01x09 - Tail End of Trauma

[bunniefuu]

CESAR [off-screen]: When
I started my journey and

people started calling
me the dog whisperer,

the only thing I wanted to
do was to teach people that

there's no such
thing as a bad dog.

WOMAN: Oh my God!

CESAR: Give me the leash!
She's safer with me.

[barking]

Today, I'm still
doing what I love.

But the pandemic has
changed the world.

[overlapping chatter]

CESAR [off-screen]:
Dog adoptions have
hit a record high.

The good news is
dog shelters are empty.

The bad news is people.

Still. Need. Help.

WOMAN: He
doesn't listen to me.

WOMAN 2: Like,
the problem is me.

MAN: What do I do?

CESAR [off-screen]:
Mo' pooches,
mo' problems, right?

This is why he
doesn't listen to you.

MAN: No.

CESAR: So many things
you can fix already.

Tsch!

MAN: Sorry, sorry!
CESAR: Ignore the excitement.

WOMAN: I just don't
want you to get bit.

CESAR: Do you know who I am?

WOMAN: Yes.

CESAR: Together,
with my superhero pack,

our mission is to
teach the world to
honor the "Pack Code."

Honesty, integrity,
and loyalty.

Once you get this, you
gonna have everything else!

And that's how we create
better humans and better dogs,

one pack at a time.

I'm on my way to Pomona to
help the Garcia family with

a dog named Sirius Black,

a lab mix dog that is
showing signs of aggression.

Sirius Black is
out of control,

and it's reminding them of
a previous family dog whose

aggression led to his death.

So we need to get
there as soon as possible

to fix this problem.

[barking]

BLANCA: My name is
Blanca Loya Garcia.

MANUEL: I am Manuel Garcia.

DANIELLE: And I'm their
daughter Danielle Garcia,

known as the perfect only
child and their third wheel.

[laughter]

DANIELLE [off-screen]:
We have three dogs.

Weasley is our Golden Doodle.

He's two years old,
he's the light of my life,

and he's also
the perfect child.

[laughter]

BLANCA: That's not true.

DANIELLE: Lucy
is the boss babe.

And she's a Bijon mix.

MANUEL: She's 14 years old,

and she's deaf and just
enjoying her, uh, her life.

Problem free, the
best dog we have.

[laughter]

BLANCA: Probably
because she can't hear.

And then,
there's Sirius Black,

he's going to be
two years in April.

We're a nerdy family.

So, um, we were all
big fans of, you know,
the Harry Potter series.

MANUEL: Fanatics.
BLANCA: Fanatics.

And when we got Sirius, I had
to name him Sirius Black Lab.

He's a great little lab.

He was just a
very loyal, uh, dog.

Go get it.

He is actually
a very smart dog.

But, Sirius is the problem.

[barking]

MANUEL: Sirius!
BLANCA: Hey! Hey! Sirius!

Most concerning to me is
very simply his aggression.

Hey!

He lunges at, at
dogs when we walk by.

No, no, no!

He also fence fights
with our neighbor's dog.

MANUEL: We'll be out
here playing ball and then

all of a sudden, he just
runs head on with the wall,

like runs into it.

BLANCA: He gets splinters
on his muzzle from hitting

the fence so much.

It's like a scene
from The Walking Dead.

I mean you see all of like
the scratches on the fence.

He actually hurts himself.

It's just crazy.

[barking]

Because of that, we do get
nervous when people come over.

When we get deliveries,

[door bell rings]

he's at the window just
barking, you know, like crazy.

Hey, hey, hey! Come on.
Get back, come on, hey!

MANUEL: Get back!
BLANCA: Sirius, get back!

Go to bed! Get back!

Her godfather, when
he came in, you know,

I couldn't restrain Sirius.

He nipped him on the arm.

That scared me.
He's caused his mom to fall.

MANUEL: She fell,
and she hurt her knee,

and she hasn't
healed to this day.

He's out of control and
not in his right mind.

BLANCA [off-screen]:
It's a scary thing.

It stresses us out,
you know, because both
of us have baggage that

we're carrying from our past.

We had a dog actually,
our first dog together,

that got out of the yard,
it was after a Pitbull,

and it got run over.

Those are the kind
of experiences that
have built a fear.

MANUEL: I still carry
that responsibility and that

awareness that something
like that can happen again

if we don't, uh,
properly train Sirius.

I've even went as
far as telling my wife,

"If we can't get this right,

it's not fair to
be Sirius' owners."

BLANCA: But, I don't
want to give him up.

And, and, you know,
I, I love him.

MANUEL [off-screen]:
We've paid for, uh,
other trainers to come,

and we've tried
to do the homework.

BLANCA [off-screen]: Cesar
is our last hope to help him.

Get your toy.
Where's your toy, Sirius?

[door bell rings]

[barking]

Get back, get back.

Hey! Get back. Get back.

[barking]

BLANCA: Hi. How are you?
CESAR: How are you?

I'm listening,
and I read this is,
like, yeah, makes sense.

