César Felipe Millán Favela (, ; born August 27, 1969) is a Mexican-American dog trainer.
Millan was born on August 27, 1969, to Felipe Millán Guillen and María Teresa Favela in rural Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico.
Millan grew up working with animals on the farm in Sinaloa where his grandfather, Teodoro Millán Ángulo, was a tenant farmer.
Because of his natural way with dogs, he was called el Perrero, "the dog herder".
The family later moved to Mazatlán.
Millan illegally crossed the border into the United States when he was 21 years old, speaking no English and with only US$100.
2002
Prior to The Dog Whisperer series, Millan focused on rehabilitating severely aggressive dogs and founded a rehab complex, the Dog Psychology Center, in South Los Angeles (2002–2008).
Millan's first three books, including Cesar's Way, all became New York Times best sellers, have cumulatively sold two million copies in the United States, and are available in 14 other countries.
With Ilusión Millan, his former wife, he founded the Millan Foundation – later renamed the Cesar Millan Foundation and currently called the Cesar Millan PACK Project.
The foundation was established to provide financial support to animal shelters and organizations engaged in the rescuing, rehabilitating, and re-homing of abused and abandoned animals, and to fund spay/neuter programs.
In 2002, after a profile in the Los Angeles Times, Millan worked with MPH Entertainment, Inc. developing a television pilot for Dog Whisperer, a reality television series that follows Millan as he works in the field of dog rehabilitation.
2004
He is widely known for his Emmy-nominated television series Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, which was produced from 2004 to 2012 and is broadcast in more than 80 countries worldwide.
Millan is a New York Times best-selling author and has his own line of dog products and instructional DVDs.
The series premiered on September 13, 2004, on the National Geographic Channel, subsequently moving to the Nat Geo WILD channel.
The show would become National Geographic's No. 1 show during its first season and was broadcast in more than eighty countries worldwide during its run.
2009
In 2009, the Dog Psychology Center moved to Santa Clarita, California.
Millan also opened an East Coast clinic at the Country Inn Pet Resort in Davie, Florida, near Fort Lauderdale.
In 2009, in conjunction with IMG, Millan introduced a monthly magazine also titled Cesar's Way, with The Wall Street Journal reporting at that time that half of American consumers recognized Millan.
The magazine combined advice from Millan along with articles about the relationship between dogs and humans.
2012
The final episode of the show was broadcast in the U.S. on September 15, 2012.
2013
Cesar Millan's Leader of the Pack was an American documentary television series on the Nat Geo Wild channel which ran from January 5, 2013 to March 26, 2013.
2014
The magazine ceased publication after its November/December 2014 issue.
The next year, 2014, saw the premiere of Millan's new series, Cesar 911, on the Nat Geo WILD channel; in non-American markets, it is known as Cesar to the Rescue.
2015
In 2015, he teamed up with children's television veterans Sid and Marty Krofft to create Mutt & Stuff, a preschool television show for the Nickelodeon channel.
Millan's son Calvin stars in the series.
2017
In 2017, Millan and his older son Andre appeared in a new series Cesar Millan's Dog Nation, which ran for one season starting on March 3.
"Cesar Millan Live!"
is an international touring dog training lecture and stage performance where Millan presents his techniques and philosophy from his television shows and books in front of a live audience.
The show consists of one-half lecture and one-half demonstration with local shelter dogs, in which he uses his pack-leader training techniques to modify negative behaviors.
Millan's work focuses on handling a dog with what he calls "calm-assertive energy".
He believes that dog owners should establish their role as calm-assertive pack leaders.
According to Millan, dogs have three primary needs: exercise, discipline and affection, in that order.
In other words, it is the owner's responsibility to fulfill the dog's energy level needs through challenging exercise; then to provide clearly communicated rules, boundaries and limitations; and finally, to provide affection.
According to Millan, a common pitfall for American dog owners is to give a great deal of affection with very little exercise and even less discipline.
He encourages owners to understand the effect their own attitudes, internal emotions and physical postures have on a dog's behavior, counseling owners to hold strong posture (i.e., shoulders high and chest forward) and to project energy that is calm-assertive.
2018
In an interview with long-time friend Jada Pinkett Smith in July 2018, Millan described his harrowing journey.
Millan's first job in the United States was at a dog grooming store.
He later created the Pacific Point Canine Academy.
Jada Pinkett Smith became one of Millan's first clients and supporters when he was working as a limousine driver, providing him with an English tutor for a year.
Subsequently, Millan created the Dog Psychology Center, a two-acre (0.81 ha) facility in South Los Angeles, specializing in working with large breed dogs.
