01x01 - Fit For Service

[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 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 pandemic has
changed the world.

[overlapping chatter]

CESAR [off-screen]:
Dog adoptions have
hit a record high.

The good news is
dog shelters are empty.

The bad news is
people still needs...

WOMAN: Ooh.
CESAR: Tsch! Help.

WOMAN: He
doesn't listen to me.

WOMAN 2: Like,
the problem was me.

MAN: What do I do?

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

This is why he
doesn't listen to you.

MAN: No.

CESAR: So many things
you can fix already.

CESAR: Tsch!
MAN: Sorry, sorry!

CESAR: Ignore the excitement.

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

CESAR: Do you know who I am?
WOMAN: 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!

And that's how we
create better humans and

better dogs
one pack at a time.

NARRATOR: Today, Cesar will
answer the desperate plea of

a troubled pack
with an invitation to

his dog psychology center.

JOHN: We're
almost close, guys.

We're almost there.

JILL: We're almost there.
Are you nervous, babe?

JOHN: I'm nervous.

I mean, I feel like
you know, this is it.

JILL: Hi. My name
is Jill Ahkuputra.

JOHN: I'm John Spears.
No relation to Britney.

[laughs]

JOHN [off-screen]: We're
the owner of a pack of dogs:

Goliath, Shadow and Pepsi.

Goliath was my first dog.

I had him since he was...

JILL: A puppy.
JOHN: Yeah.

And then about
five years ago, like,

my mom
unfortunately passed away,

and I inherited two more.

And a couple of
weeks after that,

I was diagnosed
with a brain tumor.

I've had three surgeries and a
course of radiation therapy.

Two years in, it took the...

all of my vision,
uh, in my left eye.

I still have 30% of that tumor
around that base of my brain.

Having a mass there
pushing up against can
send me into seizures,

so I have to deal
with, uh, seizures
for the rest of my life.

With my sickness and ailments,

it's just been hard
integrating the dogs

to that pack life
and doing it right.

I wonder how
Goliath is gonna react,

and well, I mean, I guess

I assume I know how
Pepsi's going to be.

JILL: He'll
probably just bark.

JOHN: If Cesar somehow gets
Pepsi not to bark anymore.

JILL: Yeah.
That's like gold.

JOHN: I was like. They all...

JILL: Have their
own personalities and
their own quirkiness.

JOHN: We feel, Pepsi
is going to bark at you,

and he's not going to stop.

[barking]

Pep-pep, down. Down.

And then the dog,
the other dogs join.

[barking]

JILL: Sit. Shadow goes nuts.
JOHN: Absolutely nuts.

Shadow? Do you
really have to?

Like, I heard you.

This gotten worse.
This gotten louder.

This gotten bigger.

All the dogs seem to start.

JILL: Hey.

JILL [off-screen]:
But I would say Goliath
would be the problem child.

JOHN: He is strong.

[growls]

Although I depend
on him to be the most
stable dog of the bunch,

when he's
not stable, it's bad.

[growls]

His aggression of when people
are knocking at the door,

[growling and barking]

that state scares me.

JILL: Yeah.
It scares me too.

You know, we wanna
move in together under

the same roof
with my young son.

JOHN: Even after five years,
we don't feel comfortable

moving in together
with dogs' misbehavior.

And Goliath being
a pit bull, um...

JILL: Yeah.

JOHN: He has to be above
and beyond because, um,

I am someone that's
dealing with an illness.

I could fall. I could drop.

JILL: Last time,
his body locked up.

Then he started shaking.

When the ambulance came,

Goliath was barking
really loud and

actually the paramedics was
scared to come in the house.

JOHN: Big dogs.
JILL: Yeah.

JOHN: Having
certain breeds can...

JILL: Yeah.
JOHN: Even when you need help,

can prevent you
from getting it.

That is my biggest fear.

JOHN: Oh, that is so cool.
JILL: Oh, we are here.

JOHN: We are here!

It's about to happen, Goliath!
There's the center.

JILL: Woo woo!
I smell poop.

[yelping]

JOHN: That's
something that wasn't
needed to be pointed out.

[barking]

[barking]

Oh my God!

[barking]

Hello.

CESAR: What's up?
JILL: Hi!

CESAR: Wait, wait.
Don't let them out.
Don't let them out.

[barking]

Take your time.

JOHN: Inside. Shadow,
back in. Back in there.

CESAR: Okay. Okay.

So many things
you can fix already.

[laughs]

As soon as they arrive, the
dogs are all over the place.

This is just chaos.

And they talk a lot.

[barking]

JOHN: That is, ugh...
JILL: I knew it!

CESAR: He's just nervous.
You know what I mean?

JILL: When Cesar took Pepsi,
and Pepsi stopped barking,

I was in shock because he
didn't react how he would

react with me when I'm walking
him and seeing another person.

This is really happening.

CESAR: This is the guy who
was telling them: Get ready.

JILL: Yeah.

CESAR: I don't
trust nobody here.

So, the one to start
all the barking is Pepsi.

JOHN: Yeah.

CESAR: So if your
family is excited,

then your job is to be calm.

And that's the part that
I'm going to help you.

JOHN: I feel immense pressure
just because I'm excited to be

with Cesar Millan, and
he's dropping knowledge.

CESAR: Come into
the Barnyard Academy.

JILL: Yay!

NARRATOR: Cesar begins
his pack assessment in
the Barnyard Academy,

an area designed
to safely allow

interaction between
different species.

The dogs' responses to his
herd animals will quickly

reveal any aggressive
or nervous energy.

CESAR: All right, so
we're gonna do an evaluation.

