Cesar Millan: Better Human Better Dog (2021–…): Season 1, Episode 8 - Dogs v. Cats - full transcript

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.

CESAR (off-screen): Today,
I'm still doing what I love,

but the pandemic
has changed the world.

(overlapping chatter)

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.

KYLE: No.
CESAR: So many things
you can fix already.

Tsch!

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

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

CESAR: Do you know who I am?

MEGAN: Yes.

CESAR (off-screen): 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're
gonna have everything else!

ALL: Yay!

CESAR: And that's how we
create better humans and

better dogs,
one pack at a time.

So I'm on my way
to the Lujan family.

They have five
children, three dogs.

They have a
red-zone situation.

They have a dog named Kuma,
who is a Rottweiler,

who is going after people,
dogs, and children.

Now this breed is very
special to me because my kids

grew up around Rottweilers.

So I know they come across
as extremely dangerous or

extremely aggressive if
their needs are not met.

It's all about how
you take care of them.

It's all about how
you connect with them.

This is a very
serious situation.

It's definitely a 911.

CONRAD: You ready?
Upside down.

You're going to catch. Ready?

Count of three.

One, two, three!

(laughs)

ALL: Hi, we are
the Lujan family.

(kids playing)

CONRAD: My name is Conrad.
This is my wife, Lily.

We have five children,
four boys, one girl,

and we have three dogs:
Kuma, Coana, and Ahsoka.

CONRAD (off-screen): Coana,
she's about 14 years old.

Very motherly, she's
the watchdog of the house.

(yelling)

Then we have Ahsoka,
who is four months old.

She's just a playful puppy.

Just wants to chew on
everything and everybody.

And then we have Kuma.

LILY (off-screen):
Kuma is two years old.

We got him when he was
three and a half months.

CONRAD (off-screen):
It was love at first
lick I would say.

(laughs)

Yeah, yeah. Definitely.

He's very loving
to the children,

very loving to our family.

Uh, he's very playful.

We were the big
family with the three dogs
walking up and down the block.

That's how our
neighbors looked at us.

But unfortunately, we're not
able to do that any longer.

(growling)

CONRAD: Kuma!
LILY: Kuma no. No.
CONRAD: Watch it. Watch it!

We had a break-in
unfortunately in our home.

And after the break-in,
everything changed for us.

After the police had left,

I went into the backyard
to check on the dogs.

Coana started to cower
like she was going to be hit,

and then we went
to talk to Kuma.

He would back away,
kind of unsure.

So we knew that
something happened,

but what happened, we
we really don't know.

LILY: Things took a turn for
the worse after the burglary.

We started seeing,
um, changes in Kuma.

He just started
barking at everyone.

(barking)

He was less people friendly.

And then, when we try to play
with him out in the front,

he lunges at the gate.

(barking)

CONRAD: My wife and
I are always scouting.

If we see someone
coming, we're like,

"Hey. Someone's
coming down the block."

Everyone, dogs inside, and
then we wait for them to pass,

and then we
bring them back out.

(barking)

He's becoming dog-aggressive,
very difficult to walk him.

The minute he sees
a dog, he tenses up.

He'll fixate on them, then
he'll try to go after the dog.

(howls)

He's very strong, and if he
pulls and that leash happens

to slip out of my hand, I have
no doubt in my mind that there

would definitely be
a very bad dog fight.

He could definitely kill the
other dog because of his size.

LILY: It's worrying because
he used to listen, but now,

he just, he kind of blocks
out what we're saying.

CONRAD: Since we
have five children and

you know, their
friends come over.

And recently, when the
children were running around,

Kuma tried to go
after the children.

Now you have a 110-pound
Rottweiler jumping on a child.

That was petrifying for us,
and that's when we

unfortunately
had to muzzle him.

Now that his
behavior has changed, our...

our world has changed.

We're not able
to go on the walks.

We can't even take him
to a dog park anymore

because of the aggression.

LILY: Yeah.

CONRAD: My children
suffer from it because now

their friends don't
want to come over and

spend time with them because
everyone's afraid of the dog.

So again, now we have to lock
the dog up and it just starts

to change the whole
dynamics of, of, a, a
family being together.

LILY: We're so fragmented
right now with everything

that's going on with Kuma.

That we really just
want to feel whole again.

CONRAD: We've tried
all the avenues that,
that were available to us,

and we really don't
have any other roads to go.

LILY: Go ahead.

CONRAD: Sorry. Sorry. Yeah.

LILY: We don't
want to give up,

but this is creating
so much stress and

so much anxiety all the time,
that if we can't correct it,

Kuma, um, will have
to leave our family.

And I, I cannot imagine,
um, that happening.

BOY: There's our ball.

CESAR: Hello, hello, hello!
CONRAD: Oh, it's Cesar.

CESAR: How are you guys?
How are you?

KIDS: Hello.
CONRAD: How are
you doing, sir?

CESAR: Really good.
Really good.

What do we have here?

CONRAD: This is
the Lujan family.

CESAR: The Lujan family.
Nice to meet you all. Okay.

CONRAD: And then we have,
uh, our little puppy, Ahsoka.

CESAR: Ahsoka?

CONRAD: We have our old
lady here. This is Coana.

