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Making Animals Happy: How to Create the Best Life for Pets and Other Animals
A horse's instinctive urge to flee makes it more skittish than a herd animal, whereas a pig's urge to forage means it needs room to explore. Based on her own research, animal scientist Temple Grandin's study discusses animal behaviours and motivations and delivers practical insights into how to interact with dogs, cats, horses, cows, pigs and chickens, wildlife and zoo animals.
340 pages, Paperback
First published May 4, 2009
16 people are currently reading
1109 people want to read
About the author
Temple Grandin
162 books1,793 followersMary Temple Grandin is an American academic and animal behaviorist. She is a prominent proponent of the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter and the author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior. Grandin is a consultant to the livestock industry, where she offers advice on animal behavior, and is also an autism spokesperson.
Grandin is one of the first autistic people to document the insights she gained from her personal experiences with autism. She is a faculty member with Animal Sciences in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Colorado State University.
In 2010, Time 100, an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, named her in the "Heroes" category. She was the subject of the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning biographical film Temple Grandin. Grandin has been an outspoken proponent of autism rights and neurodiversity movements.
Grandin is one of the first autistic people to document the insights she gained from her personal experiences with autism. She is a faculty member with Animal Sciences in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Colorado State University.
In 2010, Time 100, an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, named her in the "Heroes" category. She was the subject of the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning biographical film Temple Grandin. Grandin has been an outspoken proponent of autism rights and neurodiversity movements.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
May 21, 2015
I think the title of this book is misleading. It suggests a pleasant, cosy read. In fact this book is far from cosy. Temple Grandin is an associate professor of animal science, dealing with animal welfare on a huge scale. She works primarily with intensive farms, slaughter houses and zoos – trying to create environments and work practices that are sympathetic to the animals that have to use them.
The first few chapters of the book do in fact deal with pets – dogs, cats and horses – but then the books moves on rather oddly, into chapters discussing pigs, cattle, chickens, wildlife and zoos.
Re. the pet section - one of her biggest concerns is dogs that are left alone for too long. If you can’t spend a decent amount of time with your dog every day you need to get a second dog to keep it company. Even better, don’t get a dog in the first place.
In the cat section I was amazed to read that cats can be trained with clickers (you know, where you click a little metal clicker when the right action is performed, and follow on with a food treat.) Cats are notoriously difficult to train, but apparently it is quite easy if you use a clicker! In fact clickers seem brilliant in training a vast array of animals, including elephants.
For me the second part of the book, dealing with farm animals, wildlife and zoos was hugely more important than the section on pets. I can’t begin here to cover all the fascinating information she comes up with. Suffice it to say I learnt tons. I’ve been a member of the charity “Compassion In World Farming” for about 15 years – but even so, I still learnt tons. This part of the book is not an easy read – intensive farming has some vile aspects to it, and animal welfare in zoos is a big challenge for people trying humanely to look after wild animals in an artificial environment. But these issues have to be faced. They can’t just be pushed under the carpet – and Temple Grandin faces them head on.
Not only has she designed better and more humane layouts in slaughter houses, she has also worked with companies like McDonalds, Wendys and Burger King to introduce audits for better animal handling both on farms and in slaughter houses. This is of vital importance. First you lay down a list of animal welfare aims to achieve, secondly you threaten to withdraw your purchasing power if the aims are not met, and thirdly, if possible, you install webcams, to ensure that good practices are happening all the time, rather than just during inspections.
She describes regular farming practices which are quite horrendous - often offering alternatives that seem much more humane to the animals concerned. I don’t understand why every single one of our intensive farming businesses haven’t stopped their disgusting treatment practices, and taken on board her suggestions instead. Money? Disinterest? A total disrespect for animal welfare? Probably all of these things....
Another big thing is breeding. Time and time again she mentions how our greed for greater production has warped the path of natural and healthy genetics – as we continue to breed birds and animals which excel at producing lots of milk, eggs and meat - often to the severe detriment of their own health. Considering the scale on which this is done, it is absolutely appalling.
