02x09 - Appetite for Destruction

[bunniefuu]

CESAR MILLAN: When I started my journey

and people started calling me
the dog whisperer,

the only thing I wanted to do

is to teach people
there is no such thing as a bad dog.

WOMAN (off screen): Oh, my gosh!

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

(dog growling)

Today, I'm still doing what I love,

but the world has changed.

MAN: Problem child.

CESAR: Record dog adoptions
have made many packs complete,

but now, more than ever,
people and dogs...

still... need... help.

WOMAN 1: We can't live like this.

-WOMAN 2: The problem is me.
-MAN: What do I do?

CESAR: Mo' pooches, mo' problems, right?

He needs rehab, like, ASAP.

So many things you can fix already.

Shh.

-MAN: Sorry. Sorry.
-CESAR: Ignore the excitement.

WOMAN (off screen):
I just don't want you to get bit.

-CESAR: Do you know who I am?
-WOMAN: Yes! (laughing)

CESAR: 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.

And that's how we create
better humans and better dogs,

one pack at a time.

♪ ♪

Today, I've been called
to the house of a young family

with a dog named Freddie
that has a significant bite history.

He's bitten 10 people,

and I've just been told that this morning,
he'd bitten one of my crew members.

-(Freddie barking)
-PRODUCER (off screen): (bleep)

I'm officially on the list.

He just ran up and gave me a little check.

CESAR: So I need to find out
why the owner is allowing this behavior.

♪ ♪

BETHANY: My name is Bethany.

I'm married to Ryan.

RYAN:
Freddie is a mini-poodle/Chihuahua/other.

Freddie was about 11 months
when we got him.

BETHANY: We had decided to get a dog
after we've been married about six months.

We'd been kinda just keeping an eye
on the shelters,

and looking if there was any dogs
that would be a good fit for us.

And then I... I happened to go over there
and we made eye contact,

and I had this very weird, like,
I just felt like I connected with him.

I just felt like... He looked at me
and I felt like he was saying,

"Come on, lady," like,
"You know that I do not belong here,

I'm supposed to go home with you."

So now here we are, four years later.

RYAN: Freddie is a wonderful dog.

With just us, he's great.

He wants to cuddle.
He wants to just be loved.

BETHANY: We can't say enough good things
about this dog.

RYAN: But one or two percent of the time,

he is just... He's like a different dog.

-BETHANY: It's very Jekyll and Hyde.
-RYAN: Jekyll and Hyde. That's the one.

-(knock on door)
-(Freddie barking)

When someone comes to the house,

just, kind of, transforms into this demon
that just is lunging and making noises.

(Freddie continues barking)

And he snaps at people,
and he'll go after them.

He'll bite. He'll growl.

(continues barking)

BETHANY: Freddie has always had
a huge issue with crows.

When he sees them on a walk,
he would just go nuts.

(Freddie wailing)

He has a blood feud with the neighbor dog.

It's very wild and scary.

And they just go absolutely crazy!

(dogs barking, growling)

He has a very, very strong prey drive.

RYAN: Freddie has... has bitten, like,
actually bitten, maybe 10 people.

BETHANY: He's bit Ryan's dad
and my niece, Cadence.

We don't ever know
when a guest is safe in our house.

RYAN: And that's very problematic.

BETHANY: Especially now
that we have Charlie around.

We have an 11-month-old son.

And so, Freddie's been
impeccable with him so far,

but we feel like
it's only a matter of time

before that conflict happens.

RYAN: It's okay, leave him alone.

BETHANY: I don't want him...
Yeah, I don't want him near right now.

RYAN: It's very scary,
and it's a very, you know, bad situation.

BETHANY: We don't like
having people over who have kids,

which is a huge problem,
because most of our friends have kids.

And it has seriously impacted
our social life,

'cause now,
we don't wanna have anybody over

'cause it's too stressful.

My side of the family
has been fairly vocal

about their concern, about Freddie,

about wanting us
to think about our options,

and whether it makes sense
to have Freddie still around Charlie.

RYAN: I mean, our biggest worry
is that Freddie bites Charlie,

and would be such a guilt
that we let it happen.

And that, you know,
we saw the warning signs

and we ignored it.

BETHANY: So, this is really
our last-ditch effort, to be honest.

This is our last chance to figure out

if there is a way for us
to safely still have this dog.

RYAN: Yeah.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(knock on door)

-BETHANY: Hi.
-RYAN: Hello.

-(Freddie barking)
-CESAR: Hi. How are you?

-It's okay. It's okay.
-RYAN: Okay.

(continues barking, growling)

CESAR: All right.

Uh, the meeting has to be done
here at the door.

Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, baby.

-BETHANY: Hi, nice to meet you.
-RYAN: Nice to meet you.

-CESAR: But we have to take care of that.
-BETHANY: Thank you for coming.

(continues barking)

The first thing I see
is that Freddie is guard-y.

When the door opens, he charges forward,
barking to warn me off.

Then when I move in,

he positioned himself between me
and his pet parents to protect them.

So the... the, uh, alert and the guard.

RYAN: He wants to maul anyone
who comes inside, unfortunately.

CESAR:
So he's giving protection to his pack.

RYAN (off screen): Right.

CESAR: So that way, new people come in,
he's already saying, "I don't trust you."

That's why he's barking,
moving towards the person.

RYAN: Mm-hmm. It's natural,
it's a dog, you wanna pet him,

and, you know, people don't know better.

CESAR:
That's not natural. That's a habit.

-RYAN: Hmm. Okay.
-BETHANY: Mmm.

CESAR: Natural is you give distance.

BETHANY: Maybe that's why
he has the hardest time with Charlie.

