

CESAR: That's the
encouragement right there.

You see it?

No redirections, no
lunges, no problems.

Good boy, Bubba.
Good boy.

Okay, now bring in Bella.

Let's lower that excitement.

ERIC: Nope. Bella.

CESAR: Bella must prove here
and now that she's capable of

committing to this exercise
without redirecting again.

ERIC: Come on, Bella.
JENNIFER: I know.

I'm nervous right now,
seems like super anxious.

CESAR: But if we can't get her
to even start the exercise,

she's going to remain a
threat to this family.

DAKOTA: Uh-oh.
CESAR: Come on, Bella!
ERIC: Nope.

♪ ♪

JENNIFER: Oh, look at her go!
Look at her.

ERIC: Come on, Bella.
Come on. Good job.

CESAR [off-screen]: Bella is
doing fine on her own,

but that's not good enough.

What this family needs is for
their dogs to be able to burn

off energy by
exercising like this together.

ERIC: Good girl.
Come on. Come on.

Yeah.

CESAR: She's getting it!
Let's bring them together.

We need to keep a close eye
on Bella to make sure that

excitement
doesn't go too high,

and she doesn't
go after her pack.

There you go.
Come on.

ERIC: Bella.
CESAR: This is all good.

ERIC: Yeah. It is.

JENNIFER [off-screen]: Oh my
gosh. This was huge for us.

I mean, I can't believe
they're doing so well.

They aren't fighting.

They're all three together.

ERIC: That hasn't
happened in, it's been years.

CESAR: Yes, sir! Yes, sir!
Look at that. Ha-ha!

Oh, that's synchronicity.

Yes, sir.

JENNIFER: Yeah.
DAKOTA: Come on.

CESAR: Ha-ha!
Look at this! Look at this!

Drain the energy
soon as they wake up.

That's your main job.

JENNIFER: Uh-hmm.

CESAR: So now, in this state,
we're gonna go for a walk. Okay?

JENNIFER: Okay.
CESAR: Follow me.

NARRATOR: Cesar wants to test
the dogs with an introduction

to his own pack.

Using a barrier, they
first meet the friendliest
dog on the ranch.

CESAR: That's Sophia.

We rescued her
from Puerto Rico.

Angus first.

He's just a big puppy.

See? Gentle.

Now let's get the
old guy, Bubba.

See the tail?

He didn't want to hurt her.
So that's the good news.

You know?

Honestly, these two
dogs are not fighters.

So now I want to see how
Bella handles meeting Sophia.

[growling].

JENNIFER: Is she growling?

She is growling.
It's not good.

CESAR: She pulled you to it.

Sit her down.
Sit her down.

She's about to jump on Sophia.

Okay. Hold on.

If they get tense, it's
because you're still tense.

ERIC: Uh-hmm.

CESAR: The dog is telling
you what the energy is.

Your mind might be
thinking one thing,

but your energy is
completely different.

ERIC: Uh-hmm. Okay.

CESAR: Tsch.
So, here.

Remember, she
brought you to Sophia.

Now we got to bring her
to the fence because
she pulled you to it.

ERIC: Uh-hmm.

CESAR: So I'm
bringing her to it.

ERIC: On our terms.

CESAR: After everything we've
done to burn the energy and

bringing down the excitement,

Bella's the only one to
become overly excited.

So that's her problem.

She's over-excited, constantly.

Look at the tail.

The danger here is that the
longer an over-excited dog

remains in that
elevated state,

the more likely she might
direct that energy onto

someone close to her.

That could be another
dog, or even a person.

Body language on dogs,
you can read it through
the eye-contact.

You can read it
through the ears.

You can read it
through a very stiff tail.

If the tail is stiff, it's
like the equivalent of a
rattlesnake rattling.

You know?

So that means they're
getting ready to pounce.

So when people say, "My
dog is unpredictable."

There's no such thing.

JENNIFER: We're
just not seeing it.

CESAR: You're just not
seeing it for what it is.

JENNIFER: Uh-hmm.

CESAR: This is not
a red-zone pack.

This is a pack
with a red-zone dog.

