02x08 - Ticking b*mb

[bunniefuu]

CESAR (off-screen): When
I started my journey and

people started calling
me the Dog Whisperer,

the only thing I wanted
to do is to teach people

that there is no
such a thing as a bad dog.

WOMAN: Oh, my gosh.

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

CESAR (off-screen): Today,
I'm still doing what I love.

But the world has changed.

(overlapping chatter).

CESAR: Record dog adoptions
have made many packs complete

but now, more than ever,

people and dogs still need help.

WOMAN: We can't live like this.
CESAR: Yeah.

WOMAN: The problem is me.
MAN: What do I do?

CESAR (off-screen):
Mo pooches, mo problems, right?

He needs rehab, like, ASAP.

So many things
you can fix already.

Shh.

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're
gonna have everything else.

(cheering).

CESAR (off-screen): And that's how we
create better humans and better dogs,

one pack at a time.

CESAR: I often say that dogs don't live in
the past but humans do.

Today, I'm on my way to Burbank
to meet with a family that

suffered a devastated
dog loss last year.

Now they have another dog in the pack
that is showing extreme aggression

and they say it all started
when the other dog passed away.

I need to find out what's
going on to help this family

and this dog find their peace.

DANAIAH: My name's Danaiah
and this is my husband Jimmy.

JIMMY: We've been
married for 25 years.

DANAIAH: And we have
two dogs, Linus and Taz.

Yes, yes, that's a good girl.

JIMMY: Our pug Taz is
just four months old.

DANAIAH: Taz is just adorable.

Linus, sit.

JIMMY: Linus is a Shar Pei mix,
and he's four years old.

DANAIAH (off-screen): We
thought he was so cute and

he was just
this bundle of wrinkles.

JIMMY (off-screen): We
fell in love and adopted Linus.

He, he became
part of our family.

BOTH: Linus.

JIMMY: Come over here.
Come up, Linus.

DANAIAH: Come on bubba.

DANAIAH (off-screen): About a year
and a half after we adopted Linus,

we decided to adopt another dog.

And we named her Daphne.

JIMMY (off-screen): Daphne
and Linus were inseparable.

Anytime Linus was outside,
Daphne would run outside as well

and just lay out
there in the sun with him.

They often cuddled
together in the same bed.

DANAIAH: Daphne passed
away four months ago.

(whining)

Since Daphne passed away, Linus,
his behavior really changed.

And I think it's because he
had a broken heart about Daphne.

Linus was never aggressive
before Daphne passed away,

but it's become frightening.

(barking)

JIMMY (off-screen):
Linus became more aggressive,

especially around
strangers and other dogs.

DANAIAH: When we're on
walks and he sees another dog...

JIMMY: Sorry.
DANAIAH: Sorry, sorry, sorry.

He jumps, he pulls.

When he's in that
heightened sense of being upset,

if you try to
touch him, you know,

just to comfort him,
he will bite.

JIMMY: Linus got so aggressive,
he actually bit my thigh.

He left a couple
of puncture marks.

DANAIAH: The long term
impact of Jimmy getting bit

is he doesn't
walk Linus anymore.

JIMMY: Linus does seem
to be anxious around me.

With Linus biting, it
seems like it's escalating, we,

we're worried
about what could happen.

DANAIAH: He makes people scared.

I don't want him
to hurt someone.

And I don't want him to get put
down because he hurt someone.

JIMMY: Having to concentrate
so much on, on Linus,

I don't think we've actually properly even
grieved for our lost dog.

I think that's what we need
as a family to be able to just

not worry so much about Linus
until we can finally put it

all behind us and move forward.

(knocking)

JIMMY: Cesar.
DANAIAH: Cesar.

CESAR: How are you?

Come on out. Come on out, guys.

What do you
think the problem is?

DANAIAH: Linus gets so incredibly anxious,
he gets wound up on walks,

we're afraid to go
to the dog park because

he's already bit
a couple of people,

and we're really afraid that
he might really hurt someone.

CESAR: Yeah.

JIMMY: I achieved
firsthand experience,

the bite I got right on
the thigh walking the dog.

He was trying to attack the dog over here
and he ended up biting me.

CESAR: Dogs can show
aggression for lots of reasons,

but a dog redirecting and biting his own
pet parent is unacceptable.

To get to the bottom of this,
I need to see how Jimmy and

Danaiah interact with Linus.

So what I wanna see
is how you guys walk.

Do exactly how you do it.

(barking)

DANAIAH: Linus, come on.

Tsch, tsch, tsch.

(barking)

CESAR: It's really bad.

The first thing I see
is a dog that is nervous.

His feet are dancing all over
the place in this chaotic way,

unsure whether to
attack or run away.

DANAIAH: Okay.
Linus, Linus, Linus. Come on.

JIMMY: You okay?

CESAR: Linus' chaotic
aggression is made worse by

Danaiah's poor leash technique.

I've never seen somebody walking
like you because you go close to

the ground like you
have a machine g*n.

She keeps the leash tight,
dragging him around,

which only transmits anxiety to
him and leads to more charging.

And that triggers Taz, their
younger dog, to charge too.

(laughs)

Why did they give
you the little one?

JIMMY: Because she
usually walks that one.

CESAR: Oh, really?
JIMMY: Yeah.

