A dog who rushes toward food, pulls on the leash, or seems unable to settle is not necessarily incapable of self-control. In Cesar Millan’s approach, the bigger question is whether the human is providing clear leadership and consistent boundaries.
That was the challenge with Malik, a six-month-old German Shepherd whose high energy had become increasingly difficult for his pet parents, Chantel and Charlie, to manage. With a baby on the way, they wanted Malik to remain part of the family, but they also needed to feel confident that they could guide him safely.
Cesar’s work with Malik centered on one connected lesson: the dog needed to learn that excitement did not give him permission to take control. By establishing boundaries first around food and then transferring that calmer state of mind to the walk, Chantel began experiencing something she had not felt before with Malik—calm, confident leadership.
What Malik Needed to Learn
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Boundaries can begin with something highly tempting, such as food.
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A dog can smell or move around food without automatically being allowed to touch it.
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Making a challenge slightly harder can reveal whether the dog truly understands the boundary.
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Protest does not mean the human should immediately give up the boundary.
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A calmer state around food can be carried into another activity, such as walking.
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The human’s habits matter. If the dog has learned to lead, the human has to practice leading instead.
High Energy Becomes a Problem When the Human Cannot Guide It
Malik had been brought home at eight weeks old and was already a large, energetic puppy by six months. Chantel described his energy as great, but also as more than she felt able to control.
She tried being stern with him, yet she felt that approach was ineffective.
Even basic activities had become difficult. Getting Malik into the truck could take around 20 minutes. If he refused to get in, Chantel often gave up and physically picked him up.
Walking created a more serious concern. Malik had nearly pulled her down several times, and she had sometimes needed to release the leash to keep herself from falling.
Because Chantel was six months pregnant, that lack of control had become more than an inconvenience. She was concerned about falling, while Charlie worried about what could happen once they had both a newborn and a 70-pound dog who did not understand his own strength.
They did not want to give Malik up. He was already part of their family.
What they wanted was a way to help him become calmer and easier to guide.
Cesar focused immediately on changing the relationship between Malik and the humans rather than trying to overpower Malik’s energy.
He told them that the goal was to change their energy so Malik’s instincts would respond differently once they stepped into a leadership position.
Why Cesar Started With Food
Rather than starting with the walk, Cesar began with something that naturally mattered to Malik: food.
For Cesar, controlling access to food was a way to establish a clear boundary.
Malik could smell the food. He could move around it. What he could not do was simply take it because he wanted it.
The distinction was simple:
The food could be present without belonging to Malik at that moment.
Cesar described the importance of working through the dog’s nose. In Malik’s case, this mattered for another reason as well. A baby would soon be in the home, and the smell of milk could become another powerful temptation.
The lesson was not that Malik should never investigate a smell. Cesar allowed him to smell and move around the food. The boundary was about what happened next.
He was being asked to leave it alone.
That difference matters within Cesar’s philosophy. The goal was not to remove every temptation from Malik’s environment. The goal was to teach Malik how to exist around temptation while respecting a boundary established by the human.
Putting Food on the Ground Made the Boundary More Difficult
Malik already had some experience responding when a person was holding or guarding food.
Cesar therefore increased the challenge.
Food held by a human is one situation. Food sitting directly on the ground creates another level of temptation because access appears easier.
Malik initially responded with behaviors he had used before. Cesar recognized that he would try what had worked for him in the past.
That included barking.
Cesar referred to it as a protest bark.
Rather than treating the protest as proof that Malik could not learn the exercise, Cesar maintained the boundary.
This was especially relevant because Chantel and Charlie were preparing for life with a newborn. They did not want Malik learning that persistent barking could change the human’s decision.
As the exercise continued, something changed.
Malik created more distance from the food and began figuring out what was expected of him. Eventually, Cesar identified the shift as surrender.
For Chantel, the result was surprising. She had never imagined that food could sit on the floor in front of Malik without him immediately devouring it.
Yet Malik demonstrated that he was capable of looking at the food and respecting the boundary.
The dog had not changed because the food disappeared.
The dog changed his response while the temptation remained present.
A Boundary Is Stronger When the Dog Chooses a Calmer State
Malik’s food exercise showed an important part of Cesar’s approach.
Removing a temptation can prevent a behavior temporarily. Teaching a boundary gives the dog an opportunity to respond differently while the temptation is still there.
Malik was allowed to know the food existed. The objective was for him to understand that smelling something did not automatically give him permission to take it.
His barking was part of the process because he had previously learned other ways of responding.
Cesar expected Malik to try those familiar behaviors.
The important part was what followed. By maintaining the boundary, the humans gave Malik the opportunity to stop protesting, create distance, and settle into a different state.
Once that calmer state appeared, Cesar wanted to use it somewhere else.
The next challenge was the walk.
The Dog Cannot Follow If the Human Has Learned to Let Him Lead
Walking Malik was one of Chantel’s biggest concerns.
As Cesar watched her handle him, he noticed a pattern: Malik was choosing the path.
Chantel would follow.
Cesar pointed out that this had become a habit. Malik had learned to lead because Chantel had learned to let him lead.
That observation shifted the focus away from blaming Malik for pulling.
There were two sides of the leash.
If Malik repeatedly chose the direction and Chantel repeatedly followed him, the behavior was being reinforced through the pattern they had developed together.
Changing the walk therefore required changing Chantel’s experience of the walk as well.
Cesar wanted her to learn what it felt like to walk with Malik while he was in a calmer state.
