Talking to Animals: How You Can Understand Animals and They Can Understand You

by Jon Katz

There are so many benefits to learning how to communicate with animals. Love, trust, a spiritual connection that goes to the heart of the human-animal bond. Every time I listen to them, I learn about myself.

We seem to need animals in our disconnected lives more and more, yet we understand them less and less. In Talking to Animals , New York Times bestselling author Jon Katz—who left his Manhattan life behind two decades ago for life on a farm where he is surrounded by dogs, cats, sheep, horses, cows, goats, and chickens—marshals his experience to offer us a deeper insight into animals and the tools needed for effectively communicating with them. By better understanding animal instincts, recognizing they are not mere reflections of our own human emotions and neuroses, we can help them live happily in our shared world.

Devoting each chapter to an animal who has played an important role in his life, Katz tells funny and illuminating stories about his profound experiences with them. He shows us how healthy engagement with animals falls into five key Food, Movement,Visualization, Language, and Instincts. Along the way, we meet Simon the donkey who arrives at Katz’s farm near death and now serves as his Tai Chi partner. We meet Red the dog who started out antisocial and untrained and is now a therapy dog working with veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. And we meet Winston, the dignified and brave rooster who was injured defending his hens from a hawk and who has better interpersonal skills than most humans.

Thoughtful and intelligent, lively and heartwarming, this book will completely change the way you think about and interact with animals, building mutual trust and enduring connections.

Genres: Animals, Nonfiction, Dogs, Science, Memoir, Nature, Audiobook

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Jon Katz is an author, photographer, and children's book writer. He lives on Bedlam Farm with his wife, the artist Maria Wulf, his four dogs, Rose, Izzy, Lenore and Frieda, two donkeys, Lulu and Fanny, and two barn cats. His next book, "Rose In A Storm" will be published by Random House on October 5.
He is working on a collection of short stories and a book on animal grieving.

Reviews

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, but I just didn't. This was my first Katz read, but I have to say I don't have a desire to read any others. Some things I agreed with, and many things I did not (e.g. Not caring for "no kill" shelters because of the dogs that have to suffer there, but getting his dogs from breeders). My 2 stars was a stretch.

[Bobby · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am a little conflicted about what to say about this book, the latest from an author who I've been reading for about 11 years, have read a dozen of his books now, and whose books made me feel like I was catching up with an old friend. The books before this one have felt to me like stories - even if there was a theme, like whether animals have souls or dealing with the death of a beloved animal - about animals from the perspective of one human who didn't really seem to think himself special. That was why it was so easy to feel like reading a new Jon Katz book was like catching up with a friend.

But something changed with this book. It certainly could be me to a certain degree. I read many books about many different kinds of animals, sometimes scientific in nature, other times philosophical, occasionally spiritual, in between new Jon Katz books. And I have also grown in my own perception of animals with experiences with the animals of a couple of sanctuaries, but primarily with help from my own dogs who once upon a time gave me a big lesson in learning to be patient and loving. Some of this growing has led me in a similar direction as Katz, coming to some of the same conclusions, though via a different route. My dog Biko showed me that he could tell the difference between when I was genuinely patient and loving and when I was trying to fake it - which led me to endeavor to actually be those things more frequently. In other words, I learned that a "mere" dog could show me one of life's most important lessons.

Katz clearly believes this lesson that I learned from Biko and it's always been obvious in his books. That has not changed with Talking To Animals. But something has changed. While this book still has elements of what I loved about most of Katz's previous books, it also showcases an author who has acquired an axe or two to grind and a perspective that often contradicts itself or is misguided. For example, the chapter dedicated to the horses that work at pulling carts in New York City. I knew that Katz has strong feelings about this issue via occasional exposure to his Facebook page a few years ago but was curious about the issues and his perspective. What I found was an angry guy who sometimes got close to an "animals are here for us, not with us" kind of philosophy. A page later he'd be back to his usual perspective of appreciating animals for who they are in and of themselves. But then he really lost me in this chapter when he suggested that elephants in the circus are in the same boat as these horses in NYC and that those, apparently mostly misguided, animal rights people should mind their own business and let us have elephants among us, via the circus, because, according to Katz, elephants are quite content to be in the circus. This is preposterous. Don't get me wrong. I don't read Jon Katz books for his insight into the psyche of elephants. But all of a sudden he knows elephants, too? I'm calling bullshit on this one.