CESAR (off-screen): Jimmy is
walking Taz, the smaller dog,

but since Jimmy's
getting bitten by Linus,

it makes sense that
he's hesitant to walk him.

DANAIAH: I have a
question about the...

CESAR: Yes, go for it.

DANAIAH: About
the collar, though.

CESAR: Yeah.

DANAIAH: Um, we really, we
hate using a prong collar,

but it's the most
effective thing that we found.

CESAR: Effective in the,
in the physical aspect,

that's what you're saying.

Physically, it can
control it like he's a beast,

but in reality, you wanna do just energy
and eventually no tools.

DANAIAH: Yes.

CESAR: We're gonna switch it to a much
simpler leash all the way in the top.

And you can take
the prong collar off.

The prong collar is,
it's a tool, right?

But a simple slip leash is super
effective, especially in dogs like Linus,

that is, uh, back of
the pack, a little nervous.

A tense human can actually provoke more
of the wrong reaction.

Let me help you.

So look, see how
you're doing it?

So you're trying to
put a lot of force.

Let me, let me have it.

There we go.

You have to feed a gentle
energy through the leash.

There we, there we go. Look.

He's not used to
such a gentle approach.

As bad as Linus' behavior is,
Jimmy and Danaiah claim that

all started when they
lost his pack mate Daphne.

So now I want to sit
down and hear more about

how things
changed after the loss.

Oh, my goodness.

I see how you have,
have like a memorial.

I love it.
It's a beautiful thing.

(barking)

He's really excited.

We're not gonna be able to talk
if he keeps barking like that.

Can we get the vest?

So we're gonna use this weighted vest so
he has something to redirect to.

I saw before how the
family uses the leash to try to

control Linus, and it
was a total disaster.

So I wanna give them a different
tool for calming him down.

This weighted vested uses gentle
body pressure to soothe a dog's nerves.

And since Jimmy told me,
he never walk Linus,

I want to see how he approaches
putting the vest on the dog.

So your job is just
to put the vest on.

Don't, don't follow him.

Yeah. There you go.

Just go down on your knee like you're
gonna ask to marry somebody.

Yeah. Yeah.

Once he gets close,
you grab the collar.

JIMMY: This can go on for hours.

CESAR: The fact that Linus doesn't
immediately come to Jimmy is very telling.

A dog should naturally want to
be closer to their pet parent.

All right, get up again.

Both parents have major,
major trust issues with Linus,

and that goes in
both directions.

On the street, Danaiah's
tight leash showed that

she doesn't trust Linus, and
his barking and lunging shows

he didn't trust his
pet parents to keep him safe.

In the backyard, those trust
issues are even more obvious.

Linus is literally avoiding
and running away from Jimmy.

It doesn't get more
distrustful than that.

Linus is a classic
back of the pack dog.

He's a natural follower.

But because Jimmy and Danaiah
aren't offering leadership,

he feels he has to step up and
defend himself and the pack,

which he's not
really good at it.

And then this aggression will
require building up Jimmy and

Danaiah's calm
confident leadership

so they can earn Linus'
trust and he earns theirs.

Well, let me help you.

All right, crew.

This is like a feral dog.
Make sure you keep a distance.

Look, I'm going to
block him from here.

JIMMY: Okay.

CESAR: And then
you just move in.

It seems like Jimmy is a
total stranger to Linus.

There is no trust
and no confidence.

So I'm gonna teach Jimmy a
technique that animal rescuers

use to corral animals that
they don't know and don't trust.

Hold up. Don't chase him.
Don't chase him.

Slowly.

So we're gonna set
it up in the corner.

There you go.

The way rescuers, when
they rescue a feral dog,

and it's just slowly
close the gap, close the gap.

The humans become a wall.

Ta-ta-ta.

And then that dog has to
choose one of those humans and

he should choose
you because you're his,

you know, pet parent.

JIMMY: Right.

CESAR: But he
doesn't know how to trust.

JIMMY: Right.

CESAR: So he's even running
away from his pet parent.

There you go.

JIMMY: Do you want to move up?
CESAR: Mm-hmm.

Slowly, gently,
and then go down.

Yes.

JIMMY: The most anxiety
provoking moment was just

chasing him around the backyard.

I moved forward and he kept
trying to get away from me.

My worst fear is
that he's gonna bite.

I, I am a little nervous.

(barking)

CESAR: Keep your body
language calm and confident.

And then you put it on.

Linus' nervous distrust
of his pet parent is so bad

he won't even let Jimmy
put this weighted vest on him.

In the past, that distrust
led him to biting Jimmy.

Now Jimmy doesn't walk him and Danaiah can
barely control him either.

He's getting there.
He's getting there.

Yes, exactly like that.

So if we do this over and
over and over, he learns.

Okay, when the human behaves
this way, stop, clear mission.

And the vest
should settle his nerves.

I want to hear about Daphne now.

Do you feel that
Daphne was his pack leader?

JIMMY: Yeah.

I mean, well, we often
joked about this, like, yeah,

it looks like she's
leading the pack more than us.

CESAR: All right,
so he depended on her?

JIMMY: Yeah.
DANAIAH: Yeah, absolutely.

They were inseparable.

JIMMY: Inseparable.

