100 books like Pet Revolution

By Jane Hamlett, Julie-Marie Strange,

Here are 100 books that Pet Revolution fans have personally recommended if you like Pet Revolution. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Book cover of A Matter of Breeding: A Biting History of Pedigree Dogs and How the Quest for Status Has Harmed Man's Best Friend

Michael Worboys Author Of Doggy People: The Victorians Who Made the Modern Dog

From my list on the history of modern dogs.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a historian of biology and biomedicine who has always been an outsider. Most of my colleagues have worked on ‘Darwin to DNA’ – evolution, physiology, genetics, and molecular biology. My interests have been in applied biology – parasites, insects, fungi, bacteria, biomedicine, animal diseases, and latterly dogs. It was a book on rabies, that I wrote with Neil Pemberton, that got me into dogs. In our research and writing we explored the wider social history of dog ownership and then, encouraged by the new interest in Animal History, researched how, and by whom, dogs’ bodies and behaviour had been shaped and reshaped, beginning in the Victorian period. 

Michael's book list on the history of modern dogs

Michael Worboys Why did Michael love this book?

Michael Brandow has an agenda. He wants to change radically how pedigree dogs are bred and valued.

He argues that the preference for standardized fancy forms and coiffured coats should be replaced with a priority for dogs’ health and well-being. Dogs should be valued as companions, not commodities.

Brandow develops his argument historically, starting with the Victorian invention of multiple breeds and the very idea of Dogdom as composed of discrete, standardized, physically uniform breeds.

Not everyone will agree with Brandow, but his strength of feeling and the thoroughness of research makes for an engaging, often witty, and thought-provoking read. The narrative combines social and animal history, psychology and ethics, and stories, most entertaining but some shocking.

By Michael Brandow,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Matter of Breeding as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A provocative look at the ‘cult of pedigree’ and an entertaining social history of purebred dogs—“a must-read for all dog lovers” (Booklist).
 
So-called “purebreds” are the mainstay of the dog industry. Expert Michael Brandow argues these aren’t time-honored traditions—but rather commercial inventions of the 19th century that were marketed as status symbols to a growing middle class.
 
Combining social history and consumer studies with sharp commentary, this reveals the sordid history of the dog industry and shows how our brand-name pets pay the price with devastatingly poor health. It includes chapters devoted to popular breeds such as:
 
• Golden Retrievers…


Book cover of At Home and Astray: The Domestic Dog in Victorian Britain

Michael Worboys Author Of Doggy People: The Victorians Who Made the Modern Dog

From my list on the history of modern dogs.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a historian of biology and biomedicine who has always been an outsider. Most of my colleagues have worked on ‘Darwin to DNA’ – evolution, physiology, genetics, and molecular biology. My interests have been in applied biology – parasites, insects, fungi, bacteria, biomedicine, animal diseases, and latterly dogs. It was a book on rabies, that I wrote with Neil Pemberton, that got me into dogs. In our research and writing we explored the wider social history of dog ownership and then, encouraged by the new interest in Animal History, researched how, and by whom, dogs’ bodies and behaviour had been shaped and reshaped, beginning in the Victorian period. 

Michael's book list on the history of modern dogs

Michael Worboys Why did Michael love this book?

Philip Howell explores the place of dogs in Victorian homes and on the street.

There are familiar topics – vivisection, rabies, dogs’ homes, and dog cemeteries – but what set this book apart is that these are discussed in new ways drawing on literature and geography. Thus, we learn about Charles Dickens’s pet dog Sultan, alongside the many, many dogs in his novels, not just Bill Sikes’s Spike.

It surprised me just how many dogs roamed the streets of Victorian towns and cities, and how the police, often reluctantly, were responsible for bringing order to the streets. But public spaces were contested, with active and passive resistance by dog owners to measures requiring muzzling, leading, rounding up strays, and euthanizing unwanted curs and mutts.

By Philip Howell,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked At Home and Astray as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Although the British consider themselves a nation of dog lovers, what we have come to know as the modern dog came into existence only after a profound, and relatively recent, transformation in that country's social attitudes and practices. In At Home and Astray, Philip Howell focuses on Victorian Britain, and especially London, to show how the dog's changing place in society was the subject of intense debate and depended on a fascinating combination of forces even to come about.

Despite a relationship with humans going back thousands of years, the dog only became fully domesticated and installed at the heart…


Book cover of Greyhound Nation: A Coevolutionary History of England, 1200-1900

Michael Worboys Author Of Doggy People: The Victorians Who Made the Modern Dog

From my list on the history of modern dogs.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a historian of biology and biomedicine who has always been an outsider. Most of my colleagues have worked on ‘Darwin to DNA’ – evolution, physiology, genetics, and molecular biology. My interests have been in applied biology – parasites, insects, fungi, bacteria, biomedicine, animal diseases, and latterly dogs. It was a book on rabies, that I wrote with Neil Pemberton, that got me into dogs. In our research and writing we explored the wider social history of dog ownership and then, encouraged by the new interest in Animal History, researched how, and by whom, dogs’ bodies and behaviour had been shaped and reshaped, beginning in the Victorian period. 