Two points that I've hinted at that bugged me throughout this book: the first is that the Jon Katz I identified with is at least partly gone, to be replaced with an author who is often argumentative. Frequently it seems the main point is to make sure the reader bends his or her way of thinking to the authority of the author. It seems that maybe Katz, after years of writing lauded books about animals, is starting to believe he's "the man," so to speak, when it comes to animal issues. This leads me to point number two: the author has a terrible attitude about animal rights activists. In the author's mind, the animal rights people are all misguided whistle blowers who are only making things worse for the entire planet. This may be slightly exaggerated, but not much. At one point, in a chapter about a local farmer who goes through some stuff that he probably shouldn't have had to go through (I am taking Katz' word on this), Katz blames a, in his mind, stereotypical animal rights person for anonymously blowing the whistle on this farmer. Here's the thing, though: whoever told on this farmer was anonymous and, therefore, he has *no idea* who called the police on this farmer. The author just decides it's one of those damn animals rights people that he can't stand and goes to town blaming that stereotypical, fictional character for all that went wrong for this farmer. Again, even though he has no idea who started this particular incident!

Funny, in a way, that my review doesn't even mention, until this moment, the concept that Katz pushes throughout - as an alleged practitioner himself - of trading mental pictures with animals, of projecting a picture onto an animals mind or psyche of how we would like things to be with that animal. Mind you, I have not one doubt that we and other animals can communicate. That's why I included that personal tidbit about my dog teaching me to be a more patient, loving human animal. I get an image in my head that effects my body language, tone of voice, etc. and an animal can pick up that? Yes, I definitely believe. However, I remain skeptical about this image trading that the author talks about. Unfortunately, the things I pointed out above were too much of a distraction to allow the amount of attention that, perhaps, this idea might deserve if he had gone into more detail.

Until this book, it has been a given that I will buy and read the new Jon Katz book when it comes out. That comes to an end with this book. I will continue my education with other authors, with the other animals around me, and possibly by revisiting old Jon Katz books. But I am not interested in going forward with the Jon Katz I met in Talking To Animals. Because of the "old friend" vibe I used to get from a new Jon Katz book, this is quite a disappointment.

[PennsyLady (Bev) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finishing a Jon Katz book usually leaves me wordless.
Talking to Animals: How You Can Understand Animals and They Can Understand You
is no exception.
..smiles, tears ...no words available but a priceless cover pic that speaks volumes.

[Helga Cohen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Talking with Animals is a book that makes you think. The author shows the benefits of learning how to communicate with animals with love, trust and spiritual connection, When you listen to animals, you can connect with them and they will tell you want they need. He gave some very moving stories of some of the animals he interacted with for half a century. He had a connection with them and lived in harmony with them.

The first animal he connected with was his first dog, Lucky. He was a young boy bullied and Lucky showed him love in the world. Orson his rescued border collie, showed him how to change his life and live on a farm. Julius and Stanley his labs gave him a sense of calm by his side and taught him how to become a writer in a cabin and the strength to live during a difficult time. Elvis, his Swiss steer, taught him to be wiser. Winston, the regal rooster, lived in harmony with the barn cats and looked out for the hens. Rose, the Border collie taught him how to live in the country and become empowered during the good and bad and live through blizzards and help birth new born rams during all types of conditions. Simon, the donkey opened his life to equines and new experiences. With Rebecca, he learned about draft horses and their need to work and be partners of people and not being put in meadows. And his current dog, Red, a Border collie, is a therapy dog that lifts the spirit of people, she is also a companion to people, a working dog to herd sheep and a spirit dog.

The author quotes Henry Beston, “The animal should not be measured by man. In a world older than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the sense we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear.”

“We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals… The creatures with whom we share the planet and whom, in our arrogance, we wrongly patronize for being lesser forms, they are not brethren, they are not underlings, they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the Earth.”

[Ang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hooooo, this book.

Let me start by saying that I am a pretty big Jon Katz fan; I think I've read almost all of his animal books. I've always loved the way he's written about animals.

And to say that I didn't enjoy this would be wrong, because I mostly did, and I think there's a LOT to value in this book. Everything Katz says about finding animals a place in a human world resonates with me, from the decision he made to euthanize his beloved Orson, to give up poor failing Elvis and to the work he's done with the carriage trade in New York....well, I think he's on to something here. I think his point that many people railing against working animals are people who've never looked a farm animal in the eye. So I'm enormously sympathetic to that argument in this book.

But uh, the actual talking to animals parts? Look, I'm just going to say it: I don't think animals and humans can communicate by sending images back and forth between them. I'm not saying your animal doesn't read every single thing it can off your body language and scent and whatnot. But oh boy, the talking in pictures thing? Yeah, I just can't leap off that bridge. (I have a dog that I love very very much, if you're wondering if I have any animal contact; I do, every day. She is the light of my life and I think all the time about how to give her a merciful, sweet end to her life. But communicating in images. Oh boy, I don't think so.) I don't know, I think Katz has just walked a little further into the deep end than I'm willing to go.