[barking]

BLANCA: Exactly, it tells
you all you need to know.

CESAR: Yeah. You need help.
BLANCA: Yeah, we do.

CESAR: Makes sense.

Sirius Black
was making this pitch,

which is a lot of fear.

[barking]

When a dog is going to k*ll,

they make a sound
that's like, "Ahhhh!"

[barking]

It's a sound that means bite.

[barking]

Somebody's gonna get hurt.

So here, put it
on the black one.

BLANCA: Okay.

CESAR: Just calmly
just, it's almost like
you're lassoing them up.

Don't say a word.

BLANCA: Okay.

CESAR: Come on,
Mr. Garcia, over here.

BLANCA: Ooh.

[speaks in native language]

[barks]

CESAR: Pass me the
end of the leash. Yeah.

And let her go, yeah.

[barks]

He is afraid, that's
your real problem.

The fear.

So that makes
him more dangerous.

CESAR [off-screen]:
Everything I've seen so far,
from the high-pitched bark,

[barking]

to the lunge at me.

BLANCA: Ooh.
[speaks in native language]

CESAR: Is because
Sirius is afraid,

and the Garcias don't
know how to calm him down.

In fact, their body language
is stiff and fearful too.

Okay, let's go then.

BLANCA: Let's go, guys.

CESAR: Now I want to see how
he behaves in the backyard,

where the Garcias tell me
he is in constant fights with

the neighbor's dog
at the fence.

[distant barking]

[growls]

MANUEL: Hey! Get back!

[barking]

Get back. Sirius.

[barking]

Come here, Sí. Sirius!

BLANCA: Serious gets
very aggressive when it
comes to fence fighting.

We tried to, you know, take
the calm approach and wrangle

him away from the fence, but
half the time we resort to,

you know, bending down,
picking him up.

[barking]

MANUEL: Come here.
Get over here.

Bad boy. Sit down.

CESAR: As soon as we
entered the backyard,

Sirius charged the
fence with the same
frantic energy as the window.

And Manuel's response was just
as frantic and out of control.

MANUEL: Come here, Si. Sirius.

CESAR: He's adding
electricity into the moment.

[barking]

He's not calming things down.

He's already freaking out,
and you're freaking out.

[laughter]

So then that electricity
you can redirect it.

It has to be a lot calmer.

So it's more you claiming
the fence versus grabbing
him away from the fence,

and he's going to go
right back because he never
willingly left the fence.

I'm really worried about
what I'm seeing so far.

I haven't seen a dog
this scared in a long time,

and the Garcias' own fear just
pours more fuel into the fire.

A scared dog sees
everything as a threat and

that makes him very
dangerous honestly.

This is pretty bad.

How is he on walks?

BLANCA: Scary.

When we do go for a walk,
he's, you know, freaking out.

MANUEL: When I walked him,
uh, he starts lunging at dogs,

and I try to pull him
and that's when he,

he'll turn around and
bite me or something.

I pick him up, he's growling,

and then I'll try to
turn him and then he snaps.

He's nipped me in the stomach,
not intentionally,

but just his mind
is somewhere else.

He's like. He loses it.

NARRATOR: Cesar
and the Garcias head
out to a local park.

CESAR [off-screen]: Normally,
I would hang back and

watch them do their thing
in order for me to assess.

But this dog is
so out of control,

they need help right now just
to make sure nobody gets hurt.

The first lesson is
using physical distance
just to avoid danger.

Now social distance
is really important.

BLANCA: Mm-hmm.

CESAR: So once you see
a dog at a distance,

what you need to do is
start going into the grass.

You're just going
to pass and maintain.

Keep going into the grass,
a little bit more.

There you go.
A little bit more.

Beautiful.

A dog is coming.

Let's see how you do.

[growling]

Okay, hold on one second.

Let me show you one thing.

We definitely have to
control your nervousness.

Blanca did the
distance part well.

But when Sirius started
fixating on the other dog,

she locked up and
didn't redirect his
attention fast enough.

She needs to anticipate
and correct him before
Sirius lashes out.

Alright Manuel, you're up!

Come on!
Don't let the boys down.

MANUEL: Let's go, Sirius.

CESAR: Relax the arm.
Don't look at the ground.

See he's open like this.

BLANCA: Mm-hmm.

And that's what he
does all the time.

CESAR: Just like Blanca,
Manuel is stiff and tense,

and of course that just
makes Sirius more scared.

Let's avoid
this body language.

Let's create a more
relaxed body language.

Come on.

MANUEL: Let's go, boy.

CESAR: Hold it with one hand.

Yeah.

Okay, dog coming up.

Don't let him
get excited again.

Now, go over here,
put her over here while
the puppy comes this way.

Stay calm and stay confident.

No!

[barking]

CESAR: Tsch. Tsch.

NARRATOR: The Garcias,
are themselves

paralyzed with fear.

Similar behavior
led to the death of a
family dog years ago.

BLANCA [off-screen]:
Canny was our first dog.

When you watch a beloved
animal go out and go after

another dog and then be run
over in front of your eyes,

I mean it was horrible.

And that's where the
majority of the fear
comes from with Sirius.

CESAR: So here, so,
this distance is good.

Dog is right there.

Acknowledging
distance as respect.

You keep moving, but
don't try to rush it.

BLANCA: Ah, gotcha.
CESAR: Yeah.

So here, you're passing by.

[kisses]

Come on, tsch, let's go.

BLANCA: Wow.

CESAR: Let him know how
we want him to behave.

BLANCA: Yeah.

CESAR: You did the distance.

That was great,
but then you just...

You got tense.

[growling]

BLANCA: Yeah.

CESAR: But you, Manuel.
You went in to pull back.

As soon as you
gave the tension,

you gave the command
to protect you.

Stop here. Tsch.

BLANCA: Yeah.
CESAR: Alright.

I've seen all I need to see.

BLANCA: Let's go, guys.

CESAR: Sirius Black
is a ticking b*mb.

[barking]

He's lunging at the windows.

MANUEL: Come here, Si...

CESAR [off-screen]: Attacking
fences, people and other dogs.

[growling]

All with that scared,
high-pitched bark.

[barking]

Sirius's problem is
that he's a terrified,

back-of-pack dog.

In any litter,
there's front, middle, back.

Sirius Black is
back of the pack.

Their job is to alert.

Even when he alert.

[imitating barking]

He's insecure.

BLANCA: Yeah.
CESAR: They're very sensitive.

CESAR [off-screen]: Sirius
is scared of everything,

but because the family
is so scared themselves,

he thinks he's got to
step up and protect them.

That's uncomfortable
for a back of pack dog,

and that could
lead to lunging,
barking and biting.

Solving this means Blanca and
Manuel need to calm down and

step up as pack leaders to
take that weight off Sirius.

That will let Sirius
assume his natural place at

the back of the pack.

BLANCA: That's
my thing, I think,

is that I have a very
tough time being calm.

And I do believe
that that comes from
what happened with Canny.

Whenever he gets
in those situations,

right away, I'm
like freaking out.

CESAR: Fear and insecurity,
or, you know, hesitation,

you're not going
to build nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

NARRATOR: The next morning,
the Garcias arrive at

Cesar's Dog Psychology Center.

[barking]

[speaking in native language]

CESAR: Whoo!

MANUEL: Good morning, Cesar.
How are you?

CESAR: Really good. Here, let
me have this guy right away.

As soon as they arrived,

I heard that same bark
I heard yesterday.

[barking]

Pass him to me.

CESAR [off-screen]: I knew we
didn't have a minute to lose.

[barking]

We've got to do
that right away.

CESAR [off-screen]: I get
one chance to introduce a
fearful back-of-the-pack dog

like Sirius to my pack.

The longer he waits around,
the more scared he'll get,

and the worse he'll act out
when he does meet my pack.

So the fear,
all the insecurity,

all of that, if
you let it cook.

BLANCA: Mm-hmm.
CESAR: It then escalates.

Even with a
well-trained pack like mine,

I want to
introduce him in a small,

controlled space to keep the
situation completely safe for

both Sirius and my pack.

Tsch. Hey.

So the first thing a dog
has to do is to adapt to
the environment right away.

So this is about adaptation.

As soon as the dog comes in,
he feels too nervous,

help him to adapt.

Tsch.

CESAR [off-screen]: You can
see from his body language,
that Sirius is terrified.

He's cowering with his
tail between his legs.

But we're going to fix that.

He needs to know
that help is here.

Look, no tension.

CESAR [off-screen]: I'm going
to keep Sirius on a leash,

so he knows that I'm
watching out for him,

and my pack
knows I'm in charge,

and they don't have
to keep him in line.

Look at the distance
that they do naturally.

So there's no need for them
to come and do anything else

except to smell
and give distance so
he feels comfortable.

Tsch. Tsch.

We need to bring in
some familiar faces.

NARRATOR: To give
Sirius more support,

Cesar invites
pack-mates Weasley and

Danielle to join them.

CESAR: Come on.

NARRATOR: Then he drops the
leash to show Sirius there are

no threats nearby that Cesar
needs to hold him back from.

CESAR: Don't
say anything, just...

He's going to
follow his brother.

[laughter]

MANUEL: That is awesome.
That is so awesome!

CESAR: Look at that.
BLANCA: Oh my goodness!

CESAR: Look at him.
He wants to play.

BLANCA: I think
I'm going to cry.

That's his natural state.

You know, he's
with other dogs.

He's not being attacked.

He's not attacking anybody.

And, uh, Weasley's
trying to help him.

I think that's pretty awesome.

NARRATOR: With Sirius no
longer afraid around the pack.

CESAR: Alright, guys.

NARRATOR: Cesar invites
Blanca and Manuel to approach.

Their fear typically increases
Sirius's own anxiety and

leads to aggression.

It's critical they enter
with relaxed calm confidence

and no fear.

