THANKS TO

THANKS TO Cesar Millan,

WE HAVE THE MOST EFFECTIVE SMART COLLAR FOR DOGS

kINTERVIEW WRITTEN AND CONDUCTED BY

WILLIAM JACKSON, ABA, B.ACY., MBA AND FOUNDER, CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER, AND PUBLISHER OF INFLUENTIAL MAGAZINE, SPANISH INFLUENTIAL, AND TEEN INFLUENTIAL

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF CESAR MILLAN.

CESAR MILLAN IS A MEXICAN AMERICAN CELEBRITY DOG BEHAVIORIST WITH MORE THAN 25 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE. HE’S A HOUSEHOLD NAME AND 3X EMMY NOMINATED INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED STAR OF SEVERAL HIT TV SERIES BROADCASTED AND STREAMED IN OVER 120 COUNTRIES.

The New York Times #1 best-selling author, and accomplished global public speaker, Cesar is also an entrepreneur with an innovative product line including his widely popular Halo Collar and exclusive training courses under his Training Cesar’s Way brand.

Cesar Millan is one of the most sought-after authorities in the field of dog behavior and rehabilitation. He’s the only world-renowned celebrity dog behaviorist and has taken it to another level with his mission through the Cesar

Millan Foundation for better humans, better planet. Cesar believes we should never work against mother nature. Through his teachings, millions of people have learned that energy is everything. He’s committed to spreading his message of calm, confidence, love, and joy in everything we do. For Cesar, life should only be natural, simple, and profound, which is what you will find at his ever growing 43-acre paradise, the Dog Psychology

Center in Santa Clarita. By understanding animals and nature, he has enabled himself to see humanity and understand all its facets and complications. He’s learned so much about man by studying our best friend.

Cesar has grown into a pop culture phenomenon and a go to for many of today’s celebrities, athletes, world leaders, and entrepreneurs. From flattering parodies on South Park and SaturdayNightLive; references on popular shows including Jeopardy! and The Colbert Report; and appearances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Dr. Oz, The Today Show, The View, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; Cesar Millan can be found everywhere. 25 years into his journey, you will find Cesar only spreading more of his message and continuing to grow his massive social media following of over 15+ million people across the globe, adding new products under his belt, and launching more content across various platforms. Cesar moves forward in his journey with purpose, and you can follow this journey at www.cesarsway.com.

It was an honor to sit down with Cesar to learn more about him and his love and respect for dogs. We also chatted with Ken Ehrman, Founder of Halo, who provided additional insight into the Halo Collar, the next generation in dog fence systems. We hope sincerely, you enjoy our conversation.

William Jackson: Is there someone who instilled in you a great respect for dogs? Cesar Millan: My grandfather, Teodoro. He taught me many of the principles of dog behavior I still use today. I grew up in a very rural area, Culiacán, Mexico, and spent much of my childhood at the farm my grandfather worked on, watching him interact with the farm dogs. He was very instinctual with the dogs, a natural pack leader, and I think he saw that same gift in me. It sparked the beginning of a lifelong interest in dog psychology.

William: When did you realize your relationship with dogs was special? Cesar: I always had a connection with dogs, even when I was a child people called me “el perrero” (the dog boy) because I was always with my pack. When I was nine or ten all I wanted to watch on my family’s first television were dog shows like Lassie and Rin Tin

Tin. It was then I realized I wanted to work with dogs as a career, which is why I decided I’d move to America and become the world’s greatest dog trainer. I never considered any other careers.

William: How would you explain the importance of dogs to someone who hasn’t ever experienced the joy of a canine-human relationship in their life? Cesar: I’ve had many dogs in my pack throughout my life and they’ve all taught me to focus on what’s truly important in life: living in the moment, embracing a connection, and enjoying life.

William: What is your basic training philosophy? Cesar: I always say I train people, not dogs. Dogs follow their instincts; it’s the human who needs training to lead their pack. Never go against Mother Nature, and you’ll find she’ll give you loyalty right back. It’s all about trust, respect, and love. With anything, especially with dogs, always remember to have calm, confidence, love, and joy.

William: Which dog training techniques do you consider the most effective, and why? Cesar: The most important and effective training technique is to understand dog psychology. To me energy is everything. We must be good pack leaders who instill a calm and confident energy.

And never forget...nose, eyes, and ears in that order when training.

Dogs are also pack animals by nature and when you make a dog a part of your family, you’re now a pack. If you’re not a good leader, you’ll not be able to effectively

train your dog. Consistency as a leader is key, and what we do consistently is what’ll stick with your pack.

I also believe exercise is paramount to success and will help to have them and you focus on training. Exercise, discipline, and affection.

William: What are the most common mistakes you notice pet owners making with respect to giving feedback to their dogs? Cesar: Not understanding nose, eyes, and ears. And remember dogs live in the moment.

Pet parents always think it’s affection, affection, affection. The truth is, it should always be exercise, discipline, and then affection. If you understand that, then you’ll know when feedback is best.

William: Safety, communication, and freedom. How are these important considerations for a dog parent? Cesar: Safety is the number one priority for all dog owners. It’s all about safety, peace, and love. As the pack leader, we must protect our packs as well as interact safely with them at all times. Packs continuously look to their leaders for communication, which is why your body language and energy is so important. We must ensure our packs remain free from fear and distress, and we, the pack leaders, provide this by remaining in a calm state. Animals follow calm energy; humans are the only animals who’ll follow an unbalanced leader. If we’re not calm, our dogs aren’t calm either. Freedom means giving your dog the ability to express themselves in normal dog behavior. One of the most important aspects of freedom is allowing your dog the opportunity to roam and explore; therefore, it was so important the Halo Collar gives pack leaders the ability to create their own wireless fences. Our wireless fences allow dogs to safely explore within set boundaries.

