DETROIT — Chatting over breakfast at the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham, Mich., recently with Cesar Millan, acclaimed dog trainer and star of the National Geographic Channel’s Emmy-nominated “Dog Whisperer,” something unexpected is becoming quite clear: The guy is a major shopper.

He’s wearing a pretty blue cashmere sweater and a new Louis Vuitton scarf and a new and very cute camel-colored Burberry toggle coat he bought on sale for $400 during a trip to Philadelphia because it was such a good deal. He looks at a reporter’s shoes and tells her that his wife has a similar pair — only hers are Prada — and that he picks out most of his wife’s clothes because she isn’t such a good shopper. But we digress.

Millan, 38, is in town on this snowy day because, as a popular player on the speaker circuit, he’s signed on to give a motivational speech to the Ad Craft Club of Detroit. While he’s here, he’s agreed to chat with us about whatever we want.

Leading the pack

As founder of the Dog Psychology Center, a rehabilitation facility in South Central Los Angeles for troubled dogs, Millan is famous for turning the most problematic pooch into a good citizen — which means one who doesn’t bite or pull at the leash or misbehave. Dogs, he says, are pack animals who need a pack leader. Once an owner decides to be leader of the pack, the dog will become what Millan calls “calm-submissive” and well-behaved.

Millan is self-taught, achieving his success with dogs — week after week, if you watch his show, which airs at 8 p.m. Fridays — by providing them with exercise, discipline and affection. Often, he uses his 14-year-old pit bull named Daddy as a positive role model for other dogs. (So important is Daddy that he’s accompanied Millan on the red carpet at the Emmy Awards, wearing a Burberry leash.)

Clients include Oprah Winfrey and Jada Pinkett Smith.

But that’s not all: He’s co-written two top-selling books, “Cesar’s Way” (Harmony, $24.95) and “Be the Pack Leader” (Harmony, $25.95).

This summer, he will begin selling his own brand of dog food at Petco stores.

And speaking of food, Millan says that adding garlic powder to a dog’s food helps control fleas and ticks — something we didn’t know.

On cats, the woman of the house

Millan doesn’t dislike cats; he just doesn’t understand them. He appreciates dogs’ “honesty, their integrity, their loyalty. They’ll always tell you with their language if they like you and how they feel. A dog will follow you to the bathroom, the kitchen. I just don’t know how to measure the loyalty of a cat.”

Of the 21 dogs living at the psychology center and the six he has at his home in Los Angeles, he doesn’t have a favorite. “It’s like being a father and saying, ‘Who is your favorite kid?’”

Daddy, his pit bull, has diabetes. Also: pit bulls aren’t inherently bad, people treat them badly. “Educate the human. Don’t ban anything. That only creates fear and ignorance. We don’t solve the problem by banning the breeds. People are the problem.”

He lives with his wife, Ilusion, and two boys, Andre, 13, and Calvin, 9, but says, “I’m not the leader at home. It’s America. You follow women. You say, yes, ma’am, and then you get everything you want. That’s why I have a pack of dogs that follow me.”

Millan’s day begins about 6 a.m. when he takes the dogs who live at his house out for a run. After that, he has breakfast — usually two eggs, ham, mayonnaise and beans.

Unlike most people, he doesn’t mind the smell of wet dog. “I love to walk in the rain with my dogs. … The rain makes them very frisky.”

Upon learning that his schedule for the day is too busy to allow time to shop at the Somerset Collection in Troy, Mich., Millan looks kind of sad.

What you need to know about your dog

Here are some basics from Millan, to help you on the way to becoming your dog’s pack leader.

Dogs are not humans. Before they receive love and affection, they need exercise, clear direction and leadership. In the absence of a clear leader, a dog will seek to fill what it sees as the vacant leadership role. The dog will ignore the owner and act out, and this can lead to serious behavior issues.

Rehabilitating a dog is not about fixing it. It’s about fixing the way you behave. Dogs pick up on feelings of fear, doubt or worry — and they will move to fill them by attempting to become dominant. Dedicate at least 45 minutes to the dog’s walk in the morning. Let the dog know you have a consistent pattern that you expect it to follow.

Don’t expect more from your dog than you do from your own children. Dogs need discipline, too. Give them rules, boundaries and limitations, as well as love.

You are the source of your dog’s energy. Remember: You are your dog’s role model.

Challenge the dog’s mind — dogs want to know what to do with their lives. Let the dog work for your affection. Once in a calm-submissive state, your love will intensify those qualities in your dog.

Dogs need on and off time. Engage them fully in structured times together; then they can relax and avoid impatient or destructive behaviors.