With regular
exercise and discipline,

Bubba and Angus
will find balance.

But it's Bella who wants to
fight every dog she meets.

For now, I want to
send this family home
with clear directions:

drain their energy first.

Practice making Bella sit
whenever she gets triggered.

We have a lot of work to do.

Relax your arm.
There you go.

ERIC: Okay.
Slow down.

NARRATOR: The Calderons head
home with new techniques to

keep Bella under control.

The next day, Cesar prepares
to help an out-of-control

puppy and his first
time pet parents.

AVEREE: Angelo.
MARLON: Angelo!

AVEREE: My name is Averee.

This is my husband, Marlon,
and this is our puppy, Angelo.

MARLON: Buddy.

He's like 75% poodle.
Poodles are chill.

AVEREE: I don't think so.

May, June, July,
August, September.

We've had Angelo
for four months.

He's about six months now.

It is just the two
of us and Angelo,

so he's our baby
of the family.

MARLON: We love Angelo, but
he is an absolute terror.

What are you doing?

Hey. Down.
Angelo, stop.

We got him at the beginning
of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It's just like he finds these
unique opportunities to begin

to be the most disruptive.

So working at home,
anytime I get on a Zoom call,

that's when he picks
up his squeaky toys.

[squeaking].

Sit, stop. Sit. Sit.

AVEREE: My very
first Zoom meeting,

Angelo comes running
across with toilet paper
out of the bathroom,

and I'm trying to like gather
myself and be professional,

but also like,
"Holy crap, Angelo.
What are you doing?"

And even to this day,
he's a very busy-body.

He needs a lot of attention.

I can't work. Stop.
He's biting my chair.

He's biting me.
He wants to play.

No!

MARLON: And then the
minute we leave the house,

it's like "Braooooo!"

[barking].

And we stay in an apartment
complex, so it's loud.

AVEREE: That's
when we come home,

and we find that
things are destroyed.

[barking].

MARLON: If we think about
the things that Angelo has

destroyed, it would
be our garbage can,

so many shoes, your
phone, our previous bed,

he chewed across that.

Oh, and our budget.
He destroyed that as well.

AVEREE: Hey!

It's weighing on me
emotionally as his owner,

because I feel like
there's no control.

MARLON: I just
don't know what to do.

Come here.
Come here.

It's the people over there.

Come here.

CESAR: Well, well, well, Cesar.
Nice to meet you.

AVEREE: Averee.
Nice to meet you.

CESAR: Pleasure.
Nice to meet you, brother.

MARLON: Marlon.
Nice to meet you.

AVEREE: Sorry.
MARLON: Sorry.

CESAR: Whoa. Whoa.

MARLON: He clearly
knows who you are.

CESAR: Yeah.
AVEREE: As you can see.

CESAR: Well, thank you.
I guess.

AVEREE: This is
unfortunately one of the
things we need help with.

CESAR: Yeah?

What else do you
think you need help?

AVEREE: He just has
not had life without us,

so anytime we're not paying
attention to him or we're

leaving him, it's like
an emotional toll on us, so.

CESAR: Right.

AVEREE: I feel like our
lack of parenting Angelo

successfully has caused issues
between us of just wanting to

be on the same page,
but we don't know how.

CESAR: Right.

So this is your
first dog, right?

AVEREE: Yeah.

MARLON: First dog. First dog.

CESAR: Well that's
great, cause you don't,

you don't have too
many bad habits.

Cause a lot of people have
three, four, five dogs.

And they just, they
have so much information.

You know what I mean?

AVEREE: We can learn.

CESAR: But what I'm about
to tell you is actually,

in my humble opinion, what
every person in the world

should know
before they get a dog.

MARLON: Okay.
AVEREE: Uh-hmm.

CESAR: We are
ears, eyes, nose.

They are nose, eyes, ears.

So the more you verbally talk,

the less you
communicate with the dog.

Most people go "Stay. Stay. No.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!

Angelo! Angelo.
Come on. Come on.

Sit. Sit. Here's a cookie."

You see what I mean?

AVEREE: Yeah.

CESAR: The excitement of the
sound and the tension is the

energy makes a
dog not connect.

