The actress, advocate, and friend of The Healthy shares why she thinks our pets deserve the same wellness standards we expect for ourselves.
Brooke Shields has never been shy about sharing what matters—whether it’s speaking out early about postpartum depression or women’s wellness in aging. Lately, the actress, hair care brand founder, podcast host, and longtime mental health advocate has turned her attention to a topic close to home: pets.
As a lifelong dog lover and devoted pet parent, Shields is helping lead a new conversation around the quality of ingredients, transparency, and care in the pet industry. She’s recently teamed up with Prospect Pet to push for higher standards in how we feed and treat our furry family members.
In this conversation with The Healthy by Reader’s Digest, Shields explains why she believes pets deserve the same clean-living standards we expect for ourselves—and how her late dog’s cancer diagnosis changed her perspective. She also opens up about the emotional bond between pets and mental health, what postpartum honesty has meant for a new generation of moms, and the growing joy she finds in simply saying “no.”
The Healthy by Reader’s Digest: Brooke, you’ve been a champion of clean beauty and wellness for years. What inspired you to bring the same philosophy to the world of pet health?
Brooke Shields: I’ve always had pets and loved my pets. I know people talk about anthropomorphizing your pets, but it’s always been such an important thing to me—pet health. I think about our own house and the environment. I had a pet who I think could have had many more years had I been more cognizant of what was available. Had I known about Prospect Pet earlier—by the time she got diagnosed, it was just way too late. She had a tumor and it was terrible.
It sort of got me thinking about: Why don’t we think of our pets in terms of what we give them, what we put on them, what we feed them—just as we would for ourselves or our children? When your kids leave, your pets become your primary children. And they don’t talk back! Which is really wonderful.
The Healthy: Tell us what drew you to Prospect Pet and how the partnership with the brand came about?
Brooke Shields: I started learning about the farm and what their ethics were, what they were providing for animals: animal health and mobility, joint mobility, skin, and inflammation. It’s clean and conscious, ethically sourced, and it really directly looks at and treats these animals from the inside out—in a way that is not complicated, is delicious, and safe.
The Healthy: You’ve been a mental health advocate for years. Pets play an important role for many people. What have they meant to you?
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Brooke Shields: They’ve just meant unconditional, nonjudgmental love and affection—and purity. There’s just something so refreshing about looking into the eyes of an animal that you’ve come to know—or even an animal you haven’t known. Because I think there’s so much animosity in the world and so much fear, and it is so interesting to look at—Tuzi is our new dog—and all she wants is love and affection. When you come home at the end of the day, that is what’s greeting you, after you’ve dealt with beyond crap in the world. Forget the people we have to work with and be with. They just are love. And God knows we all need that.
The Healthy: Absolutely.
Brooke Shields: Darla, our first dog … I was going through a very bad medical situation and she just stayed at the foot of my bed. She wouldn’t leave. She would crawl up and lick my face and then come back. She always used to sleep in my room. The minute I had a baby, she slept in front of that kid’s door. And you don’t teach her that. So there’s this purity and unconditional love, and there’s an instinctual element to them that we can really learn from.
The Healthy: Speaking of parenthood, you’ve always broken taboos, and you were one of the first people ever to come out and talk about postpartum depression. Now we’ve come a long way in our cultural conversation around it. What has it been like to witness how open people are now? You helped so many women.
Brooke Shields: I mean, if it hadn’t been me, it would’ve been somebody else. It just so happened that my experience came when it did and I was comfortable speaking about it. I don’t feel responsible for any of it. I do feel like I was a catalyst. But it was a perfect storm. It just takes someone—especially if it’s someone you recognize, or maybe the impression is that that person has it all perfect in their lives—and just shining a light on the truth. Things don’t have to be perfect. Women don’t have to suffer.
It’s so common, and we don’t talk about it because our moms didn’t talk about it. This is my generation. And the shame that is associated with it—I just didn’t want my children to have that. I’m just relieved that we’re having these conversations. I am relieved that my book is in prenatal units and a lot of doulas suggest my book. I also think it’s just a really simple read. It’s just truth. It’s emotion. It’s accessible. So I am proud of that—that it’s still part of the zeitgeist for new moms. Because it’s hard enough being a new mom. I mean, it’s like being a new mom of a puppy. They’re constant, and … if you’ve never had a puppy before, you don’t know. There’s something so kind of primal about it, and it feels so much better when you feel supported.
The Healthy: You’ve also been incredibly open about aging with strength and grace. What’s currently part of your wellness routine physically and mentally? What’s working for you—and is there one self-care ritual you refuse to skip?
Brooke Shields: Tequila. I heard the word “ritual”! [laughs] It’s changed a lot in my later years. I enjoy taking care of myself—and I don’t feel like it’s vain anymore. That’s why I started Commence, which is my [hair care] line. But the thing that’s really been giving me the most joy is time with my friends. Not putting myself in a position to say yes to everything. Healthcare is mental and emotional, but it really affects you internally and externally.
I need to exercise. If I don’t, I really start bottling up. I don’t really exercise for the same reasons anymore. I don’t exercise to fit into smaller jeans; it’s more about my heart and my head. The health regimen part of it—I’ve balanced it out a little bit more. I used to be very extreme. Now, taking Tuzi to the dog park and throwing the ball for her is a form of healthcare for myself, because she’s happy. She gets tired. If she doesn’t get exercise, she destroys anything she can get her teeth on in this house. And she’s done teething. She ate all my needlepoint yesterday. So my health and wellness has changed as I’ve gotten older. I’ve noticed it’s more balanced—more time with friends, more time with my dog, more time doing things that give me peace, rather than just racing around trying to be better and be perfect.
For daily wellness updates, subscribe to The Healthy by Reader’s Digest newsletter and follow The Healthy on Facebook and Instagram. Keep reading:
- Cesar Millan on the Healing Effects of Companionship
- NBC’s Jill Martin on Cancer and Courage: “I Didn’t Sugarcoat the Fear”
- Katherine Heigl on Animal Advocacy, Self-Care, and Family
- Olympic Gold Medalist Allyson Felix Talks About Motherhood and Strength
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
