08 AprEpisode 200 | Calm, confidence, love & joy: How Will + Jada Pinkett Smith helped create The Dog Whisperer
Did you know that The Dog Whisperer and Jada Pinkett Smiths are longtime best friends? Two weeks ago, Will Smith calmly and confidently sauntered up on to the stage of the Oscars and slapped someone who said something he didn't like. His vibe and techniques struck Annie as a bit Dog Whisper-y. Maybe that's because she was aware that Cesar Millan, aka The Dog Whisperer, was supposedly made famous in part early on because of his connection to a small handful of movie stars, among them, the Smiths. Annie unearths some old Red Table Talk recordings of The Dog Whisperer revealing his origin story to Jada and her mother. She also reads from a 7-year-old Cesars Way blog post where Jada talks about how the dog training lessons she learned from Cesar has helped her marriage.
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Mentioned in this episode:
Cesar Millan on Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith and Gammy (Adrienne Banfield-Norris) in 2018
Cesar’s Way article from 2015: Jada Pinkett Smith Takes The Lead
Transcript:
Annie:
Have you ever disliked a celebrity purely by proxy? I'm not telling you that there's a celebrity, I've maybe long disliked by association. I'm just asking you. Have you ever disliked a celebrity because of that celebrity's association with another celebrity? Where one of these celebrities might be in a completely different field than the other celebrity?
Because there's this one celebrity who has been in the news a lot in the last week. And I don't think I need to tell you how I feel about this person. But I do wanna tell you that this person has probably had a larger impact on the field of dog training than one might realize, on dog training as it exists in the mainstream today. And I wanted to also maybe propose the argument that he has caused a lot more harm to dogs than he's ever caused to people, if only secondarily, if not also in practice. I don't know.
Purely because this one person's celebrity helped create the celebrity we know as Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer. Now, if you've ever watched The Dog Whisperer, you probably would guess that someone who is an acolyte of Cesar Millan might be very forceful, might feel that they need to be the alpha, as they say, lead the pack, be the protector, be the leader and not take not take lip from anyone. And someone who might feel fine about using physical force, without considering the unintended consequences or fallout of using punishment, be it physical or otherwise, he'd be perhaps someone like Will Smith.
Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith are long time friends of Cesar Millan’s. And their celebrity is part of what helped him reach such heights in popular culture. I started thinking about this and wanted to do an episode on this and started to look online. I knew that he had worked with Cesar. I mean, I knew that Cesar had worked with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's dog. So I thought maybe I could find clips of him giving the kind of advice that, were you'd apply it to humans, would lead you to slap people in the face.
Sometimes Cesar Millan is so often talking about humans and the human behavior and energy, and how to be an alpha, and all these kinds of things that make me think of someone actually kind of like Will Smith. Someone who is charismatic and seems like they're beaming love and energy and confidence, but also fine using force. I imagined there must be some episode of The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan praising Will Smith for his perfect energy and what must be his well-behaved dogs, and that might exist, but I did not find it.
Instead, what I found was Cesar Millan talking both to, and about his relationship with the Smith, particularly with Jada. And I learned that Will Smith has very little interest in pets. But more than that, I actually learned a lot about Cesar Millan and his long friendship with Jada.
What I'd like to share with you today is an interview that he did with Jada Pinkett Smith and her mother who is known as Gammy on their Facebook show called Red Table Talk in 2018. And also an article where Jada talks about how Cesar Millan and his techniques helped her get in touch with her femininity and her ability to be a leader.
Now, if you're just tuning in, you might not be aware that Cesar Millan is a very divisive figure in the world of dog training. And I am quite hesitant to tell you how I feel about Cesar Millan. However, I can tell you that there are a lot of dog trainers who would consider themselves positive reinforcement dog trainers, who feel very similarly to the way I do.
And many of them seem to deal with the topic of Cesar Millan by kind of avoiding it or finding something positive that can be said about him, but sort of like what you might think of as a positive approach. Accentuate the positive, don't blow out someone else's candle. Train people to see things the way you see it, rather than punishing them for seeing it in some other ways. Find something good you can say about him, ignore the fact that he exists. If someone compares you to the do whisperer, just laugh it off. I know dog trainers who take these approaches on this subject and more.
