Millan drops in to get shelter dogs out
Geographic Channel called “Dog Nation.” And with a title like that, where else should they go but the Bay Area?
For this episode, they are profiling the work of Rocket Dog Rescue, which rescues dogs from shelters, saving them from being euthanized. He and Andre have been working with Rocket Dog Rescue founder Pali Boucher and her kennel manager, Jessica Fox, when they shift their attention to Mimi.
Cesar Millan, 47, grabs a tennis ball and tosses it. Mimi picks it up and takes it to Andre Millan, who tosses it again. Mimi picks it up and delivers it to The Chronicle’s photographer, and so on. Tail wagging, she runs around the yard. Boucher meant to rescue only one dog from the shelter, but she leaves with two. Cesar Millan is delighted with this outcome.
Mimi “is perfect,” he says, noting the contrast between her and the small gray pit bull that occasioned the “Dog Nation” visit, a dog afflicted with shyness, particularly around men.
“You begin already to do normal activities. Take her everywhere. She’s ready. You don’t have to rehabilitate her. Now is the time to train. The first one is rehab, then you can train. This one is perfect. She’s ready to train. She’s ready. But this dog was on the list to be euthanized. That perfect dog.”
A camera crew records every move, from Andre jumping into an enclosure with the little pit bull, working on her shyness by letting her come to him, to Cesar nonchalantly picking up a scoop in the yard and removing feces left by other dogs (a basic job for any dog handler, he explains). Despite the cameras, there is the sense that this is just another day at the office for the Millans.
“We rescue a lot of dogs from the streets,” Cesar Millan says, relating his current work to his start in Los Angeles. “That’s pretty much the situation you have here in Oakland. In South Central, it’s the hood. It’s the ghetto. They have a different way of thinking. There were a lot of dogfights where we were.
“So every time a dog loses a fight, they would dump them in the street. I would go pick them up. An eye might be out or they would pour gasoline and light them up, so I’m exposing my kids at early age: This is what you do. You don’t judge the dog. You help the dog.
“The sad thing of what we are talking about is we just saved two of millions. Four to 5 million dogs die every year in America. I’m looking for people who want to make a difference, they don’t get stuck in things. The whole point of ‘Dog Nation’ is, ‘Let’s all help, let’s all be one nation.’
“We have a platform. Let me put a spotlight on (organizations like Rocket Dog Rescue), so more people can know about them, so they can inspire people, not only to rescue dogs, but to change their lives. It’s paying it forward. It happened to me. That’s the only way you can make a difference. You have to help others.”
The premise of “Dog Nation,” which will premiere early next year on Nat Geo, is that the Millans will travel around the country in eight episodes. The show isn’t only about rescuing dogs. Cesar Millan is not joking when he says that in his efforts to educate people about dogs, he has all the generations covered.
A younger son, Calvin, 17, hosts “Mutt & Stuff,” a Nickelodeon show aimed at preschoolers. Andre, who also hosts the National Geographic Wild show “Pet Talk,” is someone Millennials can relate to. Cesar has Gen X and the Baby Boomers covered. Not only that, “Dog Nation” is also a bonding opportunity for father and son.
“It’s cool to have a good role model,” Andre Millan says. “Every day is a life lesson, but it’s also really fun and joyful for me to help teach and spread education and awareness. We’re a great dynamic dog duo. It’s a great dynamic dog dynasty we’ve got going.”
“The spirit of a dog, to me, is someone who was born to be of service and to be part of a group that I call a pack,” Cesar says. “In my point of view, dogs are pack-oriented. His whole purpose in life is to belong and to be of service. I want to belong to a pack, a group of people we call Dog Nation, and to be of service. And now my son is joining in. So now we do it as a real, real pack.”