CESAR: Okay.

CONRAD: And then, we have
the reason why we're all here.

CESAR: Mm-hmm.
The man himself. Kuma.

CONRAD: He's aggressive
towards other dogs.

CESAR: Okay.

CONRAD: And recently we've
been seeing that he's being a

little aggressive
towards some friends who
come over with their children.

CESAR: Mm-hmm.

CONRAD: And that's
a big concern for us.

CESAR: Mm-hmm.

CONRAD: The children were
running around, playing,

and he lunged towards
our friends' children.

CESAR: Okay. Okay.

CONRAD: So it's kind of a,
a ball of issues that we're

hoping that you would
be able to help us with.

CESAR: Watch his reaction.

(growling)

(barking)

(growling)

CESAR: This is bad.
LILY: We can't even walk him.

We'll go on pack
walks with our friends,

and we can't even take Kuma
with us because he's being a

little too aggressive
with the other dogs.

CESAR: Right.

LILY: And I think that's,
oh man, I got emotional.

I think that's the
hardest part is because...

since he's been
a puppy, he's so,

I mean, he's such a good dog
and then we just can't take

him outside the
gate and it breaks our
heart like all the time.

CESAR: Yeah. When did
you notice his behavior
becoming more aggressive?

CONRAD: Someone
broke into our house,

and these guys were
in the very back, back.

CESAR: Yeah.

CONRAD: And that day,
we went back there,

and Coana, once I
went to her I was like,

"Hey," she went like this.

And then this guy
did one of these.

CESAR: Right.

CONRAD: And that
wasn't their character,

so we didn't know if
something was thrown at him,

whether it hit, we
don't know what happened.

But there was definitely a
change in their personality.

CESAR: A shift.
CONRAD: Yeah, a shift.

We don't know if,
would that cause some
of with what's going on, or?

CESAR: Yeah. Especially if you
don't help them to stabilize.

I believe dogs
live in the moment,

not in the past, but
sometimes when they suffer a

really traumatic event,
it's possible the dog can
become fearful, aggressive,

and easily triggered.

So as pet parents, it's
our job to reestablish a

sense of stability back
into their environment.

CESAR (off-screen):
If you don't, you can
actually make things worse.

But definitely you do have
a, a case that if he gets out,

he going to hurt someone.

LILY: He has. Yeah.

CONRD: Yeah
LILY: That's our worry.

CESAR: Let's just
take him for a walk.

Conrad, show me how
you lead him. Let's go.

CONRAD: We're coming out.
All right?

CESAR: Yeah.

(barking)

(yelping)

CONRAD: And relax.

(barks)

CESAR: Whoa. Yeah, he's
really easily triggered.

When you have an easily
triggered dog that is the

size and strength
of a Rottweiler,

it can be too much for
most people to handle.

Conrad is a big guy, but it's
not his fault he's unable to

control all Kuma's
power and volatility.

I just need a minute with him.

Let me take him
down the block.

Here, let's get this
harness off of you.

Tsch, tsch, tsch.
Tsch, tsch, tsch.

Hey.

Tsch.

Tsch, hey.

This aggressive
Rottweiler, which by the way,

what you have is a
territorial Rottweiler.

LILY: Oh, okay.
CONRAD: Oh. Oh, okay.

CESAR: Yeah. So what
he's doing is territorial.

CESAR (off-screen): I can see
now the real issue with Kuma.

After the break in, he's
become very territorial,

meaning he gets aggressive
when he feel his territory

is being invaded, like
when I moved in close

to remove his harness.

Anything that gets near
him, he wants to attack.

It makes it
dangerous because he's
being territorial to anything,

dogs, cats, anything.

LILY: Right.
CONRAD: Okay.

CESAR: Because this is
such a powerful pack,

I need to bring them to
the safety of my ranch to

begin their rehabilitation.

We have to keep working.

This is something
that I would like for
you to do as a couple only.

BOTH: Okay.

CESAR: You know, so
bring the pack of dogs and

leave the pack of kids behind.

(laughter)

LILY: I'm so excited.

CESAR: All right.
See you tomorrow.

BOTH: See you tomorrow!

CONRAD: Thank you, sir.

CESAR: Yeah.
LILY: Thank you.

CONRAD: No way.
There's a llama.

LILY: There's a llama!

CONRAD: There's
like herd of llamas.

Yesterday when Cesar said
that Kuma's a red case,

my heart dropped I guess.

LILY: Yeah.

CONRAD: I knew he's bad,
but I didn't he was that bad.

LILY: Yeah.

Ah! Oh my God.

CESAR: Okay, guys. So this
is a great opportunity.

Every time you move a dog from
one place to another place the

new environment
gives them an open mind,

so it's easier to
get through to them.

CONRAD: Okay.

CESAR: Everything we're
doing with Kuma is to work on

his territorial issues.

Go through that door
over there. Look. Yeah.

Take the leashes off.

CESAR (off-screen):
We want to get him
comfortable in my dog park,

so he feels like
it's his territory.

Beautiful. Okay.
Come on in, guys.

Then I want to introduce
some of the most friendly,

happy-go-lucky dogs in order
to take baby steps teaching

Kuma that not everything
that approaches is a threat.

(barking)

Let me get that.