This has not, however, been my approach. I want to talk about Cesar Millan and I wanna talk about a culture that has allowed someone like this to control so many people's ideas about dog training and animal behavior as a whole. Or, how is it that society is so foggy on understanding any kind of animal behavior or basic behavioral science that it allowed someone like this to become such a celebrity.
These are things I think about. These are things I want to have conversations about, but as a business owner, I don't really want to be divisive. I don't really wanna go around starting arguments and hurting people's feelings. So the approach I've taken on this podcast is to simply let Cesar talk for himself. So what I'm sharing with you is this Facebook episode from 2015. I've edited it down a little bit. You can find the whole thing, watch the whole thing at the link I will include in the show notes.
But basically, he is talking about how he first got to know Jada Pinkett Smith and how she helped him. And I should note too, that prior to this, I had heard or read that he was a limo driver and drove around the Smiths, and that's how he got his start. But that story is a little bit different or pretty different than what the two of them discuss in this interview.
[interview plays]
Jada Pinkett Smith:
We came up in the ranks together!
On his rise to becoming the dog whisperer Cesar Millan entered this country as an illegal immigrant, overcoming incredible hardships to show us what it truly means to live the American dream.
Cesar, we've known each other for what? 27, 28? Like I was 19, 20 years old when I met Cesar.
Cesar Millan:
This is what happened. I came to America. I wanted to be the best actor in the world. I came to Jada and I said, I need to have a TV show or a radio. And she said, well, for that, you have to speak English. Know what I mean? The next day a friend of her came to my place in south central and said I'm your new English teacher. So because of Jada, I speak English.
Gammy:
Wow. I didn't realize.
Cesar:
Mm-hmm!
Adrienne (Gammy):
That's very special. I’m getting teary!
Cesar:
This is a dog friendly house.
Jada:
Yes it is.
Adrienne:
Then you got cats.
Jada:
We got eight dogs, we got three cats.
Adrienne:
Snakes.
Jada:
We got three snakes. Got two tortoises. Well, you remember Fang the Husky, cause you had his sister.
Cesar:
Yeah. He's the happy lucky one. And
Jada:
And then you gave me Homie for my birthday.
Cesar:
Yeah. That’s a new one that you have that’s definitely in a playful state.
Jada:
Clover. Clover Is part of our pack.
Cesar:
This is the Chinese guy.
Jada:
Yes. Xiao Yung. My rescue from China when we were shooting The Karate Kid with Jaden.
Cesar:
And he wasn't this friendly when he arrived.
Jada:
No.
Cesar:
No, he was a little on the not trusting side.
Jada:
He's come a long way.
Cesar:
So you did an amazing job. It’s done. This is really good. This is very, very happy about it. Very proud of your pack.
Jada:
I have a super duper special guest today, not only because he is the internationally renowned dog whisperer, Cesar Millan, but because he happens to be one of my oldest closest friends.
Cesar:
Thank you. My English is better.
[laughing]
Adrienne:
How did you guys meet?
Jada:
I used to date a guy whose dog he used to work with. Kenji.
Cesar:
Kenji was the first rottweiler, yeah. They introduced me to the rest of the rottweiler owners. And those rottweiler owners was Jada Pinkett Smith.
Adrienne:
Oh, okay.
Cesar:
So the rotties, you know, the rotties introduced me to Jada. Then the rotties introduced me to Will.
Adrienne:
Who is not such an animal lover, which is interesting ‘cause you have all these animals in the house. But Will typically is not too much of an animal lover.
Cesar:
He never took class.
[laughing]
He never took a lesson. Will, you still haven't taken a lesson. I been in your house like 20 years.
Jada:
You know, he's like, look, if it makes you happy to have all these animals, cool. But he likes Fang. He looks at Fang from the window and goes, oh, he's so pretty. That's about it.
You know, I had four male rottweilers. And he taught me how to manage those dogs. At that particular point in time and where I was in my life, I wanted those dogs for protection. And I was a young woman by herself a lot. And I wanted that. That made me feel safe. I didn't wanna get a gun. So I had rotts. That went with me everywhere.
