Brandon Mcmillan

You’ve probably seen him on the reality show Lucky Dog, on which he trains shelter pups and matches them with families who need them. He also works with other animals, including lions, tigers and sharks!

How did you learn to train animals?

My family were all wild animal trainers. They learned from a very famous animal trainer from 60 years ago, named Gunther GebelWilliams. He was one of the best-known lion tamers in the world.

Have you worked with animals other than dogs?

The first animal I ever trained from start to finish was a tiger. I was probably 18. I raised her from a baby, and she became one of our best cats. You might recognise her from the movie The Hangover. I also have a show on Shark Week every year. You can’t really train a great white, but we film them. Sometimes, we dive 40 m deep to film them.

Can a kid teach a dog a trick?

Of course! An easy one would be to speak on command. All you do is go to the front door and knock on it behind your back so your dog can’t see. When your dog barks at the door, you make a hand signal and say the word ‘speak’ over and over. Then you give the dog a treat. Repeat that for a couple of days and eventually, you won’t have to knock on the door anymore, just make the hand signal and then say the ‘speak’ command.