Tsch. Hey!

Hold on, Jaimito.

Wait, now
they're both charging.

CONRAD: Coana, relax!

CESAR: We have to
correct her behavior first!

Hey! Tsch.

CESAR: I got it. I got it.

Tsch.

Tsch. So she's been the
boss for a while. Coana.

LILY: Yeah.

CESAR: So what we're
finding right now is
that she taught them that.

CONRAD: Is the culprit.
LILY: Yeah.

CESAR: Yeah, yeah.
CONRAD: Yeah.

CESAR: Now I can see that
the old girl Coana has taught

her little brother
Kuma how to charge,

which could
lead to aggression.

It's possible her behavior is
also a result of the break-in,

but right now I just need
to get her under control.

Hey. Hey.

Tsch. Tsch! Tsch!

There you go.

Don't back away.
Don't just stand there.

Support!

You have do the same
thing we're doing.

CONRAD: Okay, okay.
I didn't know if you wanted.

CESAR: Yep. Block her.
We need to block her.

She needs to sit
and surrender.

Get your hands
out of your pocket, yeah.

Tsch.

You must send them all
the way to calm surrender.

CONRAD: Okay.

CESAR: This is something
that I couldn't plan for it.

CONRAD: Right.

CESAR: Because she never
did anything wrong yesterday.

CONRAD: Yeah.
LILY: Mm-hmm.

CESAR: Now you
know who taught him.

LILY: How to behave.

CESAR: How to, how to, like,
charge the fence,

but you saw she went after me.

Good thing she had no teeth!

(laughter)

That's like an old girl.

Coana's charging is not
particularly dangerous.

What's dangerous is how Kuma
has adopted that behavior.

Now I want to see how
he behaves when we tether

the older girl to the fence to
remove her from the situation.

CESAR (off-screen):
Now, we're going to
let the other dogs in.

I want to see how Kuma reacts.

Hey. He can charge.

Tsch.

There you go, beautiful.

Tsch. Hey. Hey. Tsch.

LILY: He like
hides behind her.

CONRAD: Yeah.
CESAR: That's right.

That's his boss.

CONRAD: So she's pack leader.
CESAR: Yeah!

Coana has taught Kuma
his bad habit of charging,

but we can see that
even with her tethered,

he's still triggered
by all the activity.

We know Kuma has suffered a
trauma after the break-in,

so the only way for him to
re-stabilize is to get the

comfort he needs
from his pet parents.

Come this way.

I want to show you something.

Look how much power
she has over you.

CONRAD: He's staying with her.
LILY: Staying with her.

CESAR: Instead of the human.

He should choose the humans,

but because she
gives them directions,

and she tells him what to do,

and she has
pretty much raised him.

LILY: Yeah.

CESAR: You know,
from a dog point of view.

That's why his
loyalty is to her.

CONRAD: Oh, that's amazing.

LILY: We did not
know that Coana was
the pack leader at all.

She's actually the one
feeding the behavior to him.

So that was a
humbling experience for us,

because we thought we
were the pack leaders.

CONRAD: My mind's
still blown that he
hasn't come over to us.

LILY: Yeah. He's still
standing next to her.

CONRAD: And I
thought we were buddies.

CESAR: That's right.

Buddies versus leader,
two different things.

CONRAD: Two different things.

CESAR: If you're only
buddies with your dog,

you're never going to be
able to snap them out of

a frightened mindset,
like this break-in created.

They'll see everyone
as a potential danger.

CONRAD: We have a bigger
issue than we thought.

CESAR: Yep.

To fix this, Conrad and
Lily need to head home and

practice real leadership
by walking the dogs often.

When encountering other
people or other dogs,

they should guide
Kuma to sit calmly,

and remain under the
pet parents' leadership.

NARRATOR: While Conrad and
Lily begin to work with their

dogs to re-establish trust
and security within the home.

Cesar meets with a
couple who's dog is
constantly on the hunt.

RYAN: Ivy, how are you
doing back there, kiddo?

(barks)

KIM: Ivy, what do you think?

Are you excited?

She's like, "I don't
know what's happening."

RYAN: My name is Ryan.
KIM: And I'm Kim.

RYAN: We have three kids,
three cats, and two dogs.

KIM: Coco and Lady Ivy,
our latest addition.

(barking)

RYAN: Lady Ivy
is 18 months old.

She's a Pitsky, a
Pitbull Husky mix.

KIM: We rescued Ivy during
the start of the pandemic,

since we had the time.

RYAN: She is in
that puppy phase,

rambunctious and just loving.

The kids really have
gotten attached to Lady Ivy.

They love her. Great dog.

Interesting to see with
Ivy on a ranch like this,

with squirrels and rabbits
that are running around,

to see how she'll react.

KIM: How she'll behave.

I'm excited to see
what Cesar can do,

trying to get Ivy to
not kill our other pets.

RYAN: That would be nice.

KIM: We live on
a property that is
perfect for a large dog.

RYAN: Lots of
wildlife on our property.

KIM: But if she sees
a squirrel, a bird,

a rabbit on the street.

RYAN: She just takes
off 110 miles an hour.

Hey. Stay with me.
Stay with me.

It's this instinct that
she has that really kind of

takes over, and
it's a bit scary.