Anyway, thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC!

[Wendy Bousfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this moving memoir of his life with animals, Katz maintains that, increasingly, we are impoverished by lack direct interactions with animals. In the last century, Katz explains, American society underwent “a great transition in the human-animal bond. . . . The working animal was giving way to machines and cars; the wild animal was being subsumed by human development; the postwar period marked the beginning of the rise of the pet” (23). Because 21st century Americans know intimately only household pets, they regard all animals as projections of their own psyches, not as the independent and alien beings that they are.

In TALKING WITH ANIMALS, Katz traces the evolution of his own relationship with animals, especially dogs. Passionate animal-lovers (like myself) may be shocked by Katz’s insistence that animal rights activists harm animals by fostering the mistaken view that animals are weak, pitiful, and childlike.

Katz writes movingly of his first dog. An abused and bullied child, a despised bed-wetter, Katz was given his first dog, Lucky, by a kindly janitor. During the brief period when the nine year-old fed and slept with Lucky, Katz did not once wet the bed. Through Lucky, Katz learned to “talk” to animals by mentally exchanging visual images.

Presently, at Bedlam Farm in upstate New York, Katz trains sheep dogs, refines his ability to communicate with animals, and writes books celebrating the human-animal bond. By running his own small farm and networking with other farmers, Katz learned that working animals are not pets. To train a sheepdog, a farmer must balance the urgings of the animal’s innate nature with the human owner’s requirements.

“If we do not understand animals,” Katz maintains, “we cannot really know how to help them live safely and remain in our world” (10). As a journalist and social activist, Katz urges Americans to support the integration of animals into an environment that, increasingly, threatens their very existence. Katz excoriates those anti-cruelty crusaders who believe that any use of working animals is inherently abusive.

Katz sought to defeat the campaign by New York mayor Bill de Blasio to ban carriage horses from Central Park. Contrary to unfounded accusations by animal rights organizations, Katz saw with his own eyes the tender care drivers gave their horses and their clean, spacious stables. Katz became friends with an Israeli immigrant, Ariel Fintzi, a carriage driver known for befriending the homeless and at-risk youth. To thank Katz for his efforts to keep the carriage business legal, Ariel and his beloved horse Rebecca took Katz and his wife on a magical midnight carriage ride. In a dense urban environment, Katz insists, people have few opportunities to interact with animals. If the carriage horses leave Central Park, New Yorkers will be impoverished.

Katz makes a similar criticism of animal rights activists who target circuses, charging that elephants are abused. Asian elephants, Katz explains, are not wild animals. Domesticated for years, they bond with human handlers. Rescued circus elephants in sanctuaries languish without human interaction.

A resident of Syracuse, New York, I often drive to the beautiful small farms surrounding the city for you-pick fruit and organic meat. In Katz’s book, I read for the second time about Joshua Rockwood, whose Central New York farm was raided by police because of anonymous, uninformed accusations of cruelty. The West Wind Acres (http://westwindacres.com) Maremma sheepdogs, pigs, and horses were impounded after an unusually cold spell. Maremma sheepdogs are not pets and would not flourish indoors. Though Rockwood broke the ice in the water supply twice a day, authorities maintained that his animals suffered because their barn was unheated. Though Rockwood’s confiscated animals were healthy and showed no sign of abuse, he was charged $70,000 to recover them.

Trisha Parke, the owner of the Creekside Meadow Farm in Fabius New York writes a weekly blog about small farming. Deploring the anonymous attempt to destroy West Wind Acres, Trisha, like Katz, sought donations for the recovery of Rockwood’s animals. Like Katz, Trisha insists that small farms desperately need society’s support.

In conclusion, I highly recommend this an eloquent, passionate, profoundly ethical book. I recommend Katz’s thoughtful and well-informed critique of animal rights activism to all animal-lovers. I was profoundly moved by Katz’s account of the support animals have given him at dark times in his life. Katz’s insistence that animals should be treated as beings with their own identity and agendas made me recognize the degree to which I have infantilized our beloved cat Greta!

I will end with a quotation from Henry Benson from Katz’s “Introduction”:

“We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion. We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate for having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein do we err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with the extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings: they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth. ( The Outermost House: A Year of Life On The Great Beach of Cape Cod).