CESAR: No touch,
no talk, no eye contact.

BLANCA: Okay.

CESAR: Just walk in,
this is your home,

just walk in.

CESAR [off-screen]:
As soon as Blanca and
Manuel come in the picture,

you can see they're tense,
and they're clenched up.

That just tells Sirius that
he needs to be scared again.

They need to
claim their space with
confidence and without fear,

so Sirius knows he
doesn't have to protect them.

So your energy
has to be bigger.

BLANCA: Right.

CESAR: Okay, and so what
happens is he starts claiming.

BLANCA: That's
what he's doing.

So don't move away from him,
he has to move away from you.

Look, there's so
many acres here.

They don't have
to be on top of you.

BLANCA: Yeah.

CESAR: You have to
learn to, to claim your space.

And so when you correct,
you have to take the dog back.

[barking]

CESAR: Hey!
BLANCA: Hey!
CESAR: Tsch.

CESAR: Tsch.

Tsch. Tsch.

After an aggressive
attack like that,

you must address it
with a full correction.

Tsch.

There you go.

[takes deep breath]

Yeah.

So every time
something like that,

especially if they touch,
they have to do to the

highest level
of calm surrender,
which is to the side.

BLANCA: Yeah. Mm-hmm.

CESAR: So in the dog world,

they're going
to pin each other,

and the one who is
getting the correction is

gonna end up on the side.

He's not supposed to move.

BLANCA: Yeah.

CESAR: And then he has to stay
there two, three seconds,

and the one who is
correcting moves away.

BLANCA: Right.

CESAR [off-screen]:
Here's what happened.

Blanca and Manuel
already had a fearful energy.

Then my Great Dane
got close to them.

[growling]

[barking]

CESAR: Tsch. Hey!
BLANCA: Hey!

CESAR [off-screen]:
So Sirius senses their
fear and mistakenly thinks

they're scared of my dog,
and he needs to protect them.

It's the same
problem at the heart of all

of Sirius's bad behavior.

[barking]

The window,

the fence fights,

the lunging on walks.

The Garcias are not
claiming their space
with calm confidence

so Sirius believe
they need protection.

NARRATOR: Cesar takes the
Garcias to the agility arena

to work on claiming space.

CESAR: Jaimito is
going to take Weasley to,
to, to meet the farm animals.

[sighs]

MANUEL: Okay.

[smooching

CESAR: Alright
Blanca, I want you to
use your words, energy,

and body position to
calm Sirius down after

my dog Sophia joins us.

CESAR: That's a good girl!
BLANCA: Sit.

The moment I
knew she was coming,

I automatically started
getting freaked out about it.

Hey. Tsch, tsch! Hey!

CESAR: There you go.
You control that.

[growling]

BLANCA: Tsch. Sit. Sit.

CESAR: He's not calm surrender
until he's fully laid down.

BLANCA: Hey.

CESAR: Keep your body language
calm and confident as you

tell him to lay down.

You're doing the whole
maneuvering thing, it's,

"Hey. Stop it!"

So it's still
the tension part.

It's not calm confident.

It's tense confident.

BLANCA: Hey.

CESAR: There,
that's what you want.

BLANCA: Cesar helping
us calm him down, um,

it made me feel good,
because it helped me to know

that I could do it myself.

CESAR: Next, we're going to
put those calming techniques

to use in an
exercise where Manuel
will have to claim his space.

This is your window,

your door, your
fence in the back.

That's food.

So this represents
the personal space,

so we want him away from
the, uh, from the window,

from the fence, from the door.

So it's just a point
of reference for you.

BLANCA: Yeah.

CESAR [off-screen]: The smell
is the excitement compared

to people coming
to the window.

So whatever makes the
dog excited at the window,

they have to learn to claim
it and ask him to go back and

make him go into a
calm surrender state.

That's the exercise.

MANUEL: Come on.

CESAR: Make sure
he lays fully down.

MANUEL: Lay down.

CESAR: Nice.

CESAR [off-screen]: Now
I'm going to show Manuel how
to expand his claimed space

and move Sirius out of areas
where he doesn't need to be.

Face him. Yeah.
Then move towards him.

Keep going, keep going,
keep going, keep going,
keep going, keep going.

There you go. Very good.

[clapping]

BLANCA: That
was awesome. Yeah!

CESAR: That's it. That was it.
That was it. That was it.

MANUEL: It felt good to
have Sirius listen to me when

I told him to stay
away from his food.

I was pretty excited
when he came through,

and I was able to be
the leader of the pack,

and, uh, it, I
wouldn't have been able to
do that without Cesar's help.

CESAR: This is what I want for
the pack to the family to do.

You guys can walk together
as a family more often.

BLANCA: Yes! Right.
CESAR: You know, um...

Definitely practice
this claiming the space.

BLANCA: Right.

CESAR: I don't want to
give you too much homework.

BLANCA: No, we need it.

[laughter]

CESAR [off-screen]:
Blanca and Manuel now
have the right tools,

but the wild card
is their own fear.