AVEREE: Uh-hmm.

CESAR: So that's what I'm
going to help you achieve:

the basics of
connection, communication.

AVEREE: Yeah.
CESAR: Come on.

MARLON: Are you sure you
don't do human counseling?

CESAR: That's what I'm doing.
That's what I'm doing.

You ready?

AVEREE: Awesome.
We're ready.

We're excited.

CESAR: Yes!

Angelo is an out
of control puppy.

AVEREE: Sorry!
MARLON: Sorry.

CESAR: He's just like a
wrecking ball destroying

everything he touches.

So his parents are
just blowing tons of
money because of it.

AVEREE: Our walks
are an apology tour.

CESAR: Right?

Just put a shirt on it:
"Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.
Sorry. Sorry. Sorry."

So I need to bring them to
my ranch to help them now.

All right.

We've seen enough.
We've got a lot of work to do.

Let's go.

AVEREE: Okay.
CESAR: That's plenty.

I have a place here.
We call it the Annex.

I want to see how you behave
and just give you a little
bit of feedback.

Just pretend
this is your home.

All right.
Let's go inside.

AVEREE: Okay.

CESAR: The biggest issue
they're having with Angelo is

inside behavior.

He follows them everywhere,

does Zoom bombs
with toilet paper,

whining when
they're on the phone,

I'm getting a lot of calls about
this during the pandemic.

It can get really bad if you
don't know how to address it.

NARRATOR: Cesar observes
Marlon and Averee's inside

behavior with Angelo to see
how they interact with no

outside distractions.

CESAR: Here, the dog
already took over.

He's exploring in
the environment.

MARLON: Buddy. Come here.
Come here. Come here.

Come here.
Come here.

CESAR: My brother has no idea.

Look at, now's he's asking him
to be on top or next to him.

MARLON: Hey. Hey.

CESAR: That's pretty bad.

MARLON: Angelo is
sniffing and running around.

And I'm letting him explore
because I think that's the

right thing to do.

AVEREE: There's definitely
added pressure knowing that

Cesar's on the outside
of this room watching us.

CESAR: They're doing
exactly what they're not
supposed to be doing.

Too much exploring.

Too much time on top of them,
and they never once send him

to his dog bed.

When a dog has no boundaries,

it can lead to
destructive behavior,

especially during
this pandemic when we're

locked up inside
our homes together.

And it can only get worse
when we leave them alone.

All right, guys.

You can come out
but leave him inside,

so we can see what he
does when you guys leave.

MARLON: Hey. No. Sit.

AVEREE: Go to your bed.

MARLON: Sit. Stay. Stay.

AVEREE: I'm anxious.

I felt a little
embarrassed, like ok,

what if this does not work?

What if Angelo
really is too bad?

CESAR: His brain is so used
to being close to them and

excited, so they
can't make the shift.

AVEREE: Because I've
definitely had moments of

feeling like, I'm
just over this.

This is not gonna change.

It is what it is.
This is our dog.

It'll still cause
tension between Marlon and I.

I think we're failing.

[barking].

[barking].

CESAR: So, this whole barking
stuff is separation anxiety.

In his brain, he never
stopped following you,

like the umbilical
cord was never cut.

MARLON: Uh-hmm.
AVEREE: Absolutely.

CESAR: You see what I mean?

So his brain was excited, so
now he's confused because he

can't follow you.

AVEREE: Uh-hmm.

CESAR: But when you were
just sitting down there,

instead of just telling
him to go to your bed and
you guys chill there,

he just started
doing all of that.

[barking].

So this is a great opportunity
for you to teach what to do.

AVEREE: Uh-hmm.
CESAR: Let's do it.

I'm getting a lot of calls for
quarantine dogs with what's

known as separation anxiety.

Left untreated, that
separation anxiety leads to an

insecure and fearful dog
who looks at the world like

anything could be a threat.

And all the
barking, the lunging,

and the biting follows.

Seeing how bad Angelo's
separation anxiety is,

now I can teach Marlon and
Averee how to fix it before it

becomes aggressive.