You're like the epitome of the American Dream to me because you came here.
Cesar:
I jumped the border.
Jada:
You jumped the border.
Adrienne:
Couldn't speak English.
Jada:
Couldn't speak English.
Cesar:
I didn't know anybody.
Jada:
What made you wanna come to America in the first place?
Cesar:
Well, when I was 13 years old, I told my mom, Mom, you think I could be the best dog trainer in the world? After watching Lassie and Rin Tin Tin.
Adrienne:
Lassie and Rin Tin Tin!
Cesar:
People watch a lot of animal shows. Those were my animal shows. ‘Cause I wanted to be a vet. But because I come from a low income family, it was impossible for them to send me to a vet school. Right? At 13 years old, I told my mom, Mom, you think I could be the best dog trainer in the world? And she said, you can do whatever you want. ‘Cause when I was 10, I told her that I wanted to be a drug dealer.
[laughing]
Cause where I'm from that's also, those are role models.
Jada:
There you go. That's what you had.
Cesar:
Those were role models. Okay. And so I saw how respected they were, and that day, my mom slapped me in the face and said if you wanna kill me, that's what you become. I don't wanna kill you. I just wanna, you know, make money. So you know, you can live happily ever after mom. Right. So I didn't know what those guys were about. You know, I was 10.
So you know, three years later I'm looking at the dogs that I grew up with. They didn't have commands. So I wanted to have those Hollywood dogs, those dogs who are trained. So I really wanted to be a dog trainer. You're born with a desire. You wanna sing? You want to act, you wanna do this, you're born with it. Nobody tells you to do it. Right? So where does Lassie and Rin Tin Tin lives? United States. You know Disneyland or Hollywood.
So when I was 21 years old, on December 23rd, I went to my mom again, Mom, I'm leaving. She said, where are you going? Tomorrow's Christmas. I'm going to America. But tomorrow's Christmas. I know, but I have to go right now.
So something that you feel that you have to listen to it. And you have to act on that day. So my dad saved a hundred dollars. He gave it to me, put it in my sock and, and that's all I had. That's all I had. You know, I took a bus, took like two days to get there. And once you get to the border, what you see is people wanted to take advantage of you. So that's when you learn about the streets.
But that's another level of streets.
Jada:
No, that's another level.
Cesar:
Yeah. They can sell you. Yeah. They can kill you for organs. They can. I mean, yeah. Dead is more likely than jumping it. So it’s not a piece of cake. Okay. I'm respectful of it, I know I broke a boundary and a rule, but it was for a dream.
Jada:
Right.
Cesar:
So to a point, many times I let the border patrol catch me because Americans feed you. And so when they catch you, they feed you. Mexican police don't feed you. ‘Cause many times I didn't eat.
Jada:
Got it.
Cesar:
Because I wanted to save my hundred bucks.
Jada:
Wow, Cesar.
Cesar:
When I finally crossed the border, a guy came to me, skinny guy, dirty as hell. And smoking a joint, can I say that?
Jada:
Yes you can.
Cesar:
So this guy came, so all the three things my mom say not to listen to. If a guy is dirty, if a guy is skinny. ‘Cause in Mexico, if you're too skinny, there's something wrong with you. As a culture, they wanna see you fat. And of course, if you smoked weed, at that time, then the guy's crazy.
Jada:
Right.
Cesar:
You know? So all the three things. But inside of me, I felt trust.
Jada:
Mm, wow.
Adrienne:
Interesting.
Cesar:
And the guy said to me, I charge you a hundred dollars.
Jada:
So he said he’d charge you a hundred dollars to get to–
Cesar:
That's right. “You wanna cross the border? I charge you a hundred dollars.” That's all I had. So that's a sign. That's a sign.
Adrienne:
And what was his technique?
Cesar:
Oh he knew the road.
Jada:
Oh wow. [laughs]
Cesar:
You have to know the path. Yeah. You have to know when the border patrol changes.
Jada:
Right. All of that.
