Millan was born in rural Culiacán, Mexico. He spent much of his early childhood on ’the farm his grandfather worked in nearby Ixpalino, where he observed the behaviour of the farm’s many dogs.

Millan’s grandfather, Teodoro, taught him many of the principles of dog behaviour he still employs today. “When I started reading all the scientific books, I realized that most of those things my grandfather knew from experience, from trial and error. For example, he didn’t know a dog’s nose was 10,000 times more powerful than a human’s nose. He just knew this is the way dogs experience the world – nose first. He never had training, but he was very instinctual, a natural pack leader, and I think he saw that same gift in me.”

When he was a teenager, his family purchased their first TV set. He preferred the classic “Lassie” and “The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin” series and, inspired by them, dreamed that he would move to Hollywood and become the world’s best dog trainer. “I told my mom, ‘I’m going to be the best dog trainer in the world.’“

In December of 1990, at the age of 21, Millan, who spoke no English, crossed the border into California. He landed his first job grooming dogs, soon gaining a reputation for his calming effect on even the most difficult dogs. Actress Jada Pinkett Smith became one of Millan’s first clients and supporters when he started his first Dog Psychology Centre located in a sketchy neighbourhood. When he told her that he wanted to be on TV, she provided him with an English tutor for a year.

Having started out as a poor farm boy who immigrated to America with no money at all, Millan also got involved in the ‘It Gets Better’ campaign in the 2010s because he personally resonates with it. It got better because he “stayed focus on what he really wanted,” and that was to be the world’s greatest dog behaviourist.

In 2002, Millan was profiled in the Los Angeles Times. Following the profile, Los Angeles-based production company MPH Entertainment and Emery/Sumner Productions called upon Millan with the idea of creating a TV series around his unique practice, which helped catapult his career and made him a household name.

Millan has been recognized with numerous awards throughout his career, including being nominated three times for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program. He continues to be recognized and awarded by rescue and animal welfare organizations for his commitment to the betterment of animals and their relationships with people around the world. Millan had also been awarded an honorary master’s degree by the Bergin University of Canine Studies.