He's quick to go for him
and look right at him,

-and try to engage him.
-CESAR (off screen): Yeah.

BETHANY:
I naturally keep a hand, like, out

to kind of form a barrier
between the dog and the baby.

Just preventatively,
he hasn't done something to warrant that,

but I just don't want
there to be an opportunity.

I don't want there to be a chance for it,

so I just kinda naturally keep them apart.

Both sides of our families
remain very, very concerned,

and have kind of said, "At what point
are you gonna give up on this dog?

Are you gonna wait
till something happens to Charlie?"

CESAR: I can already sense
how tense Bethany is,

talking about Charlie and Freddie.

I don't believe Freddie
will intentionally hurt Charlie

because he's part of his pack.

But Freddie is uncontrollable
when he is in guard mode

and could hurt the baby accidentally.

It's too dangerous
to assess Freddie's bad behavior

when Charlie's around.

So the baby heads to bed
while the rest of us go to the backyard.

I like that.

I like that...
How he moves his little feet.

(all laughing)

-He has good little feet.
-BETHANY: He has a real happy prance.

CESAR: Yes.
The happy-go-lucky part, we keep.

All right. Come on out.

-RYAN: Hi!
-BETHANY: Hey!

CESAR: To help me assess and evaluate,

I brought in some people
who are strangers to Freddie

so we can see how he reacts.

-RYAN: Hi. How are you?
-BETHANY: Hey! Hi!

CESAR: There you go, this is good.

Tsch. Tsch.

He's chasing.

Tsch.

Tsch.

Many people will look at Freddie and say,

"Because his tail is wagging,
he must be happy."

But dogs can also wag their tails
when they're nervous, anxious,

or feel threatened.

In this case, Freddie's stalking behavior,
coupled with the wagging tail,

tells me he's feeling threatened.

And now,
I'm gonna show you the follow-through.

Not yet.

Watch. He's gonna settle.

He's going behind you.

Tsch.

Tsch.

There you go. All right.

So I'm blocking him
because he went to her feet.

-BETHANY: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
-CESAR: Like a shark.

-RYAN: Yeah.
-BETHANY: Yeah.

CESAR: Freddie went into guard mode
once new people enter the space,

protecting Ryan and Bethany.

I first need to teach them
how to interrupt this state

so the situation doesn't escalate
into a bite.

So the touch is just to block
the shark mode.

You're literally interrupting
what the brain is doing.

You can do that with the leash.

But if you don't have anything,
then you touch.

Most people only touch their dogs
when they are giving affection.

Petting, belly rubs,
scratching behind their ears.

But another way of showing your dog love
is by using your touch to communicate.

Here, a light but quick touch
is used to guide the dog.

It's never used to harm or cause pain.

The touch creates
a direct line of communication

that says
their current behavior is unwanted.

BETHANY: And we should make a sound too,

'cause you were making
that tsch-tsch sound?

CESAR: Yeah, the sound... I'm... I'm...
Because eventually, I don't want to touch,

I just want to, tsch.

So then... then it's...
The sound means the same.

"Snap out of it. Whatever you're touching,
just snap out of it."

And so then the next step
is to stay there until he settles.

RYAN (off screen): Got it.

CESAR: You can't just stop him,
and he just wanders.

That's what I call calm surrender.

Your dog is, to me,
like a silent biter. All right?

So he doesn't really give,
like, the classic warnings.

"You know, your dog is quiet,"
Bam! He does that!

-BETHANY: Yeah.
-RYAN (off screen): Yeah.

CESAR (off screen):
So if you come close when he's quiet,

he's sizing you,
and then he's gonna strike.

BETHANY: Yeah.

CESAR:
So the silence is what throws people off,

because the dog was quiet,

so a lot of times,
people interpret it as the dog was okay.

BETHANY: Well, that definitely, like,
helps us understand too,

'cause the scariest incidences
have always been when he's quiet

-and ostensibly calm.
-RYAN: Mm-hmm.

-CESAR: That's right.
-BETHANY: It helps us understand...

CESAR: I can clearly see
how Freddie feels the need

to protect his parents
when new people enter.

But as part of my assessment,

I want to see how he reacts
when he's around other dogs as well.

Okay. We're ready!

Now that Freddie is calm
and knows that I am in control,

it shouldn't be a problem
to introduce a dog

as long as Bethany and Ryan remain calm.

So I have a member of my team let
the neighbor dog, Snowball, into the yard

to see how Freddie reacts.

RYAN: Oh!

CESAR (off screen): That's what you want.

See? He's still calm.

-BETHANY: He's gonna go crazy.
-RYAN: Yeah.

BETHANY: So I see her with Freddie
and I saw myself go... (gasps),

as if some horrible thing
had just happened,

but it was just, like, this 20-pound dog
near my 20-pound dog.

CESAR (off screen): Bethany, stay calm.

BETHANY (off screen):
Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh!

(Freddy barks)

CESAR: Tsch.

♪ ♪

CESAR: I got. I got it. I got it.
I got it.

I made it clear I'm in control,

so Freddie knows
that he doesn't have to guard.

Tsch.

Tsch. Hey.

Here's what happened.

Even though Freddie
was calm around Snowball

when she first came into the yard,

Bethany and Ryan didn't trust Freddie
and they had fearful energy.

Freddie senses that fear,

and believes that his pet parents
are afraid of Snowball,

and then he needs to protect them.

-(Freddie barking)
-Tsch.

Now, that I have control,
Freddie's retreating.

You saw how I would stop a fight?

To stop the fight,
I remain calm and confident

and put Freddie into a calm surrender,

so he knew that I was in charge.

RYAN: They... They've never been
this close to each other

without making noises.

