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A Good Dog by Jon Katz


Indydog
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Has anyone read this book? The book is about the Author's experience with a border collie that has a "broken soul". I was traveling in the pacific nw this past week and I could not put this book down. I'm dying to discuss this book with fellow border collie owners. I read this book cover to cover in a few hrs. It kind of reminded me of Melanie's experience with Solo.

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Has anyone read this book? The book is about the Author's experience with a border collie that has a "broken soul". I was traveling in the pacific nw this past week and I could not put this book down. I'm dying to discuss this book with fellow border collie owners. I read this book cover to cover in a few hrs. It kind of reminded me of Melanie's experience with Solo.

 

 

I guess I'm few months late...there many threads on Jon Katz. I search for Jon Katz before posting this thread but search have to ahve more than 3 characters. All the Jon Katz related threads finally came up when I searched for bedlam.

 

But if you any thoughts about this book, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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You have come to the wrong place to talk about this person. Frankly if I had the opportunity I would kick his ass for being the major failure I think he is. IMHO he should not be allowed access to dogs... EVER!!!

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Yeah, so exactly like my experience with Solo except that Solo never savaged anybody, we lived in much more difficult circumstances (studio apartments in the middle of big cities) and oh, that's right, I didn't kill my dog.

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Yeah, so exactly like my experience with Solo except that Solo never savaged anybody, we lived in much more difficult circumstances (studio apartments in the middle of big cities) and oh, that's right, I didn't kill my dog.

 

 

Do you think Orson would've been a good candidate for alprazolam?

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He would have been a great candidate for an owner who actually gave a shit, but to more directly answer your question, Katz's refusal to take him to a behavioral specialist means that no one will ever know. Poor dog.

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Why is this a wrong place to talk about him?

 

Because all he does, in me at least, is generate a feeling of hostility and failure. Orson didn't have a chance.

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Hmm...be careful folks. Doesn't it seem odd that someone who's been on the boards for over a year wouldn't know how unpopular Jon Katz is here? :D

 

You have a point, but in Indydog's defense (and I am an optimist), I was on the boards for over a year before I became active here.

 

Indydog, Katz is not welcomed with open arms here. He may write books about Border Collies, but his actions in his books do not sit well with the responsible dog owners on this board. Border Collies have a bad enough reputation in the uninformed world of being crazy, high energy, can't-do-anything-but-work-sheep-24/7 obsessive dogs. Katz does nothing to help the understanding of the breed- instead he chooses to kill a dog over admitting his inadequacies as a Border Collie owner/"trainer" and finding an appropriate solution for his dog.

 

ETA: I'm just sorry I gave him some of my money before I knew what an A-hole he is... I certainly won't be making that mistake ever again... :rolleyes:

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I'm just sorry I gave him some of my money before I knew what an A-hole he is... I certainly won't be making that mistake ever again... :rolleyes:

Yeah, I know. DH bought me the series for Christmas last year. He thought since it was about Border Collies, it would be something I'd enjoy. I read them. Fast read. Small books. Small words! LOL! Wasn't impressed. :D

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I was given the book ad threw it away shortly after I started reading it. Even last night during our walk I ran into a couple of people who saw the movie and commented on how nuts and difficult our dogs are to handle. That doesn't do any good for BCs and certainly not for Jin when the lady is practically yelling at him for being a crazy dog.

 

"Look at him", she said, "he's staring at me"

 

Riiiiight!!!!!!!! He's staring at the ball I'm holding because he wants me to throw it.

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You have a point, but in Indydog's defense (and I am an optimist), I was on the boards for over a year before I became active here.

 

Indydog, Katz is not welcomed with open arms here. He may write books about Border Collies, but his actions in his books do not sit well with the responsible dog owners on this board. Border Collies have a bad enough reputation in the uninformed world of being crazy, high energy, can't-do-anything-but-work-sheep-24/7 obsessive dogs. Katz does nothing to help the understanding of the breed- instead he chooses to kill a dog over admitting his inadequacies as a Border Collie owner/"trainer" and finding an appropriate solution for his dog.

