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

~ (Author) "FAR IN THE DISTANCE, AS THE MORNING MISTS BEGAN TO CLEAR, I could see a livestock trailer heading west on Route 30 from Salem toward..." (more)
Key Phrases: training pen, border collies, pig barn, New Jersey, Bedlam Farm, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Katz, whose books A Dog Year and Running to the Mountain earned him many faithful, dog-loving readers, here channels James Herriott's brand of agricultural humanism. It's a classic setup for amusing anecdotes: a 50-something "suburban rookie" buys a farm in upstate New York, stocking it with three border collies and a small herd of sheep. His skeptical wife agrees to the plan, but wisely forbids firearms, farm machinery and long trips in the pickup. This leaves plenty of latitude for adventures—lost sheep, horrible weather, the dramas of dog training and lamb birthing. Soon, the introspective author realizes that his interactions with dogs are about "trying to become a better human." After all, his dogs have unfailingly high expectations of him. The troublesome pup, Orson, becomes the great test of Katz's emotional maturity, requiring consistent discipline and love in the face of awful misbehavior (one of Orson's habits is eating sheep feces). "If we herd sheep for another decade or so," Katz writes, "I might make it: I might become a patient man." While there's no deeply surprising insight into human nature nor any particularly revealing information about canine behavior, these stories offer readers a potent stew of triumphs and failures, all tied together by the constancy of complicated, joyful, lovable dogs.
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From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–In a book that is similar to his A Dog Year (Random, 2002), Katz now recounts the year in which he trained his border collies and farmed. No longer in Pennsylvania, he faced lambing season during an extremely harsh northern New York winter. Although he discusses the training of the dogs to herd sheep, his primary purpose is to show that dogs are a reflection of their owners: that his improved attitude and behavior improved the behavior of his dogs. Sometimes funny, as when the sheep and donkeys misbehaved, sometimes sad, as when he gave away one of the dogs, the story always has the ring of truth. Readers feel Katz's frustration, joy, and triumphs. An enticing way for students in cities to learn what life is like on a simple farm, where life can be hard, but where neighbors help one another.–Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Villard; First Edition edition (October 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400062438
• ISBN-13: 978-1400062430
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #524,327 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Woof, Woof, January 7, 2005

By	Louis N. Gruber "Author of Jay" (Lexington, SC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Jon Katz is a late middle aged man with a restless disposition, a tendency to be irritable, a dysfunctional childhood, and--oh yes--an obsession with dogs. In this book he has just moved to a 40 acre farm in upstate New York, leaving his wife behind in the city. And, in the process, acquires a small herd of sheep and two donkeys. You see, he is now obsessed with Border Collies, and they are obsessed with herding sheep.

Training the dogs to work as a team and herd sheep is not easy, in fact it is almost beyond Katz's abilities except on those rare occasions when he can keep quiet and trust the dogs' judgment. He comes to the insight that in order to train these dogs he will have to be a better human. And that is his project through the rest of the book, a devilishly hard winter, and all the misadventures that could possibly happen to a rookie farmer who hasn't a clue.

Fortunately, his neighbors and townspeople take him under their collective wings and help him muddle through. If they regard him as a silly "flatlander" who has no business attempting this adventure, they are kind enough not to say so.

Author Jon Katz has written a number of books. He is fluent and elegant writer, who offers a wealth of interesting observations about rural life, sheep, donkeys, dogs, "dog people" (who only relate to other people through their dogs), and human nature. The book is easy reading and entertaining, if a little superficial. The only real drawback, for me, was author Katz's excessive preoccupation with himself and his inner conflicts. I would have liked to learn more about the animals. Still, the book works, and I recommend it. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For the Love of Dogs, December 30, 2004

By	prisrob "pris," (New EnglandUSA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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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

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Farmed Out, October 11, 2004

By	V Helmbreck Mascitti (Delaware USA) - See all my reviews

The first thing you need to know about Jon Katz' new book about his life and dogs is this: all the dogs live to the end of the book. They don't necessarily live with Katz until the end of the book, but I personally appreciated not having to mourn the death of another Katz dog. Which is not to say there isn't opportunity for a few more Katz-inspired tears in "The Dogs of Bedlam Farm." With sometimes unnerving candor and courage, the writer draws readers into the spiritual, emotional and physical trials and tribulations of setting up a new, rustic, parallel life -- this one radically different from the one he's been living in suburban New Jersey. Having exchanged his mountain cabin for a 40-acre upstate New York farm, Katz goes about populating the place with the sort of livestock he's never owned or cared for before.

This is, to say the least, either a very brave man or a very insane one.

I like to think he's a model of courage and self confidence -- even if he never seems to see himself that way. Katz' newest book describes a bumbling first year on the farm and the complex journey that is his life. The primary cast members in this drama/comedy are Katz' three faithful, frenetic Border Collies -- the poster pups for Canine Attention Deficit Disorder -- a collection of laconic upstate farmers, a flock of sometimes unlikable sheep, Katz' patient, tolerant wife and two very sweet, stubborn donkeys.

While comparisons to the popular book series by British vet James Harriot are easy to make, Katz book is a sort of neo-memoir that's more compulsively contemplative than books such as "All Creatures Great and Small." For those who grew up as part of the baby boomer generation, the philosophical and often theological questions explored by Katz will be familiar. While Herriot mostly revels in the miracles of nature, Katz ponders the modern chasm between humans and their own nature -- and the the way in which other creatures, especially dogs, can sometimes bridge the gap.

For those of us who read (and admired) his previous book "A Dog Year", it is a treat to get yet another glimpse at the hard work Katz has attempted in his efforts to make a sense of his past and a path for his future. While others (including his wife) may sometimes believe that Katz bought a farm and a flock of sheep for his Border Collies, it seems to me that, in the end, he may have bought it for all of us who enjoy his writing. And like the reader who implored him not to have any dogs die in this newest one, we should be extraordinarily grateful that he did.