Michael's book list on the history of modern dogs

Michael Worboys Why did Michael love this book?

Edmund Russell has a challenging approach to History. He wants histories of human societies and animals to be written together.

It is uncontroversial that humans shaped domestic and farm animals, but Russell contends that these animals have shaped human societies, in a process he terms coevolution.

This fascinating book reveals the coevolution of greyhounds and humans. Greyhounds were created with the physique and speed to catch hares on country estates. Then in the nineteenth century, through organized coursing events and dog shows, greyhounds became standardized and more uniform in look.

The new greyhounds created new social roles through the democratization of greyhound ownership and new recreational opportunities. Coursing was reinvented in the twentieth century as greyhound racing, an innovative mass urban entertainment, where dogs chased electrically powered hares in a floodlit spectacle.

By Edmund Russell,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Greyhound Nation as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Edmund Russell's much-anticipated new book examines interactions between greyhounds and their owners in England from 1200 to 1900 to make a compelling case that history is an evolutionary process. Challenging the popular notion that animal breeds remain uniform over time and space, Russell integrates history and biology to offer a fresh take on human-animal coevolution. Using greyhounds in England as a case study, Russell shows that greyhounds varied and changed just as much as their owners. Not only did they evolve in response to each other, but people and dogs both evolved in response to the forces of modernization, such…


Book cover of The Dog

Michael Worboys Author Of Doggy People: The Victorians Who Made the Modern Dog

From my list on the history of modern dogs.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a historian of biology and biomedicine who has always been an outsider. Most of my colleagues have worked on ‘Darwin to DNA’ – evolution, physiology, genetics, and molecular biology. My interests have been in applied biology – parasites, insects, fungi, bacteria, biomedicine, animal diseases, and latterly dogs. It was a book on rabies, that I wrote with Neil Pemberton, that got me into dogs. In our research and writing we explored the wider social history of dog ownership and then, encouraged by the new interest in Animal History, researched how, and by whom, dogs’ bodies and behaviour had been shaped and reshaped, beginning in the Victorian period. 

Michael's book list on the history of modern dogs

Michael Worboys Why did Michael love this book?

I had to recommend a book published in the nineteenth century. There is none better than The Dog by William Youatt published in 1845. It was the most popular book of the era and is my favourite.

Youatt ran the most successful veterinary practices for dogs in London. The main work of veterinarians then was with horses and Youatt was looked down upon as a mere ‘dog doctor’. But his expertise was widely recognized. He was veterinarian to the RSPCA and London Zoo and wrote influential books on farm animals, the horse, and the humane treatment of animals.

The Dog is now available online, see the links below. I recommend the Introduction and browsing what he has to say about individual breeds. Many will be familiar in name, if not ‘look,’ others have disappeared.

By William Youatt, Elisha Joseph Lewis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Dog as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank…


Book cover of Pets in America: A History

David Grimm Author Of Citizen Canine: Our Evolving Relationship with Cats and Dogs

From my list on for serious thinkers about cats and dogs.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am, first and foremost, a lover of cats and dogs. I have been fascinated by these animals ever since I was a child. Where did they come from? Why are we so strongly bonded to them? What is the future of our relationship? These are questions I have asked myself for decades, and which I finally answer in Citizen Canine: Our Evolving Relationship with Cats and Dogs. I bring to this book not only my lifelong love of these animals, but a deep-thinker’s exploration of history, law, and science. 

David's book list on for serious thinkers about cats and dogs

David Grimm Why did David love this book?

This book was one of my primary go-to’s when I was writing my own book, Citizen Canine. It’s an in-depth exploration of the changing status of cats and dogs throughout American history, and it’s fascinating. Chock-full of photos and great anecdotes, it’s a must for anyone who wants to take a deep dive into the American history of pets. 

By Katherine C. Grier,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Pets in America as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Entertaining and informative, Pets in America is a portrait of Americans' relationships with the cats, dogs, birds, fishes, rodents, and other animals we call our own. More than 60 percent of U.S. households have pets, and America grows more pet-friendly every day. But as Katherine C. Grier demonstrates, the ways we talk about and treat our pets - as companions, as children, and as objects of beauty, status, or pleasure - have their origins long ago.

Grier begins with a natural history of animals as pets, then discusses the changing role of pets in family life, new standards of animal…


Book cover of The Loss of a Pet: A Guide to Coping with the Grieving Process When a Pet Dies

Amy Lee Kite Author Of Goodbye, Gus

From my list on children and adults coping with the loss of a pet.

