Two Readers in Love's Reviews > Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals

As the title implies, I came to this book expecting to learn a bit more about what motivates animals - but left with a better understanding of what motivates me.

The writing team of Dr. Grandin and Dr. Johnson (who brought us "Animals in Translation") once again mix the latest research about animal behavior alongside relevant anecdotes from Dr. Grandin's personal and professional experience, and present it all in a clear and engaging manner. Dr. Grandin's describes the challenge of explaining the complex signals of animals into clear instructions that are accessible to others; she clearly put her years of experience 'translating' to work here, even more so than in 'animals in translation'. Thanks to the description of the "blue ribbon emotions" in animals, and the careful description of the process of clicker training, I think I finally actually "get" what clicker training is about and am now inspired to try it with our own companion animals.

This book was full of surprises for me. After an introductory chapter on “What Do Animals Need?” the chapters are broken down by animal species/environment: dogs, cats, horses, cows, pigs, chickens and other poultry, wildlife, and zoos. At the time that I am writing this, the newest research on wolves had not made it into the popular press; I was surprised to read the research that shows that the concept of the 'wolf pack' may be a mostly unnatural construct of resettled wolves or wolves in captivity, and that wolves in the wild live in family units without a dominance hierarchy. I was even more surprised to find how intriguing the chapters on cows, pigs, chicken, and other poultry were. I learned about industrial farming practices in an entirely different context than what I am used to reading, and I would recommend this book as a good companion piece to both Michael Pollan's "Omnivore's Dilemma" and Peter Singer's "Animal Liberation" to broaden your perspective on animals and quality of life.

Even more surprising, I think that I learned as much about people management as I did about animal management from the industrial farming chapters. I am responsible for quality control in an unrelated field (Information Technology), but Dr. Grandin's experience of trying to affect lasting quality improvements resonated with my experience, and she provides some valuable insights that have universal application.