Jon Katz

smkie

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#1
I just finished Soul of a Dog and my mother listened to it on tape. WE both agreed it was excellent. There is one member here who reminds me a great deal of the writer and his dogs. I didn't want to sidetrack his thread so i thought i would start a new one. Have you read any of his books?
 
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#2
Jon Katz !

I only have the book " Dog Days " .

I think it is great , I have read it twice .
Very great Author.
 

stardogs

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#3
A Dog Year, yes. I'm not a huge fan of his as there's a fair amount of misinformation in his books (specifically about BCs but also dogs in general) and he does some pretty sketchy things with his animals imo.
 
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#5
You took my exact words away . I liked the book i read ( only 1 ) But i find that he is like that too .
 

Lizmo

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#6
A Dog Year, yes. I'm not a huge fan of his as there's a fair amount of misinformation in his books (specifically about BCs but also dogs in general) and he does some pretty sketchy things with his animals imo.
^ this. I've read dogs of Bedlam Farm, and he does alot of sketchy things in that book with his very young, inexperienced dog.
 

smkie

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#7
I Don't know about bc work. Only related and enjoyed the therapy work, and his discriptions of his farm and the animals, especially Mother and the Bull. WAs glad he was open to holistic treatment too.
 

BostonBanker

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#8
I don't enjoy his books (well, the two I've read). I think some of his dogs were massively mis-managed and suffered badly for mistakes he made.

He may very well be a good author, but as a dog person, he doesn't impress me.
 

Laurelin

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#9
I personally have not read his books and will not read his books after learning what has happened to all his dogs.
 

smkie

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#10
All his dogs? YOu know something that I don't. I know Orson was pts. I can see what that would be controversial but I do not know what has happened to the others.
 

Boemy

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#11
I read the Dogs of Bedlam Farm. It was a good read, but I can understand why people aren't impressed by him as a farmer and animal-person. He seems to give away his supposedly beloved dogs right and left.

Edit: And put one to sleep because it bit people. Now, I would certainly agree that there are some dogs that are just wired wrong or have been abused so badly or just have such bad breeding that they aren't safe. But he didn't even try containing the dog (duh!) or call a behaviorist.
 

smkie

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#12
I must have missed something somewhere..who did he give away and why? Or which book is it in. I know he claimed himself to not know what he was doing about farming. WHich is obvious. But i didn't know anything about rehoming. Orson, and Soul of Dogs are the two that i have read. Wait there was one other...the two, dogs. Dang I can't remember the name of it THat's sad. Hope it wasn't Rose.
 

Boemy

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#14
He put Orson to sleep. I don't remember the names of the ones he gave away. (Or maybe it was just one?) I think maybe it was Homer?

To be fair, maybe the dog(s) he gave away just weren't suited to him or his life. (Hey, I've been there; that's why I rehomed Shadow.) Orson is the one that bothers me the most because in his book he said he couldn't justify going to the vet to see if his problems were caused by medical issues (like a tumor or something--the dog was biting people) because . . . it cost too much. Yes, according to him it would cost $5000 to $6000 to get tests done. :rolleyes: And it wouldn't be "fair" because Orson was "old" (eight years old) and there were people living in poverty in his valley. (Did he give them the money he would've spent at the vet? I'm guessing not.)

That argument really rankled me. There are people to whom the money I spend on cat food enough and annual vet visits would make a world of difference . . . maybe put food on a previously empty table. But I am still going to take my pets to the vet and feed them because I have a responsibility to them.

Here's an exerpt from the book where Orson is put down:

An excerpt from Jon Katz's A Good Dog: The Story of Orson, Who Changed My Life. - By Jon Katz - Slate Magazine
 

Laurelin

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#15
No, not ALL his dogs, but a lot.

Orson was pts after not doing what he should have for the dog imo, Homer was rehomed, What happened to Devon, Emma, Clementine, Pearl....? According to his site he only has 3 dogs now- Lenore, Izzy, and Rose. But then again, hasn't he sold the farm since then so I'm not even sure that's current.

Does anyone have a full list of his dogs and what happened to all of them? Maybe they were all bad fits... I don't know. But something is wrong if you have that many problems with that many dogs in such a short time. Perhaps it was the wrong breed, though not all were bcs. If so, then he should take a real, serious look at the type of dog he's bringing home because he's obviously not understanding them. He seems to me to simply use his dogs to further himself.

ETA:

I could find a more isolated and peaceful home for him, where fewer people visited to alarm him.
Wasn't the farm like... 99 acres?
 

smkie

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#16
I can't judge a person who has a dog that bites and their decision because I had a biting dog and that was my decision. THe way Casey hunted that woman down meant to me there was no safety for any stranger anywhere he was to go. I will always blame my ex for what he did to that puppy and how it turned out. Izzy's story to me sounded like the right place for Izzy. I really hope that is true. WHat about Lenore? He seemed to charish that lab. I can't imagine him giving her up any more than Izzy. THat was the second book...Izzy and Lenore.
THat's a shame it comes to this. I adore Rose.
 

Zoom

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#18
Devon was renamed Orson, who he had put to sleep. He rehomed Homer after realizing that he was ignoring him because the other two, Orson and Rose, were more demanding in their attentions, plus, Homer wouldn't work stock like he thought he should.

He is more suited to having Labs and should stick with those. He got an idyllic storyline stuck in his head about what it meant to live on a farm with working dogs and made it reality, but without actually knowing what he was doing, which has caused issues from the start.

I enjoyed his first few books until I learned more about BC behavior and training in general. I still enjoy his style but I've gone to the camp of "too controversial to really enjoy".
 

smkie

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#19
I thought the changing of the name Devon to Orson was brilliant. THe trainer was spot on with that one.

I read so many things trainers and people do that I find sketchy. I will bet big some money that there are people on here that find what i have done with mine while training them was risky...or sketchy. So I will hold judgement there as well. I hope he really does love them the way it seemed in Soul of a Dog. I loved reading about Rose, and Lanore and Izzy. I hope there is truth behind their stories. Orson made me uncomfortable, but Casey would have made some seriously uncomfortable reading and he had to go. I would have done it myself if there were no other answers. AS it is he lived at one way junkyard. happily shredding the junk and running on the top of cars. That was what my ex gave him. THat dog wasn't safe around anyone. He didn't even recognize me when i had a dress on and it took several minutes to convince him who i was, and for his hackles to go down and teeth to unbare. I liked the Pet bull. REminded me a ton of Renee and the stories my Jim told me about growing up on a dairy farm. SO i found a great deal in teh books appealing. I have said before i know not one thing about herding, what is right and what is wrong. BIrd dogs are a different story. SO It has been interesting to read the different perspectives on this thread, and disappointing as well.
 

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