Everything I've taught
them won't be enough if

they don't move
past Canny's death and

any fear that history
is repeating with Sirius.

They've got a
lot of work to do,
on Sirius and themselves.

NARRATOR: The Garcias and
their pack will continue to

work on calm
confidence at home.

The next morning, Cesar meets
a mother and daughter whose

emotional support
puppy is creating
more chaos than comfort.

CESAR: Good morning.
ZAKIYAH: Good morning.

NAIMA: Good morning.
CESAR: Welcome to the ranch.

How are you?

ZAKIYAH: We're well,
how are you?

CESAR: Beautiful.
Please come on in.

We're going to talk here.
I want to hear your story.

[sighs]

ZAKIYAH: Okay,
where do we start.

I'm Zakiyah.
This is my daughter.

NAIMA: Naima.

ZAKIYAH: And our
puppy is Fendi Vladimir.

Fendi is his first and
Vladimir is his middle name.

We haven't given
him a last name,

but you know, that's fine.

He is seven months old.

Naima, how much
do you love Fendi?

NAIMA: So much, more
than anyone in this
world could love a dog.

CESAR: So how did you decide
to have a, a dog like Fendi?

ZAKIYAH: We got Fendi as
an emotional support dog.

We thought that he would
be there to help Naima

emotionally because Naima
witnessed a very tragic

motor vehicle accident
involving her grandmother.

CESAR: Mm-hmm.

NAIMA [off-screen]: I saw my
grandmother step onto the bus,

the bus driver tried
to close the doors.

They didn't close,
so he took off,

and she kind of fell.

And she went
under the tire and

she could have almost
been fully crushed.

Luckily, she's okay.

[crying]

I've kept that with me, and I
feel like I'm just not myself.

ZAKIYAH: She just
hasn't been the same.

Before, Naima was
just very fearless,
very brave, you know.

And I want her to have
that fearlessness again.

CESAR: I think what
you need the most is
your leadership back.

ZAKIYAH: Right.

We got Fendi so that he could
kind of help her with that.

Cause I'm thinking, "Hey
people have emotional support
dogs all over the world."

I figure, you know what,
let me just go ahead and

let me get her this dog.

[laughs]

CESARL Right.
ZAKIYAH: You know?

NAIMA: But, even
though he is so lovable,

Fendi is a hot mess.

Stop, stop.

For real. You're not cute.

He just can't
contain his energy.

[screams]

[barking]

ZAKIYAH: Come on!

A major concern would be how
powerful Fendi is getting.

Outside I feel like this
dog can get me k*lled.

Um, especially when
we go out for walks.

At times it can
be dangerous because

sometimes he's going left,
he's going right.

[growling and barking]

Fendi! Not in the street.

NAIMA: He's
really running you.

ZAKIYAH: I, it scares me just
thinking about Fendi pulling

Naima into the
middle of the street.

Fendi!

There's no control.

[growling]

Fendi!

It's like a fiasco.

NAIMA: The strength
that he uses towards
us makes me feel unsafe.

ZAKIYAH: I won't allow
her to walk him at all.

I'm afraid that he might
lead Naima into danger.

Come on!

I've been
resenting getting Fendi.

CESAR: So it's kind of toxic.

NAIMA: Sometimes it's just
like he switches like when

we're playing or something,

he'll start
biting and growling.

NAIMA [off-screen]: Fendi
has bitten me multiple times.

On my legs, my hands and arms.

ZAKIYAH: You can't do that!

NAIMA: Even my face once.

It's really scary.

ZAKIYAH: Getting
Fendi the help that
he needs is a big part

of making sure
Naima is going to
be okay in the future.

I don't want to
get rid of Fendi.

I don't want to send him
back where he came from.

I want a pet that is more of a
comfort to her than anything,

than a burden to her.

NAIMA: We're supposed
to love each other.

But thinking a dog
wants to harm you,

makes me feel I
can't trust him.

CESAR: Mm-hmm. Yeah,
he's going to love you,

but you're going to
have to tell him what
the rules, boundaries,

and limitations is
to play with you.

This is heartbreaking.

Seeing her grandmother's
accident has stolen
Naima's confidence.

Fendi is supposed to
be helping her rebuild
that self-assurance,

but instead, he is so
wild that her confidence

is sinking even lower.

Right now, he is the opposite
of an emotional support dog.

I'm going to fix this.

First, I want to
see how you walk him.

Come on.

ZAKIYAH: Wow, it's so cool.

ZAKIYAH: Fendi, walk.

[barking]

NAIMA: Fendi.

CESAR: That's bad. He's
just pulling them non-stop.

[barking]

I need a leash.

We've got to take
care of this right now.

CESAR: I need a leash.

We've got to take
care of this right now.

We're gonna go into work.

CESAR [off-screen]:
Zakiyah described unruly
behavior everywhere,

inside and out.

ZAKIYAH: Fendi!

CESAR [off-screen]: But I
wanted to see the walk because

that is often the
key to everything.

