Cesar Takes Sahzi through the Scary Hallways

Cesar, Junior, and Mr. President help Sahzi Relax

While filming our Dog Whisperer episode on January 13, 2011, the second phobia of Sahzi's Cesar tackled was her fear of certain hallways.   You can see a brief shot of her circling in our hallway at 28 seconds in this preview video.

Sahzi refuses to go in certain rooms and has to scurry through certain hallways when she does get up the nerve.  Cesar told us that Sahzi is insecure about everything which is different from being fearful.   If we can get her feeling safe and comfortable in her own house, she may get over her fears of her water dish and eating her food in tight quarters.

First Cesar had to get her on a leash.  He uses a lightweight nylon leash similar to a show lead which is just a ribbon of nylon with a metal loop on one end.  You pass the leash through the loop and have a ring for the dog that can tighten or loosen like a choke chain.

He made a large loop and tried to slide it over Sahzi’s head… for about two minutes.  One of our chairs swivels and Sahzi kept going around it.  Every time Cesar thought he had her cornered, she nudgef the chair and slid through.  She looks much larger than she is because of her thick coat.  Mike and I both found this very entertaining to watch, and I hope it makes it to broadcast.  Cesar never said anything during this process, and finally he had her on the leash.  

Then he asked his crew to bring his pit bull Junior inside.  Junior took over as his doggie sidekick when Daddy the red pit bull passed away last summer.  Junior is solid gray with white socks and very muscular; he has a very sweet disposition.  First he let them meet.  Sahzi was very curious, but did not do her standard nip with Junior.  That confirmed Cesar’s diagnosis that Sahzi was just insecure not fearful.   After a brief sniffing exchange Junior was looped with the other end of the leash and the two were tied together with about one to two feet of leash between them. 

Hurdle number one for Sahzi was the space between our dining room table and the kitchen counter which leads to the front hallway and living room.  She is fine in all of this area except a small section right where the kitchen counter begins.  To go through this section of the house, she will usually circle several times, always clockwise, then scoot through.  A few steps later, she’ll be normal.

Cesar walks through the hallway and told Junior to bring Sahzi through.   Junior led the way.  Sahzi started to follow him, then sat and pulled back.  Junior stopped.  Cesar urged him again to no avail.  Cesar said, “Junior, you’re a pit bull.”  He later confided to me that Daddy wouldn’t have been stopped by Sahzi – I think he misses the big red dog.

Cesar went to the dogs and, only touching Junior, led them through.  He told us that he wanted Sahzi to learn from Junior, another dog, that there was nothing to fear in the hallway.  They repeated walking back and forth several times until Sahzi would follow Junior with no problem.

Then Cesar took the leash from Junior and his crew returned Junior to the RV out front.  Then Cesar walked Sahzi through the hallway over and over.  Whenever she started to quicken her pace, he purposely slowed it down. 

He then gave me the leash and told me to do it.  I had to hold the leash very gently straight over her head.  Cesar explained that to Sahzi, our house was an obstacle course.  She saw fence number one in this spot, even though none of the rest of us saw it.

Once she was comfortable going over “fence number one” with the leash, I released the leash and had her follow me back and forth with the leash dragging behind us.  Then we were ready for “fence number two:”  the hallway to the bedroom.  Sahzi used to go through this hallway with lots of circling and urging, but now she’ll only go through it on a leash.  This is how I get her to the bedroom to sleep for the night.  She will exit the hallway with only minor hesitation but never enter it.

Cesar, one camera man, Mike and I all accompanied Sahzi through the hallway and into the bedroom.  Whenever she tried to speed up or switch from the left to the right, Cesar stopped or slowed down and stayed in control.  Then it was my turn.  Repetition was definitely the key.  I also had to hold the leash just over her head.  If I tried to pull from behind, Cesar said that just made her mind resist more.  Eventually, she was going through the hallway with the leash and when I dropped the leash.

