It was 20 years ago when Cesar Millan earned worldwide fame with the launch of his TV career with Dog Whisperer. Since then the 55-year-old canine rehabilitator has been a regular fixture on screen. His most recent series, Cesar Millan: Better Human Better Dog, dropped its fifth season earlier this month with the host playing matchmaker.
The personality and best-selling author parlayed the notoriety into other ventures that align with what he is trying to accomplish including an array of branded products including the Halo Collar to help pet parents keep their four-legged family members safe. Here Millan reflects on the two-decade milestone and impact made.
As you celebrate 20 years on TV, what do you remember about those early days?
Cesar Millan: I do remember Nunu, the first dog we worked with on the Dog Whisperer show. A chihuahua they labeled a demon chihuahua, I got to work with a Great Dane named Kane, The funny part was this huge dog was afraid of shiny floors. This little tiny dog was afraid of nobody. I also remember changing behind bushes. I had an RV. We did two episodes per day. We made it work.
The pop culture phenomenon Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan celebrated a milestone 100 episodes in 2008. (NatGeo)
How do you reflect on these 20 years?
I was talking about that with my kids earlier. It’s beautiful to know you’re doing something you love and that you’re good at it and have a mission. To me, this is a mission. I think we have helped the world become better humans. I’m always saying I train humans and rehabilitate dogs. In the beginning, I didn’t know why I was saying that. It just came out. Now I understand we are on a mission to help dog people. You don’t have a problem with a dog. You might have a problem with economy or something else. Not with a dog. We have changed the whole world. My show went into 120 countries. The whole world knows what I do for a living. We have impacted the world in a good way. Natural, simple, profound.
Cesar Millan/Instagram
Have you explored the idea of working with cats?
The good news is that for the first time in my life, I have two. As a good student, I’m learning. The cats are already part of the pack. We approach them like the llama and other species because I don’t just have dogs. I have different species. My macaw teaches the dogs not to invade intimate space. She is in charge of that. Having cats, I’m learning how they function. They’re more instinctual than a dog. The dog is more domesticated. When a cat moves, it moves like it’s hunting the whole time. I’m learning, and eventually, I’m pretty sure I will be able to help people with their cats not being able to trust them or respect them.
What’s it like for you to see the success of Better Human Better Dog?
It’s always good to maintain a show on the air. A lot of people have said they haven’t seen my show yet. Now we’re on Disney+. For me, it is very important people receive the message in a new way. Now I’m 55. Cesar at 30 versus Cesar at 55 is a lot much more powerful. My kids, one is 30 and the other is 26. All of that is taken into account. When I do a show, you can see the difference between Cesar 20 years ago versus Cesar now. Therefore I’m much more precise and a good teacher to humans. I earned the position. I was always a good dog whisperer. Now I’m entering into being a human whisperer, and people are enjoying it.
We’re looking for another season, but I love what we are offering this time. The matchmaking. The matchmaking in teaching people how to rescue dogs. In America, they have this beautiful mentality of rescuing dogs. They still don’t know how to rescue a dog. This is going to save a lot of dogs’ lives if you ask me. Right now, around 800 dogs have been returned to San Diego. That’s in one day. We want to stop that from happening. We want people to understand what they need so they commit fully.
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You’re launching a Halo 4 collar for dogs under 20 pounds. I wish I had that sooner because earlier this year I lost my dog because she got through our fence.
That’s exactly why we did it. The fact 11 million dogs a year, that happens to them…11 million!. Dogs get lost, run away, or whatever the reason is. This way we can prevent it by reminding the dogs of rules, boundaries, and limitations. That is all there is. It is for that. To help keep a dog safe. If the dog is safe, you’ll feel peace. If you feel peace, you’ll feel the love. So if the dog departs, it’s not going to be due to an accident or because they went missing. It’s going to be because it’s time to go back to God. We can accept that, but when a mistake is made, there is guilt and other emotions come in. That’s when it’s hard. It’s like we’re adding another problem to our lives.
The goal is to have safety by having rules, boundaries, and limitations. This is especially true when they are not there because people are still learning to provide this to a dog. America doesn’t have a problem giving a dog affection. America has a problem with giving dogs rules, boundaries, and limitations. A dog in Mexico never gets lost. It only happens to the American dogs. They require technology in order to live in this beautiful world we have.
When was the moment you realized you were famous?
Before the show people were already very grateful because I was rehabilitating their dogs when nobody was really providing this. There was dog training. Then a Mexican guy comes and says, “I can rehabilitate your dog.” Nobody knew what that meant. Then they see the dog’s aggression or fear go away, dogs ignoring them. That’s when I realized this was bigger than when I was thinking I was coming to America for. Then once the show airs and once I went to see Oprah. Oprah puts you on another level. Then South Park. That’s it was what is happening here?
You’ve been on a lot of TV shows. Do you have any favorites?
I did love when I got to teach very powerful people, very famous people. They have a lot of influence. For me, it was Oprah. When she had her show, she was this confident woman. However, when she was around a dog, it became a source of fear. It is very powerful to help a woman who is such a confident leader with humans but not with dogs.
Automatically, it shows we are energy. We can be good pack leaders on one hand but not on the other. It clarified everything I was saying. Now others were seeing this thing work. The Bones episode was real. The dog was misbehaving. I come in and say, “You don’t do it that way. You do it this way.” The dog calmed down. That was a real moment that was supposed to be acting. Those dogs are trained and not real actors. The main guy couldn’t stop them. That’s when I came in. Then of course Jennifer Lopez and her movie The Back-up Plan. That was pretty cool. Then eventually she became my client. That was pretty cool, too.
Cesar Millan: Better Human Better Dog streaming on Disney+