DANAIAH: But unfortunately,

one of Daphne's
discs in her back herniated.

She was having a
really hard time breathing.

CESAR: Yeah.

DANAIAH: We took her
to the animal hospital.

But she was pronounced dead.

JIMMY: Yeah.

DANAIAH: Daphne was, she
was just a little light, um.

I always cry.

It didn't really seem like Linus
could get his brain around it

because he looked for her
and he smelled, and smelled,

and it didn't seem like he
knew what was going on at all.

And so I just don't think that Linus has
made his peace with it,

because I don't think he,
he still understands that she,

that she died.

JIMMY: We adopted Taz to bring some light
into our lives after Daphne's passing.

But Linus continued to be sad.

CESAR: With a dog like Linus,

he needs a calm,
confident human to move on.

This is why that guy
relied on her so much.

Because she was calm, confident.

Now that Daphne is gone,
I need you to step up and

be the pack leaders
that Linus needs.

So I would like for you guys to come over
to my Dog Psychology Center.

DANAIAH: Thank you.

CESAR: I can't wait to
see you guys at the ranch.

NARRATOR: The next day,
Cesar heads to Winnetka to help

an eight year old Pit-bull
whose backwards way of life is

tripping up her family.

MARIANA: Tsch. Come on.

FOREST: Hi, I'm Forest.
MARIANA: And I'm Mariana.

I love people.
I love animals.

Producer: Yeah, I can tell
by the cat in the window.

FOREST: Yeah. I was,
I couldn't help myself.

MARIANA: Oh, my God.
FOREST: I couldn't help myself.

FOREST (off-screen): Our home
consists of myself, Mariana,

our son, Oliver,
three cats, and also Sierra.

MARIANA: Come on, Sierra.

We got Sierra
about three years ago.

Come on.

Sierra is the best.
She is the sweetest.

She's just special.
She is just pure love.

And if we could get
this little situation fixed,

she's close to perfect.

She has an issue with walking
backwards on slippery floors,

which are all over our house.

FOREST: She was running
across a slick floor surface

and she couldn't stop in time and she ran
into a sliding glass door.

Go ahead, Sierra.

MARIANA: Ever since that day,
she's chosen to walk backwards.

When she walks on any other surface,
grass, cement, she's fine.

She walks like normal.

But as soon as you hit
a tile floor, game over.

FOREST: You have to battle with her
just to get her out of her bed.

Then you have to battle with
her walking across the floor.

Then you got to battle with
her when you hit a threshold.

MARIANA: It can take anywhere
from 15 minutes to, like,

an hour to get out the door.

You can do it. Come on, girl.

It's very stressful.

There's no end to it, you know?

And he can't pick her up
as well now with his leg.

FOREST: The accident
happened two years ago.

I was riding my motorcycle,
making a left-hand turn,

I had a green light, and a lady
ran her red light, um, and, uh,

hit me in the
middle of the turn.

MARIANA: Our whole world
got just knocked sideways.

It still affects me because the doctor
told me he should've died.

I mean, there's should be
no reason he's still alive.

(crying)

FOREST: Good job, girl.

Because of her behavior,
there are certain things that

are more difficult for me to do.

MARIANA: She'll trip him up like she'll
intertwine it with the leash.

She's knocked him down.

Ever since that day, I
do worry about everything

dealing with Sierra.

MARIANA (off-screen): It does get
frustrating and it does get stressful.

I get, like, you know,

bad anxiety parallel
with Sierra's anxiety.

FOREST: We just don't
know how to get her better.

MARIANA: I've done
everything I know how to do.

And that's why I
reached out to Cesar.

You did it.

Hello.

CESAR: How are you?
MARIANA: Good. How are you?

CESAR: Come outside.
Come outside.

FOREST: Oh, my goodness.

CESAR: Let's,
let's talk about this.

So how can I help you?

MARIANA: Well, we have one of the best
dogs you'll meet in the world.

CESAR: Okay.

MARIANA: Except she walks
backwards on slippery floors.

CESAR: Right. Okay.
Have you tried anything?

MARIANA: I've
trained her with treats.

And if I put a carpet down,
or a rug, or anything,

it's just gonna mask the symptoms, but
it's not curing the problem.

CESAR: Correct.

I'm not gonna lie, but a
dog that walks backwards on

every slippery floor
is definitely unusual.

I'm gonna put
some cameras in there.

I just wanna see
the behavior, how you do it.

MARIANA: Yeah.

CESAR: To really figure
out the root of this behavior,

I have to see it in action.

All right, guys, let's
see your morning routine.

MARIANA: Good morning.

Come on.

MARIANA (over walkie-talkie):
There you go.

MARIANA: Come on. Come on.

Come on, baby girl. Come on.

(laughs)

MARIANA (over walkie-talkie):
Here. Come.

CESAR: Oh.

FOREST: Just go
to your bed, Sierra.

MARIANA: Go.

(laughs)

MARIANA: Back it up, girl.
Back it up. Come on.

CESAR: She's ready
for a hip hop video.

MARIANA: There you go. Look.

CESAR: She's happy.

Sierra's happy,
she's just confused.

But she's happy.
She's not afraid at all.

I know it looks weird,
but she's having fun.

Mariana needs a lot of work.

See, she keep pacing,
she can't stand still.

