LEASH ON LIFE
‘Dog Whisperer’ Millan sez returned pups will be OK
Lady Gaga’s dogs should be fine now that they’ve been returned safely, according to the “Dog Whisperer.”
Cesar Millan believes the French bulldogs stolen from Lady Gaga’s walker while the pop star was overseas knew something was wrong, but have great chances of getting on with their happy dog lives like nothing happened.
“This is what happens to a dog — they’re experiencing this transition at a lower level,” the 51-year-old animal trainer told the Daily News on Friday, before the dogs were returned.
According to Millan, when dogs are adopted or purchased, they adapt to a change of environment. Gaga’s pets Gustav and Koji, which were taken when dog walker Ryan Fischer was shot Wednesday night in Hollywood, may be going through something similar wherever they’re being kept now — but that isn’t to say they’re warming up to their captors.
“When a human has bad intentions and removed the dog from a familiar environment, that dog experiences a layer of that person’s negative energy,” he told The News.
During their time away, Millan said, the dogs were probably “emotionally confused,” but won’t be traumatized by what they’re going through once they’re reunited with Lady Gaga, aka Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, who provides them a loving home.
“The dogs, once they’re returned to their environment, they’ll go on with their lives,” he said.
Millan says humans retain bad experiences and look to spirituality or travel to clear their minds. That isn’t the case with dogs.
“With an animal, they live in the moment,” he said.
Millan, whose show the “Dog Whisperer” ran from 2004 to 2012 on National Geographic, also oversees the company Halo with Cesar Millan, which sells training collars that have GPS locators. He felt the $500,000 reward Lady Gaga announced would prove an effective way to bring her dogs home.
“I just saw the amount of money she put up from ransom,” he said. “Many people can’t even offer that for a human . ... I hope that is an influence.”
That said, the Los Angeles-based trainer added that he’d prefer the dogs were returned because someone felt a need to do the right thing rather than for the half a million dollars it would fetch. His Cesar Millan Foundation aims to teach children “compassion and empathy” so they don’t grow-up to be the kind of adults who could shoot a dog walker and poach a pair of pooches.
“Raising a dog, like raising a kid, is all about environment ... your parents ... activities,” he said. “This person was once a child.”
Though Lady Gaga seems to pamper her dogs, Milan says canines can be happy anywhere with the right upbringing.
“Dogs live in every economical background,” he notes.
And while people with wealth may travel to India or Peru to achieve some sort of zen, Milan says taking in a dog can teach anyone to live in the moment, just like their furry companion.
“For those who can’t afford those places, you can get that from a dog,” he said.
The Los Angeles Police Department was searching for two men in connection with Wednesday’s shooting and dognapping.