[Davina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciated what Katz had to say about being open to communicating with the animals in your life through patience, love and clear intentions. However, this fell short of being an enjoyable read for me with the staggering level of repetition (to the extent that consecutive paragraphs repeated the same point with only slightly rephrased language.) Moreover, the idea of receiving mental images from your animal is crazy to me and no one has a more codependent relationship with their dog than I do.

[Mitzi Cyrus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my least favorite of the books I’ve read by Katz; his repeated reference to visualizing behaviors he wants the animals to perform and his reception of messages from animals seemed a bit “woo-woo.” I also felt like the telling of the stories of his dogs was different than it had been in previous books. Is Orson the same border collie who escaped the crate at the New Jersey airport? I don’t remember that he bit someone and had to be put down - but that could be my ever diminishing memory. I also had some discomfort in his argument against animal welfare activists, but that may be my viewpoint coming from a geographical area where many dogs, cats, horses, and other livestock are rescued from deplorable conditions (skeletal animals on property with multiple animal carcasses). I can understand that work animals like to work, that dogs bred for herd protection live outside and are sweltering in areas with 50 degree temperatures, and other instances of working animals he points out; but there are also many cases where even working animals are abused. I hope if this was the first Katz book you read that you will go back and read some of his earlier non-fiction.

[Laurel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reckless and irresponsible.

[Laura]

In all good conscious I cannot give this book a rating. Not even one star. I committed to finishing it, in the hopes I would learn something, anything about learning how to communicate with animals but instead I ended up with a quippy memoir reminiscing about each of the animals he's owned, and a repetitive, unbalanced rant, based on his politics (something the author professes not to indulge in) and lack of fair & balanced facts when it comes to animals, their rights and his deep & unabiding hatred & ignorance towards, and about those who advocate for animals, and those who've taken on an activist role in animal rights.

The reason I felt compelled to even write this review was because this author has an audience, a rather large-ish one I believe, and that poses a danger because of the untruths, and downright lies he tells in this memoir. He clearly has absolutely no idea whatsoever about those who advocate on behalf of animals, or those who call themselves animal activists. I proudly call myself an activist, and based on everything that he continually repeated ad nauseam about activists as a whole, I have to assume that he's either never actually talked to someone that identifies with this type of activism, or more than one or two people that have attended rallies for support, but didn't know much about activism for animals overall. That was unbelievably clear to me based on the myriad of fallacies he shared throughout, to the point of being ridiculous. And he clearly has absolutely no idea about the facts, and truth about animals kept in captivity, animals used for exploitation purposes, ie. animals used of our entertainment, etc.

After awhile, you can begin to rely on is predictability regarding his many, many contradictions from page one through to the end. It got to the point where I wanted to start recording a listing of how often he contradicted himself. The repetitiveness alone made me wonder where his editor(s) were? They clearly did a poor job in reeling this author in, and cutting much of the repeated messages, based on little to no factual information.

This is NOT a book about learning how to communicate with animals, but rather a mix of ignorance, bias, and ramblings about how he receives messages, or visualizations from his animals that sound more like delusions, or his overactive imagination than anything else. Now it's important to note that I do believe in the reality of people being able to communicate with animals. I personally know someone that is a very successful, respected and reputable animal communicator, and I also know many empaths, but his renditions of what he experiences seemed ridiculous to me, not because of his claims of communication, but in the content of those messages he receives (or his interpretation of those messages, but he was never clear on that point), because it completely goes against everything he claims about how an animal thinks, what they perceive, what they're capable of, etc.

What a colossal waste of time. This book made me so angry on so many points. It was infuriating truth be told. Don't waste your time. And I have to apologize to my mom. Mom, I know that you always said, if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all. Well I felt this needed to be said even though it will come across as being negative but it's the way I felt, to my core.

I suppose the author has a right to his opinions, but I disagreed with far, far too many of them enough to write this review. I could go on for hours about a hundred specific examples in this book, things that were just false, or misleading, ridiculous or contradictory, but I'll let you figure that out for yourselves.

[Robert Turanský · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Jon Katz very clearly describes actual themes and issues between human and animal world.
He talks about his life stories which directly affects his relationship with animals.

You will get clues and inspiration from him how to talk with animals through your emotions, visualization - your attitude and mindset always matter.

I like Author's perspective about the specific needs of every animals and his opinion, that each animal is unique same as every human individual and his needs are.

I agree also with him, that people who want to save the animals (radical activists) don't even understand the animals. They wan't to help but because of their stupidity they create more harm to animals then help.
This book can be eye opener for everyone who cares about our animal neighbours on our planet :)

[Autumn Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's so amazing to see someone who views animals the same way I do. Not only that, but to see someone who communicates in a similar way. I don't get pictures, I just know. The same way I know that I'm thirsty or bored My animals know what I want from them as well.

