CESAR MILLAN DIVORCE!
Cesar Millan from hit TV show, The Dog Whisperer on National Geographic, was sued after television producer, Flody Suarez's dog, Gator, was injured while under Millan's veterinary clinic's care. Read more below...
Viewers Want to Know… Is Millan’s
Controversial Training Method Cruel?
Loading ...Here’s what we know…
- Suarez claims there was $25,000 in vet bills for Gator.
- Millan claims Suarez’s personal dog trainer was with Gator at the center, the entire time.
- Millan says, that as a favor to the trainer, the Dog Psychology facilities were used for free.
- Suarez and Millan reached a settlement on March 29, 2007.
- Terms of their agreement were not disclosed.
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- Cesar Millan
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- Flody Suarez
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- Cesar Playing with Daddy
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- Cesar Rollerblading
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- Cesar Playing Catch
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- Cesar Feeding Dogs
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- Cesar Introduces Dogs
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- Cesar Running with Pack
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- Cesar in the Library
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- Cesar Playing with Dogs
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- Cesar in Dog Staredown
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- Cesar on the Red Carpet
Here’s what happened…
Cesar Millan, from National Geographic’s Dog Whisperer, was sued by Flody Suarez, producer of Book of Daniel and 8 Simple Rules. According to the lawsuit, Suarez claims his Labrador-retriever, Gator, was injured after having been left at Millan’s dog training facility, Dog Psychology Center on February 27, 2006.
Suarez stated that several hours after dropping Gator off at the facility, he received a phone call from a worker who said the dog had been taken to a veterinarian. Suarez arrived at the veterinary clinic to find that his dog was wearing an oxygen tent while gasping for air, after having been bleeding from his mouth and nose. The cause of his injury, according to Suarez, is from being forced to run on a treadmill, exhausted, while attached with a choke chain collar.
Cesar Millan
Flody Suarez
Fan’s of the show have seen images of dogs running on treadmills, being jerked back in an aggressive fashion while on walks, and other training methods imposed by and preached by Millan. Critics of Millan claim that his methods are impractical and teach fear rather than corrected behavior.
“Millan’s methods are based on flooding and punishment,” said Dr. Nicholas Dodman, Professor and Head, Section of Animal Behavior, Director of Behavior Clinic, Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.
“My concerns are based on his inappropriateness, inaccurate statements, and complete fabrications of explanations for dog behavior,” said Dr. Suzanne Hetts, Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist and Co-owner of Animal Behavior Associates, Inc., Littleton, CO. “His ideas, especially those about “dominance”, are completely disconnected from the sciences of ethology and animal learning, which are our best hope for understanding and training our dogs and meeting their behavioral needs.”
Jean Donaldson, The San Francisco SPCA Director of the Academy for Dog Trainers, remarked, “practices such as physically confronting aggressive dogs and using of choke collars for fearful dogs are outrageous by even the most diluted dog training standards.” Donaldson continued to say, “A profession that has been making steady gains in its professionalism, technical sophistication and humane standards has been greatly set back.”
Related Information
Hulu.com – Dog Whisperer
Cesar & Ilusion Millan Foundation
Cesar Millan Biography
Cesar Millan Dog Whisperer on YouTube.com
‘Dog Whisperer’ Cesar Millan and His Pit Bull, Daddy
I guess this case must have settled out of court. I can’t believe that Cesar would allow a dog to be worked half to death on a treadmill while wearing a choke collar. That just doesn’t make sense. It must have been an employee who wasn’t paying attention. That person should be the one sued!
From what I remember the case was settled out of court for around $25,000. And you are right, Mikka, Cesar was not present when Suarez’s dog was injured, it was an incompetent employee of Cesar’s Dog Psychology Center.
Hey.. Great pics! While I know there is a lot of controversey over Cesar’s training methods, I do enjoy the show.
