Extended review:

Cesar Millan's 'A member of the family'.

See also:
Extended review: Karen Pryor
Extended review: John Fisher
Extended review: Adam Miklosi
Extended review: Vilmos Csanyi
Cesar Millani's Cesars Way

A Member of the Family
Cesar Millan
Hodder & Stoughton (5 Feb 2009) 
ISBN-10: 0340978619
ISBN-13: 978-0340978610

Cesar Millan has erupted into the world of American dog gurus, and his popularity shows a need for an easy to understand and practical set of guidelines for dealing with more challenging dogs. He is also very man-friendly, with his message of the need to give leadership to dogs, and his fondness for 'powerful breeds'. Critics sneered at his philosophy, but many ordinary folk lapped it up. They could understand him, and often his advice helped, while advice from others failed. In part his popularity owes much to the cul-de-sac that American official orthodoxy had wandered into. British trainers are relatively pragmatic, tending to go for what works more than what fits nicely into fashionable theories, and use they insights from ethology as much as behaviourism. They also have a much easier job, Owners are much more likely to choose a pup from a small, dedicated breeder who has already started the pup's training. Too many dogs end up in shelters in the UK, but the problem is not as acute as it is in the US. Anyone choosing a UK shelter dog can select one that fits their needs, without being plagued by the thought that 'if I don't take home this troubled guy, he may not be alive in a week'. And dogs in the UK are more likely to be walked every day, which means they learn to sit at the kerb, meet other dogs and humans and develop good manners, and are more relaxed and better trained as a result of walks, which after all are a form of training.

Dogs are big business in the US, not just from the 'commercial production' of pedigree pups, or puppy farms. Trainers can charge high fees, the veterinary pharmaceutical industry carries more clout, and dogs may often be prescribed tranquilisers when a daily walk would do them more good. Many American trainers preach a mix of veterinary jargon and a distorted form of behaviourism, a set of ideas gleaned from academic psychology. They debate the methods of different tranquilisers, and whether certain training methods were acceptable or might be deemed 'punishment'. or 'confrontational' so should be avoided, and in behavioural terms, saying 'chsst' to a dog about to chew your shoes could be deemed both. Cesar's message that dogs need leadership and walks has been a healthy injection of reality. Rather than debating the finer points of training certain skills, he sat down and thought about why Californian dogs had so many 'issues' compared to those he had known as a child in rural Mexico. To his credit, he came up with an answer that took in more of the whole dog, often confined and alone all day, never taken for walks. And he is quite right, in that no amount of obedience training can offset the effects of that sort of lifestyle.

However ... the TV programmes and Cesar's Way portrayed a macho showman, sometimes 'alpha rolling' powerful dogs. To casual watchers, his TV programmes could give the message that  all you had to do was strut and correct your dog now and again, and that was that. Worse still, not everyone grasps his fine distinction between correction and punishment, between telling a dog 'don't do that' in the act, and giving it something else to do, and punishing the dog long after the act. Where I live, in central Spain, the philosophy is 'if a dog does not obey you, beat it, if it still does not obey you, beat it harder.' Casual watchers do not always grasp this distinction, and may take Cesar's message 'you gotta be dominant' to mean that he condones their approach. How one understands Millan depends a lot on the culture one is from. In this part of Spain, everyone agrees with Millan that humans and dog should be treated differently. Some people interpret this as meaning that one should not invest a great deal of time in a dog. I was quoted the story of a sheepdog which the owner had trained to a high level, and which then fell ill. The owner nurtured the dog back to health, and then the dog did something the owner objected to. The owner beat the dog, the dog retaliated, and killed the owner. The moral of the story for the storyteller was that it is not worth investing time in dogs or expecting much of them. Millan's message may be useful in California, but may be less useful elsewhere.

A 'Member of the Family' moves away from the macho showman, and reflects a more mature Millan. There is far more emphasis on the need to develop trust with dogs. Of course, another interpretation of the sheepdog story is that the dog, having been lovingly cared for, suffered a serious beating that undermined his trust. His master became dangerous and unpredictable. It was precisely this risk that methods based on behaviourism were designed to address. However, some people interpreted behaviourism to mean one should never even say 'chsst, don't do that' to a dog. As Millan is fond of saying, balance is important.