CESAR: Between Snowball and him,

-I am number one.
-RYAN: Right.

CESAR: So, Snowball is irrelevant
in his brain.

BETHANY: Okay.

CESAR:
Freddie is naturally happy-go-lucky.

But when he senses the family's fear
about him biting,

he mistakes it for fear
of the new person or animal

and thinks he needs to guard the pack.

That leads
to Freddie biting new people and dogs.

And the cycle continues,

which is very dangerous for everyone,
including Charlie.

Solving this means that the family needs
to calm their nerves

and stop anticipating his biting.

Especially Bethany, who has put herself
and the family in a box of fear,

which is the cause
of the guarding and biting.

So your nervousness can never take over.

-BETHANY: Mm-hmm.
-CESAR: They feel it.

BETHANY: I have owned a lot of dogs,

I have a lot of experience
being around dogs,

but I've never had a dog
quite like Freddie.

He gets so out of control so quickly

and it just triggers this,
like, anxiety in me.

CESAR: What did you learn right now?

RYAN:
That we have to be calm and confident.

CESAR: Literally, that simple.

Snap him out of it
and then go back to this.

Now that Freddie is calm,

I'm going to show Ryan and Bethany
how to claim their space.

They say Freddie constantly guards
the stone wall

between their house and their neighbor.

So we'll start there!

Let's go, Snowball.

Yeah, you control that guy.

I put Snowball back into her yard
on the other side of the wall.

Then you can do that...
Look... Okay, see how he...

And once she was there,
the two dogs began barking right away.

He's charging the wall already.

So I'm gonna block him here.

BETHANY (off screen): Oh, okay.

CESAR: Tsch.

We don't let him linger there.

Tsch.

You need to have big, strong energy.

Hey.

Shhh.

There you go.

There we go!
Sitting means calm surrender.

RYAN: We've never seen
Freddie behave the way he behaved today,

where Cesar was in control of him,
he was calm.

When we try it, he just,
you know, runs right past us.

You've never done this.

CESAR: Now, it's time
for Freddie's parents to try.

I have Ryan do it first

because he's less fearful than Bethany
around Freddie.

(Snowball barking)

-Go for it.
-RYAN: Okay.

CESAR (off screen):
Move him away from the fence,

then make him sit.

RYAN: Come on.

Hey, no! Go!

CESAR: You're moving him,
but you're not calming him.

So what happened right now
is you claimed that site.

RYAN (off screen): Got it.

CESAR: Okay. So what didn't happen yet,
is the part where he just slow down.

-You just redirected the excitement.
-BETHANY (off screen): Mm-hmm.

CESAR: Ryan is claiming his space,

but he's still unsure how to put Freddie
in a state of calm surrender.

And calm surrender is the key

to breaking Freddie's cycle
of aggressive behavior.

I want to invite you
to the Dog Psychology Center,

but in the meantime,
you have plenty to work on, you know?

Plenty think about, to talk about it.

-Uh, and I'll see you soon.
-BETHANY: Okay. Thank you, Cesar.

-RYAN: Thank you so much.
-CESAR: All right. Bye, guys.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: The next day,
Cesar heads to Manhattan Beach

to help a family
with their escape artist husky.

KAREN DROTAR: My name is Karen Drotar.

I have three kids.

EMILY NOELLE: My name is Emily Noelle.

LUCA AYADI: And I'm Luca Ayadi.

JAMIE AYADI: I'm Jamie Ayadi.

KAREN: When you go through
a separation and divorce,

I think it's difficult for families.

Christmas was rolling around,

and I thought, "What can I do
that they've always dreamed of?"

So my dog's name is Dream.

EMILY: We've always wanted a dog.

KAREN: Dream is two years old.

He's very friendly.

He's energetic and playful.

EMILY: We love him so much.

He's our baby.

KAREN: Dream has definitely
brought us all closer together.

But...

he's a typical adolescent

who thinks he knows better
than the whole family, especially me.

Did you get that... Dream!

EMILY: Dream has
an excessive amount of energy, but...

KAREN (off screen): Be a good boy.

EMILY: ...the main reason
we need Cesar's help is because

he'll run away from you.

KAREN (off screen): Dream!

He can escape easily.

JAMIE: When I take Dream for a walk,

my biggest worry
is that he is gonna pull too hard,

and I might let go, and he'll run away.

EMILY: I've accidentally let go
of his leash before,

and he ran out into the street.

So, I was ready to put myself in danger,

because I knew that he was in danger.

And I love my dog.

But that's a scary thought

that he won't listen to you,
and he'll run away from you.

KAREN: When he gets out into the street,

that can bring me to tears

because when I was a child,

the husky that I had growing up
was k*lled in an accident.

And the loss of that dog
affected me greatly.

So... I do not want my children
to ever experience that loss.

EMILY: I just wish
that he would be a little less crazy.

LUCA: It would be nice
for him to just be controllable.

-KAREN (off screen): Dream, stop it!
-LUCA (off screen): Dream!

EMILY: We're never gonna give up on Dream.

He's our first and only dog.

LUCA: Always love him to the max.

KAREN: You know, we just want Dream
not to be our hashtag, "nightmare,"

but to be our little Dream.

Help us, Cesar!

(knock on door)

-CESAR (off screen): Hi! How are you?
-KAREN: Hi, there! How are you?

KAREN: Nice to meet you, Cesar.

-CESAR: Pleasure. Nice to meet you.
-KAREN: Pleasure is mine.

CESAR: The first thing I want to do
is to see his behavior at a distance.

'Cause I don't want my energy
to influence his behavior.

-Okay?
-KAREN: Of course.

CESAR: Okay.

Wow.

EMILY: Can you get off the couch, please?

Off!

All right. Hey! Okay...
Hey, I said off, Dream!

-KAREN: Hey! What are you doing?
-EMILY: Get over here! Hey!

KAREN: Move your butt! No!

No!

CESAR: Wow!

It's already really bad.

This family has no control over their dog.

He's using their house as a jungle gym,

which means he's not getting
enough outdoor exercise.

EMILY: You wanna play with the toy?
You can do that.

-KAREN: No!
-EMILY: Look! Look!

CESAR: And they're playing with him.
That's the worst part about it.

Everything they're doing is...

is literally encouraging the behavior
over and over and over.

Dream is a high-energy adolescent dog
who has no discipline,

and is allowed to run around the house
to burn off his excess energy.

This combination of excitement
and lack of discipline

is what's fueling his escapes.

KAREN: Whoa!

CESAR: Ow!

KAREN: You're gonna hurt mommy!

-(Dream barks)
-Oh, don't talk back to me.

CESAR: Um, yeah, this is a nightmare.

♪ ♪

This dog is way too excited
and out of control.

I have to get in there now!

KAREN (off screen):
Oh, are you gonna stop?

♪ ♪

CESAR: Oh, there you go!

EMILY: Get off the couch, please. Off!

CESAR: So the house is, uh,
an obstacle course.

EMILY: Come on, baby.

CESAR: Dream is out of control.

When people come to the door,
it could easily escape,

repeating the nightmare
that Karen suffered as a child.

I need to teach them ASAP

how to make sure he's calm
when they let people in,

so Dream doesn't get hurt.

When I come to people's homes,

I always practice no touch,
no talk, no eye contact.

When you practice no touch,
no talk, and eye contact,

you're going to create a calm brain.

KAREN: I see it. Could've already worked
with this one. (laughs)

CESAR: You see what I mean?

EMILY (off screen):
So, he... he sat right down to you.

KAREN: Wow, this is amazing!

Cesar came to our house,

and it was like
a wave of calm swept over Dream.

CESAR: The energy that you project
helps you to communicate to the animal.

EMILY (off screen): Mm-hmm.

CESAR: Dream is in
a desperate need of guidance.

He wants to please the family,

he just doesn't understand
what his pack wants

'cause they never give him any structure.

I'm going to show the Drotars
that by providing clear guidance,

it's possible to put Dream
in a state of calm surrender,

even when he's usually very excited.

To do that,
I'm using his favorite treat,

human food.

-So he's negotiating right now.
-KAREN (off screen): Yes, he is.

CESAR: See, see, he's excited about...
Tsch.

Hey!

He's getting into my intimate space
without me asking him.

Pawing on me is another sign
that Dream doesn't have a proper guidance.

I need to teach him that it's not okay
to move into human space

without being asked.

-When he is doing that to you...
-EMILY: Up in your face.

CESAR (off screen): That's disrespectful.

So that's why
you're gonna have escape artist,

you know, 'cause his brain does not move
whenever you request it.

-His brain moves whenever he wants to.
-KAREN (off screen): Mm-hmm.

CESAR (off screen):
I'm going to show you how to guide him

so he knows what you want.

Tsch.

Tsch.

Tsch.

The touch is just to snap him out
of him from being excited.

It's not to hurt, it's just to stop him
from being fixated on the food.

So then slowly,
the brain is gonna kick in,

and then he's gonna move away.

Of course... There we go.

I'm guiding him with my touch

to communicate
that his actions are unwanted.

And Dream is beginning
to get the idea that I am in charge

and that he has to listen.

So here, now we're gonna open
a little bit more.

So you do this gradually.

So this way, he learns self-control.

If you teach him self-control
with the food,

you can also teach him self-control
not to run away from the house,

-which could be very dangerous.
-KAREN: Very.

CESAR: Get it?
Especially because where you live.

There you go.
This is better. That's self-control.

EMILY: I had never seen him actually

really calm down in front of food
and not touch it,

and it was a great technique.

And... And do you think that the techniques
you're using on him right now,

we can apply when he'll run away from you?

CESAR: Not yet.

-EMILY: Not yet?
-CESAR: No. Not yet.

The Drotars must learn
how to properly guide Dream

so he'll no longer escape.

But it's too risky here
in their neighborhood.

It's much better for me
to teach them at the DPC

in a safe, controlled environment.

I want to invite you to the DPC.

His name is Dream, and I'm gonna show you
how a real dream gets to be lived.

KAREN: That's exactly why
we reached out to you, by the way,

because we wanted this dream
to be a reality!

-Yay!
-(Cesar laughing)

Thank you, Cesar!

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: The next day, Ryan and Bethany
arrive at the Dog Psychology Center

to work on Bethany's fear issues

which caused Freddie
to feel he has to guard the family,

leading to an unsafe home environment
for their son, Charlie.

BETHANY: The pressure on today is...

-Feels really high.
-RYAN: Definitely.

NARRATOR: If Cesar can't help them,

they'll have to find
a new home for Freddie.

♪ ♪

CESAR: Welcome, welcome, welcome!

-RYAN: Good to see you again!
-CESAR: Good to see you!

Today at the ranch,
Ryan and especially Bethany

need to work on curbing their fears
when Freddie is around new animals.

If they can maintain calm, confident,

Freddie will realize
he doesn't have to guard them

and won't lash out
at every new animal he meets.

We have ducks now. Smaller animals.

-Look at how beautiful they are.
-RYAN: They're just so pretty.

CESAR: Bethany told me that Freddie
lunges at crows on the street.

My ducks can act as a stand-in

to see if you can
break him from this habit.

Tsch.

Yeah. We don't want the alert.

