Millan's most challenging case

Dog Whisperer saves a four-legged Iraq vet

By JON WEISMAN

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Cesar Millan describes his most challenging case on "Dog Whisperer": Gavin, a Labrador who returned from bomb-sniffing duties in Iraq with post-traumatic stress syndrome.

"That took me 80 days to set him back to a (relaxed) state, exposing him to every single sound. He was like my key chain: Everywhere I went he went with me, because if somebody made a sound and something happened and nobody helped him, that would set him back. I could work with him a week, and if I were away one day, he could go all the way back to where he came from.

"We did a lot of swimming; we went to a firing range, bringing him around loud sounds. ... Every single day (you'd see progress); you'd see a dog understanding that I knew what I was doing.

"He was a super-trained dog, but the handler didn't know how to snap him out of it when he became nervous. ... If there was no sound, he was fine, but the reality is we live in a world of sounds. He would sit down and tremble. He would totally shut down."