Why am I passionate about this?

Ever since I was a young girl, I always turned to writing to work through anything that was happening in my life, ranging from the first time I experienced loss to my parents’ divorce. I have since published three children’s books on tough topics as I have aimed to provide parents, children, and teachers with tools to discuss loss and change. My most recent book, Goodbye, Gus is specifically about the loss of a pet. My dad died when I was 21, and that was the first death (other than my dogs) that I ever experienced. I was able to experience first-hand the fact that the loss of my pets helped prepare me to cope with grief, and I also learned that we can all focus on what we did have and hang on to those memories forever. 

Amy's book list on children and adults coping with the loss of a pet

Amy Lee Kite Why did Amy love this book?

This book is full of comforting information for those who have lost a pet and are going through the grieving process. I remember reading this book and feeling so grateful that a psychologist put together this information specifically for those of us who are coping with losing a pet. I love my dogs, and they are a big part of my family. When I have lost them, I feel devastated. Pet grief is a bereavement process that deserves attention, care, and understanding, and this book helps us to understand that intense grief. 

By Wallace Sife,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Loss of a Pet as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Understanding helps heal the hurt when you lose a pet.

This award-winning book has been hailed as the seminal work in the field. And now the fourth newly revised and expanded edition offers so much more to the bereaving pet owner. This edition also includes a significant new way of considering the meaning of afterlife for us and our pets. It discusses the topic from a twenty-first century scientific perspective that is very different from existing religious or metaphysical ones, offering a new comfort to skeptics and agnostics as well.

This book will help you in your healing from that…


Book cover of Pet Sematary

Patrick Keithahn Author Of Thesis of Evil

From my list on supernatural novels to feed your spooky imagination.

Why am I passionate about this?

I suppose it began at age 10 as a transplant to Southern California from Minnesota. That awkward transition begged for an escape, and I found it in the supernatural. I watched the original Twilight Zones, tore through The Chronicles of Narnia one summer, discovered Ray Bradbury and Stephen King, and then picked up a pen and wrote. Creating new worlds became a calling. Then life and adulting got in the way, as they do, but over time, I’ve written three novels dealing with the supernatural. They’re the books I would have loved as a kid. They’re a leap into my head—care to try? It’ll be fun, he says.

Patrick's book list on supernatural novels to feed your spooky imagination

Patrick Keithahn Why did Patrick love this book?

This book scared the bejeebers out of me when I was just a teen. (Not fair, Steve.) I think it’s a highly underrated King novel, if possible, maybe because the various movie versions flopped. Sure, it’s a horror novel, but I was stricken by the story’s messages about dealing with grief due to the death of a loved one. And it also had the age-old message that we all need to remember: if it seems too good to be true, it absolutely is.

I loved the New England vernacular and characters. I also enjoyed how something as simple as a cat’s death can lead to something infinitely worse. I found it an emotional, tense, and spooky supernatural ride.

By Stephen King,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked Pet Sematary as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Now a major motion picture! Stephen King’s #1 New York Times bestseller is a “wild, powerful, disturbing” (The Washington Post Book World) classic about evil that exists far beyond the grave—among King’s most iconic and frightening novels.

When Dr. Louis Creed takes a new job and moves his family to the idyllic rural town of Ludlow, Maine, this new beginning seems too good to be true. Despite Ludlow’s tranquility, an undercurrent of danger exists here. Those trucks on the road outside the Creed’s beautiful old home travel by just a little too quickly, for one thing…as is evidenced by the…


Book cover of Buddy Unchained

Nancy Furstinger Author Of The Duchess and Guy: A Rescue-To-Royalty Puppy Love Story

From my list on rescued dogs.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been speaking up for animals since I learned to talk, and I haven’t shut up yet. My goal in writing books is to enlighten and inspire young readers to have compassion for all creatures great and small while making sure that my own empathy shines through on every page. Kids are thrilled when I bring along my rescued pets—dogs, rabbits, and a chinchilla—to book events, where I spread the “adopt, don’t shop” mantra. After volunteering at animal rescues for 30+ years, I’m excited to see so many pets getting a second chance!

Nancy's book list on rescued dogs

Nancy Furstinger Why did Nancy love this book?

If you have a passion for compassion, this book about a chained dog who is rescued from neglect will make you want to unchain all the Buddys in the world. The illustrations vibrate with this lovable mixed-breed’s emotions—ranging from despair to joy. From his happy new furever home, Buddy narrates his story, which will have an emotional resonance with even the youngest audiences. As Buddy says: “I have my real home. Now I have everything.” No matter how many times I read this book, the ending still tugs at my heartstrings.

By Daisy Bix, Joe Hyatt (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Buddy Unchained as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 5, 6, 7, and 8.

