What the Sheep See

In his book, What the Dog Saw, Malcolm Gladwell profiles the dog whisperer Cesar Millan. What emerges in Gladwell’s study is that Millan has the ability to perceive what the dog sees when it sees its owner or provider. So what do the sheep see when they see the shepherd?

“Dear Lord, please make me into the person my dog thinks I am.”

That dog-owners’ prayer has a lot of aspirational truth in it. Dogs tend to be overjoyed at the sight of their masters after returning from a long day at work. Who wouldn’t want to be the kind of person that everyone enthusiastically greets and can’t wait to see?

But what makes a dog go insane with joy when seeing his human come through the door? What’s going on in that little doggy brain and how does a wise owner leverage that loyalty into good and consistent canine behavior? To understand that, you’ve got to know something about animal psychology and those who know it best are called “whisperers.”

For eight years, Cesar Millan was the dog whisperer on a TV show by the same name and had an uncanny knack for taking a problem dog and turning him into a happy, healthy, obedient best friend. For Millan, it all came down to understanding what a dog wants and needs to be ...