'The Dog Whisperer,' Cesar Millan Explains How Halo Collar 5 Helps Dog Owners Maintain Control (Exclusive)

"The Dog Whisperer," Cesar Millan, is the co-founder of Halo Collar, the company that sells the Halo Collar 5, a humane device that keeps dogs within a perimeter their human sets. If the animal tries to leave, GPS technology will detect it, and sound, vibration, or static feedback that doesn't harm the dog will send it back. Humans can also control the device from their phones, so they can deter their dogs from chasing any other animals that come within the perimeter. Men's Journal exclusively interviewed Millan about the Halo Collar 5 and how it can help dogs and their humans.

How Halo Collar Fits Into Dog Training

Men’s Journal: What made you want to co-found Halo Collar?

Cesar Millan: As you may know, I train humans so I can rehabilitate dogs. And what I noticed through the years is that people don't follow through. There are three things you have to follow through: good energy, good philosophy, and good actions. That makes you a good pet parent. But most people don't follow through. They just hear it. They love the idea, but they don't walk the dog every day. Then they feel guilty. So, they don't enforce rules and limitations.

So, when the dog has pent-up energy from the body and pent-up energy from the mind, they still give affection. But the same people want to take the dogs to the beach. They want the dog to go visit America. But when a dog is frustrated and when a dog is confused, they turn like the Hulk. You don't want the Hulk to come up. You see what I'm saying?

So, knowing that the human takes a little bit of time. I've been in TV for 20 years. My goal was to make sure that everybody in America follows good energy, good philosophy, and good actions. Dogs will be off-leash because that's the nature of a dog. I'm from Mexico. Nobody puts a leash on a dog in Mexico. I always say dogs in Mexico are skinny, but they don't have psychological problems. Dogs in America are chunky, and I get to have a TV show. So, here is a leash law. Yeah.

We came out with a tool that can help people achieve this. They don't have to keep saying, "I'm afraid that my dog is not going to listen to me. I feel guilty because I didn't do what I'm supposed to do." So all the excuses. The Halo Collar can let you practice putting yourself in the position where you have to follow through and see that your dog is capable of doing it. You can have the dream. The dream is to go from your house to wherever you want without worrying that your dog is going to run away, is going to fight with another dog, or is not going to listen to you.

Fight, flight, and avoidance are the three things that you don't want your dog to do because that means it's not listening to you. What you want your dog to do is to surrender, especially if you're going to cross the street. Calm surrender. Once you find the group of dogs that you trust, because you have to be selective, you can't just let your dog play with any dog. Your dog and you can practice and be happy-go-lucky. Just you and your dog.

You want the dog to explore a little bit away from you. Exploring is when the dog goes and sniffs. It can detach itself from you with the collar, but not too far. And if it sees a squirrel and that triggers the prey drive, then you have access to its brain. Because dogs are instinctual, they don't rationalize, they don't think, they just react. So you have to be able to control your dog's instincts. Because you won’t have the fight, flight, or avoidance reaction, you only keep the good side of the dog. The calm surrender and the happy-go-lucky. You get to keep the calm, comforting energy and the leadership.

Men’s Journal: How can using the Halo Collar 5 improve the life of your dog and you?

Cesar Millan: It allows you to do exactly what you're supposed to be doing. Look, homeless people don't have the same problem. People have this problem because they have a home, so they don't take the dog out often. Your home is like a shelter. Let's say you rescue this dog from a shelter, but then you bring him to your house, and you don't take him outside. It's a shelter. The dog is going to develop this frustration, confusion, and boredom.

Humans need to understand that walking a dog at 5 a.m. means a lot because, biologically speaking, they're not supposed to wait until 8 a.m., 10 a.m., or until the human wakes up and wants to go for a walk. The real good dog walkers, we start at five because the dogs are sleepy, and you should take advantage of that moment by walking them. But most people start two hours later, three hours later, or when they come back from work. You see, there is all that pent-up energy by then. You need something unique. That's why they hire trainers. That's why people hire trainers because they don't know what to do when the dog is out of control. This technology can help you regain your control. That's what Halo Collar 5 does.

Men’s Journal: Do you believe the device will help dogs because it provides them with access to the outdoors?

Cesar Millan: That's correct. Dogs don't want to be indoors all day. That's not in their nature to be inside a den all the time. They don't hibernate like a bear for months. Dogs go in the sun, the rain, and the cold. Two species in the world thrive in every single kind of weather: humans and dogs. You see it because those are the only two species you'll find everywhere around the world. Right. And what are they doing? They're enjoying nature. In the cold, it's the dog that is there. Not a cat. Not a horse. It's a dog there. They’re in the desert, the jungles, and you name it. It's a dog there. What all those dogs have in common is that they're doing natural behavior by being outside. That’s what the Halo Collar gives dogs, outside.

Men’s Journal: For somebody who is not familiar with the Halo Collar device, what makes it different than other devices that are on the market?

Cesar Millan: It doesn't just focus on boundaries. We focus on rules, boundaries, and limitations. You can use the collar to communicate with your dog from your phone. What Ken Ehrman and Michael Ehrman did really well is use technology to create a way to communicate with your dog. By the way, technology is not as old as the relationship between humans and dogs. Humans now know how to use technology better than they understand the relationship between them and dogs, which is absurd for me as a dog guy. But I never work against the nature of a human and the evolution of the human. The Halo Collar is technology that helps you reconnect to your natural way of being. That's all it is.