(barks)

RYAN (off-screen): She
does this leap in the air,
pounces on the squirrel,

and in one shake of her
head, takes them apart.

It's always a bloody mess.

KIM: And now we're afraid
our cats might be next.

(barking)

We've had Lady Ivy
for eight months,

and that whole time, the
cats have been sequestered in

our bedroom because if
she does get near them,

she tears off after
them and chaos ensues.

(hissing)

RYAN: One time, uh, a cat
got loose from our bedroom,

and they were sort of
growling at each other.

And Lady Ivy pounced,
just like she would when

attacking an animal.

And so I dove on Ivy,
rolled her off.

The while,
getting bit on my arm,

blood trickling down
my hands and arms.

The cat took off, and we
kind of avoided disaster,

but it was a close call.

If you didn't close
the master bedroom door,

it could mean the cat's lives.

KIM (off-screen): We love her.

She's so sweet and such
a good part of the family,

but if we can't
get this to work out,

we are going to
have to re-home Ivy.

So we're hoping
that this works.

RYAN: We're need a
little bit of a miracle.

It'd be very, very
difficult to let this kid go.

KIM: Ready, guys?
We're going to meet Cesar.

Here we go, guys.
It's all good. Hi.

CESAR: Good morning.
KIM: Morning.

CESAR: Good morning.
RYAN: Good morning.

How are you?

CESAR: Pleasure to meet you.

Get him out.
Let's get him out.

RYAN: Okay,
let's go. Hi, sweetie.
Hi, sweetie. Oh, yes.

KIM: Here we go, Coco.

CESAR: Ooh, okay.

She's pulling.
And she's like this
all the time, correct?

RYAN: Yeah.

CESAR: Her mind is
somewhere else already.

RYAN: Yeah. Her mind
is somewhere else.

KIM: Mm-hmm.
CESAR: Yeah.

So the only way that
you can hold her here is
because you have a leash on.

She looks like she
wants to run off and hunt.

The dog was pulling on the
leash the moment it was out

of the car,
already on the hunt.

Her mind was not
here with us because her
prey drive was in overdrive.

So I want to test the limits
of that drive by introducing

the largest prey
animal she's ever seen.

Can, can we get him?

WOMAN: Yeah.

CESAR: Let's go for a
little walk with a donkey.

(brays)

We know she likes to
hunt squirrels and rabbits,

but carefully observing how
she interacts with Marty will

help us understand how
deep her problem goes.

So we're going to
bring the donkey and
her to walk together.

KIM: Okay.

CESAR (off-screen): To
make sure everything's safe,

I'm going to hold
both lines and stand

like a barrier between them.

The person in the middle,

needs to be calm confident
because she's anxious.

Her whole prey drive,
tsch, this is mental.

It's like a
Formula One driver.

They want adrenaline
200 miles an hour.

Tsch. Calm down. Tsch.

Tsch.

(barks)

That is the prey drive.

Tsch. You're getting too
excited. It's not allowed.

Tsch! Hey.

(barking)

CESAR Tsch. Hey. Tsch.
It's not allowed. Tsch.

She has learned to chase.

The predator is the
one who is on the hunt,

but she needs to go
back to domesticated dog.

She's definitely
tapping into her prey drive,

but we always knew
that was a possibility.

Now, the important thing is
to see if she stays in that

head space or if
we can calm her down,

so she doesn't
see Marty as prey.

(speaking in native language)

Let's see if we can
remove the predatorial state.

So like, like, when
you're walking and, and
your, and somebody's coming.

Tsch.

(barks)

Tsch.

So what we're doing
is letting her know

to chase is not an option.

KIM: And when you're
passing by another animal

you want to be in between...

CESAR: Right, I
mean it's easier.

KIM: Right.
CESAR: Tsch.

You know, so
instead of you saying,

"Leave it and
drop it, don't do it."

(takes deep breath)

You breathe, and you
visualize exactly how
you want it to happen.

RYAN: Mm-hmm.

CESAR: You're
asking her to wait and...

KIM: Wait patiently.
CESAR: Wait patiently.

So that becomes more mental.

RYAN: Mm-hmm, Mm-hmm.

CESAR: I understand
you're a hunter,

but we don't want
that in the city.

RYAN: Yeah.
KIM: Right.

CESAR: This dog is
not an aggressive dog.

She's constantly on
the hunt because it's like

she's addicted to the
adrenaline rush she gets

from chasing prey.

She's pulling.
Her mind is somewhere else.

But we have to teach her
there's a time and place for

that and to show her how
to turn it off instead of

going 200 miles an
hour all the time.

All right. Let's go back.

So to do that, I'm
going to need to get a

better understanding of
the situation at home.

RYAN: We need a path
forward so that normal life

can be what it should be.

Over the past nine months,

we have kept our cats
in our master bedroom.

We'd like to keep
our doors open.

We'd like to be
one big family,

and right now our
family is separate.

I feel like at some point,
it's going to turn into

a mess or a death.

I've been working
at home, you know,

for nine or ten months, and
I'm a little worried about

going back into
my office right now.

I have to be in the
house just to kind of

make sure everything is okay.

You get to the point where
you can't go any further.

CESAR: Your cats
don't feel safe.

