Tonight marks the end of Cesar Millan’s nine-season run as the “Dog Whisperer” — but he’s not straying too far off the leash.
Millan, the goateed canine svengali who created the template for TV animal behaviorists — and spawned a slew of knockoffs — will continue on Nat Geo Wild with a new series called “Leader of the Pack.”
Premiering early next year, “Leader of the Pack” will feature Millan traveling the globe to tackle the problem of canine abandonment.
While his fame has transformed him into a pop-culture touchstone, Millan says the decision to end “Dog Whisperer” was several years in the making.
“I was ready to end it two years ago, but obviously the network wasn’t OK with that,” he says. “They felt we had more to do with the show.
“I said, ‘Dog Whisperer’ is a wonderful show, a beautiful show, but I want to teach people about rehabilitating dogs worldwide,’ ” he says. “I wanted to do a show where I can do [dog] rescues, rehabilitations and the re-home aspect.”
The 12-episode “Leader of the Pack,” filmed around the world, will give Millan that opportunity.
In the show, he travels to the UK, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain to give “unadoptable” dogs a second chance by coaching families (three per episode) who want to adopt these pups and give them good homes.
“I’m inviting the world to become a pack, to be united by the purpose of helping dogs,” Millan says. “That’s why I wanted to shoot it in Europe. The problem [of unadoptable, abandoned dogs] is everywhere, and the willingness to help is everywhere — people just need someone to teach them how to rescue these dogs.”
Nat Geo Wild will provide a bridge to Millan’s new series by airing a one-hour biopic, “Cesar Millan: Pack Leader,” over the Thanksgiving weekend, followed by a sneak-peek of the new series.
“We’re using Cesar Millan’s real life story as a way of catering to his fans who’ve been asking for this for years,” says Geoff Daniels, Nat Geo Wild’s executive VP/GM. “We have exclusive access to his story and we go behind-the-scenes with his tours and speaking engagements.”
And it’s not like “Dog Whisperer” will be going away after tonight’s finale.
“After nine seasons we’ve done 175 episodes, which will continue to be on our air for years to come,” says Daniels.
“This season is better than ever regarding ratings and response from our viewers,” he says. “After nine seasons on two networks, Cesar has become an international superstar. He wanted to take that next step in his career with newer and bigger challenges that would take him worldwide.
“But without a doubt ‘Dog Whisperer’ and Cesar are the strongest things on our network . . . and I don’t see that changing.”