Cesar:
All of that stuff. So he knew. So finally we cross, we got to the gas station. The guy said, “I'm gonna get you a taxi, and the taxi’s gonna take you to San Diego.” I said I don't have any more money. This is it. I'm giving you everything. The guy paid the taxi driver.
Adrienne:
Wow.
Cesar:
Yeah. The guy paid the taxi driver $20. So he only made $80. That to me was like, “Okay, I'm supposed to be here.”
[interview paused]
Annie:
I'm just gonna interject here. I know there's a lot that could be unpacked that I have now shared with you. But I have vowed to not talk about my feelings about Cesar Millan.
However, I think I am gonna take issue with his storytelling because I'm confused. I just wanna share that this last anecdote doesn't make sense to me. What he's saying, I think, is that he gave the coyote a hundred dollars, which was the last money he had and then didn't know where to go. And so the coyote paid a cab driver $20 to take him to San Diego.
Oh! Wait, I still don't follow. So that was what made him feel like “That's what makes me supposed to be here”? I'm
[interview excerpt repeats]
Cesar:
The guy paid the taxi driver $20. So he only made $80. That to me was like, okay, I'm supposed to be here.
[excerpt ends]
Annie:
Anyway, the conversation goes on. And this is a very personal side of Cesar Millan we're seeing here. This is Cesar Millan on Cesar Millan. And you know, you should go listen to it, I think, or watch this Facebook show, episode…or hell you're already here. I'm just gonna play you a little bit more.
[interview continues]
Cesar:
So I arrive in LA and took a Greyhound, and I arrive at nighttime, and then I walk in the middle of the night through skid row in downtown LA. The next day, by that time I knew that yellow pages existed. So that's when I started calling kennels. I wanted to, you know, I wanted to work in a kennel. So I already knew, okay, so what do I gotta do? Car wash? No, you know, washing dishes? No. I get fed, but that's not the profession I came to America for.
So I knew I have to start from the bottom and cleaning kennels is not a problem. Those are the jobs that immigrants get, right? We don't get the middle of the pack jobs. We don't get the top of the pack job. We get the back of the pack.
Jada:
Cesar, the thing about you. You've always, even back in the day, you were just so certain, you'd be like, I wanna teach people how to be with their animals. I need a TV show. And I was like, wow, like, you are so certain about what you saw and your vision.
Cesar:
Look, I come from a low income family. You have fate, you have passion, you have instincts. That's why you survive. You know what I mean? Poverty makes you strong.
Jada:
Whew. You could say that again.
Cesar:
You know what I mean? So you master poverty, the only thing you have to know is how to make money. America is the land of opportunities. You know, for sure. But it's also the land of quality of opportunities, and that's what you gotta look for.
Jada:
How did you get from the kennel to your spot in south central?
Cesar:
I became a dog walker in Englewood. And so the only thing I didn't know, it was illegal to walk dogs off leash in America. I had no idea. I knew it was illegal. But I didn't know it was illegal to walk dogs off leash in America. So I was walking 40, 30 dogs off leash. Yes!
[laughing]
Jada:
In neighborhoods?!
Cesar:
So it would take me two hours to go from Englewood to South Central. And you will always catch me at the same time. So I start going to people's homes and say, ma'am, can I walk your dog? I do it for free. Right. I want to make sure your dog stop barking. And I know how can I do it. I'm gonna exercise him. You know what I mean? I'm gonna take it for the longest walk of his life. And I bring it back and I'm gonna tell you what I did. For free!
Jada:
And I think that's the other place that we connect. We kind of, that inner drive and that heart, like, we have the same code. Now how did you get to the TV show?
Cesar:
The LA times heard about me. And they followed me to a consultation. And then at the end she said, “So you seem to have a great thing going on? What would you like to do? What is your next goal?” And I say, no hesitation, “I would like to have my own TV show.”
[laughing]
Jada:
There you go!
Cesar:
So the newspaper came on a Sunday. Monday was a line of producers trying to find out what the show was all about.
Jada:
Wow. Wow.
Adrienne:
What?!
Cesar:
I started my whole thing in Englewood. In the hood.