“Lameness on a modern dairy ranges from 5% at well-managed dairies to over 50% at the worst dairies....the Holstein calf is not fully mobile for two days. Breeders have over selected so much for milk production that they’ve created a weak, fragile animal that’s so frail it’s starting to be hard to breed them. ...Also some producers are feeding Holsteins too much grain instead of roughage to force them to grow faster than they should. They don’t give the heifers enough time to grow a solid skeleton and hard hooves that would make them less susceptible to lameness. It takes two years for a heifer to grow up and on some dairies she lasts for only two years of milk, then she has to be slaughtered because she’s sick or lame.” We need to pay more for our milk, and give these critters a better quality of life.
Finally she discusses zoos. I was surprised to learn just how detrimental an environment it can be to many animals, especially to animals that naturally roam, and don’t have a home territory – like wolves, polar bears and leopards. She also talked about a lot of good stuff with zoos though, many of which seem to be trying hard to give their animals substitute stimulations and satisfactions for those found in their natural environment. She talked about Gus, the polar bear in Central Park Zoo for instance. He used to do stereotyping behaviour (swimming back and forth in his pool), for 80% of the time. The zoo introduced barrels into the water with different level s of buoyancy for him to play with, and the stereotyping behaviour went down to 10%. Other animals, like foxes, with a natural territory of about one square mile, are much happier to be in zoos. She also talks about initiatives she had been involved with to acclimatize zoo animals to regular veterinary handling and treatment, so that check ups become mundane, rather than panic-inducing. All the time she is geared up to animal psychology, and what will best help animals in our man-made environments.
I was incredibly impressed with this book, and having read it as a library book have now bought a copy for myself. There are many different approaches to animal welfare but I have only read two geared towards farm animals, this and the excellent Animal Welfare – A cool eye towards Eden by John Webster. Intensive farming is everywhere. Often it is bad. We need to think about it a lot more.
The first few chapters of the book do in fact deal with pets – dogs, cats and horses – but then the books moves on rather oddly, into chapters discussing pigs, cattle, chickens, wildlife and zoos.
Re. the pet section - one of her biggest concerns is dogs that are left alone for too long. If you can’t spend a decent amount of time with your dog every day you need to get a second dog to keep it company. Even better, don’t get a dog in the first place.
In the cat section I was amazed to read that cats can be trained with clickers (you know, where you click a little metal clicker when the right action is performed, and follow on with a food treat.) Cats are notoriously difficult to train, but apparently it is quite easy if you use a clicker! In fact clickers seem brilliant in training a vast array of animals, including elephants.
For me the second part of the book, dealing with farm animals, wildlife and zoos was hugely more important than the section on pets. I can’t begin here to cover all the fascinating information she comes up with. Suffice it to say I learnt tons. I’ve been a member of the charity “Compassion In World Farming” for about 15 years – but even so, I still learnt tons. This part of the book is not an easy read – intensive farming has some vile aspects to it, and animal welfare in zoos is a big challenge for people trying humanely to look after wild animals in an artificial environment. But these issues have to be faced. They can’t just be pushed under the carpet – and Temple Grandin faces them head on.
Not only has she designed better and more humane layouts in slaughter houses, she has also worked with companies like McDonalds, Wendys and Burger King to introduce audits for better animal handling both on farms and in slaughter houses. This is of vital importance. First you lay down a list of animal welfare aims to achieve, secondly you threaten to withdraw your purchasing power if the aims are not met, and thirdly, if possible, you install webcams, to ensure that good practices are happening all the time, rather than just during inspections.
She describes regular farming practices which are quite horrendous - often offering alternatives that seem much more humane to the animals concerned. I don’t understand why every single one of our intensive farming businesses haven’t stopped their disgusting treatment practices, and taken on board her suggestions instead. Money? Disinterest? A total disrespect for animal welfare? Probably all of these things....