JOHN: Don't be too excited.
CESAR: Huh?

JOHN: Shadow's
a little excited.

CESAR: That's good.

We're gonna control
all of that. All right?

Uh, we're gonna
let this one go.

The reason I let
Shadow go is because
he is the most excited.

CESAR [off-screen]:
Starting with the most
energetic dog in the pack

helps me see how the
others are gonna react.

This will tell me everything I
need to know about this pack.

JOHN: Shh. Goliath,
back. Back.

JILL: Pep.

CESAR: There's a lot
of pent-up energy.

There's a lot, a lot
of pent-up energy. See?

All the animals are saying:
"Why do you have this energy?"

JILL: Wow. Yeah.
JOHN: Yes, they are.

CESAR: And I want you to see
my pack so you have an idea

how your pack's
supposed to feel.

JOHN: Yeah.
JILL: Yeah.

CESAR: You know what I mean?

JOHN: We're so lost when
it comes to that. Yeah.

CESAR: This is too excited.

JOHN: Gotcha.
JILL: Too excited.

[barking]

CESAR: This is
the only one that the
silence is, is, is not ideal.

He can go into
a fixated state.

And so it's no, no limits.

When they're in the
fixated mode, they don't bark.

JOHN: He's focused.

CESAR: So, so we have to
understand the difference
between silence and fixation.

When they're fixated,

you can see the
concentration in their eyes,

and the ears
are gonna be perked.

He's using all his senses
to scout his next attack.

This is a very, very dangerous
positions to be in because a

dog in that mental state can
attack in the blink of an eye.

JOHN: That makes
me worried, uh, of what,

you know, I guess
his intentions are.

JOHN: That scares us.
CESAR: Yeah.

JOHN: He might be quiet, but.

CESAR: No, he's quiet,
uh, paying attention.

JOHN: Yeah.

CESAR: So he can
be quiet relaxed,

and that's what
we're gonna create.

Human race have created
this myth that pit bulls were

born to be aggressive,
to be fixated,

to be mean, to be bad.

I think we should, we
should set the record straight

because pit bulls are
not born to be violent.

It's not the breed, it's
the human behind the dog.

We all know that
pit bulls are powerful, right?

So it's power.
It's not just aggression.

If you want it
to become excited,

they're gonna give you
that powerful excited energy.

If you want it
to pull something,

they're gonna give
you all that power.

But if you want
it to be sweet,

they're also gonna give
you that much sweetness.

Therefore, it's our
responsibility to make sure

they don't
get stuck in this
fixated, aggressive state.

We've gotta get him
where there is rules,
boundaries and limitations.

JILL: Wow.
JOHN: Yes, yes.

[barking]

CESAR: Tsch. Tsch.

First you have to
remove this pent-up
energy you have already.

So you gotta do detox.

JILL: Excited, yeah.
CESAR: So uh, get the bike?

NARRATOR: Goliath's
severe fixation could lead

to misdirected aggression.

So for the safety
of the other animals,

Cesar removes
him from the pack.

CESAR: Thank you Lei toi.

ANDRE: Mm-hmm.

Working with my
Dad over the years,

I've learned that
with any fixated dog,

you must know that you
can get bit at any time.

It doesn't
matter on the breed.

It could be a chihuahua.

I mean, even a pug a can bite.

And that's how humans
lose trust in their dog.

CESAR: Slowly
you're moving it.

Let me see how he gets.

NARRATOR: To refocus
Goliath's mentality,

Cesar's son, Andre, will
take the dog for a bike ride,

burning off unwanted energy
and help him disengage

from the fixated mindset.

CESAR: What I'm asking
my son to do right now
is to introduce the motion.

JOHN: Right, right.

CESAR: Because the way he
moves when people approach.

JOHN: Mm-hmm.
JILL: Yeah.

CESAR: That can trigger, uh,
him to move towards people.

Because as soon as they
see movement, they grab on.

When I give this
dog I have to make
sure that my son is safe.

JILL: Seeing Andre
walk off with Goliath, um,

it does worry me
because he might just snap.

CESAR: He's in a
dangerous state.

Very dangerous.

ANDRE: I'm gonna lower
my excitement because you
are already way too high.

CESAR: There you go.
That's what I want.

Because Goliath switches out
of that fixation so quickly,

that gets me
something to work toward.

NARRATOR: Running out
Goliath's dangerous energy is

the first step toward
his rehabilitation.

At the agility arena,
Cesar starts Shadow and

Pepsi on a workout
of their own.

CESAR: Beautiful. Eso!

You have to start
with the exercise.

They need to run it out.

There you go.

This is so good because
watching Shadow and Pepsi,

you can see there is
nothing wrong with them.

JILL: Look at Shadow.

JOHN: Bouncing
around having fun.

CESAR: With the
right combination of
exercise, discipline,

and affection,
my favorite formula,

these two dogs
are easily balanced.

And it was important for me
to show that to John and Jill.

We gave them some outlet
of this frustrated energy.

Come on, let's go this way.

The only real
challenge is going to be
with Goliath's fixation,

so I need to find out
how John and Jill created

his dangerous energy.

So if I describe your pack,

Pepsi is nervous,
Shadow is hyper.

JOHN: Yeah.
JILL: Yeah.

CESAR: And Goliath is fixated.

How he was
looking at the animals?

That's why I moved
him out of there.

JILL: Ahh.
CESAR: You see it?

If he's fixated at that level,
he can actually hurt someone.

That's what I call red zone.

We're gonna work
on the fixation part,

but that's why it's so
important for you guys to

also fix your energy
and your activity,

so we can actually
influence him...

