Ever since ,“The Dog Whisperer”, Cesar Millan became popular on television several years ago I have noticed a trend in popular dog training literature to discredit all his techniques to the degree of even rewriting and twisting commonly known facts to fit their arguments – including the technique of flooding.
Before I go on defending Cesar Millan, let it be said that I mostly consider him good entertainment. With the “attention getting” kicks, neck jabs, rolls, etc… He is more physical and hasty than I like to see – but like I said, it is meant for entertainment, and is a show that is made to get ratings. But, just because a bull fighter can handle themselves around a bull, doesn’t necessarily mean that is the best, safest, and most humane way for farmers to control them. That is probably the best analogy I can make with Cesar – with respect to the fact that he is honestly trying to help the dogs instead of killing them as the bull fighters kill bulls! That is why there is a disclaimer about it being for entertainment purposes only – which many people forget.
Anyhow, Mr. Cesar Millan does commonly use one technique called flooding to help dogs that need to “face their fears”.
The concept behind flooding is simple – force the dog to encounter a stimulus that would generally elicit a flight or fight response, but prevent the dog from using those two coping mechanisms to deal with the stress. The hope is that when the dog experiences that nothing scary happens from the encounter – they will learn that the flight or fight response isn’t necessary and will therefore put them on the path of a more normal behavior for that situation.
Does flooding stress the dog out? Yes.
Does flooding work? It depends if our expectations are reasonable for the individual dog.
Are there better ways to do things? Usually, but sometimes it does have its uses.
Take some human examples:
Can a person get over the fear of jumping in a slightly chilly pool by being pushed in?
Can a person with a snake phobia learn to get over snakes if they are forced to have snakes slither over them with no incident?
It all really depends… and leads to more questions.
Are these fears we are trying to get a dog over genetically based or just due to lack of exposure? This will make a difference.
Also, if a dog is forced to “face his fear” and the feared stimulus actually becomes somewhat pleasant – is it still considered flooding or start spilling over into a different category of “canine behaviorist” jargon.
Think of dogs that are forced to take a bath and then seem to enjoy the attention and massaging of the experience once they stop squirming, or the person who throws there scared retriever into a lake for the first time and then they can’t get him to stop jumping in himself.
There are tons of examples and lots of grey areas, but needless to say there aren’t as many “evil” techniques out in the dog training world as one would think – only those who misuse and don’t understand them.
There are many, many, MANY dogs that die every year because all options are not considered for training before a professional of some sort says there are no more humane options.
Below is a video of Darren. He is a dog that has been recommended for Euthanasia without alternative techniques against the most accepted being considered.
Darren is definitely “flooded” by me in the video. I believed the benefit from the spurt of stress from the exercise outweighed the other options of chasing a scared dog around in the kennel for an unknown amount of time into the future and risk him fear biting, hurting himself, or physically suffering from the prolonged exposure to stress.
Consider this is a dog that has been in a shelter for 8 years and was so fearful that even months of handing him treats through the kennel has failed to get the desired results in the past and he has had at least one fear bite through the kennel when someone attempted to hand him a treat in his kennel.
This is a very fearful and fragile dog that has proven to be very difficult to work with using the most accepted and popular methods.
Me and Earl made our decision as what to do after a long discussion on what we felt would be the best way to move Darren along for his betterment.
If you think the video is a little scary for Darren – consider that there are no legal standards for dog trainers in the United States. Depending on what hands he fell into he could have been exposed to harsh corrections for the behavior, downright abusive beating, or even an appointment for euthanasia from even the most “humane” trainer.
I am hoping to get feedback and discussion on this post – to not only get a feel for popular public opinion but also suggestions and feedback from other trainers and behaviorists no matter what their background may be.
After all we are dog lovers here and our goal is to simply help as much dogs as possible while making our best attempts to always be as humane as possible. I believe Darren has more to teach people than I do.