“Fence number three” was our back bedroom.  When Sahzi first came to live with us, she saw my two older cats in this room, so to her it was the “cat room” and dogs weren’t allowed.  Cesar called it the “cat room” all day.  We led her into the room, out of the room, into our bedroom, down the hallway, up the hallway, always changing it up and slowing down if she wanted to rush.  He also taught me to use my legs to block her if she got nervous and tried to go in any direction that I didn’t want her to go.  She has certain sides of the hallway that are less scary at certain points, so she would often try to dart between me and the right or left wall.  Eventually, she was able to do walk steadily where we wanted her to with the leash dragging behind her.  She had never been in the “cat room” without a leash so that was a huge triumph for the day.  (When you have a dog as obsessive as Sahzi, you really savor the little victories.)

All day, Cesar kept encouraging us to “love her up” whenever she completed a task up to par.  At the very end, he walked her to the piano and sat down.  She was nervous but willing to stay with him.  At this point, he told us to never give her affection when she is nervous, but to give her back a slow massage to help her relax.  If she relaxed, then she could have affection which to Sahzi is the highest praise.

Cesar Helps our Dog Sahzi with her Fear of the Piano

Sahzi doesn't even notice the piano when no one is near it.

Sahzi didn’t used to mind the piano.  Grant used to play, Lisa used to play.  One of their friends was an amazing ragtime player.  She was never upset by the piano.  Then in November, I began to play to prepare for leading the caroling team at church.  Now, if I or anyone, including the cat Spatz, goes towards the piano, Sahzi runs outside to escape.

The first part of Sahzi's "rehabilitation" during the filming our Dog Whisperer episode on January 13, 2011, involved the piano. Cesar asked if Sahzi was motivated by food or play.  Sahzi doesn’t really care about food.  Raw meat slightly motivates her, but not enough to go into the kitchen.  So, it’s play.  Cesar noticed that Sahzi reacted much more to me than to Mike, so he told me to get a ball, show it to her, and try to get her excited.  This was very difficult with all the cameras, lights, and sound men around the house.  The director Su Ann and one cameraman, Chris, were up the stairs trying to be inconspicuous.  (During the filming throughout the day, Su Ann gave quiet suggestions like telling Cesar to pull down his shirt in back because it’s riding up.)

Cesar explained the process.  We were going to teach Sahzi to associate happiness and play time with he piano.  She would only get the ball when someone played the piano and she either stayed or came back inside.   

I showed Sahzi the ball and walked behind the couch toward the piano trying to hold her attention.  As soon as I opened the piano, she ran outside through the pet door.  We waited for her to return.  She looked at us all through the patio door for awhile.  I asked Cesar if I could encourage her to come in.  He had me call her, but she did not get the ball.  He wanted her to come in on her own rather than only doing it in response to a command.

Then Cesar parodied, in his humorous way, how intense I was being.  I was showing her the ball and watching her every movement with very serious eyes.  I wasn’t assuming she would do it.  It was Cesar’s comedic way to emphasize what not to do.  He demonstrated that I should show her the ball, then turn, and calmly walk to the piano.

She went out, came in, and got the ball thrown to her, but she didn’t really catch it, since she was so uncertain.  Cesar continued the exercise at least a dozen times, until Sahzi was catching the ball and not even going outside each time the piano is played.

He stressed that we should do this every day, and keep the timing very random.  Sometimes, we should wait one second, sometimes three, sometimes play a few keys again, and sometimes sit down.

Obsessive dogs will start to demand to play ball every time the piano is touched or even try to play the piano themselves to get the ball reward.  And Sahzi can be obsessive.

Cesar Rehabilitaties Sahzi, the Beginning

My Beautiful, Quirky Belgian Tervuren named Sahzi

On January 13, 2011, Cesar Millan and the Dog Whisperer crew came to our house in Huntington Beach, California, to film an episode segment.  This blog shares details about our TV adventure.