It is clear from the walk that
Fendi doesn't respect Naima or

Zakiyah as pack leaders.

He pushes them in front
and tracks back and forth,

pulling them
all over the road.

[barking]

And since Mom is
holding the leash,

Fendi isn't seeing Naima
as the leader in any way.

I need to get the
leash into Naima's hands
to build up her confidence

and show Fendi she's a
leader who deserves respect.

Alright, ladies.
Here, let's begin.

We're going to put
this leash all the way
on the top of the neck.

ZAKIYAH: Okay.

NARRATOR: The family
normally uses a leash
attached to a harness.

Instead, Cesar gives them a
simple rope leash that allows

Naima to control
Fendi by guiding where
his head is pointing.

[barking]

CESAR: Smell and
sight are the two most
important senses for a dog,

and this leash will give
Naima much more control over

Fendi's nose and eyes.

With Naima in control,

Fendi will begin to see her
in a leadership position,

as someone to respect.

Alright, so let's
go for a walk then.

Let's get a pack of dogs.

NARRATOR: Cesar starts
Naima with a pack walk.

CESAR: In order for you
to project a confidence,

the body language
have to go with it.

CESAR [off-screen]: Pack walks
are a great way for Naima

to learn how to walk dogs.

Dogs in a pack usually
move in a similar pace,

and pull in the
same direction,

making for easier walking.

But the pack is
helpful for Fendi too.

They will show him
the right way to walk.

So now, you're going
to go grab that pack.

NAIMA: Me?
CESAR: You said, "Me?"

And then you hesitated.

Right, I know we just met,
but I believe in you.

NAIMA: Thank you.

CESAR: Look,
you're gonna come here,
grab the leash and go.

Go ahead. Tsch. Go ahead.

Boom, go.

Relax the hand.

Yes. Go, go, go.

Go into the middle.
You're driving this car.

Come on. No hesitation.

CESAR [off-screen]:
Fendi still wants to
pull out in front.

Naima needs to stand up
straight and pick up the pace
to communicate confidence,

even if she
doesn't feel it yet.

That will show Fendi
that she's the pack leader.

Okay, I'm going with you.

Here. Imitate me. Yes.

[takes deep breath]

Breathe it, breathe.

[taking deep breaths]

Yeah. Get in the groove, huh?

You can feel it, yes?

Yeah, it's coming in.

NAIMA: It feels spectacular
being able to walk all these

dogs at one time and showing
them that I'm the leader.

CESAR: Relax the hand.
Shoulder's up.

Yee-ha!
You're doing it.

One, two, three, four,
five, six dogs today.

NARRATOR: Now that
Naima and Fendi have
the hang of the pack walk.

They're ready for
a more difficult exercise.

CESAR: There you go.

Off leash, baby. Off leash.

NARRATOR: For
Naima's final challenge,

Cesar will have
her walk Fendi without
the pack to support her.

CESAR: So here,
once we enter here,

we're going to
practice leadership.

NARRATOR: Earlier
the other dogs helped
keep Fendi in line,

now for the first time,

he will have to take
direction entirely from Naima.

The test is an important one.

If the family
doesn't see change
soon in Fendi's behavior

they might have
to make a difficult choice.

ZAKIYAH: If we can't get
Fendi to behave in the way

that we need him to,
although I love him,

and I love that
Naima loves him,

he's going to have to find
a new home unfortunately.

CESAR: Every pack
that is going to function
amazing needs a pack leader.

So right now is
about empowering
you with leadership.

Without a pack to support her,

Naima must fully step into
the role of pack leader.

I want to see her rediscover
some of that leadership

she used to have.

NARRATOR: Cesar asks a
DPC staff member put a

beginners training collar
over Fendi's snout.

It's the dog's
first time wearing one.

But once he acclimates, Naima
will be able to better guide

the dog by controlling
both his nose and eyes.

CESAR: There you go, there.

Putting the haltee
is like when you ride a
bike for the first time.

You're still little and
you put the training wheels.

This is it.

This is the easiest way for
people to learn to deal with,

to control, to,
to guide their dog.

Yeah. Relax a
little more, yeah.

CESAR [off-screen]: Everything
right now is for Naima and,

and Fendi is about leadership.

It's about her
gaining control of herself.

So if she gains
control of herself,

she is, she's going to
get control of Fendi.

We're gonna go, after
this line we go back.

ZAKIYAH: Okay.

NAIMA: I feel like Fendi
could do good, possibly,

or he could do really bad.

I have a little bit of hope.

Just a little.

CESAR: That's pull,
we don't want that.

Give him a little
bit more leash.

[barking]

NAIMA: Hey, hey.
You need to relax.

[snarling]

Relax.

Just relax.

ZAKIYAH: Fendi, my gosh!
NAIMA: Fendi, relax!

CESAR: This is all good.
This is all good.

So this is, this is the
beginning of the end.

CESAR [off-screen]: It
looks like Fendi is trying
to pull out of the halter.

But that's not the issue.