So, this emphasis on trust helps bring Millan's message more into balance. He emphasises trust in particular in his advice on pups. The advice on choosing a dog and bringing the dog home is also useful. It is especially important that people think about the commitment beforehand, and choose wisely, because too many dogs end up in shelters in the US and UK. I would add one characteristic to watch out for: chewing. Some very sweet-natured dogs can be inveterate chewers, and eat whatever they can swallow. This is worth thinking about before taking on an adult rescue dog, especially one not raised in a house. Chewers can be kept initially in 'dog-proof' rooms, and trained to respect shoes, etc, but it takes longer with an adult dog, and it's a little quirk that would-be owners should be prepared for, if they take on an adult ex-kennel dog.

Millan's advice on respecting a dog's personal space is very important for Anglo cultures, where all too often people see dogs as plush toys to be petted and picked up without thought for what the dog might feel. Long-haired dogs are likely to attract cuddles, and small dogs and pups are often picked up when they would rather use their own four legs than be disoriented by airborne travel. Millan also argues for letting a dog come to you rather than going to the dog, on the grounds that the submissive animal should come to the dominant animal rather than the other way round. This is dubious ethology, often dogs will approach and sniff pups, for example, but it does fit with what Millan says about personal space. A dog that is spooked may need a moment to work out that it wants to approach a strange human, and giving the time time is generally better than rushing things. And chasing a pup to put on a lead can be a wonderful game for the pup, but can take longer than calling the pup!

What makes 'A Member of the Family' special though is to hear from Millan's wife, Ilusion. Her name means 'Hope' or 'Dream' in Spanish, and Spaniards, Italians, and Hispanic Americans tend to 'do families' well. Ilusion's insights on how to make families work, whether human families, or human plus dog, permeate this book. Women, she says, are fed a myth that love, self-sacrifice and hard work can conquer all. She decided that it was a myth after she fell ill trying to cope with earning a living, a small baby, and housework. Unless she set out some rules for herself and Cesar, her own survival was threatened. Ilusion had to leave Cesar for him to listen to her. Her message was 'I love ya but' ..., that she needed to be listened to, needed affection, and needed him to show more responsibility for his family rather than focusing on himself and his career. Ilusion argues that women often give up power thinking we are being generous. Yet she notes we are not doing the people we love any favours by doing too much for them, rather than helping them to develop a sense of responsibility. The desire of women to make the pack work is shown by the mainly female clientele who seek help with the family dog from trainers. Cesar accepts Ilusion's role as pack leader, and draws parallels between human families and mixed human-dog packs. This makes sense, after all, dogs are not wolves, but have been bred to live with humans. A family can be whoever sleeps under the same roof, whatever their relationship. What is important is that they coordinate as a pack.

The Millan's two children also appear in the book, and talk about their dad, their dogs and their responsibilities. Cesar favours a timetable, and a formal written contract so that everyone knows what they are meant to be doing and sticks to their promises. He also sets out an imaginary timetable for a family, showing how everyone can take some responsibility for the dog. This approach is very useful because arguably today one of the biggest problems for dogs is that all too often they spend the day alone, and all the humans slump in front of the TV once they get back, expecting the dog to be quiet and well-behaved. It is far better if someone takes the dog out as soon as the humans get back, and if the human walker is rotated so that everyone learns how to control the dog.

Making families work is not easy. Ilusion notes, but she and Cesar appear to have learnt from each other. She learnt to express her needs, to say 'Honey, I love you but' rather than suppressing resentment, while he learnt to think of the family as well as hmself, and to express his emotions. This comes across in his chapter on older dogs, and dealing with the death of a beloved pet. Millan is especially good on dealing with grief when a dog has to be put to sleep. His advice is to give the dog the most enjoyable experiences you can offer him, and to save your tears for after he has gone. This is very true, even dogs who can no longer stand up can take pleasure in delicious compliments about how wonderful they are. It may be sad to have a dog die in your arms at the vet's, but it is the last kind favour you can do for your beloved companion.

Dogs and humans can grieve in different ways. Sometimes a dog will miss a canine companion, other times the older dog may have been fading for so long that the final parting is easier. The most difficult deaths to accept can be sudden deaths of young dogs which had shown promise. Both grieving dogs and grieving humans can find ease in long walks, and dogs which go off their food when they have lost a companion, will sometimes eat titbits they are offered on walks.