CESAR (off-screen): That's a big part
of why Sierra is getting confused.

I think I have a,
a lot of work to do.

Pit-bulls are a
special breed for me.

And I can already tell
that I'm going to love Sierra.

CESAR (off-screen):
The problem is that when

she encounters a
shiny floor or a doorway,

she gets confused
on what to do next.

But more importantly,
Mariana's constant anxiety

confuses Sierra even more.

MARIANA: Sierra, come. Come.

CESAR (off-screen):
Since Forest's accident,

she's been the one
who's taking care of Sierra.

So, I'm gonna
focus on Mariana today.

Once I replace her
anxiety with calm confidence,

she'll be able to guide
Sierra through the confusion.

Let's go.

NARRATOR: To get Sierra in
the right mood for their work,

Cesar brings along his
happy-go-lucky friend, Sophia.

CESAR: We're gonna
help this Sierra girl.

Tell me where she is.

MARIANA: Last door on the right.

CESAR: Sophia immediately
got Sierra's tail wagging,

and now she's calm and happy.

FOREST: Oh.

CESAR: As soon as I try to guide
her forward, Sierra froze up.

She's back to
tense and confused.

So, I'm going to apply gentle
tension on the leash to unlock

the brain and get
her to step forward.

You could see it in her face.

She's trying to
figure out what to do.

MARIANA: I'm so
tense and anxious.

I'm, like, on
the verge of tears.

FOREST: It's very
interesting watching him go

through the same
experiences that we are.

MARIANA: Exactly.

NARRATOR: Confusion and
uncertainty lead Pit-bull Sierra

to walk backwards on slippery
floors and freeze in doorways,

which can trip up
her pet parent, Forest.

Cesar must teach her
to trust the leash to

guide her through the confusion.

CESAR: There we go.
That's a big step for her.

CESAR (off-screen): Eventually,
Sierra figured it out.

The steady tension on the leash
just nudged her brain forward

and she unlocked
and took a step.

Now, I'm going to keep
that forward momentum going.

MARIANA: Dude, she
just came out of the room.

FOREST: Yup. Wow.

Seeing Sierra like that
just brings a lot of joy to me.

MARIANA: You know, I could
see the, the potential in her.

It's always at that.

FOREST: The threshold.
CESAR: I see.

I'm gonna keep her moving and not let her
stop and get confused.

MARIANA: Oh, my gosh. Okay.

No. It can't be this fast.

(laughter)

CESAR: Why not?
MARIANA: I can't believe this.

That has never happened.

CESAR: We're going back to the room so we
can practice this thing.

Just like that.
Just like that.

Look at that.

FOREST: Wow.
CESAR: There you go!

FOREST: Good girl!

(cheering)

MARIANA: Good girl!
CESAR: Yes, sir!

The key with Sierra is to
guide her with calm confidence

and not to let her linger
and start getting confused.

See it? You see it?

So now, we're
gonna do it with you.

Now it's Mariana's turn
to set aside her anxiety and

show Sierra
guidance she can trust.

Mm-hmm. You got it, you got it.

You got it.

Don't rush. Take your time.

Just, just put the
tension and wait for the,

for the body to move.

Yeah. Yeah. Yes.

Good, good, good,
good, good, good.

MARIANA: So this is good,
what I'm doing right now?

CESAR: Perfect.
MARIANA: Okay.

FOREST: Just take your time.
CESAR: Yeah.

MARIANA: That's what it is.
FOREST: Yeah.

MARIANA: I think
I want it, like, faster.

CESAR: Slow down and be patient.

She's figuring out that
she can trust your guidance.

Good, good, good,
good, good, good.

MARIANA: Oh!
FOREST: Hey!

CESAR: Yeah! You did it! Hey!

MARIANA: Good girl.
CESAR: Beautiful, beautiful.

We made a lot of progress today,
but Sierra and Mariana both

still have a long way to go.

Right now, you need to do more
repetition until she understand

that she doesn't have to be
confused and you're in control.

MARIANA: Yes.

CESAR: She wanna
do more like, like...

MARIANA: When she backed up.

CESAR: Like, "This
floor makes me happy,

this floor makes me happy,
this floor makes me happy."

FOREST: Right. Okay.

MARIANA: You do
it just like her.

CESAR: "This
floor makes me happy."

If Mariana can help
Sierra move past her confusion,

then all these issues
with walking backwards and

freezing in doorways
will completely disappear.

You can do it.

MARIANA: I know I can.
CESAR: You can do it.

MARIANA: I know.
CESAR: Okay?

MARIANA: Yeah.
CESAR: Brother.

FOREST: Thank you, sir.

CESAR: Then Forest will be
able to take the leash without

any worry of getting tangled up.

And that is the ultimate goal.

FOREST: She really is smiling.

NARRATOR: The next day...

JIMMY: Are you excited?
DANAIAH: Yeah!

NARRATOR: Jimmy and
Danaiah head to the DPC with

their nervous back
of pack Shar Pei, Linus.

Since the death of
their dog, Daphne,

Linus turned dangerously
aggressive and bit Jimmy.

Today, Cesar begins the work
of rebuilding trust between

the members of this pack.

DANAIAH: He is
pacing a little bit.

JIMMY: How you doing, buddy?

CESAR: Welcome,
welcome, welcome. How are you?

DANAIAH: Hello, good morning.
JIMMY: Pretty good.

How you doing?

CESAR: Perfect.
Really good, Jimmy.

Oh, wow. He's really nervous.

Linus is so nervous
his legs are shaking,

and I see how quick
anxiety turns into aggression.

I need to act now and give
him calm confident leadership

that he can trust.

Him being so anxious is a
moment of uncertainty that

we can fill it up
with certainty. Okay?

JIMMY: Got you.
CESAR: So come this way.

Let's go to the agility arena.

With a dog that is nervous,
you first have to be calm,

and the way they become calm
is by you being calm confident.

Watch this. Look.

Tsch.

Boom.

Hey!

Look at the leash.
The leash is not tense.

On the first day, I saw how
their tensed leash technique

filled distrust
between them and Linus.

You have to feel calm confident.

Now that I show them
how to do it correctly,

I need to quickly get the leash
into Danaiah's and Jimmy's hands

so they can take advantage
of his calmer energy and

start building trust.

How's it feel?

DANAIAH: Good.
CESAR: Yeah.

(laughs)

Look at the tail.
He's not nervous.

Yay! Very good.

Great job on keeping
the leash relaxed.

You're picking it up fast.

All right. So it's your turn.

Jimmy, go for it.

JIMMY: Oh.
CESAR: Go ahead. Don't hesitate.

(growls)

CESAR (off-screen):
Jimmy's struggling.

He pulls and puts hard
tension on the leash and

Linus just ignores him.

There is no trust
in either direction.

Watch my hand, okay?

JIMMY: Mm-hmm.
CESAR: Watch my hand.

CESAR: Your hand,
when you do it, it looks, uh...

JIMMY: Rigid?
CESAR: Yeah, rigid.

So that, that means you're,
you're a little bit tense.

JIMMY: Yeah.
CESAR: Come on.

Let's do it again.
Do it without hesitation.

It takes practice.

JIMMY: All right.
Let's try again.

CESAR: Yes, relax the hand.

Yes. Yeah!

This is for you, Jimmy.

(clapping)

JIMMY: Having him
follow us, him trusting us,

that was a great start.

CESAR: You learned how to guide.

JIMMY: Right.
CESAR: He learns how to trust.

JIMMY: Yeah.

CESAR: Jimmy and Danaiah were able to
harness Linus' calm energy.

But trust between a dog
and pet parent is really when

you can take off
the leash completely.

We're not there yet, but this next
exercise will further develop that trust.

This is your next adventure.

I don't think Linus was expecting to walk
with a llama and a horse today.

JIMMY: No.

CESAR: No, that's okay,
let him be, let him do it.

Get comfortable, man.
Enjoy some llama love.

You need to
remove the tension.

Just walk like
you own everything.

Look at Linus.

Better. Much better.

NARRATOR: Now that Linus has proven he can
follow on a short leash.

JIMMY: You're
gonna make it longer?

CESAR: Yeah.

NARRATOR: Cesar uses a longer leash to
teach Linus to follow Jimmy.

CESAR: The longer
line is a transition,

and eventually, you just
drop the leash in the floor

and then you see,
"Okay, I can trust them."

This is what he
used to do to Daphne.

JIMMY: Yeah.
CESAR: He will follow her.

And she didn't, she
didn't needed a leash.

CESAR (off-screen): Daphne
was Linus' pack leader and

her energy kept
Linus focused and calm.

She earned his trust, and
that's what we need to build.

Good boy.

JIMMY: Yeah. Good boy.

CESAR: Look, the
leash is in the floor.

He's following. Look.

JIMMY: Yeah, he's following.

Yeah. That's amazing.

He's, he's
actually following us.

CESAR: He's following you.
JIMMY: Yeah.

CESAR: This is progress.

Not only is
Linus following Jimmy,

but both of their energies
are in a much better place.

At the beginning
of the pack walk,

Jimmy was
nervous around Lorenzo.

But now, his confidence is growing
and his energy is calmer.

You became Daphne right there.

That is the
beginning of Linus moving on.

I think we're
ready for the next step.

So that's my dog park over here and we're
gonna put him in the pack.

You avoid off-leash dog parks
because he acts aggressive.

DANAIAH: Okay.

CESAR: So now, let's work on the
trust and calmness you'll need

to get back to the dog park.

Go for it. Go in there.
You stay right here.

DANAIAH: Okay.

JIMMY: I'm so nervous to
take Linus inside the dog park.

DANAIAH: We're a little
nervous how Linus was gonna be.

CESAR: Drop the leash,
or, or, take it off. Yes.

Very good. That's really good.

This is silence.
This is all nose work.

Linus isn't showing any
aggression or discomfort.

That tells me he trusts Jimmy.

Next, I'm going to
have Jimmy let Linus in,

but I'll have one of my handlers nearby in
case someone needs to step in.

Now open the door.

You in first.

Oh, look at that.

As you see right now, Linus is,
is being happy-go-lucky.

He's in heaven.

They needed more space.

He's super-fast.

He has a lot of pent-up energy.

He's never gotten to play like this
because you never trusted him off-leash.

DANAIAH: We stopped taking
him to a dog park because

it just got to be too
much and we were kind of...

JIMMY: Afraid.

