Marley & Me--the film version

Great example of way bad screenwriting. A real disappointment except at the end where I cried my eyes out because it reminded me of the day I had to put my dog (yes, a Lab, but a well behaved one) down--see Goodbye from the 2006 archives in this blog--
So...what exactly was this film about? Me and my dog, me and my wife, me and my job, Me and my wife, my kids--oops here comes another one!-- and my job, oh yeah, by the way, heres a shot of my dog in the background chewing up the couch cushions again...

I didn't think the book was all that wonderful either, but at least there was some deeper character development there, causing me to become somewhat emotionally invested in Marley--Grogan & family? Not so much.

Impressions on Nat Geo's Dog Whisperer

First I wanna say I love watching Cesar, even though my dog has passed on. It was my familiarity with natural horsemanship that got me hooked on Cesar in the first place, the principles being so similar. Before ever hearing about Cesar, I used to practice a sort of driving game using zone 3 with my dog or bringing my energy up or down to get my dog to respond appropriately. It worked! I haven't tried driving the cat though.

Second, It was just awesome, and the commentary was great explaining Pat's techiques to the general audience. I was kind of worried about people tuning in and thinking, "whatsup with that guy, whacking that poor little pony with the orange stick like that?" Anybody else? And what about that Cupcake? wasn't she just too adorable?

And last, I've gotten choked up watching the Dog Whisperer before, but when Pat mentioned Caton I totally lost it. You could see Pat get genuinely emotional describing his son, given the context of the environment, and that he and Cesar would be able to help the center and the animals involved was I'm sure, very meaningful to him. I hope everyone that wants to gets a chance to see this--maybe Nat'l Geo could run it on their site or Cesar's site to promote "The Dog Whisperer" in general--or maybe as a lead in to a new show: The Cat Whisperer.

Cesar Milan and Pat Parelli

Pat and Cesar work in tandem at a theraputic riding center to teach handlers how to deal with a horse and two dogs with aggression issues. Airs tonight at 9pm eastern time on the National Geographic Channel. Watch it!