A dog that suddenly lunges at bags, clothing, objects, or other everyday items may look as though the problem is simply bad behavior. But Brunello, a six-year-old boxer with an extreme fixation on bags, showed why a pet parent sometimes has to look deeper before deciding what a dog needs.
Brunello would become intensely excited around purses, shopping bags, gym bags, jackets, cones, and other objects. Once he locked onto something, getting him to let go was extremely difficult. What initially appeared to be an unusual behavioral obsession eventually revealed a much more complicated picture: Brunello had severely limited vision and hearing.
That discovery changed the approach to his rehabilitation.
For Cesar Millan, Brunello's case became a lesson in adapting to the dog in front of the human. Calmness, trust, repetition, and clear direction remained essential, but the methods had to account for the way Brunello actually experienced the world.
What Brunello's Behavior Revealed
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Brunello's fixation on bags was connected to extreme excitement, but his sensory limitations also appeared to play an important role.
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His vision and hearing problems changed how ordinary objects and sounds could affect him.
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A metal chain leash may have contributed to his reactions because he could still respond to certain high-pitched metallic sounds.
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Rehabilitation required using Brunello's strongest sense, his nose, instead of relying primarily on sight or hearing.
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Cesar emphasized trust, calmness, repetition, and guiding Brunello toward Calm, Surrender around objects that previously triggered him.
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Brunello's progress also depended on his pet parent learning to become calmer and more confident.
When Excitement Becomes an Extreme Fixation
Many dogs have triggers. Cesar described common examples such as the mailman, squirrels, a vacuum cleaner, or the television. Brunello's trigger was much more unusual.
Bags were his biggest obsession.
Outside the apartment, he could lunge toward purses and shopping bags whether or not someone was carrying them. Gym bags and designer bags could produce the same response. Once Brunello grabbed one, Adriana described him as entering a trance-like state in which he became extremely difficult to stop.
The problem extended beyond bags. During Cesar's initial assessment, Brunello also went after cones, clothing, and other objects.
Cesar identified the behavior as extreme excitement that had built into something much larger. Brunello was not focusing on the person carrying the object. He was focusing on the object itself. But that distinction did not make the situation safe. When a powerful dog becomes intensely fixated on an object attached to or carried by a person, somebody can still get hurt.
The first goal was therefore not simply to remove every bag from Brunello's environment. Cesar wanted him to learn how to exist near the objects without acting on the impulse to grab them.
A Dog Does Not Necessarily Grow Out of a Behavior
Adriana had hoped Brunello would eventually grow out of the problem.
Instead, he grew stronger while the behavior remained.
Cesar called this a classic mistake. When a serious behavior is not addressed, waiting for a dog to mature does not necessarily make it disappear. In Brunello's case, the pattern had become so established that Adriana no longer trusted him outside.
That lack of trust created another challenge.
Cesar pointed out that if Adriana approached Brunello expecting him to lose control, her energy could not provide the direction he needed to change his state of mind. She had good reasons for being worried because she had repeatedly seen how quickly he could react. Still, Cesar wanted to rebuild something deeper between them.
For him, trust had to come first.
He described the relationship in terms of trust, respect, and love, with trust serving as the foundation. The goal was not simply to make Brunello stop grabbing bags. Adriana needed to become a Calm, Confident pet parent who could guide him differently.
Why Cesar Realized This Case Was Different
Cesar initially used familiar rehabilitation strategies.
He walked Brunello in an effort to connect the dog with Calm, Confident energy. He changed the heavy chain leash for a slip leash because he wanted the leash to represent calmness rather than discomfort. He also brought Brunello around balanced dogs that could serve as role models.
At times, Brunello showed progress. He moved away from bags and briefly entered a calmer state.
But he could switch back into intense excitement very quickly.
Blocking the behavior did not fully resolve it. Redirecting Brunello into a walk did not settle him consistently either. At one point, his excitement became so extreme that he bit his own tongue.