 

ETA: I'm just sorry I gave him some of my money before I knew what an A-hole he is... I certainly won't be making that mistake ever again... :rolleyes:

 

 

I think people are making an assumption just because I want to talk about his book.I don't agree with his decision. I just wanted to have an open dicussion about his book...and I explained in my second post that due to the poor quality of the search function I didn't successful locate the discussion thread right away. Yeah I've been here for over year. So what? I dont check this board every day and read every single post.

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You may want to talk about Katz's books, but most of us have talked about his books ad nauseum and don't relish the thought of repeating the same vitriolic discussion over and over again, so perhaps you should read the gazillion other threads about him before starting yet another one.

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I think people are making an assumption just because I want to talk about his book, I agree with his decision. I just wanted to have an open dicussion about his book...and I explained in my second post that due to the poor quality of the search function I didn't successful locate the discussion thread right away. Yeah I've been here for over year. So what? I dont check this board every day and read every single post.

 

Your first post kind of sounds like you found Katz' book facinating and his decision a deep one.

 

The one book I read I found egotisical and a bit ridiculous.

 

If Katz had put an ounce of prevention into Orsen, he wouldn't have had near the issues he had with the dog. I beleive that Katz created many of Orsen's issues, and instead of dealing with or solving them, he just euthanized the dog. And then got money and fame off the book he wrote about it. Katz has not kept any of his dogs for their natural life. He given them away or killed them then moved on to another dog, another story. The Border Collies were the greatest, then they were troubled high maintainance dogs, then came the wonderful Labs. Now his two original Labs have been rehomed. He's got a new Lab and a new BC. He gets a dog, milks it for everything it's worth, then goes on to the next.

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Hello all. Can't discuss this book, because after reading Dogs of Bedlam Farm, I recognized him for the ego-maniacal, delusional, self-possessed idiot he is and would NEVER buy another. Actually, that one was given to me, so I would NEVER buy one.

 

Hmm...be careful folks.

 

Why? The man is a nut job and why would I care who knows how I feel about that? If Katz or one of his lackies is lurking I am here to tell you that ALL of his issues with dogs and sheep are of his own making. He killed poor Orson because he is completely ignorant and utterly inept when it comes to animals, and too stupidly self-righteous to admit it. What a dangerous combination.

 

After reading his book I contacted him via email with an address provided in the book and suggested that he actually take the time to learn about working border collies before becoming an expert. Likewise sheep. His experiences with sheep as described in his book were nothing short of torture. He wrote back personally to tell me that my opinions made it clear to him that I had not read his book...what can i tell you?

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Or try this topic too, www.bordercollie.org/boards/index.php?showtopic=25623&hl= You can read thru it or I can tell you that the jist of it is that Katz, is now divorced, he's sold the sheep & donkeys and is selling the farm. I think that's he's made about as much money as he can off of them and is moving on.

 

(Sorry I can't don't know how to do the clickable link.)

 

Laura

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You may want to talk about Katz's books, but most of us have talked about his books ad nauseum and don't relish the thought of repeating the same vitriolic discussion over and over again, so perhaps you should read the gazillion other threads about him before starting yet another one.

 

Maybe you should read my second post and move on.

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But if you any thoughts about this book, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

 

Maybe you should read my post again, carefully this time!

 

And by the way, bc4ever's comment about being careful about you was a warning meant for other board members that since you seem determined to argue against the general conclusions drawn by most board members about this controversial author, even after being on this board for a year and having been pointed to several threads illustrating why members feel the way they do, that you may in fact be a troll.

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Or, simply, someone with a differing opinion (perish the thought!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

 

Maybe you should read my post again, carefully this time!

 

And by the way, bc4ever's comment about being careful about you was a warning meant for other board members that since you seem determined to argue against the general conclusions drawn by most board members about this controversial author, even after being on this board for a year and having been pointed to several threads illustrating why members feel the way they do, that you may in fact be a troll.

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