So this book has a number of strengths. What about the weaknesses? First, I am not convinced by Millan's model 'Exercise, Discipline and Affection' as what dogs need, in that order, and his view that humans first need affection. There is a telling moment in his encounter with a marriage guidance counsellor when he sets out this view as an insight from his counsellor. Perhaps he missed the point. When Ilusion asked him to listen to her and show her some affection, she was already getting a great deal of exercise, working hard, and receiving criticism because her housekeeping was not perfect. Ilusion did not need to be given exercise. Dogs do, when they live in situations that do not allow them to take exercise without help from their owners, which is the case for most pet dogs in developed countries. Dogs also need to learn some human social rules if they are to survive in human society, otherwise they may be euthanased for chasing bikes and other unwanted behaviour. So exercise and teaching dogs social rules are signs of affection, that owners care about their dogs. A evening of cuddles from an owner isn't really a sign of affection if what the dog really wants and needs is a walk.

This leads into the second issue, that Millan tends to play down the importance of training. He sometimes sounds as though training is simply teaching a dog basic commands, that it is something that happens in training classes, and is not especially relevant to the dog's everyday life. On the contrary, training is critical, and involves not just teaching dogs commands in a systematic way, but using them again and again throughout the day, so that the dog automatically sits, for example, when you are about to go out and want to put on the lead. Good trainers help owners to integrate commands into everyday life.

It is worth mentioning here that 'reward-based training' works best when you think 'what does my dog really want?' That is what you can use as a reward, and it may not necessarily be food. A dog just about to go out really wants the door open, so it is easy to teach 'sit' here, ie 'I only open this door if you sit', and to close the door if the dog breaks the sit before you give permission. Much of the time, today's well-fed dogs don't especially want food. What they most want is to do something interesting with their owners.

Thirdly, training can very fruitfully go beyond the basics. Owners who teach their dogs to retrieve, for example, are teaching the dog to show self-control and stay until told to fetch the object, and are tackling resource-guarding by training the dog to give up objects on command, And on top of this, both owner and dog are enjoying themselves, plus a trained dog can retrieve objects that a human cannot, which may be handy if you drop something in a place your dog can get to and you cannot. Tracking is another useful skill to teach dogs. It can also help owners and dogs understand each other better, since communication  between dog and handler is essential in tracking.

Fourthly, this book is somewhat American in its treatment of neutering. Millan talks of neutering as though it were wholly beneficial for bitches, and while, on balance this is usually the case, it is worth being honest about risks such as spay-related incontinence, a particular problem with some breeds, which have a higher than average incidence. Unfortunately there is so much pressure to neuter dogs in US writers do not always spell out the risks as well as the benefits.

This book, then is a big improvement on the TV shows and 'Cesar's Way', but it will not replace a training programme. It's worth would-be owners reading this book, but it will not tell you all you need to know. Novices, and people with difficult dogs, who feel out of their depth, are better served by a trainer who has a good track record with their breed or breed type, who can help the owner to integrate commands into everyday life, and who can teach higher skills such as retrieving and tracking.

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Cesar's Way

Cesar Millan
Hodder Paperbacks (7 Feb 2008)
ISBN-10: 0340933305
ISBN-13: 978-0340933305

Cesar's Way tells the story of how Cesar Millan went to California and became famous for his work with dogs. The book also sets out what Millan believes that Californian dogs need to have happier lives and get on better with their owners. Millan arouses passions. He has a large, enthusiastic following, but has also been criticised for taking back training to the days when every whisker twitch was seen as a sign of dominance, and for using some harsh techniques; the dark days before ethologists began to reassess their views of wolves, and before Karen Pryor made operant conditioning fashionable in dog training, with her 'Don't Shoot the Dog'. So is Millan God or the Devil?  The answer, of course, is neither. His approach has some strengths, and much of what he says is relevant to European owners, but he is also a showman, with a very partial vision of dog human relations, and can only really be understood in the context of Californian dog culture.

First, Millan is undoubtedly talented. He has a 'way' with dogs, and obviously enjoys their company. He especially likes powerful breeds such as pit bulls and rotties, which are under threat from breed-specific legislation. It is refreshing to see a trainer who champions these breeds, and who is happy to train children to handle the family rottweiler or pit bull. He spells out that many attacks against humans are the result of owners using dogs as weapons. Once a breed gets a reputation as 'badass', human delinquents find them attractive and try to train them to attack other humans. Yet even these dogs can be rehabilitated. He also points out that small dogs can be very mean and snappy at the grooming parlour - his career in the US began as a dog groomer. Powerful dogs need responsible owners simply because they are powerful, not because they are especially mean.

Responsible owners make it clear to dogs what is acceptable and what is unacceptable behaviour, and are consistent in applying rules. Some owners see training as ending once they leave an obedience class, and Millan is right to stress that dogs need leadership, need to be reminded of house rules, all the time. Training goes beyond teaching a few commands which are then sporadically enforced.