Nothing I've ever read quite embodies cats like "we are going to have a relationship. I intend to be your cat. I'm not really asking you. I'm telling you."
I'll say it if no one else will, Frieda made a good call with Flo.

I'm going to argue with a little on one point. Animals are dependents. I'm going to use mine as an example, mind you, there is a vast difference between pets and livestock. I have two lab mixes, Bindi (7) and Elle (6), I also have three 15 month old ex-feral kittens, Hudson, Ghost, and Tabitha. Bindi is my heart dog. She's my Lucky. I trained her to be my service dog, she was task trained and worked in public. (I retired her due a change in my needs not her failure) Bindi and I have a bomb-proof connection. But she will never be able to feed herself without me. Hudson, however, he's a hunter. Within a month of bringing him inside he taught himself to use the doggy door. He could feed himself for a long time. But, he's prone to abscesses. They happen really fast and get really bad. He can't take himself to the vet or treat a bacterial infection. In this world all animals, down to the hyenas out in the Saraha, need people. We have made them dependent on us through selective breeding and habitat loss. I would argue they're like high-functioning disabled adult children. *As one such person I can make this comparison comfortable* They will always need a little more health than a healthy person. A parent who has a disabled child knows they have to set things up before they go. They know the care doesn't end at adulthood it just changes.

I also slightly disagree with animals not understanding English. It may be fiction, but I think about the quote from Narnia, "get treated like a dumb animal long enough that's what you become." Think of babies, a newborn can't talk, a six month old starts practicing babbling while we as parents talk back. Language is learned, but it has to be learned with context. If a one-year old doesn't speak we don't assume they're less intelligent or unable to grasp language.

I love the Saving the animals chapter. "Horses should be returned to the wild" just proves how uneducated people are. I've seen PETA arguing that pet dogs should be released into the wild. It's important to talk about toxic activism when we're talking about animals. I got chills when I read "everyone seemed to be talking about the horses, no one seemed to be talking to them." Welcome to humanity. We divide things into equals and lesser. We have conversations with equals, we tell those that are lesser than what they need.

Ooooh, I'll admit fault here. I got got when the news broke about Spartacus. I saw some of the images that were floating around and as a horse person I could see a calm horse that had fallen. He didn't look stressed or scared. But I believed the reports that he returned to work immediately. Fortunately that is not true.

Mr Katz, this is directly to you, thank you thank you thank you for supporting rehoming and euthanizing. If you couldn't tell from this essay, I'm an animal lover. But I've had my own experiences where an animal told me that it wasn't working.
Yes bringing a pet into the home is a lifelong commitment. Part of that commitment is figuring out something else if anyone is suffering. It is better to re-home than to euthanize. It is better to euthanize than to cage or restrain. Don't ask tiktok, Facebook, twitter, or Instagram, ask the animal involved.

I do have another question, I'm just writing these as they pop up. You said "not our siblings," define siblings? Is it blood? That rules out any sort of non-traditional family. Is it law? That again rules out a lot of human families. If you want to get technical my animals are legally my family, they're under my care. If they get out it's on me. Just some food for thought.

I disagree that you can "get another dog" while you can't get another person. Just like people no two animals are alike. Even if I happen to find a lab mix that looks just like Bindi they won't be Bindi. "Getting another" is also a personal choice. I'm getting my next SD before Bindi and Elle go because it will be years before I can bring a new dog home.

[Penny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Following on the heels of reading Wohlleben's The Inner Life of Animals, I was expecting more from this book but got much less. The book is repetitious and disjointed and doesn't always stay on topic ... which was supposed to be that Jon Katz is able to psychically communicate with animals, a skill he claims he developed over many years. The evidence is entirely anecdotal; there is no actual research marshaled to support this idea, unless you count the confirmation of a Shaman who claims the same skill and affirmed the author's conclusions. What I did take away from the book, however, and with a grain of salt, is the need to rethink some animal rights positions with respect to working animals, like the carriage horses in New York. Maybe they don't have it so bad. Maybe they were bred to work and get bored with nothing to do. Maybe there are knee jerk reactions with respect to animals that need to be thought about and investigated more calmly and with an open mind. Having said that, I'm still not totally convinced by Katz's reporting. Unlike Wohlleben, he is the central character of his book ... it's all about me, essentially. I was happy though to be reminded of Henry Beston's advice on animals from a book I recently read ... The Outermost House, which Katz quotes several times in the book, and which has guided his relationship with animals (dogs, horses, donkeys, sheep, cats, chickens): “We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion. We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate for having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein do we err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with the extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings: they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.”