Another big thing is breeding. Time and time again she mentions how our greed for greater production has warped the path of natural and healthy genetics – as we continue to breed birds and animals which excel at producing lots of milk, eggs and meat - often to the severe detriment of their own health. Considering the scale on which this is done, it is absolutely appalling.
“Lameness on a modern dairy ranges from 5% at well-managed dairies to over 50% at the worst dairies....the Holstein calf is not fully mobile for two days. Breeders have over selected so much for milk production that they’ve created a weak, fragile animal that’s so frail it’s starting to be hard to breed them. ...Also some producers are feeding Holsteins too much grain instead of roughage to force them to grow faster than they should. They don’t give the heifers enough time to grow a solid skeleton and hard hooves that would make them less susceptible to lameness. It takes two years for a heifer to grow up and on some dairies she lasts for only two years of milk, then she has to be slaughtered because she’s sick or lame.” We need to pay more for our milk, and give these critters a better quality of life.
Finally she discusses zoos. I was surprised to learn just how detrimental an environment it can be to many animals, especially to animals that naturally roam, and don’t have a home territory – like wolves, polar bears and leopards. She also talked about a lot of good stuff with zoos though, many of which seem to be trying hard to give their animals substitute stimulations and satisfactions for those found in their natural environment. She talked about Gus, the polar bear in Central Park Zoo for instance. He used to do stereotyping behaviour (swimming back and forth in his pool), for 80% of the time. The zoo introduced barrels into the water with different level s of buoyancy for him to play with, and the stereotyping behaviour went down to 10%. Other animals, like foxes, with a natural territory of about one square mile, are much happier to be in zoos. She also talks about initiatives she had been involved with to acclimatize zoo animals to regular veterinary handling and treatment, so that check ups become mundane, rather than panic-inducing. All the time she is geared up to animal psychology, and what will best help animals in our man-made environments.
I was incredibly impressed with this book, and having read it as a library book have now bought a copy for myself. There are many different approaches to animal welfare but I have only read two geared towards farm animals, this and the excellent Animal Welfare – A cool eye towards Eden by John Webster. Intensive farming is everywhere. Often it is bad. We need to think about it a lot more.
August 10, 2016
A book that will interest anyone who has a pet or has anything to do with animals. It is difficult for an animal lover to accept the basic premise of this book, that it's fine to experiment on or kill animals as long as you give them a reasonable quality of life. However, if you can get past that, there is much that you can learn. The book covers all kinds of animals from cats and dogs to pigs and cows and horses.
One thing I really liked (maybe because it ratifies my own approach to training -- or not training -- my dogs) is that the authors do not subscribe to 'alpha leader' school of dog training. The social unit of wolves, from whom dogs are descended, is not the pack, as is almost universally believed. Wolves live in families -- a mother, a father and children of various ages. The hierarchy of wolf society is based on this set up. Therefore, argue the authors, there is no need to keep proving to your dog that you are the master. You are the parent, and you can indulge and discipline your dog just as you do your child. The family dog instinctively understands this relationship. On the other hand, where dogs are forced to live in (unnatural) packs, they rally round the alpha male or female and the human trainer will find it easier to handle them if he establishes himself as that person. I for one have always found it impossible to believe that one has to intimidate a dog into loving its human family. Hurray for the new wave! And may the shadow of the alpha leader dwindle away to nothingness!
One thing I really liked (maybe because it ratifies my own approach to training -- or not training -- my dogs) is that the authors do not subscribe to 'alpha leader' school of dog training. The social unit of wolves, from whom dogs are descended, is not the pack, as is almost universally believed. Wolves live in families -- a mother, a father and children of various ages. The hierarchy of wolf society is based on this set up. Therefore, argue the authors, there is no need to keep proving to your dog that you are the master. You are the parent, and you can indulge and discipline your dog just as you do your child. The family dog instinctively understands this relationship. On the other hand, where dogs are forced to live in (unnatural) packs, they rally round the alpha male or female and the human trainer will find it easier to handle them if he establishes himself as that person. I for one have always found it impossible to believe that one has to intimidate a dog into loving its human family. Hurray for the new wave! And may the shadow of the alpha leader dwindle away to nothingness!