KIM: No.
RYAN: Right.

CESAR: We definitely
have to take care of
the instinct of Ivy.

RYAN: Yeah.

CESAR: She's hunting,
and her hunting means kill.

KIM: Right.
CESAR: Yeah.

You know, you
have not been able to
connect her to your cats.

KIM: Mm-hmm.

CESAR: So the cats are,
you know, game for her.

KIM: Right, yeah.

CESAR (off-screen):
The problem with keeping
Ivy separated from the cats

is she will never
get used to them.

They're not part of her pack.

They are game.

This entire pack
needs to be unified,

but they're not
ready for that.

Before I see them again,

I want them to
practice their homework.

Instead of keeping the
cats behind closed doors,

I want them to open them up.

But keep the protective gates.

Ivy and the cats
need to see each other,

while Kim, Ryan and the
kids keep a controlled,

calm energy without becoming
tense like they have been.

This is how dogs and cats
start to see each other as

something other
than predator and prey.

RYAN: That sounds great.
CESAR: Thank you, guys.

Appreciate it.

KIM: Thank you, Cesar.

CONRAD (off-screen):
Good boy, Kuma.

We had some homework, Cesar
wanted us to take Kuma out on

a pack walk with the family.

Look how good he's
doing, son. Right?

Making sure that Kuma's
following us instead of Coana.

He's not even
paying attention to her.

Look, he's locked in on you.

LILY: Yeah. I
think he's definitely
stopped deferring to Coana,

and he sees us
as the leaders now.

CONRAD: But Kuma's
still being territorial.

He's still charging the fence.

We, we need some insight
on, on how to fix that.

CONRAD: Good morning, sir.

CESAR: Unusual, unusual
weather here today at the DPC.

CONRAD: It's
nice and hot today.

CESAR: Yes.

Listen, I can control animals,
but I can't control weather.

CONRAD: All right.
Should we bring them out?

CESAR: Yeah. Bring
them out. Bring them out.

CESAR (off-screen): After
watching the homework,
you can see Kuma is now

following Conrad and
Lily instead of Coana.

But his territorial aggression
is a learned behavior,

and he's been doing it whether

the old girl is
present or not.

It's his most
dangerous behavior,

so to address it we
need to isolate him.

CONRAD: Good. Let's go.
There we go.

NARRATOR: In his dog park,
Cesar will introduce

large breed dogs that Kuma
may feel threatened by.

If the dog
reacts aggressively,

Conrad and Lily need
to show leadership using

their energy to block him,
and snap him out

of the territorial mindset.

CESAR: You can
take the muzzle off.

CONRAD: Come here, buddy.

CESAR: The reason why I asked
you to take the muzzle off is

because he's in a
good state of mind.

And the memory that
he had here before,

I want it back.

CONRAD: Got it.

Cesar tells us, let's
take off the muzzle,

but I'm nervous, not knowing
how Kuma's going to respond.

CESAR: Let's get to work.

LILY: We've never had
Kuma without a muzzle around

people or other dogs.

CESAR: All right,
let's get him in there.

LILY: So I'm
definitely nervous.

CESAR: All right,
let's get a dog!

(barking)

He's claiming his
territory. Watch out.

CESAR: Let's go. Correct him.

LILY: Tsch. Tsch.
CESAR: No charging.

CONRAD: Let me go help.
LILY: Can you go corner him?

And then get him away.

CONRAD: Tsch. Tsch.

LILY: Now he's backing up.

CESAR: But then he
goes to do it over here.

Okay. That's better.

Come a little closer, Ariana.

The brain's still over there.

Tsch.

CONRAD: Tsch.

BOTH: There we go.

CESAR: Nice. By, beautiful
teamwork, by the way.

CONRAD: Thanks.
CESAR: Beautiful. Beautiful.

Now we're seeing
some real progress.

Conrad and Lily physically
blocked Kuma to snap him out

of his territorial mindset,

which brought him
to calm surrender.

They don't even know what
this dog is truly capable of,

so now I need to show them
that with their guidance,

Kuma has the ability
to go from feeling like

he's constantly
threatened to a gentle giant.

Come over here.
Kuma, come on.

You create the calm surrender
and then you call him away.

Don't call him away
when he's excited.

BOTH: Okay.
CESAR: All right.

Let's do it again.

CONRAD: I was gonna ask if
we could do it again, perfect.

CESAR: Let's get another dog!

Look at that.
That's beautiful.

Good boy. That's right.
His chest is not tense.

LILY: Mm-hmm.
CONRAD: Okay.

CESAR: You know?
His head is not high.

You can see the
smile on the face.

LILY: Yeah!

Once the pet
parents corrected him,

they were able to get
him to a calm surrender.

From that point forward, he
didn't even need a correction

when the other dogs walked by.

How cool is that?

This strategy is incredible.
Super proud of you guys.

Look at that.

(laughter)

When it comes to dogs,
look, he's already saying,

"Dog means happy-go-lucky."

When we started with Kuma, it
was clear his territorialism

was triggered by dogs,

(barking)

and also people and children.

His dog reactivity
is improving.

You can see the
family has hope again,

so I want to send them home
to continue blocking him

anytime he gets triggered.

