Interview: César Millàn Talks Season 5 of “Better Human Better Dog” on Nat Geo

2024 marks the 140th anniversary of legendary dog trainer César Millàn’s television career (20 years if you’re human). First introduced as the Dog Whisperer, Millan’s latest National Geographic series – César Millàn: Better Human Better Dog – makes an important distinction in its title, reminding pet owners that they, too, need training to change their pet’s behavior. Season 5 of Better Human Better Dog kicked off last night on Nat Geo, with two new episodes every Friday through September 6th. To celebrate, I got to chat with César Millàn about discovering new career challenges twenty years in, the special case that opens up the new season, and the stories that have truly touched his heart.

Alex: You've been on television showing your work with dogs for over 20 years, but were there any new challenges this season, cases that you hadn't seen before or that really stumped you?

César Millàn: You know, I’ve done aggression, I’ve done fear, I’ve done flight avoidance—that’s how I can summarize the problems. Obviously, fight is aggression, flight is fear, and avoidance is when the dog doesn’t listen to me or destroys the house. But this season, I got to meet a dog named Brunello. [His owner] entered this relationship wanting to have a dog with some kind of handicap issues, so she chose a beautiful white boxer. This boxer developed blindness, deafness, and also had a neurological problem, but it also developed aggression. So, imagine those three obstacles before I even get to the aggression, right? All the dogs that I have rehabilitated didn’t have any handicaps. So, definitely, Brunello is going to be among the biggest accomplishments that I have, helping a dog with genetic problems and then blindness and deafness. It’s definitely something that I’m very proud of, and it took this long for me to meet someone like Brunello. I’m about to be 55, so I have to create this beautiful energy throughout the years, this beautiful philosophy and actions, for me to meet such a challenge. But I did it.

Alex: Yeah, you did it! I saw that episode; it was beautiful and you got quite emotional in that episode. How often is it that a dog’s story or case really touches your heart like that?

César Millàn: There are special ones. Like people—some people are very special, and they touch your heart, they touch your spirit, they touch your instinct, they touch your mind. And so, in the dog world, it’s the same. Because they come to you for you to move certain energy, for you to grow. And Brunello definitely touched my heart. I was crying; I didn’t know why I was crying, but I needed to cry. He triggered that, and I triggered his well-being, and he triggered this cleanse that I get every once in a while with dogs. I connect in a spiritual, instinctual, emotional, and mental way. I have a process of how I connect. And because of that, I allow myself to be vulnerable to them. They do something for me, and I do something for them. It’s a mutual help. Once I need to move energy, the specific dog comes into my life. I get to help, they get to help me.

Alex: A lot of people knew you as the Dog Whisperer, but one of the things I love about your current show is that the title tells you everything—that the human, the pet owner, needs to be trained as well. Better Human Better Dog. Have you found a lot more success with getting pet owners to adopt your message because the show’s title makes that clear?

César Millàn: You know, when I started, people were told to train the dog. So, that’s what the human, 20 years ago, used to think about. And then I come into the picture and said, “No, it’s not the dog; it’s the human behind the dog.” So, I became the guy who changed the way we think about it. It took a long time for people to say, “You’re right. If my energy is wrong, my philosophy is wrong, and my actions are wrong, what can I expect out of my dog? So, I have to become a better human. That means I have to pay attention to my energy, my way of thinking, and my actions.” But that took a long time because everybody was trained to send the dog away, thinking somebody would fix it for you, like a refrigerator. Humans learned to think that a dog was an accessory or some kind of mechanical thing, and you send them away. But now, people are more aware—yeah, my energy does affect my home, my relationships, and also blocks manifestation. Now, people are listening from all places. I’ve been saying that I train humans and rehabilitate dogs for 20 years. So, we’re in a good time where people are taking responsibility, especially with dogs, because they don’t rationalize. So, I think we’re in a good time, 2024, where humans are taking full responsibility for why the dog misbehaves.

Alex: In the season premiere with Brunello, his owner mentions that she worked with several professional dog trainers before you came into the picture, but you’re the first to pinpoint some of the sensory issues her dog was having. How often do you find that the people who come to you looking for help have already tried another dog trainer that wasn’t the right fit?

César Millàn: The thing is, even you as a human being, if you have other things that are blocking you, you don’t need training; you need healing. You need to be healed. Your spirit needs to be healed, your body needs to be healed, your heart needs to be healed, and then your mind gets healed, and then you get clear. So, what that means is you achieve trust, respect, and love for yourself, and then you can be trained. When the dog doesn’t feel trust, when the dog doesn’t feel respected, it’s not going to feel the love. So, how in the world is it going to learn anything when it’s not feeling the basics of life? Because I’m always going, “No, no, trust first, respect second, love third. Trust, respect, love.” And then the dog is like, “Oh, this human knows my ears, this human knows that I need silence, this human knows that I need calm.” So, I provide the energies that allow the dog to feel safe. In order for you to learn as a kid, you need to feel safe, peace, love, and then you can wonder, “What else can I learn?” Same thing with a dog. So, if you skip the spirit, the instinct, and the heart, and then you just want the mind to listen, the dog is going to say, “No, this doesn’t work for me. Maybe it works for humans, but it does not work for me.”

Alex: Decades into your career as a professional dog trainer, are there still things that you’re learning as you interact with these dogs? One of the things with the Brunello episode that I found really interesting was the chain leash was part of what was feeding Brunello’s anxiety as they were going out on these walks.

César Millàn: It’s funny, right? Because he was 80% deaf, but he could hear that specific sound, and that specific sound threw him into this aggression. He would be blind, he would grab anything. He didn’t care; he would hurt himself. So, that’s something that I’ve always done—being aware, being in tune. I live on a ranch, so I spend a lot of time in silence and calmness, observing those little things that an animal needs to see in order for us to help them. They’re so sensitive, the little things trigger them. If I lived in the city, I wouldn’t be able to see that because I’d be overwhelmed by what the dog gets overwhelmed with. To me, it’s more like I’m learning how to help. For example, if I go to different parts of the world, I’m learning more about humans because humans also learn through tradition. The Germans learn differently than the English, the English learn differently than the Singaporeans. I’m going to teach the same thing, but it has to be different with humans. But with dogs, even if the dog lives in Russia, it’s the same. I’m just going to communicate, connect, have a good relationship, but I don’t have to learn Russian, and I don’t have to learn traditions. So, what I am learning – because of Better Human Better Planet, Better Human Better Dog – is how to help the whole world, and the whole world is influenced by its own traditions. That’s what I’m focusing on right now—how to become a better human whisperer.

Alex: Thank you very much for your time, and thank you for dedicating your life to making us all better humans so that we can get along better with our dogs.

Don’t miss Season 5 of César Millàn: Better Human Better Dog. The broadcast schedule for this season is below, with these new episodes coming to Disney+ and Hulu at a later date: