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“Dogs are blameless, devoid of calculation, neither blessed nor cursed with human motives. They can’t really be held responsible for what they do. But we can.”
–from The Dogs of Bedlam Farm

When Jon Katz adopted a border collie named Orson, his whole world changed. Gone were the two yellow Labs he wrote about in A Dog Year, as was the mountaintop cabin they loved. Katz moved into an old farmhouse on forty-two acres of pasture and woods with a menagerie: a ram named Nesbitt, fifteen ewes, a lonely donkey named Carol, a baby donkey named Fanny, and three border collies.

Training Orson was a demanding project. But a perceptive dog trainer and friend told Katz: “If you want to have a better dog, you will just have to be a better goddamned human.” It was a lesson Katz took to heart. He now sees his dogs as a reflection of his willingness to improve, as well as a critical reminder of his shortcomings. Katz shows us that dogs are often what we make them: They may have their own traits and personalities, but in the end, they are mirrors of our own lives–living, breathing testaments to our strengths and frustrations, our families and our pasts.

The Dogs of Bedlam Farm recounts a harrowing winter Katz spent on a remote, windswept hillside in upstate New York with a few life-saving friends, ugly ghosts from the past, and more livestock than any novice should attempt to manage. Heartwarming, and full of drama, insight, and hard-won wisdom, it is the story of his several dogs forced Katz to confront his sense of humanity, and how he learned the places a dog could lead him and the ways a doge could change him.
Customer Review: A man who knows his Dogs
I thought this was a great book that showed how much he loved his dogs. I have read every book he has written about his dogs, and this book just gets better each page. I loved it. I thought that this was the best book I have read in a long time. I shows how much he loves his dogs, even to the extent of giving one up. This book was amazing and I would recommend it for anybody, especially the dog lovers.
Customer Review: What a great read!
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!


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