JILL: Yeah.
CEARS: You know,
the right way.

How are you?

JOHN: You know, tired.
CESAR: Mm-hmm.

Tired of what?

JOHN: Bad stuff happening, um.

Not getting a, a,
a long enough break.

You know, when
I got diagnosed,

it was right
after my mom passed.

JILL: We were going out.

JOHN: Yeah. We're
going out and stuff.

I kept trying to push
her away because I was,

I was sick and I was like,
you know, am I dying tomorrow?

Uh, you know,
she stayed around.

And now, how far I'm
looking ahead is different.

I owe her some time.

You know, she's
been my nurse, my love,
all, all of the above.

CESAR: You want the
best for her, I get it.

But you, you also have
to want the best for you.

JILL: Yeah.
We lost a lot of time.

It's been crazy five,
six years up and down.

JOHN: Yeah. I want just
regular life, a family.

Me and her.

CESAR: Yes, sir.
JOHN: Her coming in from work.

Me coming in from work,
we're working with the dogs.

I want her son, Ivan, to
be a part of it on a level

that he hasn't seen yet.

CESAR: What is
your son's name?

JILL: Ivan.
CESAR: Ivan.

JILL: I want Ivan to
be able to enjoy what
we enjoy with the dogs,

the love that
we get from them.

CESAR: What's the relationship
with Ivan and the pack?

JILL: Um so, so far,
he has only met Pepsi.

CESAR: No way.
JILL: Yeah. And only Pepsi.

JOHN: Pepsi on like
grooming day, yeah.

CESAR: That's it?

So you guys have never
gone for like a hike with
the pack and, and Ivan?

JILL: No. Never with the dogs.

CESAR: I'm having
anxiety just hearing about.

The separation
from a family member,

and a dog family member,
is actually not ideal.

That means we don't
trust each other.

That's pretty dangerous.

We're gonna make sure
that when he meets Ivan,

he's in that calm
surrender state.

JILL: Yeah.

CESAR: I feel for John and
Jill because they had been

so worried about Goliath
attacking paramedics or

anyone who come near them.

They're actually missing
the root of their problems,

which is there is no
unity within their pack.

And that's the reason why
they haven't felt comfortable

introducing
Jill's son to the dogs.

NARRATOR: Cesar's
evaluation complete,

the pack heads home
to recharge before

Goliath's
rehabilitation can begin.

The next day, Cesar
invites a very different
type of dog to the DPC.

JASON: Ducky, this
is very important.

I need to tell
Cesar straight up.

First thing's first
is you treat him like
your little son, and so.

CHRISTINE: That's so mean.

JASON: I need to tell there
has to be something there.

[growling]

CHRISTINE: I'm Christine.
JASON: I'm Jason.

CHRISTINE: And this is Ducky.
He is a yorkie maltese mix.

Oh my God,
there's ducks! Ducky!

JASON: Ducky, it's your...
CHRISTINE: Ducky, look! Look!

I've had Ducky for
seven and a half years.

Where's his glasses?

CHRISTINE [off-screen]: I take
photos of Ducky every day,

and I do a lot of like,
fashion videos for TikTok.

Good boy.

So now he,
like, has one million
followers on TikTok,

and then 70,000 on Instagram.

We basically catered
everything towards Ducky.

Like, Ducky is my life.

JASON: I'm, I'm
interested to see how
Ducky reacts to meeting Cesar.

CHRISTINE: I know.
JASON: And like...

Friendly in the
beginning he'll be
super cute running around.

CHRISTINE: He'll be like...
JASON: Yeah.

CHRISTINE: Trotting over,
wagging his tail.

That's how he tricks you.

JASON: Yeah.

He's so sweet when he's sweet,

[growling]

but when he gets mean, uh...

CHRISTINE: He's really mean.

JASON: He's really,
really mean.

[growling]

He's extremely aggressive.

Everyone thinks he's
the most well-behaved dog.

She constantly gets
comments from his fans like,

"How do you train
your dog to be so good?"

and we're
always just like uh...

CHRISTINE [off-screen]:
Ducky on Instagram.

Ducky in real life.

[barking]

Ducky on TikTok.

Ducky every day.

[growling]

I'm scared.

[barking]

Hey!

JASON: You don't
know when it's come...

[barking]

CHRISTINE: Oh!
JASON: Oh my God!

[growling]

CHRISTINE: Ducky! Ducky.

[barking]

JASON: Like a
switch just turns on.

Like, he'll bite like my face.

CHRISTINE: Ducky is
definitely affecting

our relationship
with each other.

JASON: We
recently got married.

CHRISTINE: Almost
two months ago.

JASON: Two months ago. Yeah.

And now it
happens more and more.

It makes things
very stressful,

never knowing when this
guy is going to attack.

Oh my God! Oh my God!
Oh my God! Oh my God!

[barking]

It just feels like
the stakes are getting
higher, more serious.

CHRISTINE: We're
worried about like him
attacking dogs and children.

[barking]

JASON: I just can't think
about what would actually

happen if, if, if he
was to have an episode with

our kids or our
friends' kids or anything.

'Cause we wanna have kids,
and we've literally talked

about not doing that.

CHRISTINE: I think Cesar is
the only person that can help.

Ahh!

[barking]

CESAR: How are you?
JASON: Good.

CESAR: Welcome to the ranch.
How's he doing?

JASON: He's, he's,
he's fine right now.

CHRISTINE: Yeah.
CESAR: Yeah?

JASON: Yeah, he's in a good...
He's in a good mood right now.

CESAR: He is in a good mood.

So you're
leaving it up to him?

JASON: Yeah.

