Breaking Up A Dog Fight: Cesar Millan Reveals His Thought Process

The recent fifth season of National Geographic's "Cesar Millan: Better Human Better Dog" marked 20 years of the famed trainer sharing his expertise with those needing help with their dogs' behavior on television. Millan has become one of the most sought-after behavioral specialists and trainers, having worked with athletes, high-earning celebrity pets, world leaders, and entrepreneurs. As such, Cuteness spoke exclusively with Millan to ask him about his thought process when breaking up a dog fight. First and foremost, Millan expressed the importance of calmness, telling us, "Number one, no sound, right? So it's very quiet. My energy is very quiet. Then I'm very calm, and then I'm looking at which dog is about to readjust."       

After reading the dog's body language and gauging whether he can pull the reactive dog out of the fight, he emphasizes speed, stating, "I touch really fast like a viper, right? And so that touch is like a cat. ... when a cat does that to the dog, what it does is snaps the brain out of it. They're not expecting that speed." He adds that "it's almost like I'm doing acupuncture to remove that intention that the animal is having at that time." Millan compares the movement to "Tai Chi' or "airbending" in the vein of "Avatar: The Last Airbender," reading the dog's energy to find when best to approach. This speed has undoubtedly been on show throughout his TV career, but the follow-up after breaking up the fight is just as crucial.

What you do after a dog fight is just as essential in curbing the behavior. Cesar Millan explains his next step after separating the dogs, exclusively telling Cuteness, "When it's done, I'm calm, and then I make sure that both of them finish, calm surrender. It's almost like the equivalent [of] when people apologize to each other." Millan further explains how crucial this step is, saying, "What happens a lot of times is people detach the dog from each other and then they put them away." When immediately put away, the dogs never have a chance to come to peace with each other. "So every time they see each other back, they fight," he adds.

Millan often places dogs in a submissive position by laying them on their side and holding them down during these types of altercations. For Millan, it's important to treat a dog as a dog, not as a person, during this time. "I understand it's hard for people to do it because people become so emotional. That's the wrong time to be emotional," he explains. He goes on to add, "I love what I do, but I also know when my emotions are good and when my emotions are not needed."

Millan's continued commitment to dog safety led him to co-found Halo Collar, the first and only dual-frequency GPS dog fence that allows owners to create a barrier to keep them safe, including from getting in fights with other dogs. The new Halo Collar 4 was tailored with Millan's decades of insight and comes with a 21-day learning program. Ultimately, not everyone will be able to react quickly like Millan when a dog fight breaks out, but safety precautions like training aids may help stop interactions between dogs from escalating in the first place.