If you believe in our efforts to reach out to the most disadvantaged dogs please consider a tax deductable donation to Putnam Humane Society located here: PutHumane.org
My opinions do not necessarily reflect theirs, but they have stood by a lot of these disadvantaged dogs and have giving them a comfortable life while awaiting options that served more justice to these poor dogs than death. Thanks for reading! Video below:
February 26, 2010 - 10:36 pm
If you want feedback you should ask Dr. Susan Friedman at BehaviorWorks.org. Susan is a Psychology Professor that could tell you what she thinks of this topic. We would not mind hearing her insights as well.
March 1, 2010 - 4:15 am
Kudos for the awesome work you do with disadvantaged dogs!! Amazing! Thanks you for all you do for these dogs.
March 4, 2010 - 2:44 am
WOW!
That was terrific!! When I first read that the dog was “flooded”, I envisioned something akin to “waterboarding”, and assumed that you were somehow torturing the poor animal into submission. I am SO glad that I watched the technique!!! I can’t believe that the dog is STRESSED by what you were doing!!! The change in him was truly remarkable!!!! My thanks to my cousin, Diana, for hooking me up with the vid. Keep up the GREAT work!
April 13, 2010 - 3:06 pm
wow, is that what you call it, have done that a few times with some of my rescues, yes it is for a special case. You guys are awsome, Im so proud to know you from your site. I recommand you to all my friends and business asst. WONDERFUL, TERRIFIC, GRAND, GREATEST, keep up the terrific work we need you so. !! (:
May 5, 2010 - 9:43 pm
good video. cesar millan does the same and he does not have to wear a bitesuit. I would approve of your method more if you did not have to wear a bite suit.
May 6, 2010 - 11:09 am
Angie, this is the video of Cesar flooding his way (with out a bite suit). Keep in mind that it is highly edited. I couldn’t imagine that anyone would think that the way he is doing it is safer for the trainer or the dog. Also, do you really think the way he did it is less stressfull to the dog or more effective? My posts are not anti-cesar, but I do try to show better and more respectful way to do things that can be used as an example for other professional dog trainers. What you see on his show is mostly just exciting television. Here is Cesar doing what you think is the same thing:
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/dog-whisperer/2494/Videos/03208_09
May 7, 2010 - 10:30 pm
Behaviorist with PhD’s and DVM’s don’t 100% disprove of flooding. It’s just that the way it is presented on TV is the absolute wrong way to do it and not only that, but it’s often done with significant positive punishment and physical negative reinforcement when the dog reacts. People are getting desensitized to dogs looking totally stressed out- this means that when they see a dog behaving this way in the future, they will think erroneously that the dog is “calm”or “submissive” when the dog is just totally shut down which from the central nervous system’s point of view is as far from calm you can get!!!
I can’t believe this dog was in a shelter for 8 years- that’s insane. He should have been fostered by somebody!
I too have had to flood in the past when there just was no way to make a stimulus less intense- I had a foster who was terrified of many things- and though I didn’t push her if I didn’t have to- there were several times where just opening a door to leave a service was terrifying for her (such as leaving the self-wash bathing place)- I didn’t have time to counter condition everything. The important thing was that I didn’t correct her for her reaction- I knew that I was pushing her over threshold- but there just wasn’t a better way. The same goes for my latest adoption. She would immediately shut down outside- wouldn’t take food or anything (and she is totally food motivated- will eat anything at any time). I couldn’t make outside less aversive, I just brought her outside and stood very patiently while she did her displacement sniffing- eventually adding a little bit of negative reinforcment with very slight leash pressure to stop her from sniffing which allowed her to look at me- then I would click that eye contact and point to the ground and say “go sniff”! Now she can walk outside with no fear and I can actually clicker train her to walk nicely.
The issue is that training websites like the APDT have to cater to the average pet owner on their public pages. While a skilled dog trainer or behaviorist might know exactly when to use some flooding and even negative reinforcement- being careful at all times to really read the dog’s body language, a new dog trainer or general dog owner is not going be able to make that distinction. It is best that they not try these methods because the consequences could be dire. I mean you guys had to wear a bite suit in order to flood this dog- I don’t think the average dog owner or dog trainer for that matter is willing to do that! or should do that!
