Cesar Millan: Better Human Better Dog on DStv

You wanted a fur baby, but you got a hell hound. Your four-legged best friend might have been your emotional rock throughout the pandemic, but the chewing, clawing, digging, barking, snapping little maniac is begin to wear you down.

In his brand new show Cesar Millan: Better Human Better Dog, now showing on National Geographic Wild (DStv channel 182), dog whisperer Cesar Millan tackles challenges just like these, revealing how pet parents and their dogs can live in harmony again.

But you don’t even need to have a dog to learn from and enjoy the show. “You will learn a natural, simple, profound way of looking at the world,” says Cesar.

DStv spoke to Cesar about his new show.

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What was your goal with this series?

Cesar: My goal has always been educating humans, because whatever energy you practice, whatever activities you practice, your dog is going to reflect it. A dog doesn't know that people have money, fame or power. What the dog knows is that those people are not connected to the natural, simple, and profound. I shouldn't have to tell people, “Just go for a long walk and that will help the dog.” A bird needs to fly and a dog needs to walk. But even though it sounds simple, people are not doing it.

How did you and the casting team find the right pet parents as examples for your audience?

Cesar: We looked for people with a high level of chaos, a high level of problems, because they will put more effort in than the people that they have low problems. In the first episode, this guy's mother passed away. Then he developed a tumour and they had to take his eye out. The grief and fear of that! Then he got into a car accident. This guy had all this in his head, so the dog became protective of him and when the guy developed seizures, the paramedics wanted to help him, the dog would not let them in. What I did is I changed the loyalty of the dog and helped him become a service dog. Then to the human. I said, “Listen, we're going to make you strong, so your energy goes back to ‘calm, confident, love joy’.” We have to build your right back regardless of what happened in the past. As soon as that happened, the dog relaxed, and the human had a much better way of living life.

In that small, intense timeframe when you’re working with the dogs offscreen, how much time were you spending with them? 

Caesar: The challenge there is it is a TV show. I have literally weeks. When a dog comes with me, I'm with a dog 24/7. I study the dog, from how he sleeps, to how he wakes up. If he hears something, how does he react? I have to watch constantly, constantly. You have to understand the patterns of a dog to start changing the patterns.

Cesar says: 5 reasons to watch

1: You will learn a natural, simple, profound way of looking at the world. The world can, in the midst of a pandemic, still smile, still love, still find calm and confidence. This is a show that is going to remind you about the importance of your home, because your home needs to feed you energy. Your home needs to feel beautiful, structured and clean.

2: It's my family helping your family. I have trained my children and a small group of people to work with me. And this is not a show for dog people, this is a show for the world. This is a show where the mission is to make sure humans become better.

3: I don't care if you don't have money. If you're middle class, or super rich, it doesn't matter. Because animals don't see that. Animals just see you for how you feel, and what you do, and how you work with your family. Simple things. We build ourselves back from simplicity, back from love, back from faith, back from common sense.

4: We need to see positive things right now. We need to see a human that is creative, especially for people to see an immigrant changing the world. I am from Mexico and just to see that immigrants can make a difference is extremely important right now.

5: Most importantly it’s for kids. This is a show for the whole family. I want to make sure that kids watch the show because they need to hear “honesty, integrity, loyalty”. They need to hear “trust, respect, love”. They need to hear, “exercise, discipline, affection”. They need to hear, “rules, boundaries, limitations.” They need to hear “connection, communication relationship”. They need to hear great formulas.

Or just watch it for the doggies. They’re amazing.

Watch Cesar Millan: Better Human Better Dog S1 on Fridays on National Geographic Wild (DStv channel 182) at 18:00

National Geographic Wild is available on DStv Premium, Compact Plus, Compact, Family and Access. To get DStv, click here.