Now that's writing!!

We are all just walking each other home ...

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book so much as I am a dog "owner" who tries to develop good communication with my dog. Through Katz's experiences with various animals, he shows how he was able to communicate with them--and learn from them. From his first puppy Lucky to other dogs and finally to horses, Katz tells of the wonderful creatures whom he shared his life with. I have to say I admire how he left the corporate life in Manhattan to live on a farm with animals, although it has not been easy! All the stories he tells I found to be moving, especially the relationship he developed with Elvis the steer, an enormous animal that he says should not have been considered a pet. But Katz was able to build a bond of trust with the steer that amazed local farmers. Sadly, steers are only able to live around two years as their legs are not designed to hold their great weight for a longer time. He was doomed to suffer great pain if he was not euthanized. I have to say tears came to my eyes when I read how Katz led his friend to the truck to take him away. Elvis provided food for homeless people for an entire winter. To quote Katz: " It tore me up to put Elvis on that truck, but I do not regret it...I am grateful to Elvis for many things, and one was his grace when it was time to leave. I believe he understood what I was asking and knew where he was going. Animals embrace acceptance in a way that is unnatural... to human beings." As a final note, Katz defends the use of carriage horses in Manhattan as long as it's well-regulated, as he felt that it was. He was impressed by the rapport that some drivers have with their horses. In the end, he wants to see animals as more a part of our lives than they are and that, of course, we should respect them and try to understand them--and even learn from them.

[Theresa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book and I did like some parts of it. I love and respect animals and feel very in tune with the ones I know, but unfortunately I did not feel that Katz listened to many of his own messages. At a time when so many dogs are being killed because they have no homes, he buys his dogs from breeders. He claims that each animal is unique but he characterizes cats with old stereotypes: they're aloof loners. I have lived with hundreds of cats over my lifetime (including many right now--no, I'm not a hoarder) and no two are alike. Some are aloof and others greet me at the door with open arms (in the case of Jr. literally; he sits on the table by the door and wraps his arms around my neck when I get home). Katz often uses the phrase "meant to do" in relationship to what he has decided animals should do. I don't believe that he can make that judgment despite his claims of reading animal minds. He claims that animals have told him when they are ready to die and he has euthanized them accordingly. I have euthanized many an animal, including literally doing it myself, to prevent suffering but I don't claim the animal is asking me to do it. I watch carefully and empathetically for signs that I'm making the right decision at the right time but I know it's ultimately a call I have to make. He paints animal rights activists with a broad sweep and accuses of them of animal abuse. I realize that some activists have mistaken ideas of how to help, but I consider myself an activist and I respect the work that organizations like Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), Best Friends and usually PETA do. I know of no organization that merely wants to put animals in empty pastures to live alone and forage for themselves. I also realize that we need more sanctuaries and no-kill shelters, more public education about spay and neuter and more environmental protections for wild animals, but dismissing the movement to save animals is simply foolish. My final critique of this book is a serious one and one which angered me. He claims that elephants (and other animals) in circuses are working and shouldn't be deprived of their jobs. I have seen first hand the effects of circuses (and other forms of captivity) on elephants and it's not pretty. No animal who roams miles every day and forms permanent bonds with friends and relatives should be relegated to chains and bull hooks. I have worked with a sanctuary for many years that rescues elephants (and lions, tigers and bears) from circuses, zoos and road shows. These are magnificent and highly intelligent animals who are at risk for extinction whose purpose in life is NOT to entertain us. I have seen elephants who once knew each be reunited at PAWS, and they run to each other and grab trunks like the long lost friends they are. The activists are trying to protect their natural environments with education and corridors much in the same way that other activists are working to preserve environments for other animals who are losing their habitats because of human encroachment. I could write more but you get the point. I haven't read other Katz books but I doubt that I will because I found him to be arrogant in his supposed knowledge and not practicing what he preaches.