[barking]

CESAR: You think he's human.

JASON: Right.
CESAR: You see it?

JASON: She treats
him like her son.

CESAR: To the point that
the dog controls your lives?

JASON: Definitely.
CESAR: Yeah.

All of this we're gonna stop.

CHRISTINE: Sorry.
CESAR: Don't worry about it.

[laughing]

Okay. Come over here.

No dog on this
planet is a human.

Can you love them the
way you love a human?

Absolutely.

But what I'm not in
agreement ever is that

you change the
identity of someone.

A zebra is a zebra,
a camel is a camel,

and a dog is a dog.

So what do you think
your biggest problem is?

JASON: Whenever
you're holding him.

CHRISTINE: Yeah.

JASON: He, um, he
lashes out at anybody
else who approaches.

CESAR: Mm-hmm.

JASON: So he's already
kind of tracking me, but...

[growling]

CEASR: Mm-hmm.
JASON: Like...

CESAR: Yeah, he, he did
the whisker right there.

[growling]

JASON: Like?
CESAR: Yeah.
CHRISTINE: Like that.

JASON: He'll just lash out.
CESAR: Right.

JASON: And then he's,
he's like not, um, like, yeah.

[growling]

Um, and then
he gets in this mode,

and I guess, we
don't really know how
to, how to disengage.

CESAR: Can I be on your...
JASON: Of course. Of course.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

CESAR: Yeah.
So first step first is who
told you how to hold a dog?

CHRISTINE: No one.

CESAR: See how
you have your hand?

Move it up, move it on top.

CHRISTINE: This one?
CESAR: Yeah, yeah.

Cause like this, she's
giving control away.

You're pretty
much like a pillow.

That's no power.

I mean so the
human doesn't have the
authority figure power,

and then they have
to give this protection.

CHRISTINE: Uh-huh.

CESAR: So by you saying,

"you know what,
that's not what I want."

You know, I really,
you can be in my lap,

but you can't protect me."

Like most dogs who misbehave,

Ducky is used to getting
away with acting out.

To get through to
him, I have to react
by standing my ground.

Your job is to
come and just, tsch!

Hey. It's all right.

[growling]

Let him go through it.
So he's gonna.

[growling]

CESAR: So he's gonna. Tsch.

You have to be
calm confident, yeah.

So you know,

[takes deep breath]

So he's going to do
it 'cause that's what
he has learned to do.

And then he's going to
come out with, there he goes.

That's not working.

You see, we're
not empowering him.

CHRISTINE: Mm-hmm.
JASON: Right.

CHRISTINE: That was
definitely amazing.

JASON: Yeah.
CESAR: Ready to practice this?

JASON: I am definitely
afraid of Ducky.

Which I know sounds crazy,
but I'm scared to even go

approach him because
he'll bite and not let go.

CESAR: Yeah.

[growling]

CHRISTINE: He's
like I'm not ready.

CESAR: And then, tsch!
But you gotta be ready.

You gotta be ready.

I need you to go introduce
confident self, calm self.

[takes deep breath]

Breathe, Christine.

[takes deep breath]

Yay! And then somebody
else can come in here.

So now you've got
two humans petting.

CHRISTINE: Oh man, this
has never happened before.

CESAR: Ducky is showing
clear signs of being frantic,

and I can tell
you why that is.

CESAR [off-screen]: Every
day that dog wakes up, go
to the bathroom and then

he sits on the couch all day.

He doesn't get any exercise,

and Christine treats
him like a pampered baby,

but never disciplines him.

And Jason doesn't do
anything to help, good or bad.

That tells me, Christine is
afraid of that little dog.

And Jason is
completely clueless.

So I need to make sure those
two face their fears and

put that little dog to work.

NARRATOR: Cesar's next
exercise for Ducky will test

whether his frantic
energy with humans
also occurs around dogs.

CESAR: We're gonna bring
a pack of little dogs.

JASON: Okay.
CHRISTINE: Oh, man.

NARRATOR: His strategy
is to introduce Ducky
to small breed dogs,

before elevating to
medium and large breeds.

CESAR: Proper
evaluation is when
you're doing it off leash.

That's when you
get to see instincts.

CHRISTINE: Ducky is never
off leash around other dogs.

Like I don't know
how he's gonna react.

So, I just try to
avoid the situation.

JASON: Oh God, I hope
Ducky doesn't come here

and bite all Cesar's dogs.

CESAR: Look how the
pack perceives him.

If he was really aggressive,

the whole pack turns
around and fights him.

CHRISTINE: Mm-hmm.
CESAR: Look.

Now he's switching.

It's like poker.

You have to call the bluff.
You know what I mean?

CHRISTINE: Uh-huh.
JASON: Okay.

CESAR: Don't worry about it.

Why open the door?
Because he got quiet.

Let's get Sophia!

ANDRE: Yes, sir.

CESAR: Sophia is
a medium-size dog.

The epitome of happy go lucky,

the sweetest
girl in the world.

When there's any dog
that is a little shy,

a little unsure,
I bring Sophia.

She can break the ice.

[yipping]

Look how, by her coming in,
it makes him move back.

CHRISTINE: Yeah.

CESAR: So what dog is
more compatible to him,

is a dog that actually moves
towards him than a dog that

moves away from him.

CHRISTINE: Uh-huh.

JASON: Oh.
CHRISTINE: Interesting.

CESAR: And because you guys
are moving away from him,

you guys keep
empowering this frantic,

aggressive behavior.

CHRISTINE: Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
JASON: It's true.

[growls]

[yipping]

CESAR: Tsch, tsch.
Tsch, tsch.