-BETHANY: Okay.
-CESAR: You saw the alert?

The goal is for Bethany to remain calm,

so Freddie doesn't feel
the need to attack.

Freddie will be on a leash,
and I will be close by

to make sure my ducks
are not in any danger.

So this is at a... at a distance, right?

So now what you're gonna do
is you're gonna close the distance.

-BETHANY: Hey!
-CESAR: He is alert. Touch him.

-RYAN: Yeah.
-BETHANY: Tsch.

CESAR: There you go.

-There you go. That's better.
-BETHANY: Now he's calm.

-CESAR: That's right.
-BETHANY: That's a good boy.

CESAR: That's a good boy. That's right.

-That... that is a good boy.
-BETHANY: Yeah.

CESAR: The way Freddie was leaning forward
towards the duck

was a sign of fixation,

which can lead to aggression.

To snap him out of that fixated mindset,

I told Bethany to give him a quick touch

to let him know that that's not wanted,

and Freddie went back to calm surrender.

All right, so now you're gonna
move towards the ducks

and you're just gonna go around.

BETHANY: Just walk a lap around the ducks?

CESAR: Mm-hmm.

I want Bethany to do this

because it's clear from the interaction
with Snowball the other day

that she has the most fear.

And Freddie is reacting to her.

-Sure, but not tense.
-BETHANY: Okay.

CESAR: Go for it. Purposely.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Don't let him explore.

He can only be in a follower state.

There you go. There you go.

-BETHANY: Keep going?
-CESAR: Yup.

So by you going towards the duck,
that means, belong to you.

-BETHANY: The duck? These are my ducks?
-CESAR: Yes. (laughs)

So by you moving into it,

-you're claiming it.
-RYAN: I'm claiming it.

CESAR: But then, she needs to show Freddie
that the ducks are not a threat.

She does this
by walking him towards the ducks.

This shows Freddie
that there is nothing to fear.

And by you closing the gap,
then you remove the chase behavior.

BETHANY: Yeah.

CESAR:
Now that Freddie has passed the duck test

and is no longer aggressive towards them,

I'm going to bring my pack.

CESAR: You go grab him,

and you're gonna keep him on the box.

Bethany's job
is to maintain her inner calm

so that Freddie doesn't feel the need
to guard her against all the new dogs.

The stampede is coming!

BETHANY: Okay. You stay.

CESAR: That's right.

(dogs yipping)

-BETHANY: Tsch.
-(Freddie growling)

♪ ♪

(Freddie growling)

CESAR (off screen): Keep him right there.
There we go.

Beautiful.

I just let the pack in.

Bethany needs to keep Freddie on the box

and put him back into calm surrender

if he gets too excited.

(Freddie barking)

You keep him right there.

-He's still excited.
-BETHANY (off screen): Okay.

Uh-uh.

CESAR: Nice.

BETHANY: Uh-uh-uh. Tsch.

CESAR (off screen): Nice!

Beautiful.

This is a big step for Freddie.

In the past, he snaps and bite
with new dogs around,

like when we saw him with Snowball.

But Bethany was able to stay pretty calm,

which made Freddie realize
he didn't have to react in that manner.

As a reward,

it is time for Freddie
to get off-leash and play.

Now take the leash off.

He's curious, but calm surrender.

♪ ♪

There you go.

There you go.

BETHANY (off screen): Remember me.
Nothing.

-RYAN: Yeah. Yeah.
-BETHANY: Mm-hmm.

CESAR: Because you just gave him trust,

freedom,

direction.

BETHANY: I never would've imagined
that Freddie could be so calm

around all of the dogs and with no leash,

and no chaos would ensue.

He can be different,
he can succeed with other people.

CESAR (off screen): Yeah.

After Bethany asserted her authority,

putting Freddie
in a state of calm surrender,

he's now respecting the pack.

So we invited everyone over for affection.

RYAN: He seems to not mind, you know,
I'm petting all the different dogs

and he's just kind of...

BETHANY: I keep waiting
for a problem to break out.

-RYAN: Yeah.
-CESAR: Mm-hmm.

BETHANY: Oh, hi! Is this okay?

CESAR: Don't be scared,
it's going to set him off.

-(Freddie growling)
-Tsch. Hey!

Hey! Tsch.

Yeah, that's... that's when...

"This is okay?"
So that... that feeds that.

-BETHANY: When I asked the question?
-CESAR: Yeah. Like, you're hesitating.

-Like, th... this is okay.
-RYAN: Hmm.

CESAR:
Freddie was fine until Bethany tensed up

and ask me if it was okay
to pet my French bulldog, Vison.

BETHANY: Is this okay?

-(Freddie growling)
-CESAR: Tsch. Hey!

Freddie only becomes aggressive

because they become
energetically weak, right?

So... So then,
Freddie feels the need to protect them.

Whatever is in front of you,

if you feel uncertain,
he's gonna blame them.

BETHANY: Mm-hmm.

CESAR (off screen):
He's not gonna hold you responsible.

-He's just gonna protect you.
-RYAN: Right.

CESAR (off screen): And you get nervous
when Freddie is around Charlie,

the danger is Freddie will misunderstand
and try to protect you from Charlie.

BETHANY: I hadn't really thought about

how us bringing that fear, and anxiety,
and mistrust with the dog around Charlie,

it's like how that dynamic
would eventually be impacting Freddie.

It kind of makes me a little anxious.

CESAR: That's what you're telling him,
"Listen, I'm feeling weak."

And he's like, "Okay,
let me get rid of what makes you weak."

Bethany became unsure
of herself and Freddie

when giving affection to other dogs.

This is a bit of regression.

We'll see if Bethany is able
to remain calm when I'm not around.

