Review: Cesar Milan Dog Whisperer Live

Review: Cesar Milan, Dog Whisperer - Live in Sydney

Yesterday, I had the great pleasure of seeing Cesar Milan live at the Acer Arena, Olympic Stadium, Sydney, Australia. And it was definitely a pleasure.

Cesar Milan is not only THE Dog Whisperer, he is also a man of high and admirable integrity.

The trip to the show started off with a bit of a disappointment. I found out as we were driving to the venue that two of my friends would not be coming and so their tickets were just going to waste. Which is a shame on many levels. As the Cesar Milan seminar was a sell-out event, someone could have benefited from these two wasted tickets if I had known any earlier.

The Acer Arena must hold up to 6,000+ people and it was a sell out. As it should be.

There were Cesar Milan products for sale at the show. Before and after the show, one was offered the opportunity to buy his DVDs, books, Illusion Leash, T-shirts, and caps. What really impressed me about this man is that he did NOT push any of his products. I am sure that he could have easily quadrupled his sales figures if he had. The attendees were all fans and eager I am sure, to take away something that was going to enhance their lives with their pets and that was recommended by the man himself. But no, he was commercial free.

And for a big personality like him, coming from America (the land of the push-push-sales), it was an absolute delight to see him not push his products. For that alone, I would recommend everyone who has a chance to attend his shows and talks. This is a man rare and honest and if nothing else, it restores one's faith in the continued existence of integrity in our times.

I have to note here in passing that I could not help but compare him to another big(ger?) star - Anthony Robbins. Anthony Robbins is without question, the most invigorating motivator around. He is an absolute talent. However the last time I attended his seminar, I left with a most unpleasant taste in my mouth. After paying out a goodly sum for a seminar that covered a few days, Anthony disappeared on the last day without any announcement to us either when we made our bookings or at any time throughout the seminar. And what was worse, almost the entire last day was devoted to selling his other programs, books, DVDs, etc. So disappointing to be left with the bitter disappointment of the brash commercial taste to linger over as the seminar drew to a close. Thank goodness Cesar Milan chose the higher road.

And Cesar is a man of true and sincere emotions.

We have all experienced, even if we have not fully credited out senses with the validity of it, how it is almost impossible not to pick up on the emotions that emanate from a person. We all give out this energy and we all pick it up. It is not without truth when they say that almost 70% of our communications is non-verbal. Sometimes we might dismiss what we are sensing because logically it does not fit or when we don't want to believe what we are picking up. However it is also almost impossible to not be affected by someone who is expressing true, heart felt emotions.

The last thing I expect from a doggie seminar was to be tearing up. But when Cesar stepped on the stage, the applause and appreciation from the audience was such that he was deeply touched. And those heart-felt emotions in him came back clearly to us. Making me tear up. There is no clearer heart and nothing that reaches us more than a heart who is appreciative and sincere in his appreciation.

In comparative terms, this was not a high-priced ticket event. But Cesar made sure that we got value for every penny we spent. We all expected the seminar to last an hour; two hours at the maximum. Cesar, with his boundless joy and energy, kept us going for three and a half hours. Truly well worth every dime we spent and then some!

I have only one suggestion to his format. I noticed in myself and those around me that some eyes were getting sleepy during the show. I think it was partly due to the fact that many of us were already quite familiar with his work and philosophy (either having seen him on telly or DVD, or having read his books) so that quite a bit of what he had to tell us was repetition to us. However I think it was even more due to the fact that so much of his seminar was just talk-talk-talk and not enlivened enough with pictures and/or video clips. If he had had more slide shows, pictures and/or video clips interspersed throughout, I believe it would have been an even better event.

He did have some live demonstrations towards the end of the show. This, unfortunately, was unbeknownst to the attendees as there was no program printout that we could have refer to beforehand. Consequently, during the half hour break before the live demonstration, I noticed a number of people who left the arena and never returned for the last half of the show. Which is a shame because I am sure they would have stayed had they known.

Better yet, in terms of presentation and even format, would have been having life demonstrations inter-spaced throughout the show. That format is always a sure winner and seeing is always a better way of learning than just listening to someone talk.

Conclusion

Go! Go and see Cesar Milan! He is a joy to watch and he is soooooooooooo good.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10