[growling]

[yipping]

Tsch.

There you go.

You always make sure
that they finish calm.

The calmness on the side
position lets them know,

in their world, that
what they did is unwanted.

That's to
achieve calm surrender.

JASON: Yeah, waiting
till he got calm.

CESAR: He's tense,
and he's doing ah!

But if you stay there,
that energy relaxes him.

JASON: Everything you're
saying makes so much sense.

CESAR: You know, when I
invited Sophia to meet Ducky,

I knew that he was
going to behave in a
you know, frantic way.

And frantic way meaning
he can sound aggressive,

but that's not
real aggression.

The problem is if Ducky
does it to the wrong size dog,

Ducky can get hurt.

That's why this is
not a laughing matter.

CHRISTINE: Yeah. When Ducky
attacks like a big dog,

one of my worst fears is
Ducky doing the wrong thing

and then having
Ducky get hurt.

JASON: He like
sees red, and then we
can't get him out of it.

CESAR: Yeah, he's frantic.
JASON: Yeah, exactly.

CESAR: And she's stuck
on being terrified.

JASON: Right. Yes.

CESAR: So we can
tackle the fear,

but in your situation,
when, where you are in fear,

you can't do this
by yourself right now.

CESAR [off-screen]:
Before Ducky actually
meets larger dogs,

Christine and
Jason need to go home,

practice claiming
their personal space,

so Ducky doesn't
control their lives.

NARRATOR: While
Jason and Christine
take Ducky home to regroup.

The following morning,

Cesar welcomes back
John and Jill's pack.

CESAR: We've got
John and Jill back.

Let's put this couple to work.

CESAR [off-screen]: I really
feel for John and Jill.

All his medical issues,
the brain tumor, the seizures,

they haven't been able
to create a balanced pack.

But we already made some real
progress on their first visit,

and that makes me very happy.

Pepsi, you're so
calm and so happy.

You're doing a great job.

NARRATOR: After
assessing all three dogs,

Cesar determined
Shadow and Pepsi just
need routine exercise

to burn off
their pent up energy.

CESAR: That was it!
That was it.

We gave him some outlet
of his frustrated energy.

NARRATOR: But
Goliath's fixation,

created by his pet parents,

could lead to
dangerous aggression.

JILL: There you go.
Have fun, babies!

CESAR: John and Jill
continued to work on calming

Shadow's excitement and
Pepsi's nervous barking,

and those guys seem
calm and collected.

Now, I need to help them
correct Goliath's fixation.

Today is your day, buddy.

JILL: Yeah, he's got his
little shoes on, he's ready.

CESAR: Yeah. All right.

[takes deep breath]

John, I have to
ask a question.

Have you ever
walked a llama before?

You're going to walk
the one and only Lorenzo.

NARRATOR: Goliath previously
prevented EMTS from assisting

John during a seizure,
so Cesar wants to test

Goliath's reaction
when unfamiliar creatures
enter John's personal space,

a common trigger for
fixated and protective dogs.

CESAR: Lorenzo is
super essential to

the rehabilitation because
he's gonna help me to get to

the root of the
problem with Goliath.

I want John to lead my pack
with a strong energy to teach

Goliath from seeing
any unknown person or

animal as a threat.

My boy right here is
going to be a little
bit in the explore state,

but what I want him
more than anything is to

see you with different...

JOHN: Gotcha.
CESAR: Species.

We're all around
protecting Lorenzo and

making sure everybody is safe.

And Lorenzo was a
lot of experience of
how to stay in his ground.

But at the same time, I'm
going to walk Goliath first.

Once they are both ready,
John will take the leash.

Keep going, that's right.

Yes. Yeah, baby.

That's, this is
what I was looking for.

JOHN: Calmness all around.
CESAR: That's right.

JOHN: Got you.
CESAR: There you go.

Come this way.

JOHN: Taking the leash.

Taking the leash, I admit it.

I feel the pressure.

I've got to find a way to
trust Goliath enough for me

and Jill to move in together.

I, I don't want
to fail because

I have too much
riding on this.

CESAR: Keep moving
a little faster,

so we are not giving
him a time to get excited.

You don't want
to be too close.

It's your space.

Claim the space.

[squealing]

JOHN: Ah, ah, ah!
CESAR: Tsch! Tsch!

[snarls]

CESAR [off-screen]: So when
I gave the leash to John,

Goliath tries to attack.

As soon as you fed that
energy and get closer,

he has learned to move
things out of the way.

We're going to do it again.

So you erase
that little moment.

JOHN: Yeah.

CESAR: Good boy.
That's a good job.

Good job, buddy.

[sighs]

I asked John and Goliath
to take a little break.

I wanna explain energy.

I want everybody to understand
the meaning of energy

for once and for all.

Our dogs are our avatar.

They know how we feel,
how we sound, how we move.

At the moment we
touch the leash,

that energy travels right
through the leash so our dogs

respond based on our energy.

So it's super important
that we humans become

conscious of how we feel.

CESAR [off-screen]:
So what I saw during
our walk is when I gave

the leash to John,
Goliath changed.

[snarls]

JOHN: Goliath.
CESAR: Tsch, tsch.

Goliath went into a fixated,
protective mode,

which makes him dangerous.

Why? Because John
became tense and fearful.

So then Goliath feel the
need to protect his friend,

his pack member.

The negative energy that they
have right now is the fixation

and the danger,
the aggression.

So I know what I'm gonna do
to turn this fixation and

aggression into something of
service and something loving.

NARRATOR: Cesar plans to train
Goliath to become "of service"

to John's medical needs...