They have a lot of work to do at home
before it's safe environment for Charlie.

I'll see you guys in a few days.

-RYAN: Awesome.
-BETHANY: All right.

-RYAN: Thank you so much, Cesar.
-BETHANY: Thank you so much.

Let's go, bub.

NARRATOR: The next day,

the Drotar family and Dream
arrive at the DPC,

where Cesar hopes to teach the kids
how to control their wild husky

so he won't end up getting hurt
after escaping the house,

and the kids won't get hurt
trying to rescue him.

EMILY (off screen): We made it!

CESAR:
Now that the Drotars are at the ranch,

they are in a much safer environment
to learn how to stop Dream's escapes.

In order to do that,
I'm going to take them to the Serengeti

where Karen, and especially the kids,

will have to step up
and learn how to take control of Dream.

All right, guys.

I know that your biggest fear

-is Dream escaping the house.
-KAREN: Right.

CESAR: This place is super safe.

To teach both Dream and the family
how to keep the husky from escaping,

we're going to treat
the gated area as their house...

This is the equivalent of your home.

...and the Serengeti as the street.

The goal is to keep Dream in a gated area
where the door is open

without any restraints.

If the family tell him to stay,
that should be enough to keep him there.

-You block him.
-KAREN: Right.

CESAR: Right? And then,
he needs to go back to where he came.

I first need to assess
how the family handles Dream

when he escapes from the house.

So I'm going to watch while they try
to keep him in the gated area.

He's coming out, try to get him back in.

Block. Big, strong energy.

KAREN: Get in there!

LUCA: Mom, again.

CESAR:
Keep your energy calm and confident.

KAREN: Actually, I didn't think
it was gonna be a very easy task

because Dream usually just does
what he wants to do.

JAMIE: You block that way.

-Wait. What are you accomplishing?
-CESAR (off screen): Gonna send him back.

This is worse than I thought!

Work together!

The family's body language is weak,

and they're not working together,

just chasing him around,

which could be extremely dangerous

when he escapes onto the busy street
near their house.

KAREN: Tsch!

CESAR (off screen): Not like that.

♪ ♪

-KAREN: Tsch. Tsch.
-LUCA: I'm blocking him.

CESAR: This is your worst nightmare.

KAREN (off screen):
This is our worst nightmare, yes.

CESAR: I can see
why Dream escapes the house so much.

The Drotars are not providing him
with any guidance.

Instead, they're chasing him around
which feels like play to him.

I need to teach Karen and all three kids
how to earn Dream's respect

by corralling him
with calmness and confidence.

-I'm gonna show you how to do it.
-KAREN: Okay.

CESAR: We're gonna block
and you're gonna send him... Tsch!

See how Jaimito's remaining calm?

We use body position
to herd him towards the gate.

Nope! Not allowed!

Tsch.

Tsch. Let's go.

KAREN: No... But... He... He's learning.

-LUCA: He's learning to go home.
-CESAR: There you go. Look.

KAREN: See, look! He's getting it.

CESAR: There you go. Do you see it?

KAREN (off screen):
Yup, he's starting to understand now.

CESAR: Instead of being
so crowded in one area, spread out.

And then, we just block,
block, block, block.

Now it's time for the family to try.

They need to earn Dream's respect

by showing leadership
with clear direction.

To do this,
they need to work together as a team.

Here he goes again.

-EMILY (off screen): He's going out again.
-CESAR: You guys come this way.

You start, Jamie.

JAMIE: Wait, wait, wait, I almost had him.

CESAR: Very good.

Mom, you help him out. Work together!

-KAREN: I got you.
-CESAR: Guide him over.

KAREN: Yeah.
He's got a little extra fur right there.

CESAR: Yup.

Be strong, you're in charge.

Now bring him all the way in.

KAREN: Tsch!

-Tsch!
-CESAR: Right there, right there.

-KAREN: Tsch!
-CESAR (off screen): Got it.

Great job!

Now, just the kids.

-LUCA: Tsch.
-CESAR (off screen): Yes.

JAMIE: Okay. Move.

KAREN: Gonna get in trouble again.

CESAR (off screen): Luca, guide him in.

-Go home. Go. Go.
-LUCA: Tsch.

(Jamie laughing)

JAMIE (off screen): Dream's still, like,
"Let me out of here."

CESAR: You can use your... your hand
to sit him down.

LUCA: Tsch.

It did take a good minute
for him to understand

that that's what he was supposed to do.

But eventually,
following through with that

and then having him sit inside the home
was a good feeling.

-EMILY: Good.
-KAREN: Good.

CESAR: I am proud of the kids.

They worked together
and got Dream back into the gated area.

He's starting to learn
that they are in charge,

and he needs to listen to them.

I think the kids are ready
for the final challenge.

(dogs yipping)

(Karen and Luca laughing)

CESAR: We're going to do this again
but with my pack around

to simulate the distractions
that Dream sees on the streets

when he escapes from the house.

So this is, like,
dogs in the neighborhood.

There's dogs barking,
you know, there's a lot of distraction.

JAMIE: Dream's like, "What is going on?"

CESAR: That's right.

KAREN: Are you ready?

CESAR (off screen): All right, guys.
Out of the gate again!

Luca, you start.

♪ ♪

LUCA: Yeah. 'Sup.

CESAR:
You can... You can go and... Go.

LUCA: Tsch.

CESAR (off screen):
Stay strong, confident.

Herd him towards the gate.

LUCA: Tsch.

CESAR: See how...

Jamie and Emily, help Luca out.

EMILY: Okay. Move.

CESAR (off screen):
Yeah. You guys come this way.

Look.

Emily, finish it.

-EMILY: Tsch. Home.
-CESAR (off screen): Yes.