Work with this at home and
come back with the family.

CONRAD: All right.
CESAR: So I can see you guys.

Bye, Rottweiler.

CONRAD: Ready, buddy?

RYAN: Tsch. Above
your shoulder there.

Tsch. There you go.

KIM: Yeah.

KIM (off-screen):
Since working with Cesar,

we've been doing a
lot of work with Ivy,

getting her to
surrender and be calm.

What do you think?

That's awesome.

RYAN: We've seen little
glimpses of her being

the right frame of mind to
be able to meet the cats.

RYAN (off-screen):
Lady Ivy and the cats
were making eye contact and

we've avoided disaster.

But it was a tense moment.

KIM: Hey, kitty.

It's still nerve-racking.

RYAN: It's really a
life or death situation.

NARRATOR: Cesar
welcomes Kim, Ryan,

and their children back
to the DPC to work on the

next step of Lady Ivy's
rehabilitation.

CESAR: This way.

Now we're going into the
chickens and the ducks.

Lady Ivy has been
hunting her whole life.

And now, she's
hunting the family cats.

(growls and hissing)

I'd say this is your
classic case of dog vs. cat,

but Ivy is capable
of some real damage.

Now that Covid lockdowns
are starting to lift,

Ryan is heading back
to the office soon,

so Kim is the
matriarch of the house.

Today is all about
changing her energy,

which can be a little tense,

into a calm,
confident leadership.

At the same time, we're safely
lowering Ivy's prey drive by

desensitizing her
to the animals we know

she'd normally love to hunt.

Now, don't let her stop,
just keep going.

KIM: Okay.
Tsch, tsch. Come on.

IAN: She doesn't want to go.
CESAR: Come on.

KIM: Okay.
CESAR: There you go.

There you go.
Don't hesitate.

KIM: Don't make it,
just make it happen.

CESAR: Don't ask permission.

(sighs)

(ducks squawking)

Don't worry about the ducks.

You stay calm, she stays calm.

(ducks squawking)

Keep going, keep going,
keep going.

Relax the arm.

Wait, wait, wait, wait.

So watch this.

So what happens is
you kept your arm tense.

KIM: Mm-hmm.
CESAR: Here, look.

You see it?

KIM: So she relaxes then.

CESAR: Yeah.
KIM: Okay.

CESAR: Because
this, this becomes
like a, a tense moment,

but if you keep it tense.

KIM: Then she feels the tense.
CESAR: She's going to fight.

CESAR: Yeah.
KIM: Okay.

CESAR: Kim goes
from hesitation to tense
and the dog can feel this,

which keeps her in an
agitated or excited state

and leads to
adrenaline-seeking
behaviors like hunting.

Go around the
ducks right there.

KIM: Go around again?
CESAR: Yup.
KIM: Okay.

CESAR: Relax the arm.

(ducks squawking)

Beautiful.

Now you see how she's
ignoring the ducks?

RYAN: Did you guys see that?
IAN: That's amazing.

CESAR: Yee-haw!
KIM: Yay!

(clapping)

CESAR: All right!
That's art to me.

(laughing and clapping)

This is my art.

RYAN: A work of art.
CESAR: Look at that.

Look at that. Yes.

KIM: There we go.
CESAR: Yes.

RYAN: I'm shocked that
Ivy made it through this

little gauntlet of
the chickens and ducks.

KIM: I can't believe that
she didn't at least attempt

to bolt at the, at the ducks.

I'm really proud
of how calm she was,

and how she was
able to respect the
space of the animals.

RYAN: Mm-hmm.
That was remarkable.

CESAR: Yeah. Look. Look.
KIM: Look at her.

CESAR: That's a calm
surrender customer!

RYAN: That's calm
surrender right here.

CESAR: Like, "I'm done."
KIM: Yes.

RYAN: She's going
to pass that one.
CESAR: Yup!

Now that we've shown
Kim and Ryan that Lady Ivy
can achieve calm surrender,

both the dog
and the family are ready

to finally unite
with the cats.

We know how powerful
her hunting instincts are,

so we must still be cautious.

NARRATOR: The next morning,

Cesar arrives at
the Liljegren home

and prepares the family
to finally introduce

Lady Ivy to their cats.

CESAR: All right. So we're
here for your final test.

Kim, you're gonna pass
by the bedroom first.

KIM: Mm-hmm.

CESAR: The whole point is
for her to practice avoidance,

calm surrender to you.

KIM: Okay.

CESAR: Once you
practice calm surrender,

then we went inside.

Kim needs to walk Ivy
upstairs and get her into a

calm surrender state
before entering the
room with the cats.

If she enters
before Ivy is settled,

it could be chaos.

So, so we're going to use the
muzzle just to keep it safe.

And everybody else is going
to go inside with the cats,

so that we're going
to do it as a pack.

RYAN: Sounds good. Cool.

KIM: I'm nervous about what
this is going to look like

when we do introduce
her to the cats.

So hopefully no one gets hurt.

But it's
definitely nerve-racking.

(sighs)

CESAR: Okay.

All right, Kim.
Let's do this.

Oh, that's bad. That was bad.

RYAN: The danger has
progressed around the cats.

If we can't figure
this situation out,

we would have to re-home
Lady Ivy at this point.

CESAR: Oh, that's bad.
That was bad. That was bad.

Lady Ivy walked into
the door and did that.

So that should be
snapped out of it.

That's bad.
That's alert, tense.

Ooh. You have to, uh, help.

CESAR (over radio): Uh,
Lady Ivy not to be so intense.

CESAR: You can
see the tension.

KIM: Tsch.
CESAR: See?

She's correcting
her over there versus
correcting it over here.

She needs to correct
her by the entrance.

Because when
she's by the door,

at the moment she does this,
I'm going to correct it,

and she's going
to go right back to

a calm surrender state.

So it's catching
there in that moment.

It's absolutely essential
that Kim can get Ivy into a

calm surrender state
right before entering

the room with the cats.

CESAR: Look, Kim.
KIM (over radio): Yes.

CESAR (over radio):
When she's coming in,

she's coming in with the
head high, ears forward.

CESAR: So that's not good.

Kim needs to pay close
attention to Ivy's ears and

tail to make sure
they're down instead of up.

That's how she's
going to know that Ivy is

ready to enter the room.

I just want you to...

KIM (over radio):
Watch the behavior.

CESAR: Yes.
KIM: Yeah.

CESAR (over radio):
The head low and the,
and the tail down,

that's what you want.

KIM: All righty.
So come down and come up?

CESAR (over radio): Yeah.

Ready.

CESAR (over radio):
Right there. Stop it...

CESAR: Right there.
You have to sit there.

CESAR (over radio): She's
not ready. Ears are up.

Now snap her out
of it with the touch.

KIM: Tsch.

CESAR (over radio):
There you go. Those
are the ears right there.

There you go. Perfect.

CESAR (over radio): Yeah, Kim!

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

CESAR: That's perfect.

(Kim sighs)

Yes! Love that face.

Yeah!

(clapping)

CESAR (over radio): I'm loving
that calm energy, Kim. Good.

Kim's energy is what
made the difference today.

When she started,
she was tense,

but she found the confidence
to make a real connection with

Ivy and calmly lead
her into the room.

Now, Ivy is not
hunting the cats.

KIM: There we go.

CESAR (off-screen):
Just showing respect
through distance.

Eventually, she won't
even need the muzzle.

That's how you transform an
adrenaline junkie hunter into

a calm member of the pack.

You can see it, right?

CESAR (over radio): The
body language is good.

KIM: It was great having
everyone in the room together

and working together.

All with the
kids and the cats,

and just getting that
unity of the whole pack,

the whole family,

and help Ivy be, uh,
assimilated into the family

instead of being
on the outside.

IAN: Oh, yeah.
I'm really happy we
don't have to re-home Ivy.

She's my favorite dog.

KIM: Cesar, thank you so much
for giving us all these tools

to work with Ivy, so that we
can have harmony in our home.

CONRAD: Kuma! Tsch.

Our homework was to work
with Kuma with his aggression

running towards the
gate or showing any type
of territorial aggression.

Kuma!

I think we're
doing a good job,

but I don't think
we're there yet.

Hey.

LILY (off-screen):
It's just hard sometimes
because he's so big

and he's so strong.

So I feel like I'm a little
scared to get in front of him

because I feel like he's
gonna tumble me over so,

um, I think I
need to work on that.

NARRATOR: The following day,
Cesar welcomes back the

Lujan family and their
two-year old Rottweiler, Kuma.

CONRAD: All right, guys.
CESAR: Welcome the new ones!

CONRAD: Say, "Hi,"
say, "I have arrived."

CESAR: The Queen
herself is here.

NARRATOR: When they first met,

Kuma showed
territorial aggression

toward strangers and
members of his own pack,

including children.

For the family to trust
the dog has transformed,

Cesar must put him to
a final series of tests.

CESAR: Come on in.
You guys ready to cheer daddy?

(cheering)

So we created this
little obstacle course
for you, brother.

CONRAD: Okay.
CESAR: We're gonna
have some distractions.

CONRAD: Okay.

CESAR: The kids are gonna
be some of that distractions,

we're going to have, uh...

CONRAD: That's a
big distraction.

CESAR: Some, uh, dogs
as well and some bikes.

Let me explain to
you what we're gonna do.

This is home.

CONRAD: My front yard. Okay.

CESAR: I need you to stay
focused no matter what.

CONRAD: Okay.
CESAR: Calmness is key.

CONRAD: Okay.
CESAR: You're
going to have Kuma.

CONRAD: Okay.
CESAR: Coming with you.

You're gonna have
him on the leash.

CONRAD: Okay.
CESAR: Put him here.

All of this is part of it.

For the final challenge,
Conrad needs to guide Kuma

through an obstacle course
overrun with distractions.

I want kids, dogs,
chaos everywhere.

So then Kuma's
gonna come here, you
can ask him to sit down.

CONRAD: Okay.

CESAR: Then with the leash,
you're gonna go around.

We need to surround
Kuma with everything that

once triggered him to
ensure that he can be trusted,

and that Conrad can provide
the calm confident leadership

this dog needs.

I'm gonna go get the pack.

All right, Lujan family.

No touch, no talk,
no eye contact. Okay?

BOY: All right. Got it.
CESAR: On the new pack.

I'm adding my pack to
the environment to see how

Kuma responds to humans
and dogs in his space.

If Kuma's territorial behavior
has not been refocused,

it will be exposed in
this final exercise.

Tsch. He's getting
too excited.

Go surround him.
Block him. Block him.

CONRAD: Tsch. Kuma! Hey!

Help. Help.

CONRAD: Tsch. Kuma! Hey.

CESAR: Before
we can even begin,

Kuma is triggered
by all the activity.

LILY: Got it?
BOY: Yeah.

CONRAD: Help. Help. Corner.

BOY: (inaudible) All right.
Ready? I got you. Hey.

CONRAD: Tsch. Tsch.

BOY: Kuma!

(overlapping chatter)

CESAR: That's beautiful, but
he needs to go all the way.

CONRAD: Wait for
him to sit, right?

CESAR: You can also push
the little bit at the back.

And there you go.

CONRAD: Good job, boys.
CESAR: Good job.

That was a pack work.

I can see the family has taken
their homework seriously.

Now, they're working
together to calm Kuma.

So I feel confident he's
ready to be near my pack.

This is like the equivalent
of being at the dog park,

but a cool dog park.

So that allows
your dog to focus and

disregard what is happening.

See, look how
good my boy is doing.

Yes! He's ready for the test.

All right, let's go.

For Kuma to be
trusted in the family home,

he needs to demonstrate
perfect obedience throughout

this final challenge.

This dogs, they all
understand social distance.

The obstacle course
is set up as one hurdle,

followed by a
resting platform, and so on.

Conrad must keep
Kuma perfectly focused,

despite of all the
activity and chaos.

Zero triggers, and we've got
a rehabilitated Rottweiler.

CONRAD: Come on. Up.

GIRL: Hey!
CONRAD: Up!

CESAR: Don't
lose your patience.

CONRAD: Here you go.
Come on, boy. Sit.

CESAR: There you go. Epa!

CONRAD: There we go.
CESAR: Yes!

CONRAD: There you go.
Come on boy. Up.

Sit, sit.

Back. Tsch. Stay.

BOY: Ahsoka!

(whistles)

CESAR: Yes!
CONRAD: Good boy. Go.

Go. Come on. There you go.

CESAR: Yeah. So what's
happening right now is
the energy calmed down.

Now Conrad is in control.

CONRAD: Go. Up.

CESAR: Your energy
is your most powerful
tool on this planet.

You understand, my friend?

(laughs)

BOY: Go, daddy!
CONRAD: Let's go. Good boy.

CESAR: He's doing good.
He's doing good.

CONRAD: Place. Sit, sit. Tsch.

(laughs)

CONRAD: Tsch. Ready?
CESAR: Ready. Ready.

Yay!

(cheering)

CONRAD: Hey!
Daddy did it! Kuma!

(speaking in native language)

(cheering)

CESAR: That was the start.
CONRAD: You see that?

CESAR: Oh, he sees, brother.

CONRAD: Right now I
feel really excited.

That was a big
achievement for me.

LILY: And we're all
excited for you too.

CONRAD: Oh, thanks.

BOY: What?
LILY: What? Say, "Go daddy."

BOY: No.

CESAR: When we first started,

Kuma was looking
at Coana as pack leader,

taking his cues from her.

CONRAD: He's staying with her.
LILY: He's staying with her.

CESAR: Instead of the human,

he should choose the humans.

And now he's completely
focused on Conrad and Lily,

who have
re-established themselves

as leaders of this pack.

Now the surprise
for the princess.

The whole pack is
gonna come with us,

and my boy is
gonna pull the cart.

CONRAD: Oh.
CESAR: Yes.

CESAR (off-screen): So the
cart is the extra challenge.

Rottweilers are cart dogs.

They can pull things.
They were bred for that.

This is how we reward.

Let's go! Let's go!

CONRAD: Oh,
let's go! Let's go!

LILY: In the beginning,
we didn't think it was

possible to trust
Kuma with the children,

but because of this process,

we've been able to
regain trust in him.

CONRAD: And we're
still working on that.

We'll continue to work on it,
continue to build that trust.

LILY: We're learning
and we're growing.

CONRAD: I think it was quite,
quite successful.

LILY: Both of you.
CONRAD: I'll give it to Kuma.

Kuma did a good job.

LILY: Good job, Kuma.
CONRAD: Look at that.

Good boy.

(laughing)

CESAR: There's no quick
fix for a case like this,

but seeing the commitment
Conrad and Lily have made

to stabilize Kuma after
that traumatic break-in.

That tells me this family
will conquer any challenge

if they do it together.

CONRAD: Good job, Kuma.
ALL: Yay, Kuma!

(cheering)

CESAR: We did it, Kuma!
CONRAD: Good job.

LILY: Come on, buddy.

CESAR: Sometimes,
it's impossible to

completely forget the
traumas from our past.

CONRAD: Look at
that Rottie, babe.

CESAR: But by
facing them head on,

and working
through them together,

we find a way to move forward
and become a healthier, safer,

and much stronger pack.

CONRAD: Good job, Kuma!
ALL: Yeah, Kuma!

CESAR: Woohoo!

Captioned by
Cotter Media Group.