WOW PET Angel

Daddy's Junior Millan

By the time Daddy, my original right-hand dog was fifteen, it was clear that he was slowing down and would soon need a successor to take over his role in the pack. He was becoming less energetic and having health issues. When I heard that a friend’s female pit bull had given birth to a litter about two months earlier, I took Daddy along to check out the puppies. Maybe he could find one to be Daddy’s apprentice.

I had been planning to chose the new puppy, but Daddy had other ideas. After he ignored my first few choices from the litter. One all-gray puppy with a dash of white on his chest caught my eye, even reminding me of Daddy as a puppy. But would this pup pass the Daddy test? Older dogs sometimes just don’t want to deal with an energetic puppy, so I hesitated to stress him out with a young dog… (but) you can’t believe how well it went!

The puppy immediately lowered his head, surrendering to the older dog, and allowed Daddy to smell him all over. Suddenly, the puppy started following Daddy around, instantly transferring his loyalty from his litter and mother to the calm, submissive pit bull — and Daddy accepted him immediately as well. My pack had a new member, and Daddy would have a successor.

From the beginning, Junior slept at night cuddled up next to Daddy, and Daddy had a new purpose: Teaching Junior how to be like him. This even included Daddy teaching the puppy the all-important skill of burying a bone.

The puppy readily absorbed most of Daddy’s lessons, especially taking on Daddy’s calm mellowness, which has was always helpful in dealing with aggressive dogs. Today when Junior has been attacked by other dogs, he never retaliates. He doesn’t run away, but just stands his ground calmly, defusing the situation.

Junior was a rambunctious puppy who loved to horse around, playing water and dirt games with youthful abandon. However, since pit bulls are more sight and sound oriented, I put a special focus on activities using Junior’s nose, such as “Find the Ball” and other tracking games.

Junior also felt a special affinity for my horse, Conquistador, and would follow him around the Dog Psychology Center (DPC). This, too, was an educational experience for the young dog. He learned the hard way not to sniff the horse’s back legs.

When he was not quite two years old, Junior started to take on Daddy’s public duties. He played a major role in the first Great Dog Adventure as my sidekick for all of the weekend’s events, including a fifty dog Pack Walk and a “Cesar Live!” benefit performance. Later that year, Junior joined the “Cesar Live!” tour. He also was the star of a CesarsWay.com photo shoot in which he had to pose with cats.

I described his behavior with children as “perfect.” He was also showing great progress in helping to evaluate unstable dogs, although he still needed to learn to be patient around unruly puppies.

He excelled working with senior dogs, though, showing them a great level of respect. I credited this entirely to Junior’s early experiences with Daddy, who was already fourteen when Junior joined the pack. Still, Junior and Daddy did have their differences. The biggest one, being that Junior’s actually more athletic than Daddy was.

He didn’t just swim, he dove under water. I called him ‘aqua-dog’ sometimes!”

If Junior did have a flaw, it was the very rare tendency to give in to that side of him that wanted to get into fights with other dogs. Junior “tried to listen to that side of him(self),” even though he knew it was not acceptable in the pack. Occasionally, he had to re-learn the lesson. “Just like teenage children.”

Like most teenagers, Junior grew up and became a calm, confident, and very well-traveled adult dog. He regularly joined me at personal appearances. In fact, Junior loved being in front of an audience so much that I had to hold him back until the announcer is done with their introduction.

It’s this fact, more than any other, that has made Junior the ideal successor to Daddy not only as Cesar’s right hand dog, but as an ambassador for his breed, and for powerful breeds everywhere. Junior was a living proof that pit bulls are not naturally aggressive, but have to be taught to be that way by humans.

Contributed via his Pack Leader, Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer.

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