UPDATE: Since my original post Cesar Millan’s story has taken a new twist in 2025. There is endless rumour (and viral videos) claiming that Millan was sentenced in court to Life in Prison. False. Although his history is checkered with animal cruelty complaints, fines and social media backlash, Millan continues to be living in complete freedom and thriving in his Cesar’s Way programs, of which there are many outside of television. Although he did leave Nat Geo’s Dog Whisperer and was involved in a public divorce years ago, Millan continues to be involved with books, training, behavior and practically anything relating to dogs. The news of Millan’s alleged court appearance in 2025 changed my original post so dramatically that I decided to freshen it up and kept a little of the original content for perspective.
Everyone with a dog knows his story. He crossed the border between Mexico and the U.S. in his youth, worked low-paying jobs to eat, slept in his car, and through some divine miracle (or destiny) he managed to become one of America’s most beloved television dog trainers.
He also became a nationalized citizen while working at the top of his game training dogs. His first major hit on TV was seen on the National Geographic channel. It was called the Dog Whisperer. He reached the top of the charts, but sadly the show began to unravel, and things were said that left a stain on the reputation of Dog Whisperer.
This is simply my opinion, but as gimmicky as it was to some viewers, the show’s premise was solid. Many professional dog trainers surely discovered words of wisdom, the Dog Whisperer on National Geographic was a pretty decent show and provided lots of tips about training ill-natured dogs, the biting ones like Pit Bulls. But as his star shined at its brightest Millan was suddenly facing detractors hell-bent on exposing him for cruelty to animals.
According to news reports, the war between Millan and especially the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals grew tense, then the network allegedly informed him that he didn’t own the rights to the show Dog Whisperer, which was an advertising juggernaut.
In published stories on the reality TV star, there were many accusations leveled at Millan, some of which involved the over-use of force to a point of cruelty. Maybe it was the ASPCA that brought him down, others pointed to different advocacy groups of dog owners that felt Millan was endorsing the use of excessive pressure to dominate the dogs in his pack. It didn’t matter, the damage was done, according to news reports.
From what I personally concluded, Millan said many times that he was the “leader of the pack.” I watched his show constantly and never was there anything that even hinted at excess pressure. I’ve seen pressure and dominance used many times with dogs, and, sure, he snapped his fingers and maybe nudged a dog or two, but that should not have taken down the Dog Whisperer. The fact that Millan uses training collars is not newsworthy. If used properly training collars create no harm to dogs.
So what did take him down?
As a viewer I speculate, what likely happened was that he fell victim to his own success. He let fame drive his attitude and when confronted with being cruel and overly dominant to dogs, he refused to give way and rethink what he was doing on TV. Maybe. But that’s an opinion.
That’s not to suggest that he didn’t offer anything valid or different to TV viewers. The fact is I think Millan contributed greatly to the advancement of minorities in television. He demonstrated through his unconditional love of some very misunderstood breeds (pit bulls) that dogs of all types can be trained and that few dogs are beyond redemption, no matter how aggressive they may appear.
Today Millan is back. He’s attempting to pick up the pieces of his career and time will tell if he can rise again to the level he had seen before. Count on one thing. It appears his fans think he deserves another chance just like the dogs that he rehabilitated.
Millan’s venture with Nat Geo is “Cesar’s Way” and according to the network the show revolves around dog owners whose relationships with their pets are suffering because of longer work hours and technological interruptions
To learn more go to Cesar Millan in the News
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