William: What are your favorite things to do with your dogs? Cesar: WALK. I walk for a living and that’s the best thing you can do for your own mind especially for your dog. I love pack walks and so do all my animals. This, and exercise, in general are very integral. To me it’s fun and provides my pack with the fuel they need to continue being as incredible as they are.

One of my favorite things when I have time is also a beach day. With Halo this has helped me make this activity even more fun as it provides more freedom. Of course, though, you must follow the rules and boundaries along with understanding your environment to create safety for you, your pack, and for those around you.

We also love to listen to music and dance. Have you seen some of Benson’s moves? Or doing tricks with Sophia. What an amazing girl she is! It’s all about being creative and instilling good energy overall.

William: You’ve partnered with Cesar Millan and founded Halo. Tell me about this new business venture. Ken Ehrman: The Halo Collar isn’t just a smart collar, it’s the next generation in dog fence systems. It was designed to keep your dog safe anywhere, and to do this by incorporating the best dog behavioral advice directly into the way the system works.

With Halo, you can simply create a fence on your phone (including up to 20 unique fences), and the fence is “sent” to your dog’s Halo Collar. From there, the Halo Collar works autonomously, providing automatic guidance that reminds your dog to turn around if they walk too close to the boundary (and provides encouragement when they’ve accomplished their goal).

After years of development, testing, and innovation, we had our official launch in Fall of 2020--and we’re already seeing our community grow by thousands of dogs each month. It’s been so exciting to hear about how Halo is changing lives and keeping dogs safe. People are reaching out to us from all over the country to share their stories about how Halo is helping them feel relieved, like their dogs are protected, and like they’re growing a stronger bond with their best friends. It all started with a vision of accomplishing this goal, and now that we’re seeing it come to fruition, it’s all very exciting and humbling.

William: What is the shared vision you and Cesar had in mind when developing the Halo brand? Ken: Halo initially started as a vision to keep dogs safe from roadside accidents. The number of dogs who are lost or hurt each year because they don’t understand boundaries is staggering.

So, our vision was to bring humans and dogs a nextgeneration solution that teaches them how to train their dogs boundary awareness. As César says “Rules, Boundaries, and Limitations” and an important part of Halo is to help pet parents and their dogs gain safety, peace, and love. With Halo’s advanced technology, dogs and their people now have the freedom to go anywhere, easily set up a fence, and know the Halo Fence boundaries will provide automatic guidance to keep dogs safe. We know safety is top-of-mind for any pet parent (ourselves included), so our vision is to give people the tools they need to achieve safety, communication, and freedom with their dogs in a single, all-in-one solution.

William: What is the value in involving the “best” in technology, dog expertise, and dog psychology in developing the Halo Collar? Ken: The value of involving the “best” technology and dog expertise is we were able to design a system that works with your dog, for your dog.

Using my background in next-generation Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, I partnered with Cesar Millan and my brother, Michael Ehrman, to create a revolutionary system that lets you create a boundary on your phone that keeps your dog inside. Both the technology and the behavioral techniques work together to create a system that works with your dog’s instincts, rather than against them.

So, with Cesar’s guidance, we’ve developed an amazing system that works with dogs’ instincts, rather than suppressing them to keep them safely inside portable boundaries to address this major problem. By following Cesar’s training program in the Halo App, you’ll learn everything you need to know to train your dog to recognize the boundary using specific associations.

William: What are the needs to be addressed by the Halo Collar? Ken: The Halo Collar provides protection that reaches far beyond the limitations of any other “smart” system or dog fence. Traditional fences can be dug under, jumped over, or simply left open. In-ground wired fences have a limited range and are easily cut or damaged. And activity trackers or GPS Collars can only track but can’t prevent your dog from running into a dangerous area or escaping the yard.

Most importantly, every pet parent just needs a way to keep their dog happy and safe. Cesar’s training program teaches people to bond with their dogs, and the Halo Collar addresses all the major gaps that other fences leave open. So, everyone can have the safety,

communication, and freedom they’ve always wanted with their dogs.

William: How does the Halo Collar work? Ken: The Halo Collar lets you create a fence outline by tapping on your phone screen or walking around with your Halo Collar. Once that fence is created, it is “sent” to the Halo Collar, which then uses its “internal logic” to automatically guide your dog to stay inside the boundaries you set. This is possible because the Halo Collar intelligently calculates your dog’s location in relation to the GPS fences. When your dog enters the “Warning Area” or leaves the fence, their Halo Collar provides customizable feedback at the right time. Cesar’s 21-day training program will teach you how use boundary awareness and positive associations to train your dog to turn around and come back to safety when this happens. So, with Halo, you can create fences anywhere--at home, at the park, at the beach--to keep your dog safely inside.

William: How do you continue to be of service? Cesar: I continue to work on my mission to help educate people and rehabilitate dogs, providing support through my Dog Psychology Center and my flagship training programs experienced with Training Cesar’s Way. Going even further by connecting and providing ways to have a great experience with your dog through products that help people at home like the Halo Collar. Additionally, my work through the Cesar Millan Foundation is focused on providing education through canine companionship especially with kids. Our mission statement “through humane education and compassion, we can create change” rings true for helping both people and dogs. Better Humans, Better Planet.

William: Cesar, of what are you most sure? Cesar: Never go against Mother Nature as my grandfather taught me. If you follow this, you’ll gain something incredibly special and that is loyalty. I’m also most sure my responsibility and purpose are to provide the world with education through the spirit of the dog. This is all a part of my mission...Better Humans, Better Planet. l