The real discomfort for him is
that he's finally starting to

understand that Naima
is in charge, and he's not.

And that comes as a shock.

So he gets anxious
and physically just
kind of freaks out.

They go into a panic state...

There you go.

And then they relax.

[snarling]

This is all good. That way.

NAIMA: Okay.

CESAR: Beautiful.

Yeah, yeah. It's coming.
It's coming. It's coming.
It's coming. It's coming.

It's coming. Keep going,
keep going, keep going.

Yeah, yeah. It's coming,
it's coming, it's coming.

Keep going. Yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's coming, it's coming!
Keep going. Yeah. Yeah.

It's coming. It's coming!

Yeah!

Right there. Right there.
Right there. Right there.

Right there, you saw it?
I'm the only one celebrating?

[laughter]

ZAKIYAH: Whoo!
CESAR: You feel it?

NAIMA: Yeah! Way smoother.

CESAR: Alright, Naima.

To celebrate all of
this new confidence,

I have a surprise
for you guys.

[clucking]

We're going to go for a walk
with chickens and the ducks.

[birds squawking]

Beautiful!

CESAR [off-screen]:
Naima did great today!

I could feel her building back
that confidence and leadership

her mother say she lost after
her grandmother's accident.

Yeah! You're doing it.

You're controlling yourself,
you're controlling the dog,

and you're controlling ducks.

CESAR [off-screen]: The
more confidence she has,

the more Fendi will
respect and follow her,

which will just give
her more confidence.

It's just going to
get better and better.

Big smile, huh?
Do you love it?

Now, that's an emotional
support dog because it changes

the sadness into happiness.

NAIMA: It was amazing
walking with Fendi.

CESAR: It feels good inside.

NAIMA: It made me
feel very confident,

and it made me
feel very powerful.

ZAKIYAH: Seeing her gain
her leadership qualities,

just being in control,

being happy and
confident and all of that.

Like, that's how she
should be every single day.

NAIMA: I am very proud of
myself for being able to

lead this wild dog.

ZAKIYAH: Oh, same.

CESAR: Fendi still
needs some work,

but he's on the right
track to becoming a true
emotional support dog.

You did it!

NARRATOR: The Garcias and
Sirius Black spent a week

working on their
calm confidence at home.

Blanca and Manuel
are fearful Sirius
will suffer the same fate

as another aggressive
dog they lost years ago.

This fear feeds Sirius.

DANIELLE: As far as the
dogs barking at the door,

we still don't have
that under control.

[barking]

No!

As far as walking, we
all went on a pack walk.

We didn't do a great job.

[barking]

BLANCA: Lets go. Hey!

DANIELLE: It was my Mom's
energy, if I'm being honest.

Yeah, she still
lacks confidence.

MANUEL: Blanca pulls
to the side, she's afraid.

BLANCA: Come on. Sit.

I'm doing the homework, um,

and Cesar gave
me a lot of tools,

but I'm still learning how to
use them and still learning to

get comfortable, um, with
the energy that I'm supposed

to bring on a walk.

BLANCA [over phone]:
Guys, first walk down.

Passed by eight dogs,
and he growled once.

But overall, he
did so awesome.

BLANCA: You know, I
still have the fear
when I walk Sirius and

when I encounter other dogs,
but it's getting better,

and, um, I feel good about it.

DANIELLE: Good job, Mom.

NARRATOR: Today,
Cesar heads to Pomona
for a final challenge.

CESAR: When I first met them,
the Garcias were full of fear,

with no clue how to
claim their space and

control Sirius's constant
fear and aggression.

MANUEL: Come here,
get over here.

CESAR [off-screen]: Now the
family has the tools, and
Sirius knows what it feels

like to be a happy
back-of-the-pack dog.

But having the tools
and putting them to use
are two different things.

BLANCA: The stakes are pretty
high that we get this right,

and that we learn how
to control ourselves
and control Sirius,

because the last thing that
we want is to give him away.

CESAR: The
final challenge starts
when I ring the doorbell.

[door bell rings]

[barking]

BLANCA: Hey! Tsch.

[barking]

Hey, hey, hey!

Oh my goodness.

[barking]

BLANCA: Oh my goodness.

MANUEL: So we've been,
uh, working with Sirius,

and, uh, he was doing well,

but of course the
moment Cesar arrives,

he defaults back
to his old self and,
uh, continues barking.

CESAR: Listen, when the brain
is at 100 miles an hour,

just come loop him up.

And you're gonna control
that in like, two seconds.

Let's do it again.

BLANCA: Alright.

CESAR: Silence is
your super power!

[door bell rings]

BLANCA: Hey, buddy.
MANUEL: Give it to me.

CESAR: Yes.

Mm-hmm!

CESAR [off-screen]:
Instead of yelling, "No!"

when Sirius starts barking,
Manuel stayed silent and

slipped a leash
over the dog's head.

This calm, confident approach
showed Sirius that he doesn't

have anything to fear
and the barking stopped.

Much better. Much better.

MANUEL: Okay. Ready, Sirius?

