Photos courtesy of Karl Johnson

“It’s about energy” said the Dog Whisperer, after pouring half a can of Red Bull into his glass of water. But he wasn’t talking about energy in the Red Bull sense, he was talking about the energy you possess around your dog that directly translates into how they perceive your interactions with them. What you see on TV is exactly what you get; there are no differences. The real life Cesar Millan is the same charismatic, confident and even subtly intense person that you’ve seen on the National Geographic Channel. He’s that same amazing guy that can instantly calm almost any dog within minutes. One of the essential qualities that even dog owners love about him is that including being able to clam down dogs, he also gives its owners the best product advice which would be perfect for a dog such as dog cleaners, play ball and even necessary accessories such as name tags which every dog should have. He’s never out of character, for there is no character. This is really Cesar Millan; the man, the myth, the dog legend.

I had the pleasure of sitting down one on one with the Dog Whisperer on Monday, right here in DC at 1600 M St NW, the headquarters of NatGeo. Cesar was in town to launch his new book, How To Raise the Perfect Dog, as well as to host the world premiere of the sixth season’s first episode of his Emmy nominated show. As 300 people intently watched the first-ever public showing of the new episode in the auditorium, Cesar and I sat down to chat in a side room with one of his new dogs Angel, a Miniature Schnauzer. While Angel didn’t have much to say, Cesar had no problem immediately answering my questions with an eagerness you’d expect from someone just trying to make it big. But Cesar has already made it big, many times over. Over 100 episodes aired, his fourth book published, a magazine bearing his name and endless products sold under his brand, Cesar is about as big of a dog superstar as you can get. And I’m not going to lie to you, my Jack Russell Max and I love this man. There, I said it. I’m biased.

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