EMILY: Back. Mm-mm.

KAREN (off screen):
Finish the follow-through,

make sure he's back, he's sitting.

EMILY: Sit. Tsch-tsch. Tsch-tsch.

KAREN: And he knows
that you're sure serious about this.

CESAR: Yes!

Turn around, shoulders up.

Yes.

EMILY: I think that was the best moment
I've ever shared with Dream.

-I wanted to cheer, clap.
-KAREN: Yeah.

CESAR: I'm so proud
of Emily, Luca, and Jamie.

They work as a team,
remaining calm and confident.

And now Dream is starting
to look to them for guidance.

-EMILY: Dream, come here.
-KAREN: Come. Come.

-CESAR: Ha-haa! Good boy!
-KAREN: Have fun, baby.

CESAR: There you go. Good boy.

That's a huge improvement.

And now you just have to practice this
and you got it.

KAREN (off screen): Okay.

CESAR: Look, he's going home.

He's going home. Look at that.

KAREN: We learned today,
with repetition,

that we can teach him what we want,
and we can have positive results.

LUCA: We have a lot more work ahead of us,

but if we keep persevering,
I know that we can do this.

-KAREN: I'll let you know how it goes.
-CESAR: Thank you, guys.

-Have a good day.
-KAREN: Thanks.

CESAR: The work that the Drotars put in

will make it so much safer
for everyone at home,

and will give them the tools
to prevent any future escapes.

And if he happen to slip away,

they have a much safer way
to corral him back home again.

Now they can leave fear behind
and just focus their pack on love and joy.

EMILY: Dream!

JAMIE: We're coming home!

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: The next day,

Cesar checks on the progress of Bethany

whose fear around
her biting poodle-Chihuahua mix, Freddie,

could trigger an attack

that accidentally injures
her young son, Charlie.

CESAR: After seeing how Bethany, and Ryan,
and Freddie did with my pack at the DPC,

I am eager to see how they're doing.

Ryan and Bethany tell me

they've been doing a lot of work
with Freddie since they left the ranch.

-RYAN: Go!
-(Freddie barking)

BETHANY: I definitely recognized how much,
like, my own vibe is cuing him

to do something aggressive.

(Freddie barking)

CESAR:
I'm going to head straight to the backyard

where Bethany has invited her sister
and her German shepherd puppy, Bo, over.

BETHANY: Hi.

CESAR: Although Bethany did well
with Freddie at the DPC

when he was on a leash
with my well-trained pack,

he showed some regression
when we took the leash off.

BETHANY: Is this okay?

-(Freddie growling)
-CESAR: Tsch. Hey!

We'll see if Bethany can check her fear
when Freddie is around Bo,

a boisterous puppy who has no training.

That will be key to Freddie staying calm.

There you go.

I brought Sophia along,

a dog he already knows, to give Freddie
some happy-go-lucky moral support.

So I'm gonna create the distance.

BETHANY (off screen):
Do you want us over by him?

CESAR: Yeah. You can watch.
I want you to see.

BETHANY: Historically, you know,
Freddie has been so triggered

by big dogs or active dogs.

-And Bo is Bo...
-RYAN: Yeah.

BETHANY: ...and so
I was very anxious going into it.

CESAR: Anticipation,
never good, doesn't do any good.

One thing that I have learned to do is...
(breathes in and exhales)

It's almost like
I breathe out the tension.

BETHANY: Okay. Yeah.

CESAR: I do get stressed, not around dogs,

but just outside the dogs,
my family makes me stressed,

my kids make me stressed.

I didn't wanna bring Bo in
until Bethany and Ryan were calm.

If either of them are anxious
when Bo comes in,

Freddie will pick up on that energy
and could try to protect them.

So I also attempt to keep the mood light
by making them laugh

which caused all Bethany's tensions
to disappear.

All right, let's bring in Bo.

WOMAN (off screen): Come on, Bo.

♪ ♪

CESAR: No tension on the leash.

He's letting Bo sniff him,
that's a good sign.

Bo is a big dog,

so I'm going to start
by showing Ryan and Bethany what to do.

When Bo first arrived,
I have Freddie on the leash

so he knows that I am in charge

and I'm keeping everyone safe.

Freddie remains calm
so I let him off-leash.

Everything should be fine
as long as Bethany remains calm.

BETHANY: Hi, bub.

Oh, my goodness.

-CESAR: That's a good... Tsch. Tsch. Hey!
-BETHANY: Okay.

CESAR: I got him.

I got him. Tsch.

There you go. This is calm surrender.

So what we're asking him
is just to... to stay calm surrender.

Bethany, you try.

BETHANY: Sit.

Hey.

CESAR (off screen): Stay calm.

Well, you're getting tensed.

Tsch.

♪ ♪

CESAR: Tsch.

(Freddie barking)

Tsch.

Once again, Bethany's fear around Freddie
ended up triggering his aggression.

She gets tense when her sister's
German shepherd, Bo, gets close,

and Freddie thinks he has to protect her.

Well, you're getting tensed.

It's bad enough that this happened
with just Bethany and Ryan,

but what if Charlie were around?

Tsch. Tsch.

-BETHANY: Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
-(Freddie whining)

CESAR: Wait for it. Wait for it.

-Tsch.
-(Freddie whining)

Good.

He has to completely surrender.

If the head...

is like this,

not ready yet, not ready yet.

Yeah.

We're going to keep doing this

until Freddie learns that he needs
to stay calm around Bo

and Bethany learns
to stay calm and not get afraid.

We don't stay tense.

You're good. You're good.

-BETHANY: Just let it happen?
-CESAR: Yeah, yeah. I got it.