That was when Cesar began to suspect that something deeper might be happening.
He also noticed Brunello's pupils appeared unusually open and decided that his eyes should be examined. Brunello's behavior had become a case where simply assuming everything was psychological no longer made sense.
Cesar took him to veterinarian Dr. Garcia for further evaluation.
Brunello Was Experiencing the World Differently
The veterinary examination changed the entire understanding of Brunello.
His pupils did not respond normally during the eye examination, and his vision appeared severely limited. His response to ordinary sounds was also very poor.
Yet there was an important exception.
Brunello showed more response to a high-pitched metallic sound.
That observation raised a new possibility. Brunello had been wearing a metal chain leash, and the high-pitched sound produced by that leash could have been something he was able to hear even though much of his hearing was impaired.
At the same time, objects entering his limited field of vision could be difficult for him to recognize.
The veterinarian estimated that Brunello was approximately 90 percent blind and 80 to 90 percent deaf. The condition appeared possibly congenital and potentially permanent.
Suddenly, the strange pattern surrounding bags, objects, and the leash made more sense.
The metal leash could be producing a sound he noticed strongly. Unfamiliar objects entering what little vision he had could also become triggers. Cesar realized why methods that normally helped him break a dog's fixation had not worked in the usual way.
The Human Has to Adapt to the Dog
Once Cesar understood Brunello's sensory limitations, the rehabilitation could no longer depend on what would work for a dog with normal sight and hearing.
He had to become creative.
Most importantly, he began emphasizing Brunello's strongest available sense: smell.
Cesar told Adriana that being blind and deaf did not mean Brunello was destined to continue attacking bags or fighting the leash. It meant they needed to build healthier connections through the part of him that worked best.
His nose.
Adriana began learning how to allow Brunello to smell while using the leash to guide him past objects. The goal was not to prevent him from knowing a bag was there. Cesar specifically distinguished between smelling an object and putting his mouth on it.
Brunello could investigate through scent, then be guided to move away.
That created a new association between Adriana's direction and a calmer state of mind.
Instead of fighting against the way Brunello experienced the world, the rehabilitation started working with it.
The Leash Had to Become Guidance Again
For Brunello, the leash itself had become part of the problem.
Cesar believed a blind dog should be able to welcome guidance through the leash. Brunello, however, had developed a negative connection with it.
Changing that relationship required patience.
Cesar continued helping him learn to follow leash pressure without immediately fighting it or redirecting his excitement toward nearby objects. At one point, he used a halter to influence where Brunello's nose could focus. He also used a balance bridge as a way to reset Brunello and reinforce trust.
The process was not smooth.
Cesar described Brunello's rehabilitation as two steps forward and one step back. Because Brunello could not see or hear normally, he had more distrust than the average dog. New handling could make him resist before he settled again.
That made one lesson especially important: progress could not be forced.
Brunello needed special care, repetition, and a human who remained steady enough to keep guiding him.
Tools Helped, but Energy Remained Most Important
Cesar eventually introduced additional tools.
A tight vest was used with the intention of creating a calming effect. Goggles were also introduced. They did not completely block Brunello's remaining vision, but they reduced some of the visual distractions reaching the small percentage he could still see.
These tools helped redirect his focus away from bags and the leash and back toward Adriana.
But Cesar made an important distinction during Brunello's final challenge.
The boots helped. The goggles helped. The other tools helped.
The human's energy was still the most important part.
When people carrying bags and loose clothing moved around Brunello, Cesar instructed Adriana not to stare at them or become consumed by what might happen. He told her to focus on her breathing and on how she felt inside.
That internal calmness mattered because Brunello was depending on her guidance.
The tools reduced distractions. Adriana's Calm, Confident state gave Brunello someone to follow.
Calm, Surrender Had to Replace the Impulse
Throughout the rehabilitation, Cesar repeatedly returned to the same goal: Calm, Surrender.
Brunello did not need to become unaware of bags.
