The Dogs of Bedlam Farm: An Adventure with Sixteen Sheep, Three Dogs, Two Donkeys, and Me

I was given this book as a Christmas gift by a dear friend and enjoyed every minute of it. It's a heartwarming story of a man and his animals, and some of the lessons he learns from them. As I read the story it was obvious how much the author depends on his animals to meet emotional needs as much as they depend on him for food and shelter. If all animals were cared for and treated with as much respect as this man has for his animals, the world would be a much better place. For the most part, this is a light-hearted book and I highly recommend!

Several years ago, I read a series of novels about the "Suburban Detective." After not seeing one of the books for a while, I began to wonder what happened to the author, Jon Katz. It turned out he had switched to non-fiction, in particular books about his dogs. The Dogs of Bedlam Farm is my first reading of the "new" Katz, and it was an enjoyable one. For those city folk who dream of a nice quiet life on a farm, The Dogs of Bedlam Farm is a good reminder that such a life is anything but easy. The book deals with a year in the life of Katz, who decided to raise sheep in upstate New York. This turned out to be one of those activities that he couldn't fully grasp until he actually experienced it; no amount of education or practice would substitute for the real thing. The stars of the book are his three border collies, working dogs trained (to various degrees) to herd sheep. Orson, the eldest of the three is affectionate but ornery; his troubled past before being adopted by Katz adds a layer of difficulty to his training. The middle dog is Homer, the most amiable of the three, but whose insecurities will force Katz into making a difficult decision. Rose is the energetic puppy who Katz realizes has the potential to be a great herder and who matures greatly over the course of the book. As promised in the introduction, no dogs die in this book, but this is no sentimental story. Katz portrays the many trials of farm life, no more so than during a bitterly cold winter. Unlike his neighbors, he is not doing this as a living, but more as a hobby; he has to work even harder, therefore, to win over the townspeople who he will quickly become dependent on. By the end of this book, both Katz and the dogs will have grown in ways that he had not entirely expected. Well-written and entertaining, occasionally sad, more often amusing, this book is worth reading, especially if you're a dog lover. Katz has made the transition from fiction to non-fiction successfully.

Well, if you enjoyed reading A Dog Year, you'll enjoy this book. This time Jon Katz buys a farm. His life has been changed by his border collie dogs, and he buys the farm partly for the dogs and partly for himself. The most important treasures back in the city were his wife, daughter, plus cinemas and Thai restaurants. If you've read any of his books, you know he likes to escape the monotony of city life. Indeed he did. This is an adventurous, funny, moving and even educational book. I have never read about donkeys and sheep, but I loved reading about Jon Katz's experience with them for the first time. And most of all, I love reading about his dogs. What touched me the most was his love, care and sense of responsibility for his animals. Though his farm animals were not considered pets, he treated them well. I found adventure from beginning to end, from the beginnging when the animals escaped and he was getting his feel for farming, to the middle during a harsh winter and lambing season, to the ending left wide open for possibilities including a new lab dog. Maybe we'll read about them in his next book. It is a real good book.

At first glance, Jon Katz seems to be a man out of his mind. First he buys a border collie that herds garbage trucks and buses in the city- then he spends the next year training this dog, and finally realizing he needs to move out of the city. So, he packs up his bags, says good-bye to his wife and daughter and off he goes with three dogs and along the way collects two donkeys and sixteen sheep. A sane man- maybe not, but a very smart one. Jon Katz has found the way- or a religion so to speak. Jon Katz is a writer and a lover of dogs. This story centers around one year of his life. A year spent on a farm in upstate New York, a very difficult year, but one he would do again in a New York minute. He has a small cabin, but realizes he needs more room and with his wife's permission he buys an old farm. He is lucky to have wonderful neighbors who come to his rescue when he needs them the most. Andy is a Vermont carpenter and adds safety and room to Jon's life. He helps to resurrect the barn and other small buildings. John has decided he must have some sheep for his dogs to herd. Along with the sixteen sheep comes a donkey-and then later on another small donkey at the recommendation of The Donkey lady. His sheep and one ram, of course, make babies and in the middle of the worst winter in New York State; 17 baby sheep are born. Jon narrates his harrowing times and what he has learned from the winter. He knows and now understands fully that you must have neighbors who understand what you are up against. He never would have made it without them. Most of his neighbors and townspeople love his dogs and love watching the dogs herd sheep. Most of these people are farmers without much money, and they look at Jon as a curious neighbor, but they too grow to respect him. The admiration is mutual and the stories of the townspeople help us to understand what it takes to live in upper New York State in stark winter. Another reason that Jon may not be entirely sane! Jon Katz dispenses sage wisdom from his work with dogs. The dogs have changed his life and how he thinks about himself. He builds a new relationship with his long lost sister. He is finally able to understand what his miserable childhood has done to him, and how the dogs can help him mend. He firmly believes that all dogs must be trained to be dogs. Dogs are not people and we need to able to show them how to live in our people world. Good truth and wisdom from this book. Jon Katz has a way about him that envelops us, and we learn to care about him and his dogs. Tears and laughter abound throughout this book. Highly recommended. prisrob

Looking for a place that would allow his three border collies to do what they do best --- herd sheep --- and allow him to continue their training, Jon Katz heads to West Hebron, a small town an hour northeast of Albany. Here, his new home is an aging farmhouse complete with several decrepit barns, forty-two acres of pasture and woods, a cantankerous ram, fifteen ewes, two donkeys named Carol and Fanny, and a town full of people curious about the "flatlander" in their midst. Presented with the challenge of once again turning it into a working farm, Katz knows he will either rise to the occasion or find himself headed down the New York State Thruway back to New Jersey. But Katz did not take up residence at Bedlam Farm (that's its official name) solely for Orson, Homer and Rose. He also did it for himself, inspired in part by something his friend and a professional dog trainer, Carolyn, told him after a frustrating training session with Orson. "Here's the truth and you just have to face it: If you want to have a better dog, you will just have to be a better goddamned human." Taking her words to heart, Katz got to work on it. "What better place to test my notions about dogs and humans," he wondered, "than here, with border collies and a bunch of sheep? Could they become happier dogs and more useful partners? Could I learn to be a better human? The four of us and our little band of animals, tucked away on a hillside through a glorious fall, the bitter upstate winter, and a cold, muddy spring filled with lambing, could probably find out." In THE DOGS OF BEDLAM FARM, Katz chronicles his first nine months of the adventure and the triumphs and failures he encountered along the way. There is the adjustment to small-town life, which he adapts to with surprising ease. There are daily training sessions with Orson, Homer and Rose. There are sheep and donkeys to be cared for, repairs to make on the farm, and locals to get acquainted with. Strikingly observant and honest, Katz weaves it all into a narrative that is by turns hilarious, heartwarming and poignant. Whether greeting an autumn sunrise, being battered by a belligerent ram, roaming the hills with his beloved dogs, herding sheep, assisting ewes during lambing season, playing matchmaker between a neighbor and a puppy, tending a sick donkey, mentoring a troubled 12-year-old boy, or reuniting with his estranged sister, Katz learns that being part of a community and running a farm is backbreaking --- and sometimes heartbreaking --- work. It takes perseverance, luck, determination and the help of a few good friends ("those with fur and those without") to make it through the harsh winter. When spring finally comes, with pale rays of sunshine thawing the winter chill, it's clear that Katz and his canine companions have breathed new life into more than just this rambling and untended homestead. Welcome to Bedlam Farm. --- Reviewed by Shannon McKenna