When you ask Fido to sit, he jumps. Turn away for a minute and you’ll find him chewing your shoes like he hasn’t eaten in a week. When you come home, he greets you with a trail of poop and pee on your favourite carpet. Now, whose fault is it? Why, yes, you only have yourself to blame.

That's what we learnt when we caught up with Cesar Millan earlier this year when the 49-year-old celeb dog trainer was in town for the filming of Cesar’s Recruit: Asia Season 3, which is slated to air on Subaru Asia’s YouTube channel at the end of June. In the reality series, eight contestants from the likes of Singapore, Hongkong and Taiwan will be mentored by Cesar, and duke it out in challenges to prove themselves the most worthy dog behavioural expert that the man himself would approve of.

Back to your woes with Fido. Every obsessive pawrent will tell you — or shove it in your face on their socials — about how much joy their pooch brings to their lives. But seldom do #petstagrams or Internet doggo memes paint a real picture of what it's like to have a canine family member in your home. Fret not. We've got some pawrenting tips from the Dog Whisperer himself.

You’ve seen it in movies all the time: Human has had a long day at work and all he wants to do is to chillax by the fireplace with Spot for the rest of the evening. Ah, bliss. But what no Hollywood montage will tell you is that dogs need to be stimulated mentally and tired out physically — yes, just like children. You don’t expect to cage your toddlers up at home all day and only come home to angelic kids, would you?

“People need to remember that by nature, a dog has to work for food and water, go outside and then come back to his home. But now what happens is that the humans go out to work, the dog is alone or indoors for [many hours], and he’s going to suffer the consequences of being cooped up inside. Dogs used to walk away [from their home, do whatever they needed to do] and come back tired. But now, dogs have to wait for the humans to come home, and hope that the human has energy to take him for a long walk. Anyone who doesn’t understand this simple fulfillment formula is going to have problems with their dog,” Cesar reveals.

Remember the last time you dated someone and tried to change them to become your dream guy or girl, from the way they dress, eat, or even talk? Now, think about how that relationship imploded so spectacularly. Similarly, try to change Fido too much and you’ll only trigger behavioural problems.

“One big mistake dog owners make is to think they’re training [and changing the behaviour of] the dog, [but really, it’s about] training themselves,” Cesar explains. “A dog’s mother never had to go to school to learn to train her child — she naturally knows how to do it. But then a human comes along and says, ‘I wanna have that puppy but I need him to be trained [a certain way].’ But why does the dog have to be trained? Humans are the ones who have to be trained! It’s like driving a car — the car has been made and programmed, but you have to learn to drive it. The dog already knows what to do — how to follow, play and explore. You just have to know how they function and how to trigger that.”

Pawrents, have you ever been on the other end of a leash with a rambunctious doggo who’s eager to lunge at every stranger to say hello or sniff every bush he passes? Save yourself from a dislocated shoulder and learn to walk the dog properly, the most important skill for dog owners to pick up, Cesar reveals. “You and the dog have to walk next to each other. Most people let the dog walk in front, and most of the time, the dog is in front and all over the place, and the human is at the back. No, it’s not that the dog wants to be in front. He’s doing whatever you let him. It’s like kids — if they wanna run, and you let them run, they are going to run. You got to say no. Once the dog follows the human, then you can let him go in front for 10 minutes, and once that’s done, you call him back and he follows you again. Animals like dogs and elephants, you always see the mother in the front and the babies following at the back. So they know [innately] that they should follow.”

“When I say that the dog has problems, I’m not saying that the dog is trying to give you problems. The dog is just expressing that in his life, his needs are not met. Dogs are not looking for a luxurious life. He can live with the wealthiest person in Singapore, but if that person only gives him 15 minutes of a walk or no walk at all, then the dog can only express himself in the way that nobody wants, which is when the dog doesn’t behave. Money, fame and power don’t mean anything to dogs. Dogs can live with homeless people, poor people, handicapped people. It doesn’t matter to them. A dog is the epitome of unconditional love. And for them, it’s just really about living a simple, natural and profound life.”

Is your helper the one who mostly cares for, feeds and walks your dog? That’s alright, as long as you accept the consequences. “The dog doesn’t care who walks him. But he is gonna bond with whoever walks, feeds, or plays with him. [So if your dog seems to prefer the helper over you], you just have to try and be part of his life more often,” says Cesar.

Dogs wearing clothes: yay or nay? Does Crunch really appreciate getting dressed up as a sailor? Perhaps Lulu is embarrassed when you make her go to the dog café in a tutu costume. As it turns out, our paw pals are more than happy to play dress up… for one heartwarming reason.

“Once the dog knows that [by allowing you to put clothes on him] it makes you happy, then it identifies that with making the human happy. If you’re happy, then it’s all good [for the dog]. Not happy? Not good. It’s as simple as that,” says Cesar. “In that respect, it’s the same thing when you put a leash on a dog. A leash is essentially the first object that we dressed a dog with, as it’s a foreign object on his body. By nature, the dog doesn’t know that he has to wear a leash. But if [him wearing the leash] gets the human excited and they identify that object with excitement and going out, then they’re more than happy to put it on.”

There is, however, an exception. He cautions: “The only time that wearing clothes would affect a dog is when he is unsure when you put it in. So if your dog is happy-go-lucky and you putting clothes on him makes him happier, then put the clothes on him.”

The camera always eats first, even when it comes to dog’s meals. And for every mouth-watering pic of a dog bowl heaving with cooked food or kibble on Instagram, you’ve seen some pix of dogs waiting to devour chunks of raw chicken, duck, or even whole quails. Wait, what?

Raw feeding for dogs is a trend that has recently gained traction among pet owners. “It’s funny that raw feeding for dogs now known as a trend, because it should be the norm,” he quips. “It’s like eating sushi. Is that a trend? No, it’s normal, and it’s healthy. Feeding cooked food and dry food to dogs happened because dry food needed to have a longer shelf life, and for that to happen, preservatives have to be added. But feeding your dog raw food is about going back to basics. It’s like humans eating organic food or going vegetarian. I’m from Mexico and I grew up in a low income family. By the very fact that I was poor, I was vegetarian [because we couldn’t afford better food]. Now, being vegetarian is a fashionable thing. So [raw feeding] may be known as a trend now, but I see it as going back to basics. Would you benefit with more pure food? Yes. Would you benefit from food without antibiotics and all that? Yes, of course you do.”

Cesar’s Recruit: Asia Season 3 is slated to air end June on Subaru Asia’s YouTube Channel.
Photos: Subaru Asia, @cesarsway/Instagram, Jasmine Teo