Cesar is even nicer and more knowledgeable in person.  It was so hard to listen to all his wisdom while your house is filled with eight crew members, cameras, lights, microphones, etc.  I kept finding my mind drifting to thoughts like, “Cesar Milan is here in my house.”  Then I would have to refocus my thoughts and listen to what he was saying.   This was much worse outside when the cameramen are walking backwards in front of you and people are staring and noticing that Cesar Millan is walking your dog.

When the crew arrived at 8:30, they filmed Sahzi doing her silly behaviors, such as being afraid of hallways, her water dish, and the piano.  She obliged like a true starlet, although she was not afraid of the stairs today.

They interviewed me in the kitchen and asked me lots of questions about my dog-owner background and Sahzi.  Mike had to stay secluded upstairs while they did this so he wouldn’t hear my answers.

They interviewed Mike in his man-cave (formerly known as the living room), asking similar but different questions.  I also had to go upstairs so I wouldn’t hear.

Then after rearranging some furniture, Cesar arrived and asked, “How may I help you today?”  We talked for about 30 minutes while they filmed.

They all went to lunch and gave us and Sahzi an hour or so break.  It’s about 12:30 and we started at 8:30.

At about 1:30, we welcome Cesar to our home, again, and he starts working with Sahzi.  First he asks if she is play or food motivated.  Since she could care less about eating, I say play.  Using a tennis ball, Cesar shows me how to divert and reward her while I play the piano.  He mocks, in a friendly and funny way, what I’m doing wrong until I do it correctly.

Then we start walking Sahzi through the scary hallways of the house.  Cesar brings his pit bull Junior inside to help.  Junior and Sahzi are tied together with a leash.  Sahzi stops and Junior can’t tug her through the hallway.  Cesar works with Junior until he can lead Sahzi through.  Then she graduates to human leadership and finally to my leadership.

We then move to scary hallway #2, the “cat room” (formerly known as my mom’s room, the music room, or the back bedroom), and the kitchen.  This probably takes us more than an hour, but Sahzi is doing marvelously.

Because Sahzi is so timid and insecure, he never once shushes her with that normal sound he makes.  When she shows little success, we are taught to reward her lavishly with affection.  I mention how different this is that what I see him do normally on TV.  He mentions that this is why people shouldn’t try complicated training at home because they don’t always know what works for some dogs.

During a short break for the crew, Cesar sits with us and jokes with us.  He’s really funny.   An example, I mention some of the training materials a dog trainer used this summer like Feta Cheese and Whipped Cream.  Cesar laughs and then starts envisioning broadening his dog supply product empire with Cesar Millan Feta Cheese and Cesar Millan Whipped Cream.

When the crew is rested, we take a few more in-close shots:  me playing piano chords, Sahzi and Spatz hanging out together, wiggling my fingers in the one water dish she will drink from.

Then we go for a walk in the park, just me, Mike, Sahzi, Cesar, the director, two camera men, one sound man with a boom mic, and one or two others.  Everyone stares and gapes as they recognize Cesar.

We walk by the dog park to try to get some dogs to “fence fight” but only a few of the small dogs oblige which we all agree is typical.

When we return to the house, Cesar mentions that he wants us to work daily with Sahzi on decreasing her fears around the house with the hallways and the piano.  Once she is less fearful in her own home, she will be ready to come to his Dog Psychology Center in Saugus, California (near Magic Mountain in Santa Clarita).  Once she is more confident, he will teach her dog social skills for one or two weeks at the center.

Then Mike and I return to the Cone of Silence while they debrief Cesar on camera.  Then Cesar signs copies of his book which I purchased for me and Grant, Chad, and Lisa.  His crew takes some pictures.  Sahzi is too exhausted to participate in that activity.

After Cesar leaves, they debrief Mike and I together with a new angle in the house and more rearranged furniture.  They collect their equipment and leave.  We flop on the couch, exhausted, with Sahzi.

Details to follow.