The Dog Whisperer

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The Dog Whisperer is a National Geographic Channel series that premièred in 2004. Cesar Millan portrays his real life role in rehabilitating and restoring balance to dogs with problems.

Millan's speciality is working with dogs which are known to be aggressive. Episodes of the program often feature work with an aggressive dog and Millan's application of rules, boundaries and limitations. Pack leadership, by all humans who live or work with the dog, is required for the dog to exist in a content calm state. Millan demonstrates to the owners how to obtain and maintain this.

As part of the show, Millan is shown as someone who owns around 50 dogs, including Rottweilers, Pit Bulls and German Shepherds, all of whom coexist in peace, uncaged and unchained. Millan is also an honorary member of the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP). Dog Whisperer is sponsored by Purina and Petco.

1 Program format
2 Dog Whisperer in popular culture
3 See also
4 External links & references

[edit] Program format

At the beginning of the show, viewers are introduced to the difficult dog (or dogs) and its owners. Home movies are often shown of the pet's misdeeds, and owners describe the problems that they face. Millan is then introduced, and a narrator often describes the experience Millan has had with difficult cases in the past.

Millan then conducts an interview, where he sits down with the family as they describe the issue at hand. He usually then offers suggestions on how the owners may alter their own habits to become a pack leader for their pet. In the vast majority of cases, it is the people who need training, more than the dog.

He then demonstrates pack leader techniques with the dog, often to the astonishment of the owner. The show usually shows Millan going through his three step process, as he repeats the words "exercise, discipline, and then affection". Sometimes, in serious cases, he will take the dog to his own Dog Psychology Center to introduce it to his own pack. In the most serious cases, such as an extremely aggressive or obsessive-compulsive dog, it may stay at his center for a number of days or weeks.

[edit] Dog Whisperer in popular culture

Cesar Millan as the Dog Whisperer guest stars as himself on an episode of Ghost Whisperer, to be broadcast Friday, March 30, 2007 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

In 2006, the show was parodied by the animated comedy tv series, South Park, in the episode "Tsst". The episode featured Millan applying his techniques on Eric Cartman, a notoriously disobedient child on the show. Where other "experts" such as the nannies from Nanny 911 and Super Nanny failed, Millan's unorthodox approach (using dog training techniques on a human child) yielded amazing results.

References to the Dog Whisperer have also been found in the comics "Blondie" and "Bizarro".

The G4 show X-Play references the show and Mr. Millan frequently, with Adam Sessler complaining due to the popularity of the show's iTunes podcast, ranking higher on iTunes than that of X-Play.