May 8, 2010 - 5:11 am
Thanks Crystal for the great feedback and analysis! I guess your vote is like mine – MISUSED. Problems arise for trainers that use a technique properly and in best judgement when a negative stigma is attached to it by a respected organization.
On a side note I wouldn’t have “flooded” the dog in Cesar’s clip even with the bite suit. Why did Cesar think the dog should submit to an outsider anyway? Darren was only “flooded” because he was in our care and we had a need to be able to handle him.
May 8, 2010 - 5:22 pm
I like how you really let people know that flooding is not the best and needs to be done by professionals. I am not a CM fan (Ceasar) and honestly was a bit concerned when I saw your blog and topic. But I am very impressed, you show it takes time and isn’t a quick fix. The problem with tv is it is edited to make it look like a miracle and it makes people want to try these techniques at home.
Very impression job with that dog. And very impressive explination of flooding.
I agree 100% with Crystal that people are desesitized to seeing stressed dogs. And it is sad. Just because CM is calm and doesn’t act aggressive people think that what he is doing is ok and try to mimic what he does.
I think you are very open in your approach and presentation of this topic and it is very appreciated.
May 24, 2010 - 4:28 am
Great Post!!!!
I too have discovered “flooding” has helped my reactive doxie. I did not do it on purpose by any means. Texas has always been reactive to people at the door, in the car, on leash..etc..etc.. basic if there is something stopping from getting at the strange person or dog, he’s going to react.
I recently acquired a roommate, and have had people coming in and out of the almost none stop for the past few weeks. Amazingly enough Texas went from “attacking” each new visitor to the normal dachshund alert bark. Its tough going from 0-60 every 10 minutes! I, of course, hadn’t said anything on my positive dog training email lists, for fear of being “attacked” myself, but it has helped!!
Very glad to see this post!
August 7, 2010 - 4:37 pm
I have also been bewildered by all of the praise showered on Cesar Millan. I have mixed feelings about ‘flooding,’ but I do admit that at times it proves successful. I have a year and a half old Spanish Mastiff and English Lab mix and she is quite a handful…but when you force her into something she just can’t take she can take matters into her own hands, so to speak. She is very fearful, but it seems to me that her fear only escalates when I force her into something. This being a problem because when I’m out in public a 40 kilo dog is hard to miss when its jumping on top of someone because it’s afraid of patio furniture. In this situation I can’t ‘flood’ her, and I can’t get her to do anything else around the ‘distraction’, whatever that may be. What other options are there?
August 30, 2010 - 5:48 pm
I am impressed with what i see of your training techniques so far,i am truly a rookie
dog owner and wish to train my own dog as much as i can without any outside influence
on my dog,is your program designed with the rookie in mind? or more for the seasoned trainers?
Thanks Jim
October 19, 2010 - 4:34 pm
I think your discretion was right on the money with this one, also understanding though its not good for all dogs. Probably depends on the breed and disposition?
October 19, 2010 - 4:55 pm
Sarah Romano, try excersises one on one with your dog on neutral ground. Meaning if your dog is already filled with anxiety at the time try and get it when its not so hype perhaps after some play and runnign around. Sit on the lawn furniture and toss him a bit of a treat try and lure him over and comfort him the whole time. It may take alot of time to do this with more than one attempt but just try to lure him closer with comfort and a little treat until he gets anxious. If he gets anxious at this point you probably would want to stop as to not reward the dog in an axious mindset. only reward and comfort while he is neutral to reinforce that mindstate that it is ok to come near the lawn furniture. Of course the idea isnt really to get him to accept lawn furniture its just to slowly draw him into being around the lawn furniture and realizing it is not something that can harm him. Do these excersises I would say only a few mins a day, or until the dog gets anxious and aware of whats happening. (lawn furniture is coming closer). When he gets anxious go over and comfot him and aleve him of the situation. give him some praise though because he is taking big steps in his mind to overcome his fear. Its really hard to start a fresh excersize with distractions. so be sure to do this one on one. over time he will associate the treats with the lawn furniture and he may even muster up the courage to face the furniture for a few treats on his own. Be sure to reward and praise when he takes any steps like that on his own towards facing his fears in a positive way. again this excersize concludes the moment the dog gets anxious so that we arent rewarding him for the anxiousness in his head but rather he learns and sees when and why the treats are coming to him (when he is neutral and somewhat curious). If he gets anxious and seems still somewhat curious let him be on his own to explore and think it out without any commands, words, or praise. The excersize may end but the dog may still be anxious and curious. Do not reward his anxiousness but do not stop him from exploring it and trying to do it on his or her own if your dog wishes at that point in time. You will get the best results though in a fresh excersize or any new or not thoroughly practiced one by doing them with the dog having no distrations. I seee this with puppies alot, they know the commands of sit, down and stay but its very hard for them to do it with distractions unless theyre very dilligently worked with. Your dog definitely wants to please its master but also has a conscience of its own that it must satisfy for its own well being. Im no expert and Mike would most likely have a better approach but lets see what he thinks of this one. I could use a lesson as well : )
March 16, 2011 - 10:13 pm
Excellent video and explanation. From my perspective, this dog has been in an emotional prison for 8 years and you opened the door for him – finally. I think there’s a place for almost any kind of intervention when directed by an insightful and well-trained human. Sadly, I find that’s it’s usually a trainer failure or a profound misunderstanding of the technique.
May 22, 2011 - 9:56 am
Hi Mike!
I think you handled darren very well. Flooding is a powerful method and very succesful for both humans and dogs.
I think this is the absolute best way to deal with this type of problem. The dog has to face his fear to overcome it and this method is non violent and very effective.
Keep up the good work!
May 14, 2012 - 3:45 pm
I enjoyed watching your video; your site frequently catches my interest.
There are always going to be dogs who are misunderstood and deemed lost causes but as long as there are trainers willing to go the extra mile for them then there is hope. Some techniques are controversial and would certainly receive backlash and harsh critiques from people who don’t understand the training but those techniques can be life-saving when used properly (i.e. by trained professionals).
Look forward to seeing more from you in the future.
May 24, 2012 - 7:19 pm
The idea of “flooding” comes from something called “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy” in human psychology. It is considered THE most effective method for dealing with anxieties in humans. Can it be used with animals? There’s some room for argument here whether the animal can invoke the cognitive mechanisim that makes this work. The idea is that the human (or animal) is exposed to the stimulus that causes extreme anxiety. There is a biochemical anxiety response. BUT, the animal remains in the presence of the stimulus long enough for the biochemical anxiety response to subside (this is critical). The animal can then more rationally respond and realize that they survived their exposure after all, and it also raises the tolerance threshold. I generally use more traditional techniques to generally desensitize, build trust, but push the animal’s boundaries outside the comfort zone just a bit. THEN, once I feel I have developed some level of relationship and a modicum of trust, I construct a safe but more all-encompassing event that the dog will be exposed to, will survive, and will gain supreme reward for. In my case, it was an extrememly agoraphobic dog (fear of being in public, had lived in a whelping box her entire life, since a puppy). We reached a comfort level first in the home, then I made the dog go outside to potty, but I remained with her, also outfitting her with a tight-fitting wrap (think squeeze box and Temple Grandin). Finally, she had to go out into the real world. So I grabbed her in my arms, with her solidly leashed and tied to my body, and literally carried her from the house, outdoors, and then into our barn. Barn door closed, another of her friend dogs waiting, leftover bbq pork, and she spend an hour with us lounging in the barn. Carried her back to the house. It was a short time (3-4 more trips daily) and she was BEGGING to go out to the barn, waiting to be leashed. So, I think you can see some important elements of the “flooding” experience here. The end-state, once over the anxiety, has to be very rewarding. The event should build confidence (that’s why this works with people — they realize that the thing they fear doesn’t really hurt them after all, and they are freed from the object of their anxiety controlling and limiting what they can do). I add another dog friend so the affected dog can model that dog’s behavior and look to that other dog for guidance and to set an example. Those are my thoughts on the matter. Just exposing the dog to the thing it fears, and it having another horrible experience alone, would be catastrophic. But done right, I think this is a powerful technique. — Carol Tutzauer, President, Buffalo Humane