What is this book about?

2007 Winner, Humane Society of the US KIND Award, Best Children's Picture Book of the Year

2007 Winner, ASPCA HENRY BERGH AWARD, best Children's Picture Book in the Companion Animal category

“Buddy Unchained is a deeply moving look at a dog abandoned and adopted. The story is simple yet of vast importance, and at the end we want nothing more than to make sure that all the Buddys of the world are loved and cared for like this patient, easy-to-please pup.”— Janet Leimeister, Events Manager, The Capitola Book Store

“Buddy Unchained is a valuable tool in teaching the message of…


Book cover of Dog Medicine: How My Dog Saved Me from Myself

Meredith May Author Of Loving Edie: How a Dog Afraid of Everything Taught Me to Be Brave

From my list on dogs who make us better humans.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve spent the last 21 years in the company of a golden retriever, all through my career as a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer – and ever since I left the paper in 2015 to write memoirs. I wrote a memoir for an Iranian child soldier, a memoir about my childhood beekeeping with my grandfather in Big Sur, and it was only a matter of time before I turned to my dog for inspiration. After two perfectly happy golden retrievers, Edie’s extreme anxiety baffled me: I hired trainers, behaviorists, specialist veterinarians, read everything I could on the canine brain, tried CBD oil, and even a pet psychic to understand her emotions.  

Meredith's book list on dogs who make us better humans

Meredith May Why did Meredith love this book?

Put a golden retriever on a book cover and I’m sold. From the opening scene, when Julie has a panic attack in her New York kitchen, I was pulled into this heart-cracking memoir about a young woman haunted by unresolved childhood trauma. She tries all the usual methods to combat depression, from therapy to Zoloft, yet the magic pill is found in the love of a golden retriever named Bunker. Having something else to take care of helped Julie get outside her own head. I felt a kinship with Julie; that sometimes the way a dog looks at you with such love in their eyes is the only thing that can make up for the ways we weren’t seen as kids.

By Julie Barton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dog Medicine as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An honest and deeply moving debut memoir about a young woman's battle with depression and how her dog saved her life

A New York Times Bestseller

"Dog Medicine simply has to be your next must-read." -Cheryl Strayed

At twenty-two, Julie Barton collapsed on her kitchen floor in Manhattan. She was one year out of college and severely depressed. Summoned by Julie's incoherent phone call, her mother raced from Ohio to New York and took her home.

Haunted by troubling childhood memories, Julie continued to sink into suicidal depression. Psychiatrists, therapists, and family tried to intervene, but nothing reached her until…


Book cover of Bad Dog

Judy Lea Author Of Please Don't Go in the Dryer!

From my list on laugh out loud children’s books about pets.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a semi-retired music teacher and grandmother of two. When my kids were little, we would devour books like they were delicious candy, reading our favourites over and over again. I still love reading out loud, using various inflections, accents, and voices for the different characters. I’ve read hundreds of children’s books and the ones I enjoy most have a great message, are fun to read out loud, and also make me laugh. And they must have beautiful, colourful illustrations! My first book is a spoken word piece from my WCMA-nominated CD, Too Much Work To Do. It’s been asking me to dream it into a book for years! 

Judy's book list on laugh out loud children’s books about pets

Judy Lea Why did Judy love this book?

One of the best things about this book is the fabulous illustrations! Bold, bright, and very silly, they totally capture the essence of this very funny story about a little girl who desperately wants a dog. She is overjoyed with the ‘dog’ she gets for her birthday except, he won’t do anything dogs are supposed to do! He won’t come when he’s called, won’t go for walks, doesn’t like other dogs, etc. However, he is very good at climbing trees, (but won’t come down), likes to play in the fish water…doesn’t bark at the mailman, doesn’t have accidents on the floor… maybe that’s because this dog is actually a…cat

I definitely understand why this book is a five-time award winner!

By Mike Boldt,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Bad Dog as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?



The differences between cats and dogs have never been funnier! In this hilarious new story from the illustrator of I Don't Want to Be a Frog, a little girl really, really wants a dog . . . but gets a cat instead!

"Look what I got for my birthday! A pet dog!" says a little girl holding a . . . cat? Rocky doesn't listen or obey like all the other dogs. (Because Rocky is a cat.) And Rocky hates her leash and doesn't seem to like other dogs. (Probably because Rocky is a cat.) And rather than play fetch,…


Book cover of A Matter of Breeding: A Biting History of Pedigree Dogs and How the Quest for Status Has Harmed Man's Best Friend
Book cover of At Home and Astray: The Domestic Dog in Victorian Britain
Book cover of Greyhound Nation: A Coevolutionary History of England, 1200-1900

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Interested in pets, social class, and dogs?

Pets 56 books
Social Class 98 books
Dogs 425 books