September 30, 2015
My dogs are happier already! I wish everybody who owns a dog, horse or cat would read this, as well as veterinarians and farmers.
This book is extremely interesting, but also very distressing in parts. I just couldn't bear to read the chapters on pigs and chickens because there is so much cruelty in the industry. Will the majority of consumers ever care enough to pay a few extra dollars for free-range eggs, chickens and pork?
This book is extremely interesting, but also very distressing in parts. I just couldn't bear to read the chapters on pigs and chickens because there is so much cruelty in the industry. Will the majority of consumers ever care enough to pay a few extra dollars for free-range eggs, chickens and pork?
March 17, 2019
I greatly enjoyed the chapter on dogs, was somewhat intrigued by the one of cats and mildly interested in the discussion of horses. But, as the book proceeded through the inner lives of various farm animals and how to make life better for the animals we exploit in various ways, I found my enthusiasm waning. As a lapsed vegetarian, it's probably a good thing for me to be reminded of the realities of modern food production, but it didn't make for such uplifting reading.
The book did enhance my appreciation of interspecies communication and how we have a responsibility to recognise that our animal cousins have emotional needs and are prone to suffering just as we are. By gaining a better understanding of what animals need to be happy, we can be better informed to play a role as their guardians and maybe achieve a happy symbiosis.
The book did enhance my appreciation of interspecies communication and how we have a responsibility to recognise that our animal cousins have emotional needs and are prone to suffering just as we are. By gaining a better understanding of what animals need to be happy, we can be better informed to play a role as their guardians and maybe achieve a happy symbiosis.
May 16, 2018
If you're in any way interested about animals around you, or your pets, you definitely should check out this book.
September 19, 2019
This is a must for all animal lovers. Temple Grandin gives insight into how animals from our beloved pets to livestock view the world around them. Loved it.
July 18, 2022
Love Temple Grandin, especially how she aligns animals with autistic people in their visualization of the world.
May 1, 2024
You'll never catch me rating Temple Grandin anything less than 5 stars.
September 24, 2014
Fascinating, absorbing and so interesting. As an obsessed animal lover, vegetarian, animal campaigner, etc. I approached this book with gusto. I had a shock when I discovered it's not all about fluffy kittens. There's some hard hitting reality here too. Prepare to read not just about domesticated cats and dogs, but also about the horrors and disturbing levels of animal suffering within the meat industry and zoos. It's difficult to read about such awful subject matter, something I feel so passionately about. It is the state of modern, intensive, meat farming that led me to give up eating meat. But the author manages very skilfully to tell it how it is, without ripping your heart out and leaving you emotionally distraught. And if reading about the meat industry and zoos is going to disturb you, just stick to the first 3 chapters about dogs, cats and horses and give the rest of the book a wide berth.
However, Temple Grandin has offered up improved animal welfare solutions, having designed slaughter houses to minimise cattle distress and suffering and looked closely at the ways wild animals in captivity can be kept in a more humane and happier manner. She's also consulted for the big fast food, burger giants on better ways of improving the welfare of animals supplied for food.
Since reading this book, I have become a real bore, telling my fellow dog walking friends in the local woods about this author and the groundbreaking and wonderful work she has done to improve the plight of animals. I can see my friends' eyes glaze over, as I rabbit on enthusiastically about how wonderful Temple Grandin is, and her theories about animal happiness. But really, she is so absorbing and the book is a brilliant read, really well written, and educational. She doesn't sensationalise what she writes about, but explains the issues in an intelligent, grounded and almost dispassionate way. I would urge anyone with pets, or in any contact with animals, to read this book. She's a far superior ambassador for animals than I could ever hope to be.