DANAIAH: We were
afraid that he was...

JIMMY: Yeah.
DANAIAH: Gonna bite another dog.

CESAR: Right. But you absolutely can bring
those feelings into the space.

You arrive to the dog park,
calmness is your friend.

Because they're gonna
pick up on the energy,

you know, when you are...

(barking)

See, now, you both
brought all that fear

and now Linus has lost his cool.

He's trying to provoke.

Psst! Psst!

CESAR: Psst! Hey.

Come this way, come here.

Linus is naturally a sensitive
back of the pack dog who has

gotten aggressive since the
death of his pack mate, Daphne.

Now, his pet parents'
distrustful energy has him

on the edge and
aggressive towards my pack.

(barking)

Psst!

I need to step in and bring
him back to calm surrender.

Where's my leash?

The leash will put his brain
back into a follower's state

like he was earlier.

Shh.

I just want him to
completely settle down

until he completely surrender.

So his mind has to
go all the way to zero.

JIMMY: And then you
release him after that?

CESAR: Yeah. Because
that's all I wanted so

he can go right back and play.

JIMMY: I'm glad Cesar was able
to de-escalate the situation.

I'm still holding a
lot of tension, obviously.

It's gonna be
one step at a time.

CESAR: Anything
that makes him nervous,

your job is to show him
how to handle it without

attacking or avoiding it.

It's all about trust.
So that's my goal.

JIMMY: Yeah.

CESAR: To bring your full
potential as a pack leader.

JIMMY: Right.

CESAR: At the start of the day, Linus was
literally shaking in fear,

but he has come a
long way today, and that's

because Danaiah,
and especially Jimmy,

are finally stepping into
that front of the pack role that

Daphne used to fill.

You became Daphne right there.

That is the beginning
of Linus moving on.

But that setback just
now at my dog park shows

they have more work to do.

So for the homework,
they need to work on getting

more comfortable
around dog parks.

They're not ready to go in there
with the other dogs just yet,

but if Jimmy and Danaiah can continue to
build trust with Linus,

that will come
sooner than later.

Do your homework,
patience, patience, patience.

High-five. Let's celebrate.

JIMMY: Yay!

NARRATOR: Over the next week,
Jimmy and Danaiah continue their

work with Linus on
leash and around other dogs.

JIMMY: Okay. Ready?

The homework that we've
been working on has been

leashing him up
and walking, uh, Linus.

It's still challenging at times
because he still does pull.

I feel like I'm getting to
where I can trust him more and

more each day, and, you know,
every day makes a difference.

How you doin', buddy?

We took Linus to the dog park,
and we haven't gone back since

Daphne passed, and, uh, didn't
know how Linus is gonna react.

He was very nervous,
it's, it, it showed.

It'll be all right.
Nothing to be scared about.

Didn't seem like
he's ready to go inside.

But I think, I think
we're gonna get there.

DANAIAH: It just
takes as long as it takes.

JIMMY: I think it was a,
it was a good start.

DANAIAH: Steps in
the right direction.

JIMMY: Yeah. Yeah.
DANAIAH: Yeah.

NARRATOR: Today, Cesar returns to Burbank
to check on their progress.

CESAR: At the DPC, I saw Jimmy
and Danaiah finally start to

build that trust with Linus and offer the
front of the pack leadership

he's been missing since the
death of his pack mate, Daphne.

But, when his pet parents reverted
back to their old fears,

he reverted back to aggression.

(barking)

Psst!

DANAIAH: Hi, Cesar!
CESAR: How are you?

All right. Let's go back.

CESAR (off-screen): I am hopeful things
have improved over the past week.

The first thing I want to
see is how well Jimmy can get

Linus to accept the leash.

This is already peaceful.

He's not barking or acting out.

That's a nice change.

Leash him up.

JIMMY: Okay.
CESAR: All right.

CESAR (off-screen): On my last visit,

Jimmy wasn't able to get the
weighted vest on

Linus without help from me.

Let's see how he does now.

Hey. Mm-hmm.

He's happy about it.

JIMMY: Come here, baby.

CESAR: Ah. There we go.

Beautiful, beautiful.

Oh, my God.

Jimmy, last time, it,
it took a while.

This is just literally seconds.

JIMMY: Yeah. That's true.
CESAR: Yeah.

So that means the
trust is going up.

JIMMY: Yeah.

CESAR: It's awesome to see Linus
and Jimmy so relaxed together.

But the real test is how they
do in more stressful situations.

Taking him off-leash at a
dog park is a huge sign of trust

between a pet parent and a dog.

And that's my goal for them.

But for that to happen, Danaiah
and Jimmy need to show they can

read his energy, and
keep their own in check.

I have a surprise for you guys.

For the final challenge, it's
about you reading Linus' energy

and reacting quickly.

But your goal is
just to keep him on,

on a leash until he's calm surrender and
then release him off-leash.

And Danaiah?

Jimmy is gonna be on the leash.

But it's important that you keep your
energy calm and confident too.

Do you both think you're ready?

JIMMY: Yeah.
DANAIAH: Yes.

CESAR: Good. All right.
Let's bring my pack.

Bring the dogs.

There you go.

We're turning this
backyard into a dog park.

JIMMY: My job is to keep Linus
in his happy-go-lucky state.