And how you treat this
is to have a ritual,

so that leaving the house
is the same as coming home.

What I want you to
practice is the formula:

no touch, no talk,
no eye contact.

Most people say, "So you
want me to ignore him?"

AVEREE: Yeah.
That's what I was thinking.

CESAR: It looks like it, but
you're not ignoring the dog.

You're ignoring the
state of mind the dog is in.

AVEREE: Yeah.

CESAR: When people go
away, when they come back,

what they see is a dog that
"missed them," and what I see

is a dog that is
excited and anxious.

And so, the best thing
that dog needs is:

no touch, no talk,
no eye contact.

And then reunite with the
dog when the dog is calm.

So once you go in there,
it's no touch, no talk,
no eye contact.

So that energy,
you're gonna feel it.

You're going to feel
that this human wants
nothing to do with me,

and I'm so close
to that human.

No touch, no talk,
no eye contact.

So this exercise helps you
help a dog to understand
the detachment.

AVEREE: Uh-hmm.

It makes me laugh because I
always thought the way Angelo

greeted me was with love,
but we're learning that that's

disobedient and disrespectful,
and we're gonna show our love

in other ways.

CESAR: So no touch,
no talk, no eye contact.

AVEREE: Normally, we tango
all the way to the kitchen,

to the cabinet, to
put my purse down,

to wash my hands, and
he just does not get it.

[barking].

CESAR: No eye contact.

AVEREE: So it's amazing having
this reuniting exercise.

I thought I knew
what I was doing,

and Cesar has definitely
shown us the right way
on how to fix it.

CESAR: I'm gonna show you, now
we're going to add into this a

coming back home
type of thing.

I'm like the pizza guy.

Now that we're starting to
control Angelo's excitement

when we reunite, I want to go
to the next level by adding

what we all know
dogs can't resist, food.

Do me a favor and
move towards him.

AVEREE: Toward him?
CESAR: Towards him.

Towards. Go, go, go.
Towards. Like go.

AVEREE: Like put this down?
CESAR: No.

Look, so when you move, in
order for him to give you more

of what we're looking for,
so you come here,

and he gives you an
obedience behavior.

Tsch.

AVEREE: Uh-hmm.
CESAR: Tsch.

By Averee moving
toward Angelo,

she's beginning
to set boundaries.

He's not moving away.
He's following.

Towards him.

We want to give you that
position of leadership
by you moving in.

AVEREE: Yeah.

CESAR: And then he has to
give you move away from you.

AVEREE: Uh-hmm.

CESAR: When Angelo learns
those boundaries and sees

Averee claim that space,
it's going to do two things:

teach him that creating
distance is normal,

so leaving the room doesn't
result in an anxiety attack.

It also means the
human owns the space.

Yes. Much better.

So the dog can't develop
territorial behavior over

food, pillows, or toys.

Yeah.

See how he lowered
the head right there?

There you go.
Beautiful. That's it.

He's moving away from you.

So the way they
behave with food,

you can say with a
baby, with grandma,

with whatever you want.

It's the same reaction.

"Give me space."
That's what you're saying.

AVEREE: That makes sense.

Truly understanding
what a boundary is,

I think will make things
so much better knowing,

like, I can come into
a calm environment,

and I can greet my husband,
and I can greet Angelo

at the right moment.

[barking].

CESAR: Yeah.
He's done with this exercise.

He's like, "I got it."

I have given Marlon and
Averee the tools they need,

but now it's up to them to
go home and do the work.

NARRATOR: The
following morning,

Cesar begins his
day with a pack hike,

when he receives an
emergency call from
Jennifer, Bella's owner.

CESAR: Tell me.
Talk to me.

JENNIFER: I opened
the front door...

Across the street, a lady
and her dogs started walking.

That caught Bella's eye...

and she just bolted past me...

And I was like sh*t,
I ran after her...

I'm yelling at her
"Bella, Bella"...

Bella runs out, she runs
up to the dogs fast...

Barking...

And the little one off
leash comes at her barking...

and kind of lunges at her...

And then that's
when she retaliated...