Jada:
Yeah. DEEP! [laughing]
Cesar:
Deep! You know, it was just a dream. You got to meet people like yourself. I speak English because of you.
Adrienne:
How would you describe your friendship?
Cesar:
The first word comes outta my mouth, if you ask me, Jada, gratitude.
Jada:
Mm yeah. We don't have to see each other all the time. You know what I mean? It's like, if I call him, he shows up. If he calls me, I show up. And when we need each other, we're there. You know what I'm saying? And so –
Cesar:
Well we always connected. I feel connected.
Jada:
He's my OG homie. I just keep saying that because we've known each other forever. And I think that's the other place that we connect. I'm offering you honesty. Give me honesty. I'm offering you integrity. I'm offering you loyalty. Give me like, we understand that exchange.
Cesar:
Yeah. Yeah. Like, no question.
Cause I find that with dogs. Okay. So I can have millions of dogs and I will find the same thing. Honesty, integrity, loyalty. But it's also good to find that in your own kind.
All:
Yeah. [laughing]
Cesar:
You know what I mean? Animals are here to remind us about simplicity, about honesty, about integrity, about loyalty. They're not just for affection only. Dogs have to have a purpose in life. You have to.
Jada:
And Bits doesn't, Ma.
Adrienne:
I know, but he’s like four and a half pounds!
Jada:
Bits doesn't have a purpose.
Adrienne:
What purpose does he have?
Cesar:
Follow, play, explore.
Adrienne:
But you mean something different when you say follow. Cause Bits follows me everywhere I go. But I feel like that's – I feel like that's anxiety. Like he just doesn't want me outta his sight or something. I, I,
Cesar:
Well, there is one thing called separation anxiety. Many dogs become obsessive with the humans. Right?
Adrienne:
Yeah. I think he's obsessive with me.
Cesar:
So when a dog feels that the human doesn't relax or anything like that, the dog feels they need to overprotect the human.
Adrienne:
Your philosophy really is then to change me. I mean, that's your work, is to change me in order to help the dog. Right. Am I right on that?
Cesar:
Because the dog becomes the energy you project and the activities you do.
Jada:
Yeah. So, you're the, you're the –
Adrienne:
I'm the key.
Jada:
You're the key.
Cesar:
So if the human doesn't practice healthy energy and healthy habits, how can the dog practice it?
Adrienne:
Right. I think I'm so healthy. How did that happen?
Jada:
[laughing] We're gonna get to you, Gam.
Adrienne:
Tell us a little bit about your family that you built once you got here.
Cesar:
The ex-wife, she was not an animal person, you know? So, you’re gonna marry the Dog Whisperer and you're not an animal person?
Jada:
Wow, that's interesting.
Adrienne:
I didn’t know that.
Cesar:
But I didn't know either, you know, we got pregnant, I get it. We were not compatible. Right away, you don't take it as a lesson. You take it as a curse. You know what I mean? You take it as a – you know what I mean? Like, why this happened to me? Often you take it upon yourself as you did something wrong, you know? And that's when, you know, that I want to commit suicide.
Jada:
Right. Even in that particular difficult state, Cesar, when you felt like you wanted to take your life, what pulled you through that? Like, what was the thing? What was that one thing that you were just like, okay?
Adrienne:
Well, how did you even get there?
Cesar:
To kill myself?
Adrienne:
Yeah. What was going on that took you to that?
Cesar:
Failure. The feeling of failure. I'm not good enough. You’re talking to yourself, you know, nobody's putting you in that hole. You're pretty much digging that hole, and doing that to yourself.
Adrienne:
So was it failure in your personal life?
Cesar:
Nobody loves you. Your pack doesn't love you. ‘Cause my pack just left.
Jada:
Yeah. He’s talking about his family pack.
Cesar:
So, it feels like your house –
[interview pauses]
Annie:
There's a moment that, I don't know if it comes through there, if you're not actually watching it. But Jada says, after Cesar Millan says my pack left me. She turns to her mother and she says, he's talking about his family pack.
And then she goes on to talk about how when Cesar and his wife broke up what that was like for her. And I thought it was just kind of funny here now in 2022, after what I'm guessing was a very tough week for her, to talk in 2018 about how when Cesar Millan and his wife broke up, how that was for her. Cause there's like tough, and tough.
[interview continues]
Jada:
That was a tough time for me too, because I felt really helpless, you know, at that time, just not mm-hmm, knowing exactly how to help, you know, but –
Cesar:
And you did.
Jada:
Yeah. I guess, you know? Yeah.
Cesar:
Yes. It’s like I never went away, ‘cause I always had that anchor with Jada. You know what I mean? Like I always make a call, you know?
Jada and Adrienne:
Yeah.
Cesar:
I–there's something inside of me that said, make a call. As soon as I make a call and then she anchored me back. You know, but something needed to happen to me in order for me to practice what I teach. I was already in my way not loving myself.
Jada:
Mm. Got it. You
Cesar:
See what I'm saying? So that needed to be like the slap in the face to awaken me to start loving myself again, because I went into a place where I wasn't doing things –
Jada:
For you.
Cesar:
For me. You know what I mean? Like when I came to America
Jada:
Yeah. So you had to get back to that.
Cesar:
I had to gain back.
Jada:
Yeah.
Cesar:
How I came to America. I did because I love myself. And I believe in myself.
[interview pauses]
Annie:
Now it's Q & A time. I'm truncating this a bit. Here, he is answering a question that Gammy poses. He hasn't really been doling out dog training advice so far. So I'm just offering a trigger warning. He is now going to start talking about training dogs. Exit the room if you need to.
Jada:
This one is what is the most common mistake a pet owner can make?
Cesar:
The most common mistake a pet owner can make is not understanding what the needs of the dogs are. So first is the needs, and then is the training.
Adrienne:
So with humans though, the need for us typically is to love the animals. So we tend to love the animal first and maybe too much?
Cesar:
So a lot of times, for example, like the most typical that is right now is people are postponing to have children, right? So the dog becomes that empty space fulfillment. So that's more for the human than it is for the dog. So, what happens when a human does that the human is going to treat dog as a human child when a dog is a puppy. So a lot of times people, oh, he's a puppy and the dog is three years old. So they still treating him like a puppy. Right? So mentally the dog is confused.
Know what I mean? It's like a mama's boy. You know what I mean? Nobody wants to marry a mama's boy.
[all laughing]
Jada:
That is real. That is real.
[interview ends]
Annie:
Okay. I have to disagree with Cesar here. I cannot keep it in. I just don't think it's true that no one's gonna marry a mama's boy, because I know a lot of mama's boys who have very nice husbands and wives. I married a mama's boy – more than once, in fact.
[music plays]
Speaking of love and marriage, Jada has also credited Cesar Millan with helping her understand men and relationships. What I'm about to read is from Cesar Millan's website called Cesar's Way. It's a post or article that appeared on his site in 2015. It's called “Jada Pinkett Smith Takes the Lead.”
Among the unexpected benefits of adopting Cesar’s training principles: finding the love of your life. Or so says Jada Pinkett Smith, who credits Cesar with helping to build her self-confidence to the point that, when she met Will Smith more than a dozen years ago, she knew she was ready for a long-term partnership.
“I had a bunch of failed relationships before,” says Jada. She blames some of the breakups on a failure to focus, and others on not paying enough attention to the worlds of her suitors.
Enter Cesar.
They were introduced through a mutual friend with two Rottweilers. “I don’t know how it came about after all these years,” she says. “Somehow, we met because I was helping to take care of those dogs.” At the time, Jada had gone from a star on television (A Different World) to a sizzling presence in such dramatic films as Menace II Society.
She was instantly attracted to Cesar’s methods. “It was really his energy, and how I would see him physically handle the dogs,” she says. “That made me trust him.” Jada still remembers the principles he first taught her: “It’s not about the dog. It’s always about us. It’s always about the owner. It’s up to us to create an environment and circumstances in which the dog can thrive and be itself.”
Good advice for dogs and their owners. Good advice for people and their mates, too. Cesar’s love of the outdoors also made a big impression on Jada. “We spent a lot of time together in the mountains,” she says. “He helped me balance. He had me out in nature all the time. We focused on the water, the trees. It taught me more about the feminine aspect of myself.”