That distinction was important. Chantel needed more than an instruction telling her to “control” the dog. She needed to experience herself guiding Malik successfully.
A New Tool Created a New Challenge
To help Chantel experience a calmer walk, Cesar introduced a halter.
Because the equipment was new to Malik, Cesar expected resistance.
He explained that when something unfamiliar is placed on a dog, the dog may protest because the sensation is new and unnatural to him.
Again, the response was not treated as a reason to immediately abandon the exercise.
Cesar waited for surrender and for Malik’s mind to come down.
Then they walked.
His instructions to Chantel were direct: claim the space and lead the way.
The difference became immediately visible to her.
For the first time, Chantel was not focused on Malik pulling away from her. She had previously been pulled down by him, so that possibility was always in the back of her mind.
During this walk, she felt something different.
She became more confident.
She stayed calmer.
And Malik stayed calmer with her.
Calm, Confident Leadership Changes the Human’s Experience Too
One of the most meaningful changes in Malik’s case happened in Chantel.
Before working with Cesar, she already knew Malik was strong. She already knew he could pull her. She already knew that being pulled down while pregnant was dangerous.
Those experiences affected how she approached the leash.
Once she was able to walk Malik without constantly worrying that he would pull away, her confidence increased.
She described being able to remain calm so she could keep Malik calm.
That reflects the larger lesson Cesar introduced when he first met the family: changing the human’s energy can change the dog’s response.
The food exercise and the walking exercise were not separate tricks.
They were two versions of the same relationship.
Around the food, Malik needed to understand that wanting something did not automatically mean he could take it.
On the walk, Malik needed to understand that wanting to choose the path did not automatically mean he was leading.
In both situations, the human had to establish the boundary and remain with it long enough for Malik to respond differently.
Why Practicing Boundaries Before the Baby Arrived Mattered
For Chantel and Charlie, the work had a clear purpose beyond better manners.
They were preparing to bring a newborn into the home.
They were already thinking about Malik’s strength, his barking, his attraction to food, and the possibility that smells associated with feeding the baby could draw his attention.
Cesar used the food exercise to begin creating boundaries before those situations became part of everyday life.
Malik was learning a fundamental rule: he could be near something interesting without automatically having access to it.
That principle was especially useful for a young, energetic dog living with a family whose environment was about to change.
The objective was not to remove Malik from the family.
It was to help the family develop enough direction and leadership that Malik could remain part of it safely.
The Human Has to Practice a New Habit Too
It would be easy to look at Malik’s progress and focus only on what the dog learned.
But Cesar also identified a habit in Chantel.
She had learned to let Malik lead.
That meant both sides of the relationship had something to change.
Malik needed to practice respecting boundaries.
Chantel needed to practice providing them.
She also needed to experience herself staying calm rather than approaching every walk with the expectation that Malik might pull her down.
The walk gave her that experience.
She was no longer simply reacting to whatever Malik chose to do. She was leading the direction and maintaining a calmer state.
That growing confidence changed the dynamic between them.
The Better Dog Perspective
Better Dog Supplements supports Cesar Millan’s philosophy that the human-dog relationship comes first. Wellness support can have a place in a dog’s routine, but it does not replace the human’s responsibility to provide direction, boundaries, structure, and calm, confident leadership.
Helping a Dog Change Starts With Changing the Pattern
Malik’s progress did not begin with trying to eliminate his energy.
It began by changing what that energy was allowed to control.
Food could be on the ground without Malik taking it. A walk could begin without Malik choosing the path. A new piece of equipment could feel unfamiliar without the human immediately giving up because he protested.
Each exercise reinforced the same relationship: the human provided the boundary, and Malik learned to respond within it.
For Chantel, that process also meant changing her own habits. Instead of automatically following Malik’s choices or expecting him to pull her away, she began practicing a calmer, more confident way of leading him.
That was the larger change Cesar wanted the family to experience.
A dog may arrive with familiar behaviors and repeat what has worked before. When the human changes the pattern, maintains the boundary, and leads calmly, the dog has an opportunity to learn a different response.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Cesar Millan start Malik’s training with food?
Food gave Cesar a powerful temptation around which he could establish a clear boundary. Malik was allowed to smell the food and move around it, but he was not allowed to take it. This helped teach him that access depended on the human’s direction rather than his immediate impulse.
Why was food placed directly on the ground?
Malik already had experience with situations where a person held or guarded food. Cesar made the exercise more challenging by putting the food on the ground, where it was easier for Malik to reach. This tested whether he could maintain the boundary despite greater temptation.
What did Malik’s barking mean during the exercise?
Cesar described Malik’s barking as a protest bark. Malik was trying behaviors he had used before while figuring out the new boundary. Cesar maintained the exercise until Malik created distance and reached a calmer state.
Why was the food exercise connected to walking?
Once Malik demonstrated a calmer state around food, Cesar wanted to transfer that state of mind to the walk. The same larger lesson applied: Malik needed to follow human direction instead of automatically choosing what happened next.
Why had walking Malik become difficult for Chantel?
Malik had learned to choose the path, while Chantel had developed a habit of letting him lead. He had also nearly pulled her down on previous walks, which was especially concerning because she was pregnant.
What changed when Chantel began leading the walk?
With Cesar’s guidance and a halter, Chantel experienced walking Malik without the same fear that he would pull away. She became more confident and stayed calm, which helped Malik remain calmer as well.