NARRATOR: Cesar receives an
emergency call from Jennifer,

a nurse from a family
of first responders,

whose aggressive
red zone pit bull, Bella,

has attacked
a neighborhood dog.

JENNIFER: I don't think
anything happened...

The dog didn't
yelp or anything...

I felt bad, I felt like...

it was my fault.

I don't want anything
to happen to my dogs...

I don't want them
to get in trouble...

I don't want, you know...

'cause I was just
trying to train them...

CESAR: Yep.
I understand.

Listen, I'm with you.

But the mistake is,
unfortunately,
it's where we grow.

The good thing
is nobody's hurt.

JENNIFER [over phone]: Yeah.

CESAR: It's just a little
bit of moment of scare,

but that's the thing.

JENNIFER [over phone]: Yeah.

CESAR: When we have big
dogs, whatever they do,

it just magnifies,
it intensifies.

JENNIFER [over phone]: Yeah.

CESAR: We're
gonna work on this.

JENNIFER [over phone]:
Uh-huh. Thank you. Bye.

CESAR: What's going on
with Bella is she's
always overly excited.

When an overly excited dog
sees something that triggers

them, they often go into
one of these three behaviors:

fight, flight, or avoidance.

Bella gets stuck
in that fight mode.

But eventually, we need
to get her to the state
of calm surrender,

otherwise, that fight mode
could lead to death.

The death of another dog,
or possibly Bella herself.

NARRATOR: Bella's dog
aggression has escalated
to a critical level.

Cesar needs to address
this incident with Bella

immediately before
her next attack could
result in a fatality.

Cesar arrives in Rancho
Cucamonga to teach Jennifer

how to control Bella's
aggression when faced with

outside distractions.

JENNIFER: Thank you
so much for coming.

I think part of me being so
emotional was because I came

to a realization
at that moment.

Like, "Oh, my gosh, is
Bella too much for us?

What if someone comes
and takes my dogs?"

Because if Bella were to get
out and were to bite a dog,

I just don't want
anybody to get hurt or
anything like that.

CESAR: You were not
prepared for this,

so I'm glad it happened
because that means to me that

this is where we have to work.

JENNIFER: Right.

CESAR: You're
gonna love today.

So what we're gonna do is,
we're gonna put a leash on

Bella, the halter, set
her up, snap her out of it,

let her know what we want.

And that's gonna be
their new memory.

JENNIFER: Okay. Okay.
All right. Let me get her.

NARRATOR: After
Cesar's encouragement,

Jennifer is prepared to
discourage Bella's

"fight mode" mindset.

CESAR: Relax. Breathe.

Stop right there.

NARRATOR: But to
ensure Jennifer's success,

Cesar must retrain the dog
by presenting a new trigger.

CESAR: Be right back.

NARRATOR: One with which she's
never had a bad experience.

[quacking].

CESAR: Now you're
gonna meet ducks.

We're gonna start
with them on the bag.

Bella has only
ever fought dogs,

so it is actually safer for
us to use these ducks because

they're completely new to her,
and she doesn't have a bad

memory of them like she
does with unfamiliar dogs.

Don't worry, I'll never let
anything happen to my ducks.

Relax.

She needs to get
used to the sound,
the smell, the sight.

This is all good.
This is nothing wrong.

She's doing great.

Sit her down. Uh-hmm.

JENNIFER: She's doing great.

CESAR: You're doing great.
JENNIFER: Oh, thanks.

CESAR: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's a reflection of you.

Now I'm going to let them walk
back by there. All right?

JENNIFER: Okay.

CESAR: So far, she's not
triggering with the fight,

but we're just
getting started here.

Bring her over.
Bring her over.

Tsch.

See that?
That's a fight mode.

JENNIFER: Tsch.
CESAR: Yes.

JENNIFER: There you go.

CESAR: You fixed that one. Good?

JENNIFER: Yes. Great.
CESAR: Yeah.

She's getting excited,
but this was easy to
snap out of it and say,

"Oh, that's what you want?
Okay, that's what I do."

Come this way.

We're gonna take
the ducks for a walk.

NARRATOR: Cesar will control
the dog until he feels it's

safe for Jennifer
to take the leash.