CESAR: All right. So I
want you to pay attention.

NARRATOR: He enlists Cat,
a "service dog" specialist.

Under Cesar's supervision, Cat
will begin the first stages of

Goliath's focused training.

CAT: All right.
So, let's get started.

CESAR: Cat is a young trainer
who has personally benefited

from having a
service dog to help
during medical emergencies.

CAT: If there isn't
something medical,

[crying]

that is the only time
that he would be able
to get off that platform.

That's what we call
intelligent disobedience.

Get your leash.

CESAR: And now she specializes
in training service dogs

to help others.

CAT: Yes.

CESAR: Together, we're gonna
be able to see if Goliath has

what it takes to
step into this new role.

CAT: I had a
pit bull one time!

And that's when you have
to correct right there.

JOHN: Yeah, so
get it right when...

CAT: Right when you saw
that he was very interested.

JOHN: Mm-hmm.
CAT: Come here. Hi!

CAT: Hey, puppy!
JOHN: Stay. Tsch.

It's very overwhelming knowing
that Cesar has the belief that

Goliath could
be my service dog.

I need that.

I would, I would
benefit off of that.

I need help.

CESAR: What do you
need help with at home?

JOHN: The big worry
is that I go down,

and I have a seizure.

And I have a pit bull.

They're not gonna
help me, you know.

The paramedics wouldn't come
into my house the last time.

They made Jill lock him up.

And that little girl
somehow got all of me in

a computer chair and
brought me to the door.

So, to get him to a point
where he can let people take

care of me, that would be the
most important thing to do.

CESAR: The last time
John had a seizure,

Goliath prevented paramedics
from coming in because he was

barking excessively,
this is a serious matter.

This is about life
and death for John.

JOHN: Where do you start?

CAT: Considering the
bond that you two have,

I definitely think that a
way for Goliath to be able to

help you would be finding
help if you have a seizure.

So that's definitely a
good exercise for him to try.

We'll have Jill
go over here, so.

JOHN: Stay. Good boy.
CAT: All right.

I want to see what
his reaction would be.

I'm gonna ask you
to lay on the floor.

Make it dramatic as possible.

JOHN: I can
definitely do that.

[laughter]

[grunting]

CAT: Act as if you are
not conscious at all.

Just arms out, legs down.

Come on.

[growling]

CAT: Shh.

CESAR: Not every dog
becomes a service dog,

they don't all have the
ability to serve humans.

We have to see if we can
tap into Goliath's instincts

to create a
life-saving reflex.

CAT: Goliath, come on.

Go find help. Goliath.

He's looking right at you.

Come on, Goliath.

Find help. Come on.

Good boy. Come on.

Let's have you move.

[whimpering]

Find help.

JILL: What is it, boy?

CAT: All right,
so let him lead you.

CESAR: Uh, I, I think we
are getting somewhere.

A service dog is like Rome:
it wasn't built in a day.

I think Goliath can do it,
but it's not up to me.

It depends on how bad
John and Jill want this.

JILL: Good boy.

CAT: But the next
one I want to do,

I want you to be out of sight.

CESAR [off-screen]:
They need to practice
this hide and seek drill,

both here and at home.

Goliath's first impulse
has to be finding help and

bringing it back to John.

This is a slow process
involving a lot of repetition,

and it's not guaranteed
he'll get it down.

JILL: What is it, Goliath?

What is it?
Goliath, what is it?

CESAR: But if the
training sticks,

it'll be a healthy outlet
for Goliath's fixation,

and provide immediate support
for John's medical condition.

JILL: Good boy.

Let daddy smell your butt.

[laughs]

CESAR: I want to create a lot
of homework for you, okay?

So we can keep growing.

NARRATOR: As Goliath's
pack departs with their
new homework assignment,

Ducky's pet parents
are struggling to

apply Cesar's techniques.

JASON: So our homework was to
practice the energy in which

we hold Ducky, so that like,
we're more kind of leading and

showing him we don't
need him to protect us.

[barking]

Ducky, no.

[growling]

No. No.

As soon as we got home,
Ducky was not having it.

CHRISTINE: He
knows you're scared.

[barking]

Definitely still scared.

JASON: No. Ow!

You know, we started blaming
each other saying like,

"You're not doing it right"
or "I'm not doing it right."

"No, he did it like this."

CHRISTINE: That's pretty bad.

JASON: I'm still optimistic,

but there's a
lot of work to do.

CESAR: Alfie,
what do you think?

Ducky's coming.

How do you think Ducky did?

[whimpers]

Oh! Ha-ha!

Oh Alfie, you better
have some faith in Ducky.

NARRATOR: When
Cesar last saw Ducky.

[barking]

CESAR: Let him go through it.
CHRISTINE: I'm scared.

NARRATOR: He assessed
a frantic dog with
fearful pet parents.

CHRISTINE: Hey!

NARRATOR: After learning
Jason and Christine

failed their homework,

Cesar has a full day
arranged to help these

newlyweds regain control of
their pack and get their plans

of starting a
family back on track.

CESAR: So this is
what I have for you.

Looking at your homework,

you just need to be more
comfortable being in control.

NARRATOR: Cesar needs
to address Jason and

Christine's fear of
Ducky's dog aggression.

So he prepares a challenge
to both desensitize Ducky and

empower his scared owners.

CESAR: This is a
serious problem.

If he goes after
the wrong dog,

that could be
devastating and fatal.

JASON: Right now he
has no sense of order,

and he'll just go
bark at anything.

CESAR: Anything.
JASON: Like a wolf.

CESAR: Yeah.
CHRISTINE: He would.