As a result, Jada began thinking more about the two aspects of her personality, and the need for her feminine side to coexist with her “extroverted power, masculine energy” side. Balanced aggression, she calls it.
“I imagine that’s one of the reasons I have a successful relationship with Will,” she says, referring to her movie-star husband of 11 years. “Having met Cesar, he got me more balanced. Cesar helped me understand that in every aspect of life, you can’t be afraid. There are solutions. There’s cooperation. You have to figure out the components to make a relationship work.”
Cesar also made sure Jada, who came from a family of animal lovers and still fondly remembers her first pet, a tall black poodle named Péro, had a dog in her life. “I got a Rottweiler from him named Indo,” she says. “Then, I inherited another one from my friend. Will was given two Rottweilers from Jay Leno. Now all four were under my leadership—Indo, Gracie, Zhaki, and Tyson.”
At first, Jada wondered if she was ready for the challenge. “I never in my life thought I could lead a pack like that. One dog? Maybe. But four? By myself? And be in complete command?”
Then she Recalled her Conversations with Cesar.
“He would keep reminding me that one of the most important principles was to keep the dogs in their natural state. The biggest mistake we make as pet owners is forgetting dogs were basically born to be in a pack. It’s how they survive. Don’t take away their purpose of living.”
And so a strict social order was formed—with Jada as the leader of the pack.
“I made sure to remember the rules. I had to be in front of the pack when we went out for a walk, and they always had to know who was boss.” The Rottweilers took quickly to the new order. “It’s pampering, in a different way,” Jada says.
The Training Continued in Earnest
“We played a lot with a tennis ball,” she recalls. “The dogs were constantly active. But I took them everywhere. They were my bodyguards, and yet they were the most gentle creatures.” But even a well-motivated dog lover can wear down when the energy of the pet exceeds the energy of the owner. Especially when, in the case of Jada’s Rottweilers, they were not neutered.
“With Rottweilers, it’s either fighting or sex. You have got to keep them exercised, wear them down so that their minds settle down.” Her solution? Treadmills.
“They saved my life,” Jada says. “We had two treadmills installed, and put the dogs on them. They knew the routine almost instantly. Ran for a half hour or so.”
And when they were not running, they were at Jada’s side. “There is not a time during the day when you can let them alone. They constantly had to be with me.”
Jada was so impressed with the results of Cesar’s training methods that she encouraged him to get his own television series, to share his methods with others.
“I knew how he had changed my life,” she says. So she was not surprised to see the show’s success, and was delighted to attend a party celebrating Dog Whisperer’s 100th episode last year. “I always knew that Cesar’s message was unique. He helped me. It’s almost like tapping into your soul.”
And the admiration cuts both ways. As Cesar writes in his book, Cesar’s Way, “I know I can count on Jada. She’s not only one of the most generous people I’ve ever met, she’s also one of the smartest . . . She’s been my mentor, my sister, and another one of my precious guardian angels.” And the actress, Cesar also notes, was not shy about introducing him to her Hollywood friends, who included such heavy hitters as actor Vin Diesel, and directors Michael Bay and Ridley Scott.
They Maintain their Friendship to this Day
When Jada’s dog Rocco was killed by a rattlesnake on her Malibu, California ranch last year, Cesar volunteered to show the Smith’s remaining pets how to avoid the reptiles, using real rattlesnakes to teach the dogs to beware of their sounds.
Despite an extremely busy life at home with son Jaden, 11, daughter Willow, 8, and stepson Trey, 16, and at work—she currently produces and stars in the TNT medical drama Hawthorne as she takes a break from singing with her nu-metal band Wicked Wisdom—Jada cares for a female Rottweiler, Mandy, and a female Shepherd mix, Chili. And she is even hoping to expand the pack. “We’ll probably add two more,” she says. “Got to get some dudes in there to balance it.”
She’s looking forward to it, she says, thanks to the lessons taught by Cesar. “With four Rottweilers, I learned so much about myself and my life.”
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