Angel the schnauzer strolled to the coffee table, stood up on his back legs, and pushed a nose toward the fruit platter. As dogs are known to do when food is left unattended. But this wasn’t just any dog—and his owner wasn’t just any owner. From across the room a sound rose, crisp and familiar to any fan of the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan. PSSHHT. A hand, tensed into a claw, rose in the air. The dog froze. Again: PSSHHT. (A commanding sound! Grabs attention and shows who's the boss!) Slowly, Angel backed down to the floor, walked away from the table, and curled up silently near his master's feet.

The man has built a dog-training empire based on the concept that dogs are pack animals and an owner must be the leader of their pack. With that philosophy, he turns jumpers, chasers, barkers, and biters into perfectly behaved pets. Every dog owner wants his advice. But for the next ten minutes, Cesar was mine alone. And though I would have loved to get advice on my own beasts’ beastly behavior, I refrained from making it personal.

Any problem dogs you just couldn’t fix?

The only dogs I can’t rehabilitate 100 percent are those born with neurological problems. Otherwise, it’s just a matter of time. One scenario we deal with is dogs who exhibit aggression toward people. Those dogs have learned not to trust and how to use aggression to keep people away so they won’t be hurt anymore. It’s an emotional, psychological wound. An animal who is wounded in this way is more dangerous than an animal who is not. But even for those animals we’ve developed strategies for rehabilitation that work. It’s all about regaining trust.

What’s the hardest thing you deal with in dog rehab?

People. People are the hardest cases.

What's so tough about the owners you encounter?

Some people, especially men, don’t think they need to change anything. When I see that and then I see how they also relate to their family, their wives and children, it hurts me because I’m also a husband and a father. When you see someone who doesn’t want to change his way with dogs, he probably doesn’t want to change period.

Are the owners more interesting than the dogs?

If this show were just about the dogs and me, it wouldn’t last long. People would miss the human stories, the drama, the comedy.

What’s the hardest habit to break in people?

One thing you shouldn’t do is nurture the behaviors that you don’t want. It becomes a bad habit—you react to a dog without thinking, you get on automatic pilot. So the dog growls and you start to soothe the dog, for example. We may have just spent three hours talking about why not to do that, but the human wasn’t hearing.

Have dogs helped you in your human relationships?

Dogs have made me a very good listener. And the sensitivity that I have developed working with dogs has helped me to be very sensitive with my wife. You know, 80 percent of the people who come to me are women. One reason is that women give affection first. But also the woman is the first one ready to change, to transform, for the good of the family. That’s what makes a good pack leader in the dog world as well. My second book, Be the Pack Leader, I dedicated to women because women represent the right kind of leadership. Women are there for the family. In the animal world, too, the one who runs the pack is there for the pack, always.

You grew up watching pack behavior on your grandfather’s farm, which I know influenced the way you deal with dogs. But did you always believe in being the "alpha" or at some point were you a gooey-eyed dog lover who let dogs rule you like the rest of us?

I learned to be a gooey-eyed dog lover here in the U.S. In a third world country like Mexico, to be very affectionate was seen as a weakness. We are missing the understanding that it’s OK for men to practice emotions. The idea of “getting in touch with your feminine side” to a third world guy might seem a slap in the face after you’ve worked so hard not to look “feminine” or emotional.

But did you offer dogs affection as a child?

I do remember hiding and hugging a dog. I felt that much was OK. Later on when I started watching Lassie, seeing the boy hugging and kissing Lassie, showing affection, I realized, Oh, I guess that’s how it’s done over there [in the U.S.]. So I felt more at home when I came to the U.S., because here you can practice the emotional part that I wasn’t able to do freely in Mexico.

So when the cameras are off, do you talk syrupy to your dogs? “Whooo's a booboo bear? Whoo's daddy’s baby?”

Oh, even when the cameras are on! I just don’t do it all the time. My wife will tell you I’m a very loving, affectionate guy, sometimes even too hands-on and tactile. I was raised with hugs and kisses—my grandfather, my grandmother, my dad, my mom. I’m very accustomed to it. I grab Daddy, I grab Junior, I hug any dog. But when I go into other people’s homes, I see that all they do is give affection. The dog doesn’t need that from me. I don’t want to be selfish with my time and give the dog something he doesn’t need at the moment. It’s actually better to step back a little and let the dog crave affection. Dogs in America don’t crave affection because they get it all the time, just because. That’s just the culture.

If not dogs, what animal might you be drawn to work with?

Horses, dolphins. Something else with a pack orientation. It’s much easier to relate to animals that have pack mentality.

What would you do if you couldn’t work with animals?

I would work in the forest. Anything that let me work alongside Mother Nature. If they paid me to be around lakes and trees, telling people not to smoke or litter, Oh, I’d be enforcing that like nobody’s business!

—Jennifer S. Holland

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