Brandon McMillan (born April 29, 1977) is an American

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

, animal trainer, author and television producer best known for his role as former host and trainer of the television series ''Lucky Dog'' on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

Early life and career

McMillan was born April 29, 1977 in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to work for his uncle's

animal training Animal training is the act of teaching animals specific responses to specific conditions or stimuli. Training may be for purposes such as companionship, detection, protection, and entertainment. The type of training an animal receives will vary ...

company, which supplied animals for film and television. His first experience in front of the camera came in 2009, when he hosted the

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily dev ...

series ''NIGHT'', which looked at nocturnal behavior of the world's most dangerous animals. In 2010 McMillan opened a dog boarding and training facility outside Los Angeles, and began work training

service dogs In general, an assistance dog, known as a service dog in the United States, is a dog trained to aid or assist an individual with a disability. Many are trained by an assistance dog organization, or by their handler, often with the help of a profe ...

and

therapy dogs A therapy dog is a dog that is trained to provide affection, comfort and support to people, often in settings such as hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, schools, libraries, hospices, or disaster areas. In contrast to assistance dogs, w ...

. He has been a

dog trainer Dog training is the application of behavior analysis which uses the environmental events of antecedents (trigger for a behavior) and consequences to modify the dog behavior, either for it to assist in specific activities or undertake particular ...

to the stars at this location; some of his clients have included

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...

Andy Cohen Andrew Joseph Cohen (born June 2, 1968) is an American radio and television talk show host, producer, and writer. Cohen is the host and executive producer of Bravo's late night talk show, '' Watch What Happens Live!'' He also has a pop culture ...

Don Cheadle Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. (; born November 29, 1964) is an American actor. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including two Grammy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also earned ...

James Caan James Edmund Caan ( ; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in ''The Godfather'' (1972) – a performance which earned him Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Academy Award an ...

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles which provoked charges of obsc ...

Ronda Rousey Ronda Jean Rousey (; born February 1, 1987) is an American professional wrestler, actress, former judoka and mixed martial artist. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand and is the current SmackDown Women’s ...

Chris Hardwick Christopher Ryan Hardwick (born November 23, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, television and podcast host, writer, and producer. He hosts ''Talking Dead'', an hourlong aftershow on AMC affiliated with the network's zombie drama series '' The ...

Wolfgang Puck Wolfgang Johannes Puck (born July 8, 1949) is an Austrian-American chef and restaurateur. Early life and career Puck was born in Sankt Veit an der Glan, Austria. He learned cooking from his mother, who was a pastry chef. He took the surname o ...

and

Kate Hudson Kate Garry Hudson (born April 19, 1979) is an American actress and businesswoman. She has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award and a Satellite Award, as well as nominations f ...

Lucky Dog and other projects

In the winter of 2012, McMillan was discovered by

Litton Entertainment The Hearst Media Production Group (formerly Litton Syndications and Litton Entertainment) is an American media and production company based in New York City, New York as a division of the Hearst Television subsidiary of Hearst Communications, with ...

. Development on ''Lucky Dog'', where McMillan would rescue unadoptable dogs deemed "untrainable" from city shelters, rehabilitate them, train them and find them forever homes, began in the spring of 2013. ''Lucky Dog'' premiered that fall on

CBS Dream Team CBS Dream Team (suffixed with ...It's Epic! before October 3, 2020) is an American programming block that is programmed by Hearst Media Production Group (formerly Litton Entertainment), and airs weekend mornings on CBS under a time-lease agreeme ...

. In 2015, McMillan won the

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

for "Best Host in a Lifestyle Series" for ''Lucky Dog''. In 2016 ''Lucky Dog'' won the

Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Series The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Series is an Emmy award given to television programs that do not "fall into other established categories." Prior to 2000, the category was referred to as Special Class Program and both series and ...

. In 2018 he won another Daytime Emmy Award for "Best Host in a Lifestyle Series" for ''Lucky Dog''. On October 24, 2020, he announced on his Facebook page the 182nd episode of the show would be his last as host. McMillan also hosts a continuing documentary on

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

Shark Week Shark Week is an annual, week long TV programming block at the Discovery Channel, which features shark-based programming. Shark Week originally premiered on July 17, 1988. Featured annually, in July or early August, it was originally devoted to c ...

called ''Great White Serial Killer'', where he investigates shark attacks along coastlines where attacks are common. Although the title was controversial, several top marine biologists praised the documentary. McMillan has been diving with sharks for most of his career.

Personal life

McMillan lives bi-coastally between

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He is the author of "Lucky Dog Lessons: Train Your Dog in 7 Days" (

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

), which is a self-help book for dog lovers. He also cofounded the nonprofit "Argus Service Dog Foundation", which trains

service dog In general, an assistance dog, known as a service dog in the United States, is a dog trained to aid or assist an individual with a disability. Many are trained by an assistance dog organization, or by their handler, often with the help of a profe ...

s to assist disabled veterans. He has a chihuahua named Lulu and a

Flat-Coated Retriever The Flat-coated Retriever is a gundog breed originating from England. It was developed as a retriever both on land and in the water. Description Appearance The Flat-Coated Retriever breed standard calls for males to be tall at the withers, w ...

named Koda. In his free time McMillan scuba dives, surfs, and practices

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

References

External links

Official WebsiteLucky Dog on CBS WebsiteArgus Service Dog Foundation Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McMillan, Brandon Living people 1977 births Animal trainers Dog trainers People from Trenton, New Jersey