CESAR: I also want you to see
when the surrender kicks in.

There you go.
That's surrender.

That's beautiful right there.
Here is the leash to you.

There's a very subtle moment
when a dog finally surrenders.

When you see Bella stop
looking around excitedly,

when she finally just settles
into the walk and relaxes.

I'm not saying she's fixed,
but it's a huge deal that

Bella let go of her
over-excitement and
finally surrendered.

Shoulders up.

Yes. Nice.
Shoulders up. Yes.

Tsch. Tsch. Hey!

Watch out.

We got a little
one right here.

Tsch. Tsch. Hey.

The off-leash dog
almost flipped Bella
back into fight mode.

But this is where we teach
Jennifer how to stay calm and

handle these scenarios.

So if you see a little
dog moving, sit down.

You stop.

JENNIFER: Okay.

I immediately took a flashback,
and I was so like,

"Oh my gosh," this was
like my worst fear because

her focus was on those
animals and that scared me.

CESAR: So it's easier to deal
with a dog off-leash if you

stop, than if you keep moving.

JENNIFER: Okay.

CESAR: 'Cause
then you're telling.

JENNIFER: Because
I try to get away, but then.

CESAR: No. No.
Because you're flying.

JENNIFER: Uh-huh.

CESAR: So the way
they perceive it is
you're flying away.

If you pass fast and
then you anticipate,

and then that
becomes a nightmare.

JENNIFER: Got it.

CESAR: When we see
an off-leash dog.

We stay calm.
We surrender.

We stop.

They sit, just like
Bella and Jennifer here.

JENNIFER: She
forgot about the ducks.

She doesn't care anymore.

CESAR: They're,
they're in the back.

Look, look, they're running.
Look at them.

Those are the best
ducks in the world, man.

How's it feel?

JENNIFER: It feels amazing!

CESAR: I know Jennifer
has been worried about
Bella attacking again

and thinking maybe the
city would take her away,

but I'm sure they're
both gonna get it right.

We still have
important work left,

but we made a lot
of progress today.

Surprise, ducks
can cure pit bulls.

MARLON: Our last
visit to the DPC,

Angelo's made some strides,
but there's been some,

some regression.

Down, Angelo.
You've got to lay down.

AVEREE: The separation anxiety
has definitely worsened.

MARLON: Stay down.
Stay down.

AVEREE: Oh!
MARLON: Oh, my.

He's jumping on me.

And sometimes he jumps towards
areas that I'd like to keep

sacred and safe because
I want to have kids later.

What are you doing?

Stop. Stop. Angelo, stop!

AVEREE: We've
definitely back-tracked.

I'm really hoping Cesar
can help us change that.

CESAR: Come on.
Averee, shoulders up.

Tsch.

AVEREE: I'm anxious
walking up to Cesar.

MARLON: Definitely put a
lot of pressure on myself.

To be honest,
it's embarrassing.

As we're walking in today, we
don't know if Angelo's going

to completely flip the script.

CESAR: All right. So we're
here for your final test.

I need your A-game.

MARLON [off-screen]: I honestly
expect him to be terrible.

CESAR: All right, so the
last time you guys were here,

we worked on
separation anxiety.

So you're going to go in there
and practice to leave home.

MARLON: Right.

CESAR: So first, watch me.

Before they go inside, I want
to first show them exactly how

to claim their space.

So watch, even how I enter.

Okay?

The idea is, you can't come
near me unless I invite you.

So I'm going to
start that way.

It's not just about
calming the dog when
you're leaving home.

You also have to let him know
you're in control from the

moment you walk
through the door.

Tsch.

AVEREE: Definitely demanded
the space just upon walking in.

CESAR: Once they
calm Angelo down,

they need to let him know what
space in the apartment is his.

Relax.

They should tell him to
lay down when they come in,

and also before they leave.

Right now, he
can't follow people.

If they're calm and in
control of the space,

Angelo should get the message.

AVEREE: Not even moving.
MARLON: Yeah.

AVEREE: Oh, my gosh.
It's amazing.

CESAR: All right, guys.
It's your turn.

