Dog Whisperer week Dec 28 - Jan 1

NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

G’DAY BOY!

CESAR MILLAN KICKS OFF NAT GEO CHANNEL’S
ANNUAL DOG WHISPERER WEEK WITH A TRIP DOWN UNDER
TO HELP FRUSTRATED AUSSIES TAME SOME FEISTY CANINES

Episodes include Dog Whisperer’s first cases
taped outside the United States

Cesar Goes Down Under premieres Monday, December 28, 2009, at 8 PM ET/PT
Cesar in Oz premieres Friday, January 8, at 9 PM ET/PT
Dog Whisperer Week runs Monday, December 28, – Friday, January 1

(WASHINGTON, D.C. — DECEMBER 7, 2009) As the sixth season of Dog Whisperer continues, Cesar Millan, the “Dr. Phil for Dogs,” goes down under to the nation-continent of Australia, a country with nearly 400 million dogs, for two special episodes. This passport to the other side of the world is the first time Dog Whisperer has filmed outside the United States.

“I was amazed that even on the other side of the world, many of the dog problems are the same as here in the U.S.,” said Millan. “The owners may have a different accent, but they still need to be trained!”

Dog Whisperer: Cesar Goes Down Under premieres Monday, December 28, at 8 p.m. ET/PT (with an encore Friday, January 1, at 9 p.m. ET/PT), bookending National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer Week, which includes back-to-back favorite episodes from 8 to 10 p.m. ET/PT every night, December 28 through January 1.

The following week, Dog Whisperer: Cesar in Oz premieres Friday, January 8, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

In these special Aussie episodes, Cesar spends three weeks traveling across the Australian continent, from Sydney to Perth to Melbourne to Brisbane, seeking dogs of all breeds needing rehabilitation — and finding many owners in need of training. In the land with more than 11,000 beaches, the Great Barrier Reef and exotic animals including alligators, koala bears and 329 mammals, there is also no shortage of dogs in need of Cesar’s help.

In the first episode, Dog Whisperer: Cesar Goes Down Under, Cesar helps tame three dogs, Willow, Bonnie and Jack. The episode begins with Cesar traveling south of Sydney to teach Willow, a massive Great Dane, to stop biting his owner. Willow’s persistent jumping and biting tend to go way beyond “play,” particularly during runs through Australia’s massive sand dunes. Next, Cesar helps 4-year-old bearded collie bonnie. Bonnie’s unpredictable aggression has crushed her family’s dreams of enjoying the dog park. And finally, Cesar faces a true Australian challenge when he rehabilitates Jack, a 17-month full-sized French mastiff weighing a whopping 150 pounds. Jack’s owner fears the aggressive mastiff is going to hurt someone, and is in desperate need of Cesar’s expertise to help her stop Jack from jumping, biting and harassing visitors.

Link: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/dog-whisperer/4511/Videos/07615_00

Dog Whisperer: Cesar in Oz continues with Cesar in Australia. Cesar begins working with Sydney, a 9-year-old Weimaraner who was attacked by a man on a postie motorbike, the vehicles used by Australian mail carriers. The incident turned Sydney aggressive against posties or anyone riding one of the motorized red postie delivery bikes. Cesar pulls out all the stops to stamp out Sydney’s postie phobia. Next Cesar faces one of his toughest challenges in Oz as he meets Vincent, a 4-year-old shar-pei who has a thirst for blood, attacking other dogs and his owner. Cesar’s Australian adventure is not over yet — he meets Australian red cattle dog Astro, who barks incessantly at the oddest activities, including making the bed, riding a bike or carrying an object out of the house. In this special destination episode, Cesar gets a taste of Australian wildlife … in canine form.

About Dog Whisperer
Each episode of Dog Whisperer follows dog behavior specialist Cesar Millan as he goes directly into the homes of dog owners — without any prior information about the dog’s case — and documents the remarkable transformations that take place under Cesar’s calm, assertive guidance.

The hugely popular series has grown into a pop culture phenomenon, including parodies on “South Park” and “Saturday Night Live”; references on popular shows including “Jeopardy!” and Bravo’s series “Work Out”; appearances on “Oprah,” “Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “Martha Stewart,” “Today Show,” “The View” and “Live with Regis and Kelly”; and a guest star role for Cesar on the hit series “Ghost Whisperer” and the upcoming Jennifer Lopez movie “The Back-Up Plan,” scheduled for release in spring 2010.

Dog Whisperer has also been nominated three times for the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Reality Program.

About Cesar Millan
With more than 20 years of experience working with canines, Cesar has been called a “Dr. Phil for dogs,” and for good reason. He has a unique gift of rehabilitating dogs and training their owners. His talent with dogs first developed on his grandfather’s farm in Mexico. His Dog Psychology Center in Los Angeles received as many as 100 calls a week from owners desperate for help and confronting a crisis with their beloved pets. Cesar has now moved his center to Santa Clarita, where he is at work on building a true sanctuary for his canine companions. Often, the dogs Cesar works with are “red-zone cases” that trainers or veterinarians have told the owners to put down. Cesar believes every dog deserves a chance at rehabilitation before such drastic measures should even be considered. His pack of dogs are largely dogs no one thought should be left alive — and they now live in harmony as part of Cesar’s pack, and make frequent appearances on the show.

Millan was made an honorary member of the International Association of Canine Professionals and was presented The Michael Landon Award for Inspiration to Youth Through Television at the 28th Young Artist Awards.

Cesar has published four best-selling books, and launched a new magazine, Cesar’s Way, in the fall of 2009. Other things Cesar include: the first three seasons of Dog Whisperer are available on DVD; Cesar and his wife Ilusion have founded the nonprofit Cesar and Ilusion Millan Foundation, providing financial support and rehabilitation expertise to shelters throughout the United States; Cesar has an exclusive product line available at Petco; and he is giving online seminars, “Sessions with Cesar,” an interactive coaching course. Additionally, Cesar's new magazine — Cesar's Way — from IMG Publishing is available on newsstands now and will feature celebrity dog stories and everyday dog lovers who have built a lifestyle around their companions. More information can be found at http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/.

Dog Whisperer is produced by MPH Entertainment and Emery/Sumner Productions for National Geographic Channel. For MPH Entertainment, executive producers are Jim Milio, Melissa Jo Peltier and Mark Hufnail. For Emery/Sumner Productions, producers are Sheila Possner Emery and Kay Bachman Sumner. For the National Geographic Channel, executive producer is Char Serwa; senior vice president of production is Michael Cascio; and executive vice president of content is Steve Burns.

For more information, visit natgeotv.com/dogwhisperer.

# # #


National Geographic Channel
Based at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., the National Geographic Channel (NGC) is a joint venture between National Geographic Ventures (NGV) and Fox Cable Networks (FCN). Since launching in January 2001, NGC initially earned some of the fastest distribution growth in the history of cable and more recently the fastest ratings growth in television. The network celebrated its fifth anniversary January 2006 with the launch of NGC HD, which provides the spectacular imagery that National Geographic is known for in stunning high definition. NGC has carriage with all of the nation's major cable and satellite television providers, making it currently available in nearly 70 million homes. For more information, please visit http://www.natgeotv.com/.