After reading this book, I can now legitimately justify why I let my dogs and cats sleep on the sofa and bed with us. I'm just making them happy!
However, Temple Grandin has offered up improved animal welfare solutions, having designed slaughter houses to minimise cattle distress and suffering and looked closely at the ways wild animals in captivity can be kept in a more humane and happier manner. She's also consulted for the big fast food, burger giants on better ways of improving the welfare of animals supplied for food.
Since reading this book, I have become a real bore, telling my fellow dog walking friends in the local woods about this author and the groundbreaking and wonderful work she has done to improve the plight of animals. I can see my friends' eyes glaze over, as I rabbit on enthusiastically about how wonderful Temple Grandin is, and her theories about animal happiness. But really, she is so absorbing and the book is a brilliant read, really well written, and educational. She doesn't sensationalise what she writes about, but explains the issues in an intelligent, grounded and almost dispassionate way. I would urge anyone with pets, or in any contact with animals, to read this book. She's a far superior ambassador for animals than I could ever hope to be.
After reading this book, I can now legitimately justify why I let my dogs and cats sleep on the sofa and bed with us. I'm just making them happy!
April 14, 2010
This is a fascinating book about the psychology(? neurology?) of animals and how that relates to taking care of our pets, farm animals and wild animals. We know how to provide adequate physical care of animals, but how can we know if we're taking care of their mental health when they can't speak to us about how they feel?
The book is co-authored, but written from Grandin's perspective. She talks about her experiences growing up with dogs, horses and cows, her research into animal happiness, and her work creating more humane systems for agricultural businesses. Along the way she shares the best research done by other people and puts it into terms that non-scientists can understand.
And there's plenty of animal trivia too, about zebras and chickens and pigs and gerbils and polar bears. I've got plenty of ideas for the next quiz night questions I write!
As a cat person, I enjoyed her chapter on them although some of it was already known to me. There were still good stories and things to be learned. As for the other chapters on dogs, farm animals and wildlife, there was so much I had no idea about and enjoyed learning.
I recommend this book to anyone who keeps pets, or eats meat, or visits zoos. Grandin is keen to share what she knows so that people can do a better job of caring for the animals in our lives. She's clearly angry about people who deliberately mistreat animals, but even then she has good suggestions for what can be done about those kinds of people. Her passion for animal welfare is grounded and practical, and I believe more people should be paying attention to her ideas.
The book is co-authored, but written from Grandin's perspective. She talks about her experiences growing up with dogs, horses and cows, her research into animal happiness, and her work creating more humane systems for agricultural businesses. Along the way she shares the best research done by other people and puts it into terms that non-scientists can understand.
And there's plenty of animal trivia too, about zebras and chickens and pigs and gerbils and polar bears. I've got plenty of ideas for the next quiz night questions I write!
As a cat person, I enjoyed her chapter on them although some of it was already known to me. There were still good stories and things to be learned. As for the other chapters on dogs, farm animals and wildlife, there was so much I had no idea about and enjoyed learning.
I recommend this book to anyone who keeps pets, or eats meat, or visits zoos. Grandin is keen to share what she knows so that people can do a better job of caring for the animals in our lives. She's clearly angry about people who deliberately mistreat animals, but even then she has good suggestions for what can be done about those kinds of people. Her passion for animal welfare is grounded and practical, and I believe more people should be paying attention to her ideas.
February 21, 2011
What a fantastic book. With chapters on how different animals behave and how you can give them the best life possible, this is a manual for anyone that lives or works with animals whether they are companion pets (dogs, cats), chickens in your garden or on an industrial scale, horses and cows; and even wild animals. Temple Grandin *knows* animals and what she says makes so much sense. As a dog owner, I was particularly fascinated with her chapter on dogs, and how they act as family rather than in pecking order. It really changed my views on my own dogs' behaviour.
I highly recommend this book to anyone that deals with animals, it will give you more understanding of why they act like they do, and in the end, help to give them a happier life.
