Different Animals is a novel about dogs and prisoners. Rehabilitating prisoners by letting them train and take care of dogs is a procedure now being used in various detention facilities in the U.S. Two men of different backgrounds have committed crimes and are in a prison in Arizona. They have many issues of intolerance and anger. One of them breaks out and finds his way to Los Angeles where other adventures await. Meanwhile, the other prisoner gets into a brawl with another inmate. The warden assigns each man a dog which neither one wants. How the dogs got to the prison, their training, and their effect on the men is the basis of the novel. It is a story about hate, love, and the amazing abilities dogs have to care for and change us.