[Peter Herrmann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very different from other of his books that I've read (as best I recall). I couldn't finish because of the sadness I felt each time one of his 4-legged soul-mates died. Most of us who love our pets and have seen them die have felt that same loss. But, too sad to keep on reading, chapter after chapter with the same ultimate outcome. Also, I'm somewhat skeptical of this supposed ability to exchange visual imagery with our 4-legged friends. Maybe Katz can. But I doubt that I could persuade, say, a 1-ton steer (or however many tons it was) to stand still just by wishing it and visualizing it in the steer's presence (granted, after having established some kind of relationship with that steer, as Katz did). Okay, maybe I could. But I doubt it. But that's not why I stopped reading. Just the sadness of the deaths of these wonderful animals. As a parent I've always felt - perhaps heretically - that we are closer to our pets in some ways than to our children: the emotional bond is deeper because there is little 'intellectual' exchange possible with my dogs or cats, unlike with my kids. So I perfectly understand Katz's depth of feelings. But, much as I love reading about animals, I didn't enjoy this book and didn't learn anything here pertinent with my own animals.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is no "trick" to understanding animals. What it takes is paying attention to everything around you, and being sensitive to your surroundings, the animals who are in your life, and what they are communicating to them. I have only had a few pets in my lifetime, but I know that with each one, it was a special experience because it felt like we understood each other in ways that other people did not. It involves letting go of preconceived notions of how to behave with animals, and to let the relationship develop on its own.

The sad parts of this book are when people do not understand this basic way of living and try to impose their own values on how things should be onto someone else. There are several stories where this happens and they are all very sad, because the animals themselves do not get to speak up in their own defense. It also makes me distrust the media and politicians even more when they blindly believe what some people say without researching both sides of a story. This is happening more and more in our society and it is to the detriment of everyone when it happens.

Thank you to Jon Katz for writing this book.

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were things I didn’t agree with in this book which I won’t mention. Though there is one thing I will mention on the semi critical side. There were people saying the author was hypocritical because he said he wouldn’t talk politics and there are chapters that mention politics. He wrote this book over a long span of years and I think he might have forgotten about what he wrote in the beginning of the book. I don’t think this guy would knowingly be a hypocrite. I could be wrong but that is just my thoughts on it. I admire his dedication to his animals. A lot of his animal ethics I agree with. He tends to a conservative side with them. He’s not conservative on everything though. I do think that sometimes visualization is important. I do like how he talks about how his animals healed him spiritually. I do like how he mentions Christ in a positive way even though he isn’t a Christian. He talks about how animals have a lot in common with autistic people because they both think in pictures. I didn’t know that. His abuse as a child has made him a more compassionate person. I admire that because it is rare.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concepts but one is led to wonder if the author has a screw loose or not. The viability of telepathic projection of images between humans and animals certainly needs more scientific scrutiny, but has not been absolutely shown as evidence of their ability to communicate to us, not the way the author presents it, anyway. It's entirely possible the experiences he has hare are valid, but people are still light-years off from developing some well tested means of actual communication through "mind waves" just yet. Long way to go, if achievable at all. but the author's passion is commendable especially when putting it to animal rights activists who know little about actual experience with animals, and the attendant cultural climate over "animal abuse" regarding animals that have been bred to work, which also have no other "natural environments" left in the world to be wild in.. The more sensitivity toward animals that can be brought to bear is a good thing, so the author did well to compose this particular message. No error.

[Ani G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were parts I really enjoyed, but I did not like the preachy parts. For someone who supposedly loves animals, he has a very strong dislike of animal rights activists. I really question the validity of the parts of the book where he claims police and the "Humane Society" seized people's animals based on one anonymous complaint. Many really bad people own dogs & other animals (who have no business owning them) and many of those dogs are left out 24/7 in subfreezing weather and in most places neither the police nor animal control will do anything because they know that those animals are the legal property of their owners. Those of us who are involved in animal rescue are constantly frustrated and upset at the lack of action on the part of police and animal control, and are always relieved when true animal abusers are arrested and their animals removed.

Katz really doesn't seem to know what he's talking about in this regard, and should stick to what he knows, although he seems to write the same book over and over.

[Vansh Dhawan · Rating 1 out of 5]

