Dog Whispering: Origins Of A Phrase And A Philosophy

What Is Dog Whispering?

Dog whispering is more than a matter of talking nicely to your dog.

It's about understanding your dog by reading and interpreting its body language. In turn, you communicate your response to your dog through your body language and actions. From an outside perspective, the calm yet firm way of the whisperer gives the impression that he or she has a bond with the animal that is more natural, or even mystical.

That Movie

The phrase itself is a borrowing from "horse whisperer," which became popular after Nicholas Evans' 1995 novel of the same name was made into a Hollywood movie starring Robert Redford in 1998. The story centers on a real life horse trainer, Irishman Daniel Sullivan. In the early 1800s, Sullivan gained notoriety all over England with his uncanny ability to train and rehabilitate problem horses. He kept his techniques mostly secret and passed them down to his prodigy Willis J. Powell, who took the knowledge overseas to the Americas. There it was passed down again and again in the same way until this secretive method was ultimately revealed more openly.

The idea of "whispering" as a form of training and especially rehabilitating problem horses began to be applied in a wider sense, not only to cattle and livestock, but also to domesticated pets, especially dogs. Dog whispering, like horse whispering, places a heavy investment in understanding the dog by studying their behavior, and responding to them with calm and firm guidance in turn.

That Guy

The best known dog whisperer today is Cesar Millan, who gained fame with his television series, The Dog Whisperer, on the National Geographic Channel. Originally from Mexico, Millan came to the United States in the 1990s. Knowing he had a proven ability to communicate with dogs in a healthy, productive, and humane way, he set out to help dog owners do the same.

Millan's techniques emphasize the importance of establishing yourself as a confident and dependable leader, and his philosophy revolves around the principles of "exercise, discipline and affection."

Nothing Too New

Even though Millan popularized the "Dog Whisperer" tag, and "dog whispering" has become a very hot topic in dog obedience training, the method and techniques it refers to are not necessarily new, nor are they unique to Cesar Millan. Though it should be said that Millan is a genuinely intuitive and caring dog trainer (or "rehabilitator," as he calls himself), and he offers a great deal to troubled dogs ?and troubled trainers.

Dog whispering as a dog training philosophy has been around for as long as there have been owners and trainers who deeply understand and respect these animals on their terms and "in their language." It simply occurred under different names.

Either way, those who embrace this philosophy all have one thing in common: they treat dogs neither as humans on four legs or as personal servants at our command, but as dogs.