CESAR: The question is whether
that calm confidence and

emotional control continues in
the backyard by the fence and

the neighbor's dog.

[distant barking]

BLANCA: Tsch. Hey.
Tsch. Get back. Get back.

Lay down.

Good job, Bub.

CESAR: This is great.
BLANCA: Good job, Sirius.

[cheering]

He didn't even bat an eye
at the, at the other dog.

And I was so proud of
Sirius Black for that.

I really was, and
I was proud of us.

CESAR: Again, I'm
seeing all the right things.

The dog barking next
door isn't sending Sirius
into fearful fight mode,

and the Garcias' energy
is much more controlled.

But the final
test is the biggest,

how will Sirius and Blanca
do when they are face to face

with other dogs on
a neighborhood walk.

Well, Blanca,
let's do this walk.

BLANCA: Yes.
ALL: Let's go.

BLANCA: Being calm with
the fence is one thing,

but it's a whole other
story when there's dogs
around and people around.

I don't know how
Sirius is going to behave.

I just have to be focused.

CESAR: The challenge
today is just gonna...

We're gonna to pass by
all these beautiful dogs.

Don't worry about not
feeling the nervousness,

but just go through it.

This is the best
way, uh, to do it.

BLANCA: Yeah. Right.

CESAR [off-screen]:
I've asked one of the
Garcias' neighbors to walk

her dog by Blanca to
test if she can pass
without Sirius lunging.

Okay, let's go.

BLANCA: I got it!
CESAR: Alright,
step to the side.

BLANCA: Alright, guys.
I'll see you later.

MANUEL: You've got this.

BLANCA: Okay, let's go dude.

You've got this.

Hey.

Good morning.

[barking]

CESAR: Blanca's nervous.
She starts nervous.

And her fear paralyzes her and

pushes Sirius even
more over the edge.

Okay. I'll do it with you.
Stop right there.

BLANCA: Tsch.

CESAR: Let me do it once
so he knows not to do it.

BLANCA: The initial
fail was like, aww man.

Seeing Sirius lunge and
growl at these other dogs.

I mean, this was the
worst-case scenario, right?

I kind of felt a, a
little bit like a failure.

So, it was, it was a
little nerve wracking.

CESAR: Alright.
So I'm going to do it.

Tsch.

Tsch.

So before he gets.

BLANCA: Got you.
CESAR: Before he gets, right?

Because you're
doing this motion,

but you're doing
it once he escalated.

BLANCA: Yep.

CESAR: Okay, so do it,
do it at the moment...

at the moment that he sees,
"We're very close, Mom."

Tsch. And then he goes down.

BLANCA: Got it.
CESAR: Alright. One more time.

BLANCA: Alright,
let's do this.

Let's go.

Tsch, tsch.

[barking]

Tsch.

CESAR: Come on,
let's do it again.

BLANCA: Alright.
Here baby, you ready?

Let's go.

CESAR: Stay right there.

BLANCA: Tsch.

CESAR: Yay!

Yay! Come back, come back.

Come on Blackie.

You can see it very clear,

she's not thinking
about it anymore.

She's just freeing
herself from fear.

'Cause that's why
she was able to pass.

BLANCA: Cesar taught
me to anticipate the
other dog's energy,

and at that point,
you know how, how much
space you have to give him.

Let's go.

CESAR: Shoulders up.
Shoulders up.

Yay!

[laughing]

BLANCA: Good job, Sirius.

Being able to walk
Sirius without him lunging,

or barking, or growling was
such a success for me because

what it showed me was
that I can actually do it,

that it can actually happen.

That Sirius, with
the calm confident
energy that we provide,

can be a, a, a
great dog on a walk.

MANUEL: It was great, I was
proud of Blanca and Sirius.

BLANCA: Good job!

CESAR: Yeah,
reunited with the family,
because that's just reward.

[overlapping chatter]

BLANCA [off-screen]: The
work is still ahead of us,

but we're so proud of Sirius.

And his improvement shows us
that we can move past our fear

of losing him in a similar
way like we did Canny's.

[laughing]

I love that!
That is so good.

CESAR: That's great.
That's great.

DANIELLE: Good job, guys.
BLANCA: Good job, guys!

MANUEL: Yep!
DANIELLE: Good job!

CESAR: I am proud
of Manuel and Blanca.

When I first met them,
the whole house was
trapped in their fear.

Now they have the toolset to
calm Sirius' anxiety before

he gets aggressive.

Any regrets they have
about the dog they lost

is no longer affecting
the dog they have now.

CESAR [off-screen]: Everybody
has pain in their past.

We've seen how often
we turn to dogs as part
of the healing process.

But sometimes,
believe it or not,

we allow our dogs to
hold us back from healing.

Maybe they remind
us of a dog we lost,

or maybe they're misbehaving
in ways that makes it

hard for us to get better.

But always, we should remember
that dogs live in the present.

So if they remind
us of our past pain,

they are also showing us how
to leave fear and pain behind,

and embrace our
calm confident now.