-BETHANY: Tsch.
-CESAR: No, no, it's... it's good.

BETHANY:
He's... he's looking so tense though.

-RYAN: You're looking tense.
-CESAR: Yeah.

You're anticipating.

-RYAN (off screen): Yeah.
-BETHANY (off screen): I am.

You know, at first, he was calm around Bo,

and then I suddenly hear
that loud scary noise

-that he's, kind of, famous for making.
-(Freddie growls, barks)

And for me, that was why
I had a hard time after that.

I recognize my energy
is bad right now, right?

Like, I am feeling really anxious.

CESAR: Tsch. Hey!

-Tsch. So he's...
-BETHANY: I just...

CESAR: Tsch.

He's only guarding you
when you are afraid, Bethany.

It was only with her

that Freddie was coming to her
because he was in a protective state.

So she needed to claim her space.

Let him realize that protecting you
is not what you're requesting right now

'cause he's not going to Ryan,
he's going to you.

So now let's... let's make sure

-that you stay in the front.
-BETHANY: Okay.

CESAR: All right, so claim your space
and keep calm, Bethany.

He's trying to guard you.

-(Freddie growling, barking)
-Tsch.

-Bethany, you take it. Go!
-BETHANY: Tsch.

CESAR (off screen):
Make him... There you go.

BETHANY: Down.

You relax.

CESAR:
Freddie was already guarding Bethany.

So as soon as Bo and Sophia came near
and Bethany got tense,

he went into protection mode.

But this time,
Bethany rolled him into his back,

putting Freddie
in a state of calm surrender.

That showed him she is in charge
and doesn't need protection.

-BETHANY: I got it?
-CESAR: Absolutely!

WOMAN: Bo, come.

CESAR: Now I'm going to bring Bo over

and let him sniff Freddie
while he is in a calm surrender.

If Bethany can keep her own fear at bay,

she'll be able to keep Freddie calm,

and he'll know
she doesn't need protection from Bo.

♪ ♪

He's allowing a dog
that he just moved towards

to sniff him
when he's in a vulnerable position.

BETHANY: Okay.

CESAR: So, at this moment,
the best thing he can do

is be calm surrender
while this dog is sniffing you...

-BETHANY: Okay.
-CESAR: ...in your vulnerable position.

This is good.

-Yay!
-BETHANY: Yay!

CESAR:
I am really proud of Bethany.

It looks like she's finally getting
a handle on her fear.

She stayed perfectly calm
when Bo was sniffing Freddie,

and as a result, Freddie listened to her
and stayed calm surrender.

Now I got Bethany on board.

Let's bring Snowball

and let's make sure
the neighbors get along.

This will be Freddie
and Bethany's final challenge.

Last time they met,
she got scared and he got aggressive.

-(Freddie barking)
-Tsch.

Let's see how much they've learned.

Shhh!

-BETHANY: Okay. I'm good. I'm good.
-RYAN: You're good.

RYAN: Breathe in.

-BETHANY: Back up. Give us space.
-CESAR: Yeah.

BETHANY: Back up. Back up!

CESAR: There you go. There you go.
That's better.

-Now... This is the first time you did it.
-WOMAN: Wow!

Once again, I am really proud of Bethany.

It all started with her relaxing
and taking a deep breath.

This changed her energy,

and she was finally able
to claim her space by blocking Freddie

when he came to protect her.

Look at that!

BETHANY (off screen):
Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh.

RYAN: Oh! (laughing)

WOMAN (off screen):
Wow, that was so good.

BETHANY (off screen): Yes!

CESAR (off screen):
Look at that beautiful...

BETHANY (off screen): Without even Sophia.

CESAR (off screen):
Look, the neighbors are playing now.

RYAN: It was amazing
to see him play with Snowball,

and they were both kinda jumping
on each other and playing

and having a good time,

which seemed impossible
just a few weeks ago.

Honestly, it was just... Seemed impossible.

I feel like I trust him.

CESAR (off screen):
Once he likes someone, he likes someone.

RYAN AND BETHANY (off screen): Yeah.

-BETHANY (off screen): Snowball's in!
-CESAR (off screen): Yeah, Snowball's in.

BETHANY (off screen): Yeah.

CESAR: I can see all the hard work
that Bethany and Ryan have put in

has really paid off.

Freddie has started to let down his guard
when he's around them.

If they continue down this path,

soon, Freddie will no longer be
a silent biter around people and dogs.

And it will finally be safe for Charlie
to be around Freddie.

BETHANY: Now, I feel really comfortable

that, uh, Freddie's gonna be safe
with Charlie.

I'm no longer expecting him to attack him.

I'm no longer, like,
forcefully keeping them apart.

And I've been shocked

at how comfortable they are
around each other.

And I feel much more comfortable
that... that I can handle Freddie.

So it's a pretty shocking twist for me.

CESAR: I'm... I'm loving everything.

Everything!

Like I never...

I've not celebrated with anybody,
that I have helped, so hard, right?

-Like that! Like that. Like that.
-(Ryan and Bethany laughing)

RYAN: We were floating. We were...

CESAR: I believe I jump and say, you know,
"High five," to Bethany and Ryan,

because that's a perfect moment.

You know, those are the moments
that I wait for.

And the thing is,
you never know when it's gonna happen.

So as soon as it happened,
you better celebrate.

That's really what we were looking for.

Our dogs are family, like our children.

We watch them grow up,
loving them, and worrying over them.

But sometimes our fear
about what might happen

can fuel the very problems
we're trying to avoid.

Families work best
when they work together.

The problems occur when a dog feels
like they need to lead the pack

or protect the family.

The best way to take care of your dog
and your family

is to make sure they never have to.