JASON: A hippo.
He'll go like, attack it.

CESAR: A crocodile.

Because you are afraid,

I want you to face
dogs coming your way.

Because when
you face the fear,

you start going from being
afraid to being confident.

CHRISTINE: Okay.
CESAR: Good. Come on!

Bring the dogs, please!

CHRISTINE: Oh my, God.

Oh man, this is
like my worst nightmare.

My first thought
is feeling scared.

JASON: It's a matter of
time before Ducky was going

to, uh, attack all those dogs.

CHRISTINE: I'm trying
to calm myself down,

but I don't know
if it's enough.

CESAR: So what
would you do here?

CHRISTINE: Uh...

CESAR: Don't freeze.
Don't freeze.

CHRISTINE: Stop!

[barking]

CESAR: Tsch! Hey. Tsch!

Hey.

Don't freeze.
So no more freezing.

CHRISTINE: Uh, I definitely
like tensed up in that moment,

so I basically took
like ten steps back.

I had no clue what to do and
the fear came running back.

CESAR: So I want you to be
aware of the environment.

I want you to see
that german shepherd.

How does he feel?

CHRISTINE: Yeah. Um...
CESAR: Pretty calm.

CHRISTINE: Yeah.
CESAR: Alert.

Now he starts
looking at it, right?

CHRISTINE: Yeah. Yeah.

CESAR: So now that is going
to intensify how he feels.

Tsch! Tsch.

JASON: You're not even
pulling on the leash.

CESAR: Tsch.

CHRISTINE: Why does he not
care about that dog anymore?

I'm so confused.

CESAR: Oh, because he
knows I'm in charge.

He feels safe.

For Christine to move forward,

I needed to put her
in front of that fear.

Do it. Do it.
Do it, Christine.

Passing by different dogs
over and over and over.

CHRISTINE: How do I
stop him from that though?

CESAR: Tsch.

Pull and then you let it go.

You pull and
then you let it go.

CHRISTINE: Okay.
CESAR: And then you relax.

It's just to snap
the brain out of it.

You can do it.
You can do it.

Obviously
everything is very safe,

but the way out
is right through it.

[snarls]

Go ahead
address it, address it.

He doesn't want to be
the front of the pack,

but because you're afraid,

he has to take
the front position.

We don't feel
safe if our boss,

our leader is fearful.

Let's, let's go back
again and do it again.

But I, I need you to
be a lot more confident.

Relax. Breathing,
snap out of it.

CHRISTINE: Okay.

CESAR: Breathe.
Breathe. Breathe.

[snarls]

CHRISTINE: No. No! No.

CESAR: Epa!
CHRISTINE: Good job, Ducky.

CESAR: Hey.

CHRISTINE: That was way better
than what it usually is.

CESAR: Enjoy it.

CHRISTINE: It feels
really good to be able to
walk Ducky by these dogs.

CESAR: Nice.
There you go. Yeah!

CHRISTINE: To literally
face my fear so many
times in one sitting.

It was a really
amazing feeling.

I've learned so much just
in these like five minutes.

It's a miracle.

CESAR: Yeah.

CHRISTINE: I have
more control over the
situation than Ducky does.

CESAR: That's your most
romantic walk you've ever

had at my ranch.

JASON: Yeah.
CESAR: That's right.

Christine facing her fear
head-on means this is the

key moment to build on that
confidence for her and Jason.

So I need to take them
back where it all started.

So as soon as he gets
close to you, he gets,

"I got to protect Christine."

You just let him
know you don't agree
with that behavior.

Now when I move in, I want
you to just be calm confident.

If you do it,
it's going to make it
easier for Jason to do it.

CHRISTINE: Okay.
CESAR: Yep.

Ready? I'm going to move in.

CHRISTINE: I'm ready.
CESAR: You're not?

CHRISTINE: I'm ready.
CESAR: Okay, tsch.

[snarling]

CHRISTINE: Hey! No! No!

CESAR: There we go.
Stay right there.

Yes. And then remove.

Nice, nice, very nice.

All right, my
friend right here.

Jason, your turn.
You're not gonna freeze.

Be at the same calm confident.

JASON: All right.

CESAR [off-screen]: Christine
showed great improvement
with handling Ducky.

Now I need to see if
Jason is ready to become

a calm confident pack leader.

Pass it back to Jason.

[growling]

JASON: Tsch.

CESAR: There you go.
CHRISTINE: What the heck?

CESAR: That's good.
You, you felt it, right?

He just stopped.

JASON: Yeah.
This feels so like smooth.

CESAR: Effortless. Yes.

JASON: Channeling
Cesar energy.

CESAR: Ha!
It's all about energy.

JASON: It was crazy
how it felt when I
was actually doing it,

as long as I was holding
the, the kind of energy,

the leadership energy that,
that Cesar was showing me.

It definitely
felt very empowering.

CESAR: So now
I'm moving in, okay?

See the difference?

To see the confidence
part completely turn around.

It's just incredible.

I'm very proud of Jason
and Christine because

they're working together
as a pack, as a family.

And so, to see Ducky
so relaxed, it's beautiful.

Thank you. I love you.

There he goes. Excellent.

CHRISTINE: It feels really
good to take control over

the situation like I
was a leader for Ducky,

so we could make
Ducky's life better.

You can be one of them.

JASON: When we
imagined our futures,

there was like
nothing past like Ducky.

CHRISTINE: Ducky.

JASON: Now I can visualize
a path to like having kids and

introducing Ducky
to our children and

raise a loving family.

CHRISTINE: Good job.
JASON: Oh my God.

CHRISTINE: I need a picture.
JASON: Oh my God.