I don't know if
it's gonna happen.

CESAR: You're not
allowed to be nervous.

(barking)

CESAR (off-screen): I
don't want Linus' nervousness

to lead to aggression,

so I'm going to release
my dogs one at a time,

starting with my calmest dog.

You can unleash Bison. Yeah.

If Linus can
pass this first test,

he'll be ready to
go fully off-leash.

Read his energy.

Beautiful.

CESAR (off-screen): Linus is
greeting Bison without nerves or barking,

which is good.

Relaxing the leash
was the right move.

All right. Let's get Alfie.

JIMMY: How adorable.
CESAR: That's right.

See, Alfie, very, very sweet.

Sophia's gonna bring a
little bit more party going on.

There you go.

JIMMY: I'm gonna
let him off leash.

CESAR: Mm-hmm.

(barking)

No. Hold on. Hold on.

You're, not moving too fast.

He's nervous right now.

Jimmy needs to be dialed into the small
changes in Linus' energy.

So he can head off bad
behavior before it happens.

So when, when he's in that
state if you move, gently move.

'Cause you can alter
his reality in one second.

There you go.
You can drop the leash.

JIMMY: Just drop it?
CESAR: Yeah. Okay.

Yeah. There you go.
See, my boy is doing great.

JIMMY: Oh, yeah.

CESAR: Look at him, he's just,
"I wanna meet everybody."

JIMMY: So not too long ago,
we were struggling just putting

the leash on Linus,
just to take him on a walk.

And I mean, today, it was.

DANAIAH: Mm-hmm.

JIMMY: We got a whole
dog park in our backyard.

DANAIAH: Yeah, it,
it meant a lot to us.

JIMMY: Yeah.

I'm gonna take his leash now.

CESAR: Yeah. He's calm.

You're reading
him perfectly now.

JIMMY: Go have fun.

CESAR: Very good.

Living his best life.

When I first met Linus,
the loss of Daphne had

left him frightened
and in need of leadership.

Jimmy wouldn't walk
him and Danaiah was full of fear herself.

Today, I saw Jimmy read him
perfectly and Danaiah showed

the calm confidence
that Linus needed.

They're doing fantastic.

I love it.

JIMMY: They're calm.
They're quiet.

CESAR: Yeah.
JIMMY: It's amazing.

CESAR (off-screen): They put in the work,
rebuilding trust, and now,

the pet parents have taken the
rightful place at the front of the pack.

It's what they all
needed to finally move on

from their loss pack mate.

DANAIAH: When we
had first called you,

we were still
mourning a little bit.

But now Linus is not
looking for Daphne anymore.

He's looking at
us and with that, Cesar,

it's easier for
us to move on too.

CESAR: Yeah.

When we hold sadness,
then it's not honoring.

JIMMY: Daphne was a
bright light in our lives.

And when that light was dimmed,
it was a huge void.

When Linus bit me,
that was a low point,

and like it kind
of hit rock-bottom.

I feel so much more
confident handling Linus today.

This whole process has
been very, very positive

for me and enlightening.

It's helped me move
past Daphne's passing and

also help Linus get past it.

DANAIAH: We're so grateful.

JIMMY: Thank you.
CESAR: Thank you. Job is done.

NARRATOR: Back in Winnetka,
Mariana is still working hard

with her backwards
walking Pit-bull, Sierra.

MARIANA (off-screen): I wake up
every morning and grab the leash

and get Sierra moving
forward as much as I can.

My tension, my anxiety, it is
something I'm working on daily.

We've put in a lot of work,
but it's still a hesitation for

her crossing the kitchen
and also the back door.

I'm very nervous, because
I wanna make Cesar proud.

Yeah.

(takes deep breath)

CESAR: Pit's like
Sierra are special dogs and

I really fell in
love with her last time.

But her issues of
walking backwards and

stopping in doorways are
not just an inconvenience.

FOREST: Oh, Sierra.

CESAR: They are dangerous tripping hazard
for Forest since his accident.

MARIANA: Hi.
CESAR: How are you?

Let's go see my girl.

FOREST: Let's do it.

CESAR: If I see Mariana moving
with confidence and Sierra

moving without confusion, we
can start the final challenge.

MARIANA: Go.
CESAR: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You can see like the
thinking part of it.

Almost got it!

MARIANA: Good girl.
CESAR: Oh, yes.

MARIANA: Yeah.
That's a good girl.

Good girl, good girl.

CESAR: Guess what?
I came to visit you.

Your handling skills, awesome.

She's not walking backwards.

You know, Sierra is
not walking backwards.

MARIANA: Good girl.
CESAR: It's remarkable.

So with just a
little reminder, no, no, no,

we're moving forward.

I am loving the energy.

The house feels different
energetically speaking.

So it's really good.

I think you guys are ready
to take this to the next level.

MARIANA: Okay.
Perfect. Thank you.

CESAR: Let's go.
FOREST: Awesome.

CESAR: Let's go.

The final challenge will be a
real test of Mariana's skills,

guiding Sierra
through her confusion.

I set up an obstacle course of
toys on the living room floor.

Mariana will have to weave Sierra through
this maze of obstacles

without letting her
stop and get confused.

Just grabbing the leash, moving
calm confident this direction.

