Leader of the Pack
By Chuck Colson
8/13/2007

The Dog Whisperer

Every week, millions of Americans seek advice on how to deal with a troubled loved one. The man they turn to for help doesn’t hesitate to blame them for much of their loved one’s problems. He tells them that they have been lax in their discipline and haven’t spent enough time with the miscreant.

Not only do people accept the criticism, they come back for more: They buy books, attend workshops and fit their loved one with the “Illusion” collar.

Did you think I was talking about my friend James Dobson? I’m talking about Cesar Millan, the “Dog Whisperer.”

On his National Geographic show, Millan helps dogs with, to put it mildly, behavioral problems. One memorable bulldog, when he wasn’t chewing everything, including the limbs and fingers of guests, tried to keep his owner from using his own golf cart. Nearly every dog on the show is just an incident away from that proverbial drive to “a farm in the country.”

Yet, by the end of the show, the dogs are model citizens. While the owners often describe the results as “miraculous,” for Millan, it’s a matter of remembering who the “pack leader” is. the rest