Many pet owners cuddle their puppies like crazy, asking cutesy questions, like, “Does baby want a doggie cookie?” They continue doing this as their little guys grow, treating them with the affection and care they’d show their children. So what? What’s wrong with that? It depends on who you ask.

According to a recent article in The Seattle Times, some experts recommend against humanizing your pet, known as anthropomorphism. Cesar Millan, AKA the Dog Whisperer, wrote on his site, “People humanize dogs and don’t understand their psychology as pack animals.” He thinks Americans give “affection, affection, and more affection, when what the dog really needs is exercise, discipline—and then affection.”

Millan calls this the biggest mistake people make with their dogs, saying this “human psychology” teaches them not to listen to you. If you act like a pack leader, setting rules and boundaries with a calm, assertive energy, you’ll connect with your dog on a deeper level.

Not everyone agrees. Diane Turner, who organizes a dog meet-up group, argued that her way works just fine. Not only does she use baby-talk and discipline her pug like a child; she refuses to use the word dog—or, as she calls it, “the D word”—in his presence!

What do you think? If it were truly in your pet’s best interest, could you forgo all the “human psychology” and take this dogmatic approach?