MARIANA: Ooh.

CESAR: Come on this side,
go around, and then go outside.

MARIANA: Okay.

CESAR: If she can do that, it
will show that Sierra is finally

moving forward and
Forest can handle her with

much less risk of
getting tangled up.

You got this. You got this.

FOREST: Oh, that's
gonna be a tough one.

MARIANA: So I knew the
final challenge was gonna be

a huge trouble for
her because of the past.

CESAR: Okay, Mariana,
bring Sierra.

MARIANA: I hope I can do it.

CESAR: Mm-hmm.
Just like that. Mm-hmm.

NARRATOR: In the past, Sierra
has frozen up in doorways and

walked backwards
on slippery floors,

which is a tripping
hazard for pet parent Forest.

If Mariana can guide her
through this obstacle course,

it will show that Forest can
safely take the leash once more.

MARIANA: Come on.

Good girl.

Come on. Come on.

CESAR: Mariana's energy was good when she
first walked into the room,

but as soon as they started
walking through the toys,

I could sense a change.

Mariana was anticipating
that Sierra might struggle,

and that caused
Sierra to put on the brakes.

Can I help?

MARIANA: Mm-hmm. Of course.

Show me. Show me
the way, master.

CESAR: See, look. Look at that!

MARIANA: Good girl.
FOREST: Yeah.

CESAR: You see it?

So if you guys get stuck with,
just get rid of the energy.

All right, Mariana.
Let's try it again.

Remember, calm
confidence and no hesitation.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Don't stop.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yup, yup, yup, yup, yup.
You got it. You got it. Yeah.

FOREST: There you go.
CESAR: You got it.

You got it. You got it.

FOREST: Good girl.

CESAR: Yes, the
whole thing was great.

FOREST: There we go. Good girl.

CESAR: This is perfection.
FOREST: Good job, Sierra.

MARIANA: It's something in the past that
she would have never done.

I would've had to
drag her the whole way.

And then I
would've been frustrated.

She would've been in her bed and we
would've just called it a day.

So that felt great.

CESAR: I felt your energy
just coming through like,

I'm doing this.

After Mariana has laid
down all this groundwork,

I can see that Sierra's
confidence has skyrocketed.

But the ultimate goal here is
for Forest to be able to handle

Sierra without any worry
that she might trip him.

I definitely think she's ready,

but there's only
one way to find out.

Come on, Forest.
Come on. Come on.

FOREST: All right. My turn, huh?

CESAR: That's your girl.
That's your girl.

FOREST: All right.

I think Mariana put
up a very good example.

So that kind of made me nervous.

CESAR: Yeah.
FOREST: Yeah?

CESAR: Yeah.

MARIANA: I can feel a different energy
when you walked in the room.

CESAR: Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Go ahead. Go ahead.

MARIANA: Keep,
don't hesitate, go.

CESAR: Yeah. Yeah.
MARIANA: You got this.

CESAR: Yup. Hey.
MARIANA: Look at that.

CESAR: Yeah. Yeah.
Good, good, good, good.

Don't get nervous.

Gently tug on the leash.

Yup. Yup.

(clapping)

FOREST: There it is.

CESAR: Look at
the dog whisperer!

Hey, that's great.

That's, that's really good.

Today, both Forest and
Mariana showed me that with

calm confident energy and
a steady hand on the leash,

they can guide Sierra
through her confusion.

If they keep at it,

I have no doubt they'll soon
be able to take the leash off,

and Sierra will keep
moving forward all on her own.

You did amazing.

I am very grateful
that you guys took my,

my knowledge very serious.

It shows how
much you love Sierra.

And as a dog person, that's,
that's a big deal to me.

MARIANA: You changed her
but you also changed us.

So over the past
three years has been, um,

let's just say, not
the easiest for us.

So now that
she's moving forward,

this will just be a
lot easier and safer.

For Forest, it
changes everything.

FOREST: It, it
fills me up with joy.

The last couple of years have been an
emotional roller coaster for us.

Now, the energy in the
house is a lot better.

Definitely gonna help me dealing with
my everyday life, really.

It's bringing
the family together.

CESAR: I think I'm
gonna go get a Pit-bull.

(laughter)

MARIANA: Why are pit's
so close to your heart?

CESAR: When I started
the whole thing, it was a,

it was Daddy who was
my right-hand, you know?

I didn't have family here,
so Daddy was definitely

the one who keep me calm.

I didn't speak the language,
you know, perfectly.

So he didn't care.

I make mistakes, but he
will come and comfort them.

You know?

It's like, he was like, this,
he was this perfect...

He was from another world.

So obviously, I owe the beginning of my
life to, to a Pit-bull.

All dogs are special.
All of them.

But there are some they have their spirit
a lot more evolved, you know?

And you can feel it.

I can feel the
gratitude from the instincts.

I can feel the gratitude,
the love from their,

from their heart.

(sighs)

But, uh, dogs have been
in my, in my life.

Since I was born,
from Mexico to right now.

So to have that
understanding to,

to be able to feel them,

to be able to, uh,
listen to them,

and to be able to take
their healing, that's,

that's very beautiful.

Thank you, guys.
Appreciate it.

MARIANA: Bye.
FOREST: See you.

MARIANA: Thanks, Cesar.
CESAR: Bye.