There is nothing wrong with the way Cesar trains and rehabilitates dogs. If these owners had already watched the show and though these methods were cruel, they shouldn’t have asked for his help. Shame on you two for dragging this poor man through the dirt, he was only trying to help you acheive your goals!!!!
Actually, in the matter of the Flody Suarez lawsuit, it’s my understanding that Cesar only allowed the USE of the rehabilitation center. Suarez sent his dog to the Center with his OWN personal dog trainer. The trainer that Suarez hired was the one who put and kept the dog on the treadmill. NO ONE employed at the Center had anything to do with the treatment of Suarez’s Gator.
“Also in 2006, Floyd Suarez sued Millan, claiming that his dog had been injured while on a treadmill at the Dog Psychology Center, with Suarez’s personal dog trainer present and Millan absent at the time. Suarez later settled out of court.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesar_Millan#Legal
“On May 5, 2006, Flody Suarez, a television producer for the TV series 8 Simple Rules, filed a lawsuit against Millan, claiming that his Labrador retriever had been seriously injured while at Millan’s training facility during an exercise routine on a treadmill. National Geographic Channel released a statement that Millan was not present at the facility at the time of the alleged incident. Millan has also claimed that Suarez’s personal dog trainer was with the dog, Gator, while it was at the Dog Psychology Center and that he did not charge Suarez or Suarez’ dog trainer for use of the Dog Psychology Center facilities. Millan had allowed Suarez’ trainer to bring Gator to the center as a favor. A hearing to discuss the suit was cancelled, since a settlement (the terms of which were not made public) was reached on March 29, 2007.” http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_was_Caesar_Milan_sued
In my opinion, there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with the way Cesar trains / rehabilitates troubled dogs. I’ve read alot about how people feel that his ways are inhumane or cruel and I have to just add my 2 cents.
I’ve personally trained numerous large dog breeds in my short life and only wish that I had the tools I have now (Thanks to Cesar and others). There IS a right way and wrong way, but if you’re dealing with an otherwise uncontrollable dog…maybe even a dangerous dog…what would others want you to try?
Affection is a huge part of earning your dogs trust, but in the dog world, everything is about the pack. How others can say otherwise is beyond me. If you are not the pack leader, then you are a follower. Plain and simple. If you don’t step up and take control, then your dog will. I’ve seen it first hand in my first dog, a large male german shepperd. I was only 12 when I first started training. I knew nothing about training, except affection and reward. It was only later that I realized that I had been very fortunate. I was not in control of Smokey, Smokey controlled me. Even though he was very well behaved, he was very hard to control around other small animals. Thankfully, no one was ever hurt. But looking back, I can see all the mistakes that I continued to make, even with my second (Labrador), third (German Shepperd), and forth dogs (Pit / Rottie mix).
At the moment I have a very unruly JRT. Some of Cesar’s methods work and some do not. Every owner needs to make sure to learn the right way to train and love their dog. Cesar is just sharing his tools and knowledge with the world. I do not feel that he should be criticised for that. Most of us do not have an aggressive or troubled dog, therefore not all that you see on the show will benefit you and your dog. It is up to the owner to find the happy medium!
I agree with Mikka, there was probrably an employee who wasn’t paying attention therefore he should be sue. But think of it this how do the owner know, it said in the article that he said that his dog was running with a choke chain collar. I think the suer had this up or modified the story because dumb ass didn’t think through how could a collar make his nose and mouth bleed. The worst would probrably be that he’d stop, maybe fall he’d start yelping and a supervisor would have helped. Cesar doesn’t deserve getting sue. Shit head who likes to make up stories should get his crap together, think about what could happen at Cesars rehab place like two dogs begin playing and it gets alittle out of hand, and stop ficking up other peoples lives. Escpally gods like Cesar. Like jesus. So the man so god damn respect. God I mean the suer probrably masturbates for money ( yanking for $35, $50 extra for some juice (you know what I mean)) LOL XD
Cesar KICKS FUCKIN ASS MAN!!!!!!!!!
