Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin. Book Review.

Beginning with her life story, which seals her qualifications to write this book, one must be impressed with the author, Temple Grandin, and her personal accomplishments.

As an autistic person who struggled with serious challenges in academia, this woman is uniquely qualified to speak out on behalf of animals because, she believes (and so will you after you've read her book), she thinks like one herself.

Although autistic, Grandin earned a Ph.D. in animal science and is a professor at Colorado State University. With this combination of unique qualifications, she can speak well on the subtitle of the book: "Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior."

If there were ever a human being with the talent to think like most animals, by using the same portion of the brain as they do (which is not dependent upon the frontal lobes like most humans), Grandin has gained insights about animals that goes beyond anything else put into print for the general public.

Similar to the "dog whisperer" and "horse whisperer," Grandin is the "animal whisperer" who speaks on behalf of cows, horses, pigs, chickens, cats and dogs, and almost any other kind of animal.

This book discloses secrets and many surprising ways of how animals most likely perceive, think, and act in our world.

With deep insight and boundless human compassion for animals, which are often misunderstood or ill-treated, Grandin works to improve conditions in stockyards, feedlots, and slaughterhouses. She offers invaluable input to those in charge of millions of animals' lives - and deaths - on how to act with humanely while staying efficient at their jobs.

Given the fact that an animal-processing plant loses $200 per minute of down-time, Grandin is often called upon to create an efficient, but, preferably, humane environment for animals that become our food.

In chapter one, "My Story," Grandin lays out her background as a "different" child, who was discovered to be autistic. She realized she understood animals better than humans; she thought in pictures and realized that animals did, too. Since she and animals perceive the world in minute detail, like seeing individual trees instead of the forest, Grandin learned what helped her cope with a stressful environment and transferred that knowledge to animal situations.

She invented an improved version of the devices called "squeeze chutes" used to herd animals thorough quick lines from one place to another. The pressure of the chute against the sides of cattle or pigs comforts them. She devised her own chute, with an air compressor and plywood sides, which she used during extra-stressful times, like college exams and, she admits, she still uses today during anxious times.

She took her knowledge to slaughter houses to make cattle transport (cows are her favorite animals) less stressful and more humane, instead of using cattle prods to force compliance. With the improved chutes, the animals move forward with less stress. They maintain their weight, require less human-directed force, and the lines progress in a more timely way, saving money.

The book is filled with animal stories and insights that will keep any animal lover enthralled until the end.

In chapter one, Grandin says humans have "inattentional blindness" so that they do not process unexpected perceptions, unlike animals, which must notice details in order to survive. Her example offers a scientific study of humans watching a basketball game on TV. At some point, a lady in a gorilla costume appears; she turns and pounds her chest and walks off the set. Only 50% of the humans consciously saw her.

In chapter two, "How Animals Perceive the World," Grandin says even simple, but often unnoticed things, can drive animals to distraction -- like reflected puddles in feedlots, or metal reflections, or moving things like plastic strips on fences, or high-pitched noises. The result is that the anxious animals will not cooperate with the humans; they become fearful and aggressive; they lose weight and attack each other, etc.

Grandin gets on the ground - on all fours - and surveys the surroundings from the animals' viewpoints. She then suggests to the owners how to make necessary changes in the environment. Grandin's humane techniques are used nation-wide; she has made the quality of feed-animals' lives more humane, and has saved the industry millions of dollars.

This book offers page after page of surprising and amusing animal insights. Chapter 3, "Animal Feelings," begins with "rapist roosters." Grandin was called out to a chicken farm where the hens were being killed daily. To save time, the birds were not allowed to do normal "bird" things, like the mating ritual, so the roosters resorted to rape, causing the deaths of about 50% of the hens.

With insight comes change, so the farmer understood what needed to be corrected.

Grandin says that, by breeding for one trait over another, animals lose something in the process. She used the example of collie dogs. By breeding for the easily-recognized collie profile of pointy noses, the dogs lost brain space and the capacity for normal dog intelligence. She calls the presently-produced breed, "brainless icepicks," and deplores what humans have thoughtlessly done to this fine breed.

Chapter 4 is "Animal Aggression." Grandin offers startling statistics. Out of 60 million dogs in the U.S. (based on fatality figures from 1997 and '98), there are only 15 fatal dog attacks on humans per year. That's only about 1 out of 4 million dogs. Dogs take well to human socialization and - although they might attack other dogs -- they treat their humans fairly well. She says dogs are emotionally-wired to tell prey from non prey. This is one reason why dogs are truly among man's best friends.

Domestic cats must learn to inhibit the chase-and-kill response, during stalking behavior, or they would quickly deplete their wild food resources.

You must understand the nature of the animal before you can train the wanted response: This is what Grandin does naturally and intuitively.

Chapter 5 is "Pain and Suffering." Here, Grandin notes that animals and autistics rely on pictures for recall. Many people use "verbal narrative" for recall. By comparing groups of people who experienced similar traumas, enough to cause PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), it was found that those who recalled in pictures had a much rougher time of overcoming trauma.They "remembered" events much longer and relived them with picture memories.

By comparing animals to autistics and those who think in pictures, Grandin concluded that "Animals never unlearn a bad fear." You can extinguish the fear-related behavior by teaching new behaviors that contradict the old, but the animal "never forgets." All humans should remember that lesson when training their pets.

In chapter 6, "How Animals Think," Grandin offers many cases of animals showing "true cognition," in which they combine past learning into problem-solving in novel conditions. She gives amazing examples of guide dogs and service dogs, which are absolutely delightful.

She also says that prairie dogs can communicate with one another, including whether a predator is a man or hawk, and whether or not the man is carrying a gun and how far away he is.

Chapter 7, "Animal Genius: Extreme Talents," is filled with animal stories and facts that will entertain any reader. A couple quick facts: Artic hens have migratory routes covering 18,000 miles, which require a return trip never traveled before; and gray squirrels can bury and relocate up to 600 or more nuts, requiring a degree of triangulation beyond human comprehension.

If you only purchased the book for her "Behavior and Training Troubleshooting Guide" in the final transfixing pages, it would be worth the purchase price.

By understanding 8 basic animal behaviors and "behavior motivators," you can help to resolve the troublesome behavior. Whether an animal acts out of "fear" or if he acts out of "rage and anger," it makes a difference in training on how to stop the behavior.

If a stressed dog bites at a noisy party, or if he bites a vet or the mailman while guarding, the principles for changing the behavior are different.

Grandin lists the 8 behaviors and behavior motivators along with the "principles of troubleshooting," and these suggestions alone are priceless to anyone who works with animals or who wants to better understand them.

ISBN 0-7394-5530-3. In paperback, 356 pages, the book retails for $10.85 from Amazon; hard cover is available for $17.16.