Don't forget: keep calm
and back each other up.

Do it, do it, do it.

AVEREE: Go.
CESAR: Pow.

MARLON: Go. Go. Go.

CESAR [over radio]: You got
this, guys. You got it.

MARLON: Go. Go. Sit.

Stay.

Stay. Stay.

Go! Go.

As we're working
through the exercise,

Angelo is just not listening,
and I can feel myself
getting frustrated.

Go!

And I know that's also
not helping the situation.

I'm trying to be a head
of the household like
old school terms,

and it's not working.

Go! Go!

CESAR [over radio]: It seems
like you're getting a little
frustrated.

Stay calm.
Stay confident.

If he follows you,

CESAR: Don't say, "Go" anymore.
Just boom, touch.

CESAR [over radio]: Make it
happen. Make it happen.

MARLON: Stay. Stay.

CESAR: Stay.

CESAR [over radio]: Oh,
Averee, back him up.

AVEREE: Go! Go.

CESAR: There we go, Averee.
There we go.

Good timing.

AVEREE: Go.

I wasn't
preparing to take over,

but it really just kind of
snapped in the moment
that I'm like,

"Okay. This is kind of my moment
to step up to the plate."

Stay.

CESAR: Perfect. Perfect.

Ooh, almost. Almost.

All right.

So that's the calm
surrender I'm looking for.

AVEREE: Yay!

CESAR: Good job. Awesome.
AVEREE: I'm so excited.

CESAR: Let's go.
Let's bring him out.

Let's bring him out.
I'm proud of them.

If they maintain
the exercises,

and just understanding
how to adjust their energy,

work together, they're
going to have the perfect dog.

MARLON: Good dog.

AVEREE: Yay.
Good boy.

CESAR: You did it!

AVEREE: I am feeling a lot of
assurance and excitement and

confidence today.

So I'm really excited about
just the progress that you've

made and that
we've made together.

MARLON: I'm definitely
feeling recharged.

I'm really looking forward to
seeing how we can continue to

grow together.

And improve Angelo
and improve ourselves,

and also continue to
improve our family.

AVEREE: Thanks, babe.
MARLON: You did it.

CESAR: Now you
get a tequila shot.

MARLON: Yes.
CESAR: Absolutely.

NARRATOR: Over
the past few weeks,

Cesar worked closely
with the Calderons,

a family of first responders
whose red zone pit bull named

Bella has
attacked multiple dogs.

Cesar showed them new ways to
drain excess energy from the

dogs and continues to work
with the family on controlling

Bella's aggression.

CESAR: You're just going to
turn on that green button.

ERIC: Okay.
CESAR: Then relax the leash.

There you go.

Jennifer and Eric are heroes
working on the frontlines of

the COVID-19 pandemic.

They're saving
lives every day,

working 14-hour
shifts for days at a time.

They come home exhausted, but
they're still getting straight

to work with their dogs.

That level of commitment
is what inspires me.

I am so proud of the changes
I have seen this family make.

NARRATOR: After nearly a month
of intense rehabilitation,

Cesar returns to the Calderon
family home to put this pack

to one final challenge.

JENNIFER [off-screen]: Bella!

NARRATOR: Bella has attacked
two dogs and is at risk of

being removed from the home.

JENNIFER: Hi, Cesar.

CESAR: Hi, guys.
How are you?

Good morning.

I have a surprise for
your final challenge.

CESAR: The last time I
came here to work with Bella,

it was because she escaped
out of the front door to

attack another dog.

I need to know that we
have worked through
her dog aggression.

To put Bella and
Jennifer to a final test,

I'm going to
have my son, Andre,

walk a dog by their front door
to see if Jennifer can keep

Bella in a calm
surrender state.

All right, Andre.

[growling].

Tsch!

I could see Bella
switching into attack mode.

Her body was getting tense,
her eyes were getting
fixated on the husky.

I just need to do a proper
correction to remind Jennifer

how to keep Bella calm.

JENNIFER: Tsch.
CESAR: There you go.

This is more calm surrender.

JENNIFER: Yeah.
CESAR: Andre, do it again.