I can’t believe the way the world is this day and age that someone would apparently try and sue an individual for a $5 million dollar law suit because of another trying to help them out. It’s just a easy way to get a buck in my opinion. Drag someone through the mud who you can tell only wants to help. Anyone with eyes can see that he enjoys his work and truly cares for those dogs. Why is it that Cesar would be to blame for someone else’s negligance? Yes, the individual may work for him but he should not have to watch and monitor his employees every hour of every day. If any person is over the age of 18 they should be responsible for their own acts. Seems to me that when someone starts to make a name or advance in life they become a target for those who are jealous and envious of them. Leave the man alone, he is one of the good guys!
There will always be whack job academics out there such as Dr. Nicholas Dodman and Dr. Suzanne Hetts who seek to criticize anyone who doesn’t have their academic “credentials.” Just because someone has a “Dr.” before their name doesn’t mean they are more intelligent, often times it just means they are more arrogant. Notably, Dodman has ties to PETA propaganda, the same group who literally believes it is inhumane to kill a fly and believes it is wrong to have pets. It wouldn’t be a hard stretch to conclude that someone with PETA’s mindset would be against any dog training that didn’t revolve around the animal using anything but “their own free will” to determine how the training should go. Hetts is clearly jealous of Millan and even goes so far as to say that the only reason dogs respond to his training is because he has “presence” that other people don’t have, and can’t replicate at home. Translation, unless you have a prestigious “PhD, CAAB” after your name, don’t even try and train dogs because you are not “qualified” to understand their behavior. What arrogance.
Sounds like this jerk Flody justs wants money. If it was his dig trainer that put the dog on the treadmill and made him run for such a long period of time. His trainer and himself should be charged with cruelty to animals. Cesar sshould send him a bill for the use of the Center and the treadmill. If this jerk would watch the show he would see that when Cesar does put a dog on the treadmill it is not for very long. As far as the quack doctor goes if he is part of Peta. That in itself is a problem. You both need to get a life.
cesar millan is a celebrity and reputedly achieves change in his patients. well, if the other methods were as good and fast, all the nay sayers could very well have their own show where they could expose millan’s work.
if i see evidence of better methods i will believe what those other experts, say, but if not, i’ll just assume these people are jealous.
the dog whisper is the best trainer out there you doctor who are in the behaviorist busines does not know how to train dog i have training dogs for years i still use the old methods of training i get lot of better result from the choker collar and pinch collar from training dogs.
just how you use it and proper corrections how you use…
Cesar is awesome. I am a diehard fan and have used his methods on my own dogs. My dogs are awesome. They are well-mannered polite and really have zero issues. I have never hit my dog and I really never even have to raise my voice, nothing about his teachings has to do with abuse. He is good at what he does and that is why he has become a household name. I’m sorry that a dog was injured, I would never want to see my own dogs hurt but I think that there is more to this story. If Cesar was a careless animal abuser he would not have reached the success he has today. He is successful because he understands dogs and wants to help them.
Hey Cesar, people are attacking you for two reasons: 1) they’re jealous “delicate geniuses”. They went to vet school but didn’t get anything out of it because they didn’t have a philosophical mind…and now they can’t stand that a “mexican” (I put that in quotes because that’s how they feel) is being recognized (rightly) by the majority of a nation to be the leading dog psychologist in the country; and 2) just blind hatred. There’s a good chunk of “good christians” (that time the quotes are for me) who can’t stand that someone who came over “illegally” (that one was for dennis kucinich and myself) is getting famous for his talent. They can’t deny the fame. So they attack the talent. It’s so easy to see…they’re delicate genius christian buttholes.
Have a nice day, the nation loves you.
PS I would like to know if you’re a Christian or a Buddhist. I hope you’re a Buddhist. Christians have an up/down black/white mentality and I hope that you don’t associate with them.
Mr. Millan,
What is your religion?
Thanks