Millan is also obviously right when he stresses the importance of exercise. One cultural trait of Californians that shocks many Brits is that Californians often don't walk their dogs. As Millan points out, walking is good for both dogs and owners. A good long walk first thing in the morning can help cure 'separation anxiety'. The dog is tired and relaxed, and just falls asleep when the owner leaves. A big 'yard' or garden is not enough, dogs benefit from leaving the area where they are confined every day, and from walking with their owners.

Owners should be 'calm-assertive', Millan stresses, and this stress on being calm is very helpful if you want your dog to be calm. Fussing a fearful dog can make the dog more fearful. Throwing balls excitedly in mindless ball games can make dogs overexcited. It's more useful to include elements of control, such as getting the dog to sit before throwing the ball, and teaching the dog to return the ball nicely. And if you don't want to be mobbed when you come through the door laden with shopping, it helps to wait until your dogs are calm, and then greet them with affection. It is perhaps an Anglo vice to tend to get dogs overexcited with cuddles at inappropriate times, and too much fussing. Millan comes from a different dog culture where dogs are fussed less. A focus on being calm not only helps dogs to behave better, it helps owners to feel they are in control, so helps owners to behave better.

Millan is singularly tactful with owners. Many viewers might want to shout, for example 'Take that dress off that dog, it's a dog, not a doll, for goodness sake!'. But Millan gently bulldozes his points across, all the while showing empathy with his clients. A cynic might say that it is easy to be tactful when your clients are rich and powerful people.  Even so he does show that he understands where clients are starting from, and uses self-control in showing them where he thinks they should be, and how to get there. He is also quite happy to accept clients' desires to treat their dogs as friends, so long as they remember that dogs are also dogs, and so long as owners do not overload their friends with their emotional needs.

So Millan makes a lot of useful points. What of the weaknesses of his approach? First, he is very much a showman. Sometimes he is not so much telling owners how they can handle their dogs better, as telling the world that he can handle dogs better than anyone else. For example, alpha-rolling a dog, turning it on its back to achieve submission, can look impressive on camera, but can also be a good way for humans to get bitten. A dog might bite in a panic, if it is not used to being rolled, for example. Gentle rolling may be useful, when dogs are relaxed, to teach them to be more comfortable at being turned on their backs, 'Alpha rolling' is not usually very sensible, certainly not for an owner who has trouble controlling their dog. Cesar Millan's TV shows might also give the impression that he is a magicion who can supply a quick fix, though obviously solutions involve a lot of hard work and commitment on the part of the owners.
  
Millan also plays down the role of obedience classes, which is a pity, because they can be extremely helpful in teaching owners how to control their dogs. He is described as a 'canine behavior expert' rather than a trainer, and he stresses that teaching a few commands may not tackle serious issues arising from lack of exercise and discipline at home. This is very true, but a good obedience trainer will ask owners about how their dogs behave outside class, and will give guidance on how to use commands at home, how to provide leadership, and how much and what sort of exercise a dog needs. Distancing himself from obedience trainers could give readers the impression that training is not necessary, all you need to do is 'walk the walk' and be calm-assertive.

A further worrying issue is that Millan could give the impression that all dogs' problems are caused by their owners, and can be solved by using his methods. True, many saveable dogs are euthanased for 'behavioural problems', especially in the US, but there are some dogs which are born with temperaments which make them too much of a risk for most owners, or which suffer from illnesses, such as brain tumours, which cause aggression. Poor temperament can also be a problem in many 'family breeds' such as golden retirievers, when dogs have been bred for money with no regard for temperament. It's well worth problem dogs having a vet check, because no amount of calm assertion can cure Lyme disease, or a brain tumour. A vet check can save a lot of tears.

The 'gung ho' advice that dogs shouldn't pee on the first stages of their walk, but should be frogmarched, is geared to the needs of rich Californians with enormous gardens. Many British dogs have a tiny yard, or no space outside the house at all, so they may be bursting to 'go' on the first stages of a walk. If they are not allowed a pee, you may end up dragging a urinating dog, or a dog desperately trying to do a dump. Dawdling is one thing, but biological needs should be recognised. Likewise, if a dog indoors tells you he needs to perform, or to vomit, it is worth listening, unless you want to clean up a mess on the floor, which may come from both ends. Yes, leadership is important, but a good leader should be able to listen as well as give commands.

