[glencorgi]

Claudia Kawczynska, editor of Bark magazine, is one of Dunbar's many
fans. "It's irritating to see Millan treated as the expert. Ian is an
animal behaviorist with decades of experience," she says, "He should
be where Millan is." Kawczynska likens the Millan cult of personality
and popularity to the anti-science, anti-academic sentiment she sees
prevalent in American culture and politics. "Millan lived on a farm,
so what? He's good looking, but he's not smart about dogs. It seems
people don't want their experts to be educated."

Dunbar refuses to comment on whether his lack of profile is due to
his weighty credentials, though a Millan fan on Gladwell's blog says
the backlash against the Dog Whisperer is "because Malcolm had
written about the unschooled Millan rather than a string of PhDs that
the average person has never heard of -- and never will."

Jean Donaldson, director of dog training at the SFSPCA and author of
"Culture Clash," a book about the human-dog relationship, views the
history of dog training in pre- and post-Dunbar eras. "Ian is the
man," she says. "He revolutionized the field." She, too, thinks
Millan is tapping into something deeper in the current culture -- and
his machismo is only part of it. "It's a backlash against political
correctness," she says. "People are angry and life is frustrating and
[when] someone tells them it's all about dominating something smaller
and weaker? They'll go for that."

"Dunbar puts training in the owner's hands," says Aishe Berger,
co-owner of SF Puppy Prep, a puppy day care facility that promotes
Dunbar's theory of early socialization. "His methods are based on
science and learning theory, not the kind of 'magic' touted by the
gurulike Millan."

But if the magic works, who wouldn't want magic?

There's the catch: Since Millan's program has gained popularity,
Donaldson reports, the SPCA has been flooded with calls from confused
and frustrated owners who want her to decipher -- and give them the
scoop -- on Millan's "mysterious pinch."

Dr. Patricia McConnell, author of "For the Love of a Dog:
Understanding Emotion in Your Best Friend" and the animal behaviorist
on Animal Planet's "Petline," goes as far as to say that Millan has
put dog training back 20 years. "Dunbar is a world authority," she
says, "and he should be the one with the celebrity."

Dunbar doesn't argue with that. Though he hosted five years of a TV
training show in England, "Dogs With Dunbar," Hollywood never bit on
it, or on his other ideas, several of which are tinged with the odor
of ever-popular reality TV. "Shelter Dog Makeover" ("We'd groom them,
train them and find them a new home!") and "Train That Dog" (trainers
compete to train a dog to do various tricks and obedience trials in
the least amount of time) were two he thought most promising. Dunbar
says Animal Planet mucky-mucks said they turned tail at his foreign
accent, but he doubts that was the real truth. After all, the channel
vaulted to popularity with hosts from Down Under.

As for books, of which he has sold hundreds of thousands, his first
experience in publishing colored his view of New York representation.
Dozens of publishers turned his first book down, but the one who
finally came through soured him to New York publishing. He bemoans
the editing that was done on his work, and the publishing experience
itself disappointed him. The numbers of books sold, he said, never
really added up to what was reported -- and what he knew himself had
moved.

Some local experts lament Dunbar's failure to go mainstream, citing
his unwillingness to lose control over every aspect of his work,
including editing.