Animals Make Us Human

By Temple Grandin

In this follow-up to her 2005 best-seller Animals in Translation, both written with Catherine Johnson, the animal scientist and welfare advocate offers advice on how to improve the lives of domestic and captive animals by enhancing their emotional and intellectual experiences.

In her chapter on dogs, Grandin takes issue with the popular television trainer Cesar Millan, arguing that the dominance strategies that work in Millan's "forced pack" of 30 to 40 unrelated animals may not apply in an ordinary human-canine household. "Dog owners do need to be the leader, but not because a dog will become the alpha if they don't," she explains. "Dog owners need to be the leader the same way parents do."

The New York Times Syndicate