He needed to stop acting automatically on the impulse to grab them.
During early exercises, Cesar waited for Brunello to move away from an object. Avoidance was considered progress because Brunello was choosing distance instead of moving forward into the behavior.
Over time, repeated exposure in a controlled setting helped lower the intensity of his reactions.
The process took six weeks of intensive work.
Cesar credited silence, calmness, and repetition with gradually lowering Brunello's intensity until he could ignore a bag rather than immediately trying to grab it.
That progression matters because Brunello did not transform in one dramatic moment. Cesar repeatedly described the case as slow and cautioned against trying this type of rehabilitation casually at home.
Progress came through repetition.
Trust Changed on Both Ends of the Leash
Brunello was not the only one who had to change.
Adriana practiced walking other dogs so she could experience what a calm walk felt like. Instead of spending the entire walk scanning people's clothing and belongings for potential problems, she began learning what peaceful, normal movement felt like.
When she later walked Brunello again, she noticed a major difference.
She could feel him beside her.
The walk became less about watching for bags and more about experiencing a peaceful connection.
As Brunello became more manageable, Adriana also began relaxing. Cesar believed Brunello could feel that Calm, Confident energy, allowing both sides of the relationship to begin rebuilding trust.
By the final challenge, Adriana said she trusted him more.
For Cesar, that meant it was her turn to continue closing the remaining gap.
A Better Human Can Help Create a Better Dog
Brunello became one of Cesar's most challenging cases because the problem could not be understood by looking at behavior alone.
What appeared at first to be an extreme obsession with bags turned out to involve a dog navigating the world with very limited sight and hearing. That discovery required Cesar to rethink his normal approach, rely more heavily on Brunello's sense of smell, rebuild his relationship with the leash, and create trust through repeated Calm, Confident guidance.
After six weeks, Brunello could be around bags with far less interest in approaching them. Adriana also returned to the relationship with greater confidence and trust.
The experience reinforced one of Cesar's larger lessons: sometimes people do not get the dog they imagined they would have. They get the dog that challenges them to grow.
At Better Dog Supplements, that human-dog relationship remains the center of the philosophy. Supportive tools can have a place, but they do not replace the patience, trust, calmness, consistency, and human guidance that helped Brunello move forward.
Cesar summarized the mission as "better human, better dog." Brunello gave that idea an unexpected meaning. By helping this dog change, Cesar recognized that the dog had changed him too.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Brunello react so intensely to bags?
Brunello had an extreme fixation on bags and other objects, but veterinary evaluation also revealed severely impaired vision and hearing. Cesar and the veterinarian considered the possibility that unfamiliar objects entering Brunello's limited vision, combined with certain sounds he could still hear, contributed to his reactions.
Why was Brunello's metal leash a problem?
Brunello had very limited hearing but showed a stronger response to high-pitched metallic sounds. Because he wore a chain leash, Cesar believed the sound of the leash could have been contributing to his triggered state. He replaced it with a different leash as part of the rehabilitation.
How did Cesar work with a dog that could barely see or hear?
He adapted the rehabilitation around Brunello's strongest sense, smell. Brunello was allowed to use his nose while the human provided calm direction through the leash. Cesar also used repetition, balanced dogs, controlled exposure to triggering objects, and other tools to help redirect Brunello.
Did Cesar try to stop Brunello from smelling the bags?
No. Cesar specifically allowed him to smell them. The boundary was that Brunello could not grab the object with his mouth. The goal was for him to notice the object and then move away calmly.
What was the goal of Brunello's rehabilitation?
The goal was Calm, Surrender. Cesar wanted Brunello to be able to remain near objects that previously triggered him without automatically acting on the impulse to grab them.
What role did Adriana play in Brunello's progress?
Adriana had to rebuild trust in Brunello and practice becoming a calmer, more confident guide. Cesar emphasized that tools could help, but her energy remained the most important part of helping Brunello maintain a calmer state.