{"product_id":"the-dogs-of-bedlam-farm-an-adventure-with-sixteen-sheep-three-dogs-two-donkeys-and-me-9780812972504","title":"The Dogs of Bedlam Farm: An Adventure with Sixteen Sheep, Three Dogs, Two Donkeys, and Me","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"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.\"\u003cbr\u003e-from \u003ci\u003eThe Dogs of Bedlam Farm\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Jon Katz adopted a border collie named Orson, his whole world changed. Gone were the two yellow Labs he wrote about in \u003ci\u003eA Dog Year, \u003c\/i\u003e 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTraining 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Dogs of Bedlam Farm\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJON KATZ\u003c\/b\u003e has written thirteen books--six novels and seven works of nonfiction, including \u003ci\u003eA Dog Year\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe New Work of Dogs.\u003c\/i\u003e A two-time finalist for the National Magazine Award, he has written for \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times, \u003c\/i\u003e the \u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, \u003c\/i\u003e and the \u003ci\u003eAKC Gazette.\u003c\/i\u003e A member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, he writes a column about dogs for the online magazine \u003ci\u003eSlate\u003c\/i\u003e and is co-host of \"Dog Talk,\" a monthly show on Northeast Public Radio. Katz lives on Bedlam Farm in upstate New York and in northern New Jersey, with his wife Paula Span, a \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e contributing writer and teacher at Columbia University, and their dogs. He can be e-mailed at jonkatz3@comcast.net or at jdkat3@aol.com.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Random House Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51635300892946,"sku":"9780812972504","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f0c8df6e-fa1a-44e9-a05f-73716ce739a2.jpg?v=1759228683","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-dogs-of-bedlam-farm-an-adventure-with-sixteen-sheep-three-dogs-two-donkeys-and-me-9780812972504","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}