Whatever you think about Cesar Millan, the self-proclaimed "Dog Whisperer," you have to hand it to him. He has created an empire out of training dogs. And even if you disagree with his tactics or techniques, you have to admit he is a genius at marketing himself. Walk into any pet food super store and you will find an entire new line of Cesar Millan products, from food to grooming supplies. Not bad for a once illegal Mexican immigrant.

Yes, you heard that right. According to a huge article in the New York Times last Sunday, Millan "crossed the border illegally 19 years ago with nothing in his pockets." He became a United States citizen this year--the article says nothing about whether or not he had a green card all this time, but we presume that was the case.

In any event, he spoke little to no English when he arrived in California, but was determined to make his living as a door-to-door dog trainer. Lucky for him, one of his first clients was Jada Pinkett (now married to Will Smith), who was also just starting out. She was so impressed with his abilities she not only referred him to her celebrity friends, she also took him under her wing and hired him an English tutor.

Slowly Millan gained a reputation for taming even the most difficult dogs. Word of mouth provided him with a steady stream of customers as well as some free PR courtesy of the LA Times. After that, it was just a matter of time before the photogenic dog trainer found the camera and the camera found him. The National Geographic Channel took a chance on him. The show premiered in 2004 and gained a cult following.

Millan is most definitely a star these days. He charges anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 for a private consultation and donates most of the money to his foundation. He maintains that his form of communication with dogs is indeed a gift conveyed through his body language, his physical presence and his voice. Whatever it is, there is no denying that it works.

Is it training by intimidation? Maybe, but there is the argument to be made that with certain large, powerful dogs, it is important for the owner to establish control. Or else you end up with dogs training you.

A few days ago in the park, I ran into the woman who walks my dogs when we are on vacation. She usually has anywhere between two and ten dogs following her around, with no leashes, and as we climbed a steep hill, she turned to me and asked if I smelled something. Now, I have a pretty good sense of smell and all I smelled was wet leaves. "Mold?" I ventured. "No, I'm, pretty sure it was raccoon," she countered. "I can sometimes smell the deer before I see them. I think it comes form hanging around with dogs all the time. I even shake when I get out of the shower!"

So maybe there is something to this dog communication thing and maybe if you hang around dogs all the time, they begin to share their secrets. One thing I do know is that dogs keep you honest. "The dogs wont' let me be unstable," Millan notes. "If I'm unstable, they won't follow me and then I'm in big trouble."