All the animals in this book were amazing, but the ethical positions of the Author were ridiculous. To illustrate, on one hand, he calls himself an animal lover and on the other hand, supports the livestock farmers and calls them a friend of animals (which friend slaughters another?). Furthermore, he is against shelter houses which follow no-kill policy, while buying his dogs from breeders. Moreover, he claims that he can spiritually talk with animals and they let him know whenever they wish to die and then he proceeds to euthanize them. Also, he makes stupid points such as elephants love to work in circuses, etc. He doesn't even stop here, he frames animal rights activists as enemies of the animals. I was very excited for reading this book but it turned out very disappointing. I hate such intellectually dishonest authors. To describe the author in one sentence: HE IS AN SELFISH LOVER OF ANIMALS.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read a number of books by Jon Katz in the past, so am familiar with his journey with animals. I felt like this title was a good summary of the overarching narrative that animals have contributed to his life and work. His ability to understand and communicate with animals over decades has grown and developed, and this book underscores that. This book has definitely given me some different ways to think about what messages I might or might not be passing along to my own animals, as a result. He is also honest about the fact that many people do not agree with him and his writings, and why. He does defend himself, but not in a militant way. Two chapters in the book (Saving the Animals, and Joshua Rockwood) take a wider view and bring to light the cultural clashes in our country regarding the place that animals do play, or should play, in the lives of humans.
I would not necessarily recommend this as a first book someone would read by Katz. You might try Saving Simon, Izzy and Lenore, or A Dog Year. Also, it is not a "how to" book about communicating with animals. Rather, it is, as his other nonfiction books tend to be, his own experience, easily accessible and conversational in style.
One note: This book needed one final editing, as there were a number of typos, or words missing, especially near the end.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree that we do not treat animals well. Intelligent ones such as elephants are put into zoos, chimpanzees (also intelligent) were kept in cages for experiments, etc.--which all would drive us humans insane. But also i think pets are mistreated by those treating them as small children (and sometimes dressing them as such). We impose a role on our pets, but do not listen to what they communicate or wish to, to us. But what to make of Katz's explanation of how he communicates by visualizing the behavior he wishes them to adopt or the images he receives from them as to the danger or whatever they perceive and want him to address. Is this telepathy? Or what? And how, in terms of physics and biology, are images sent and receive?

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Talking to Animals: How You Can Understand Animals and They Can Understand You,” by Jon Katz is an interesting book and I am glad that I read it. However, I will not be looking for other works he has written. I enjoyed his passion for animals, his willingness to share with his readers, and his frankness. My dislikes were that sometimes his sharing was as my son puts it, “His willingness to share was just more TMI than I really wanted.” With his passion, I felt at times, he was getting up on soap box. Lastly, was that there was a lot of repetitiveness. I almost felt like he had taken a series of articles he had written and then pasted them together to make the book.
Overall, I am glad I read the book, but was left without the hunger to read more.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not what I expected. It turned out to be more of a memoir than a discussion of how "you can understand animals and they can understand you." I thought the concept of visualization was interesting, but I really hoped for more detail on this technique rather than just reading about how it played out in the author's personal experience. I also felt the chapter on carriage horses was disconnected from the larger message of the book--it felt disjointed.

Overall, glad I read it and will probably pick up some of the author's other work, but not nearly as much "how to" as I was hoping for.

[Crystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first Jon Katz book,and likely my last. If his other book have more passages like the one below, I may reconsider.

"Maybe all of the dogs in our lives are one and the same dog, coming back as long as they are needed, going home to change bodies and refresh and be healed and made strong again, for there strenuous and complex task of changing a human being."

Overall too much woo woo for me, and seemed a bit embellished. The majority of the book reflected the title, but two chapters got dark and political. By the end, the author went off topic and turned his book into to a platform for activists he didn't care for.

[Gloria · Rating 2 out of 5]

My spouse really liked several of the books that the author wrote and so when casting about for a book to listen to while my holds were, well holding!, I decided on this one.

The title is rather misleading; it is definitely NOT a how-to book. It is more a memoir of his life with animals, and how he (and his wife, it turns out) can communicate with animals with visualization.

The author seems a nice enough guy, with lots of opinions, and toward the end lots of strong opinions regarding groups of people such as animal rights folks and rescue groups.

Some interesting thoughts. The visualization with my dog isn't going so well, though! : )

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have deeply loved most of the books I’ve read by Jon Katz. I loved the idea of this one, but it felt like it would have been more effective as a series for his blog. There wasn’t enough information to warrant an entire book. Many of the stories felt recycled to me. The chapter on New York City’s carriage horses felt out of place—interesting, perhaps, but with a different agenda. The end of the book was better than the middle, but getting there felt like a chore. Perhaps that’s why it took me over a year. I’m hoping The Soul of a Dog is better, but it may be a while before I’m up to finding out.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the time this book went on my Kindle through the time I actually had a chance to read it, our dog became ill and passed away. This book was actually very comforting to read a few weeks later. While many of the stories are also told in his previous books, there was enough new material and insight for me to enjoy reading this. As we prepare to welcome a new dog into our lives, I will draw on some of the knowledge he imparts. Certainly not a training book, but the ideas of confidence and understanding with animals go a long way.

[Virginia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stories were worth a rating of 3 stars, but I can not bring myself to agree with the actions of Jon Katz. It seemed like he went from loving his animal to seeing them as an expendable object (referencing the life of Orson). It was also very spiritual and new agey, which I do not believe in or practice in my own life. There are many wonderful books based on actual science that teach you how to understand your pets and best communicate with them. I would happily trade places with Mr. Katz and live on a farm with all the hyper and unruly animals in his stories