So what of Millan's view of packs? Curiously, his 'pack' is not a pack in the normal sense of the term, it is too big to be a 'natural pack', and is not allowed to develop a hierarchy. Rather, he sees his role as being dominant over all the dogs, rewarding the dog that shows the best behaviour. Millan has yet to explore in depth the concept of a pack, and its usefulness in understanding groups of dogs that live in our homes. What he says about packs is not yet developed enough to be graced with the term 'pack theory'. It is a fairly macho Hispanic view, with the emphasis on 'you gotta be dominant'. There's little exploration of ways in which the social behaviour of dogs may differ from that of wolves, and the variations within wolf and dog societies.

Has Millan taken training back to the 'Dark Ages'? Perhaps he is better seen in terms of a pendulum, part of a swing away from an extreme American position on training called 'pure positive'. People who claim to follow 'pure positive' methods argue that dogs should be trained only with positive reinforcement, with no punishment at all, taking their arguments from concepts and ideas used in operant conditioning. Now this may sound fine, until you start to think about it, and look at the solutions such trainers propose.

In operant conditioning terms, punishment is not 'doing something a dog does not like' but doing something that stops unwanted behaviour. Saying 'chsst' to a dog sidling up to the table to eat your dinner is punishment, if the dog stops sidling up to the table. Whacking a bemused pup because you have found a puddle, is not punishment, in operant conditioning terms, if the dog is clueless as to why you have whacked him. It's just unkind and stupid. If your dog wants to go out for a walk, and is overexcited, barking as soon as you open the door, your shutting the door until he calms down is punishment. If you turn a hose on dogs to stop a fight, and the dogs instantly stop, that is punishment. Try stopping a dog fight using positive reinforcement alone, and you could end up with injured dogs.

Trainers who claim to use positive reinforcement alone generally use punishment as well, ie they are not being totally honest. Any trainer who tried to use just positive reinforcement would be complicationg their lives unnecessarily, and it is perhaps unfair on the dog to withold information about what you don't want him to do. British trainers tend to use the term 'reward-based training' rather than 'pure positive', because it is more accurate. Most trainers agree that too much punishment in the operant conditioning sense, can be counter-productive, have unpredictable side-effects, and can undermine trust. Reward-based training can be much more fruitful for dogs and owners,

So Millan is correct in his comment that an approach using only positive reinforcement would be unhelpful, especially with the more seriously damaged dogs he deals with. However, he muddies the waters when he claims that punishment is wrong. In operant conditioning terms, his methods do involve punishment, though he uses the term 'correction', for example, a leash tug that stops a dog from lunging towards another dog. The problem is that punishment has one meaning in everyday language, and another in operant conditioning terms. When Millan says that punishing dogs in anger is wrong, eg beating the bemused pup for the puddle, he is using punishment in the everyday sense, which is confusing, in a paragraph where he is also using 'positive reinforcement', an operant conditioning term. Whether he relies on punishment too much is another issue. Millan's stress on dominance will certainly seem like overkill for owners whose dogs need a very light touch, and which grovel if you just use a stern tone. Many dogs are highly responsive to their owners, and going over the top on dominance can be counterproductive by undermining trust. 

Though Millan does say that it is important to be calm, he could usefully stress trust a little more. Trust makes it easier to get dogs to do what you want, especially if you want a dog to submit to being examined. Gentle, firm, calm handling can help to promote trust, while rough handling is likely to undermine trust. 'Hands off' methods of training may also create dogs which are unused to being handled, unless owners counterbalance them by some gentle, firm handling, which prepares a dog for vet examinations, or even inept caresses by people unused to dogs. Likewise, Millan argues for consistency in order to achieve consistent obedience, but he could go further, Inconsistency undermines trust. Owners may appear dangerously unpredictable if they berate a dog one minute for, say, begging, then encourage the dog to beg by giving it titbits while they are eating. Dogs may well bite an owner who seems dangerously unpredictable, not when they are being berated, but when the owner approaches with the titbit - which might seem a prelude to another 'attack' by the owner.
  
There is some truth in the criticism that Millan's popularity has set the clock back in his discussion of aggression. He uses a similar model to Bruce Fogle in 'The Dog's Mind' describing 'dominance' and 'fearful' aggression - which Fogle sees as opposites. This model is unhelpful for owners, who may well have dogs which both threaten them in ways called by Millan as 'dominant', and which bite in a panic if the owners tries to examine them. Owners not only need to be leaders, also leaders that their dogs can trust. His advice that owners should not roughhouse their dogs, or play tug with them, in case it encourages the dogs to be dominant, could do with some explaining. Obviously winding up a dog by smacking and pushing it is not sensible, but gentle wrestling can help to develop trust with a dog, and encourage the dog to submit on command. Likewise, tug games which have a built-in 'drop' command can help to reinforce the owners' control of their dogs.