JENNIFER: Tsch.

CESAR: There you go.
That's the one.

So whatever you did, and
whatever that intensity.

That's the intensity,
so you don't have to do
it like three times.

JENNIFER: This is huge
for her 'cause she normally
would have been.

CESAR: Uh-hmm.
Oh, yeah, yeah.

And this is her true nature,
her happy-go-lucky self

that we all love.

There you go.
This is more calm surrender.

Bella and Jennifer
are doing great so far.

So now, I'm going to push
their limits a little and see

how they react when
confronted with another dog.

Andre!

ANDRE: Yes, sir.

CESAR: I have my son Andre
move in slowly with the other

dog to prevent Bella
from feeling threatened.

I want to see how Bella
chooses to react to a dog

entering her space calmly.

JENNIFER: Tsch. Tsch.

CESAR: So now we have
two calm surrender.

Can you see it?

BOTH: Uh-hmm.

CESAR: So that's why it's
so important to assess and

evaluate how they feel.

Not what they did.
What they're doing right now.

ERIC: Yeah.
JENNIFER: Right.

CESAR: Yawning is good.

A yawn equals relaxation,
it means calm, surrender.

Bella has a troubled past, but
you can see that that's not

going to define her future.

JENNIFER: When I do walk her,
I usually put the weighted

vest and her goggles on
just to help decrease.

CESAR: I want to
see the whole thing.

JENNIFER: Okay.

CESAR: I'm so proud of all
the work Jennifer has put in.

She's even using tools like a
weighted vest to burn energy.

She looks, oh,
my, they have pink?

JENNIFER: Yeah.

CESAR: Oh, my lord.
I love it even more.

JENNIFER: Yeah.

When we put it on
her, she's much calmer.

CESAR: And goggles that
work like blinders on a horse.

Together, it's all
about controlling
Bella's excitement.

JENNIFER: We're ready.

NARRATOR: Showing great
success remaining calm when
faced with old triggers,

Cesar takes this once
red zone pit bull for a
final neighborhood walk.

CESAR: Yeah.

When I first met Jennifer,
she was getting dragged
down the streets

by a dog ready to fight anyone
that stepped in their path.

These dogs never got
exercise because it wasn't

safe to walk them.

So now I want to see how
Jennifer handles a walk with

all the tools and knowledge
she's gained throughout

Bella's rehabilitation.

Don't forget distance also.
Also look, come this way.

There you go.
Distance is respect.

JENNIFER: We were so concerned
that we would have to find

Bella a new place to live.

And then, working with
Cesar, learning all the tools,

and see that
she's happy-go-lucky,

and she's not really responding
as much to other dogs,

it made me feel better.

I'm giving her a
second chance.

It's all thanks to Cesar.

CESAR: Much better, right?

JENNIFER: Yeah.
This feels great.

CESAR: Yeah. This is it.
JENNIFER: Uh-huh.

Normally, she already would
have been barking by now.

CESAR: That's right.

She's actually in a
super happy-go-lucky
feeling right now.

So enjoy this one.
Just like you.

JENNIFER: Yeah.
This is good.

CESAR: Yeah. Exactly.

So let's focus on the
little moments where
it's just awesome.

ERIC: Seeing the progress
has actually fueled my fire to

keep on progressing
with all the dogs.

Cesar, I just want to thank
you and there's nothing I

could say that would repay
what you've done for our family.

CESAR: It was awesome to be
a first-responder for once.

ERIC: Sounds pretty awesome.

JENNIFER: Well,
you definitely were.

CESAR: Appreciate you very much.
You did amazing.

CESAR [off-screen]:
Bella, Jennifer, and
Eric have come so far.

There's still a
lot of work to do,

but I know they will
improve every day.

Now, they have one less
problem to face while working

the frontlines of
the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year has been difficult,
but the blessing is that so

many people have opened
their homes to dogs in need,

emptying out shelters
across the country.

New dog owners, remember this:

take your dog for a
long walk every day.

Walk your pack with calm,
confident, love and joy,

and be a part of something
bigger than yourself.

You can accomplish anything
if you do it together.