CESAR: You were a
duck in your past life.

JILL [off-screen]: So the last
time we saw Cesar at the DPC,

he gave us some homework,
training Goliath in alerting

me if John was to
fall or have a seizure.

You know, after our first
couple of tries, you know,

Goliath wasn't
able to find me.

It shows that we definitely
have to work on this.

What is it?

So, it's a little challenging.

I'm excited to,
you know, keep trying,

and we'll see how it goes.

NARRATOR: After
two weeks away, John,

Jill and their pack
return to the ranch to

show how Goliath has
progressed with his homework.

They will be facing
Cesar's final challenge:

To see if Goliath
can find help should
John have a seizure.

JILL [off-screen]: I
feel a little nervous
coming to the DPC.

The dogs have improved,
but I know we still need a

little work because
we're trying to

incorporate
our family together.

JOHN: I think we
both have that worry.

Like, hey, this is
a huge moment for us,

I just don't know
what's gonna happen today.

NARRATOR: Goliath faces
Cesar's final challenge,

which will determine if
he's balanced enough to

be of service and finally
meet Jill's son, Ivan.

CESAR: It's very
important to practice,
uh, what you learned.

So let's create one last
challenge here at the ranch.

John, Goliath, you guys
are going to go in there and

pretend to have a seizure.

And for me to understand
what's happening inside,

I'm going to be
watching you with a monitor.

JOHN: Oh, nice.
CESAR: Thank you. Thank you.

And, uh, you and me, Jill,
we're gonna go and hide and

see how Goliath is
going to find us and

tell us that John needs help.

CESAR: Let's go.
JOHN: Let's go, G.

JILL: If Goliath wasn't able
to pass Cesar's test today,

I would feel discouraged.

JOHN: Good boy. Sit.

JILL: But I'm not giving up.

We're gonna have to
keep working because

we definitely want
this family together.

CESAR: Whenever
you're ready, brother.

That's a perfect state.

[grunts]

He doesn't know where we are.

He's looking for you.

CESAR: That's really good.
JILL: Yeah.

CESAR: Look at how
he's looking for you.

Ah!

When he went to the
window to look for Jill,

this is when you're seeing
the dog looking for his human.

[laughing]

CESAR [off-screen]: This
is incredible, you know.

This is, this is one in a
lifetime type of thing to
see something so beautiful.

This is incredible.
That's beautiful.

CESAR: Yeah!
JILL: Good boy!

What is it? Where's John?

CESAR: That is so good!

To see Goliath responding in
a pretty much paramedic way

with service, I was excited.

Good. That's what I want.
That's what I want.

JILL: Good boy, Goliath.

Good boy.

CESAR: To see a dog like
trying to figure it out in

a new place, it tells me,

this is what he's
supposed to be doing.

So he did amazing.

I mean, it's incredible.

If you're gonna be fixated, be
fixated by something amazing.

That's a much better way.
You know what I mean?

JILL: Yeah.

CESAR: So let's utilize
that moment in your life,

and let's turn it
into something positive.

So that's what we did.

You know, we
turned it, this fixation
into something positive.

JOHN: Yeah.
JILL: Yeah.

CESAR: He's really working for
the well-being of his family.

Oh, good! Oh, good!

We have successfully
redirected Goliath's

fixated energy into a job that
gives him a sense of purpose,

and you can see how
much he's transformed.

NARRATOR: Because
Goliath has shown such
incredible improvement,

Cesar feels it's safe to
finally unite the pack,

something this family
has wanted for a long time.

CESAR: How are
you doing, Ivan?

JILL: Say hi.
IVAN: Hi.

CESAR: Come on in.
Come into my dog park!

JILL: I'm just excited,
you know, for the future.

CESAR: Sit.
We're gonna meet Ivan.

He's my new friend.

Now we've got
control of the excitement.

Come on, Pepsi.

Go say hi to your friend.

JILL: Pepsi.
JOHN: Pepsi.

CESAR: So this guy
obviously knows you.

So you can actually
make Pepsi the ambassador.

JOHN: Ah. Got you.

JILL: We've been waiting
so long for this moment.

We want everybody to come
together and be a family.

CESAR: Your job is
bringing the energy down

to meet in a calm way.

So the memory is
Ivan means calmness.

Ivan means trust.

You know what I mean?

IVAN: Yeah!

CESAR: Well thank
you for listening.

Andre, you should
have listened like Ivan

when you were little.

Ready for another one?

Yep. Yep.

JILL: Tsch. It's okay.

CESAR: There you go.
That's beautiful.

JOHN: Last treat.
CESAR: That's beautiful.

That's really good,
by the way, Ivan.

You know why?

Because he's
acknowledging you and saying,

"I like you."

JILL: Tsch.
CESAR: That's right.

That's all he wanted.

There you go.

Follow.

JOHN: To have my pack
in order, for me, it's huge.

It continues a, a life
I've been fighting for,

for a while.

CESAR: That's really good.

See, that's what
I'm looking for.

JILL: This is like our reward.

You know, our pack
coming together.

And it feels good.

CESAR: High five, brother.
JILL: High five.

CESAR: I always feel
super blessed to be able

to help families unify
their packs like this.

I do this because I
truly believe I can
create a better planet.

Listen up, for the
family who's still clueless

about their dog's misbehavior,
the only thing they have to do

is just give their dog a job.

Dog's born with a
pursuit of happiness,

and they're super happy
when they have a job.

To become a
confident pack leader,

understanding your dog's
needs is where it all begins.

So now say this with me,

you're going to
give your dog a what?

A job. That's right.
That's a leash drop.