Millan does not mention territorial aggression, which is a useful category because it helps in understanding why dogs may get on well with others in the same household, yet attack strange dogs. Walks are of course useful in teaching dogs to tolerate strangers. Nor does Millan mention predation as an explanation for why dogs may attack, but this is important because when dogs see another animals as prey, they go in for the kill. Millan would benefit from reading some recent work by biologists on aggression, and on differences between wolves and dogs, such as Miklosi's work mentioned in the reference list below. 

 Perhaps what is most lacking in Millan's book is a sense of what can be achieved when dogs and humans do communicate well. The stress is on controlling animals that have got out of control rather than on developing a relationship with dogs that owners already feel comfortable with. He perhaps loses sight of some of the subtlety of dog-human relations when he admonishes owners not to 'humanise' their pets, and stresses their difference from humans, a very Hispanic point of view. Does 'humanisation' explain the problems of Californian owners? Only to a very limited degree. Yes, people sometimes see dogs as little humans, and yes, owners need to understand ways in which dogs' perceptions and abilities are different from ours. But in many cases, Californian owners seem to see their dogs as plush toys rather than little humans. Indeed, it might help if owners asked how they would feel if they were left at home alone all day, just let out in the garden for brief periods when the owner got back home from work, never taken out of the home and garden, never given anything interesting to do. How might a human react? And how would human children turn out if no-one told them what was acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, and if rules were not enforced consistently. One reason why humans and dogs can get on is that we have a lot in common., 

True, Millan is right to stress the importance of smell and body language for dogs, and the uniquely human reliance on language, which we cqnnot expect dogs to understand in the same way we do. But some dogs have remarkable abilities to understand human language, especially nouns or verbs relating to activities they are interested in, such as 'walk', 'ball', 'sniff' or 'fetch'. The work of Csanyi (see reference list) and his team on communication between humans and canines is particularly interesting.

So Millan is neither God nor the Devil. He is a talented trainer who has used insights from Mexican dog culture to help Californians. His book is well worth reading if you are interested in dog cultures. The Californian owners may surprise you. Millan's advice that dogs need exercise is less likely to be a revelation.

Millan's message cannot really be understood outside the cultural context in which he is working. It's not just that many US owners don't walk their dogs, and many trainers have wandered up a theoretical cul-de-sac, American dog behaviour specialists are more likely than their UK counterparts to have little practical experience, and tend to rely more on drugs to control behaviour.  British behaviourists tend to have more practical experience as trainers. The UK Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors requires members who specialise in dogs to have practical training skills, as well as academic knowledge.

Furthermore, puppy farms and pet stores carry more weight in the US, as sources of dogs, so there is more chance for a pup to be poorly bred and poorly socialised in the US, then acquired on impulse by someone wanting to 'save' the little guy from the pet store. Impulse buys are often discarded, so once the pooch becomes unmanageable, it is off to the shelter, where, as Millan notes, over half the dogs that go in will come out dead. Preventing dogs from being turned in to the shelter can save their lives. It is in this context that Millan preaches tough love.

So this book is certainly worth reading, but if you feel your pooch is something of a delinquent, it offers no quick fixes. Your best bet is to find a good trainer who sees training as important outside the obedience class.  A book cannot replace someone who can see you and your dog in action, and comment on your timing, and the message you are sending your dog, as well as the messages your dog is sending you.

References (click on the titles for reviews of the books)

The book that made operant conditioning fashionable in dog training was
Don't Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training
by Karen Pryor

For a clearer account of the way operant conditioning is used in dog training, see
How Dogs Learn 
by  Mary Burch and Jon Bailey

However, despite the title of Burch and Bailey's book, please note that operant conditioning is not the only way to understand how dogs learn. It can be a useful explanation, but has limitations, for example in understanding the work of tracker or sheep dogs.
If Cesar Millan wants to try updating his knowledge of wolf behaviour, and what it can teach us about dogs, he could usefully read

Dog behaviour, Evolution and Cognition
by Adam Miklosi

And if he wants to know more about research on canine cognitive skills, he could usefully read:
If Dogs Could Talk: Exploring the Canine Mind
Vilmos Csanyi

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