Brandon McMillan (animal trainer)

Brandon McMillan (born April 29, 1977) is an American television personality, animal trainer, author and television producer best known for his role as former host and trainer of the television series "Lucky Dog" on CBS.

Brandon McMillan
McMillan and service dog Atlas
Born (1977-04-29) April 29, 1977
Trenton, New Jersey, US
NationalityAmerican
Other namesAnimal Brandon
Occupation
  • Animal Trainer, Television Host, Author, Entrepreneur
  • Host of CBS Show, Lucky Dog
Known forLucky Dog, Shark Week

Early life and career

McMillan was born April 29, 1977 in Trenton, New Jersey. His father and uncle were both exotic animal trainers in the entertainment industry. As a child Brandon was raised around a variety of wild animals including big cats, bears, primates, wolves, birds of prey, elephants and many more.

At 18, McMillan moved to Los Angeles to work for his uncle's animal training 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 series "NIGHT", which looked at nocturnal behavior of the world's most dangerous animals.[1]

In 2010 McMillan opened a dog boarding and training facility outside Los Angeles, and began work training service dogs and therapy dogs. He has been a dog trainer to the stars at this location; some of his clients have included Ellen DeGeneres, Andy Cohen, Don Cheadle, James Caan, Hugh Hefner, Ronda Rousey, Chris Hardwick, Wolfgang Puck and Kate Hudson.

Lucky Dog and other projects

In the winter of 2012, McMillan was discovered by Litton Entertainment. 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 in the fall of 2013 on CBS Dream Team.[2] In 2015, McMillan won the Daytime Emmy Award for "Best Host in a Lifestyle Series" for "Lucky Dog". In 2016 "Lucky Dog" won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Series.[3] 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.[4]

McMillan also hosts a continuing documentary on Discovery Channel’s Shark Week called "Great White Serial Killer", where he investigates shark attacks along coastlines where attacks are common.[5] 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 and New York City. He is the author of “Lucky Dog Lessons: Train Your Dog in 7 Days" (HarperCollins), which is a self-help book for dog lovers.[6] He also cofounded the nonprofit "Argus Service Dog Foundation", which trains service dogs to assist disabled veterans.[7] He has a chihuahua named Lulu and a Flat-Coated Retriever named Koda. In his free time McMillan scuba dives, surfs, and is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner.

References
  1. "Animal Planet "Night"". Discovery Press Web. Discovery Channel.
  2. "CBS Dream Team Programming". TV By The Numbers. Archived from the original on 2016-05-06.
  3. "2016 Daytime Emmy Award Winners". E Online.
  4. "Brandon McMillan Facebook post, October 24, 2020". Facebook. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  5. "'Shark Week': Inside 'Return of the Great White Serial Killer'". Yahoo TV. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  6. "Lucky Dog Lessons: Train Your Dog in 7 Days". HarperCollins. HarperCollins.
  7. "Brandon McMillan interview". Highlight Hollywood. Highlight Hollywood. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
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