I highly recommend this book to anyone that deals with animals, it will give you more understanding of why they act like they do, and in the end, help to give them a happier life.
May 23, 2009
A fantastically interesting book, not only in terms of the animals Temple discusses, but also her insights and own experiences of autism. The one thing I didn't particularly like about this book was the wide range of animals it covers, which made it a book more likely to be read only once, or dipped into at the animals readers are more interested in. I am sure that the author has a lot more to say about each different type of animal, and personally I would have preferred to see a book on each section. It was a great overview though, and I suppose she has views that some may find a bit difficult to understand, though she does explain why she does the job she does throughout the book.
July 26, 2011
I really liked this book. I think the author really understands animal behaviour, and although she works in an industry which most of us would like to imagine doesn't exist. We need people like her to make sure that animals that are farmed for food are as happy as possible, and that zoo animals lives are enriched. I found it really interesting that she has autism, and ties that in with her view of animal behaviour when in captivity. There are lots of references, and I am interested enough to look up a few. This book should be read by anyone who has animals with stereotypes and needs some practical advice on how to make them happy.
October 2, 2014
Temple Grandin has a very simple and readable writing style and great insight into the needs of animal welfare. There are many authors who argue *why* we should consider the welfare of animals, but she is one of the few who discusses *how* we should do so. Here she presents the idea that what is important for animals is not displaying certain behaviours, but meeting certain emotional needs. She then discusses this concept with reference to most common agricultural animals, as well as zoo animals and wildlife. Anyone who works with animals should read her work.
April 12, 2012
I so loved the chapters on dogs & cats & wild animals.. found the evolutionary biology perspective so valuable to understanding current behaviour.
cattle & poultry etc were not so relevant or interesting (who cares if food is happy amirite?)
also Temple Grandin is pretty amazing. her writing style is so simple & charming, although at times so simple it could be a challenge to take her seriously as a professional, but that's my stuff, not hers :)
cattle & poultry etc were not so relevant or interesting (who cares if food is happy amirite?)
also Temple Grandin is pretty amazing. her writing style is so simple & charming, although at times so simple it could be a challenge to take her seriously as a professional, but that's my stuff, not hers :)
March 9, 2016
While Temple is fairly knowledgeable about most animals, she seems to be somewhat lacking in cat behavior. This is mostly to say she provided most basic information here and I didn't learn much that was new. As for the other animals since I am not so well-versed on those species, I did learn much.
January 27, 2017
Fascinating animal psychology, human psychology, and stories
Temple Grandin lives up to her reputation: autism helps her reach a unique understanding of animal psychology. The book is delightful, full of lively anecdotes about animal behaviour, mostly based on her own experience, and about her own life, and her advocacy for animal welfare.
Temple Grandin lives up to her reputation: autism helps her reach a unique understanding of animal psychology. The book is delightful, full of lively anecdotes about animal behaviour, mostly based on her own experience, and about her own life, and her advocacy for animal welfare.
November 24, 2012
Discusses animal psychology from a physiological/neurological viewpoint, as well as some psychology and background of the animal farming industry. Very interesting stuff that was totally new to me before reading this book.
April 11, 2016
Amazing, easy to understand and you have to agree with her because it's all common sense.
I found the clicker training a bit too spread (a bit here, a bit there...) and I think that these methods ( negative enforcement, clicker, ...) would deserve separate chapter or book.
I found the clicker training a bit too spread (a bit here, a bit there...) and I think that these methods ( negative enforcement, clicker, ...) would deserve separate chapter or book.
April 18, 2016
Love Temple. Didn't really get into this book.
January 15, 2015
Another great book by Temple Grandin.
September 13, 2016
Very grating writing style (American at its worst: "poop", "mamma cow", etc.).
But interesting nevertheless.
But interesting nevertheless.
April 4, 2013
Anyone who loves animals should read this book
September 8, 2013
This book is AMAZING!
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews