hastyreply Posted October 7, 2004 Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 Saw this on the MSN homepage so clicked on it. I have heard this guy on NPR before. I thought this was interesting since there have been some rehoming topics. http://slate.msn.com/id/2107279/?GT1=5403 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jodi Posted October 7, 2004 Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 Interesting ... I'd like to see what other people think of this article. I read a spread of his in the L.A. Times (I think that was it) and wasn't nuts about him, however, I've never read anything else he's written. Jodi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
border_collie_crazy Posted October 7, 2004 Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 this artical hits close to home. I recently re-homed Shadow, my sheltie/border collie because she just was not happy in a multi-dog household. who am I kidding, she was downright miserable. she was always my dads dog, but when my parents split my dad could not take shadow with him, non the appartments here allow dogs, but he could only afford an apartment, so shadow stayed with us. unfortinaltly my dog(Misty) took over shadows place as alpha dog, and the others started attacking shadow on sight, we tried all we could to stop them, Happy is the one that stopped, she did it once, got a small scolding(sensitive dog) and never did it again, the rest of the dogs we actually had to kennel just to let shadow outside to potty, we had to start feeding her outside, and keep her seperated from the others at all times. the poor dog was miserable, so my friends family was going to foster her, till we could find her a new home, for her own happiness and safety. my dad actually thought we could just leave her locked up in 1 room until he could take her, but we did not want to leave her locked up like that all the time, she was even afraid of the other dogs when they were in their kennels, she was so afraid she slept outside one night, because she was to frightend to come in. for her happiness she went to my friends place tp stay. when it came time for her to go to a new home that we found on a farm, her foster family loved her to much to get rid of her, there is only one other dog, and she gets regular visits from me lol well actually I practicly live at my friends house lol(my dad actually gave me a cell phone yesterday cuz everytime he tries to call me I am over there lol) shadow is so happy there, and more then anyhing it makes me happy that shadow is happy again. shadow with her new mommy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hastyreply Posted October 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 I can't remember the context of the interview on "Fresh Air" on NPR, I just remember that he had his dogs with him and they talked about them. I thought it was interesting that even though the dog would probably never get to herd again, he was happy in his new home. The author saw a happier side to the dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody's pop Posted October 7, 2004 Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 Jon Katz should be mandatory reading for all who share their lives with Border Collies.Start with"Running to the Mountain",which tells the story of his Labradors,and how they helped him through a real life-crisis.Next is"A Dog Year",which I read in a hospital waiting room as my mother lay dying.It helped me thru that horrible time,and reinforced my decision to have a Border join our family.His latest book,which contains the excerpt on Slate,is titled"the Dogs of Bedlam Farm" which I'll definately be picking up this weekend.You'll laugh out loud,you'll cry unashamed,and along the way,you will learn much.Do not pass these books by! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eileen Stein Posted October 7, 2004 Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 For some contrasting views, see http://bordercollie.heatherweb.com/cgi-bin...t=004899#000000 and http://bordercollie.heatherweb.com/cgi-bin...t=004935#000000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 Thanks for posting that Eileen, I read a Dog's Year and found Katz uninformed and full of himself a lot of the time. It is interesting to hear the different things people get from him. Caroline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hastyreply Posted October 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 Well I was more interested in the idea of rehoming a dog that you'd had long enough for it to be part of the family. I've never read the guy's books and only vaguely remembered the guy because his dogs were in the studio with him- I couldn't even remember what he was talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jodi Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 Thanks, Eileen. I thought I remembered a conversation on Katz. I generally agree with Bill Fosher's thoughts (and many others) who say that nothing Katz talks about is particular to Border Collies. One funny thing I came across (and Bill I hope you don't mind ... hee hee ... ok shoot me) that Bill wrote about Katz that I had to laugh at because of a recent event: "I was right, and he was about to broadcast one of them. He said he is in touch with some "great" Irish trainers of Border collies (I know some folks who would question whether such a thing exists -- when was the last time an Irishman won the International Supreme?) who had advised him to allow Rose to have "a few hours a day alone with the sheep." Hee hee! Jodi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carson Crazies Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 I read this, and thought, "touching story from an entertainment point of view". Then I went back and read both links that Eileen posted, which really gave me an entirely different point of view. Realistically I would feel more informed had I actually read any of his books, but since I have not (yet) I really have only the past discussions on this board to go by. After reading the discussion, I went back to his article with more than just a little bit of scepticism, and found the story second time to be not quite so touching. If you'll notice under his article there are links to a couple more of his, one of which he refers to his BC as "demented", and his biggest training issue was the dog eating poop?????? Far be it from me to criticize him, really, but it all seems very superficial and ignorant. I don't really see where as he really did much to change his relationship between him and the dog, and I think he did very little to monitor the situations between all of the dogs. I'd be really cautious of putting too much confidence in any of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Williams Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 I don't have any use for Katz, finding him to be totally oblivious to the Border collie breed. General thoughts on rehoming, not specific to Homer... Now, I may get soundly whacked about the head and shoulders for saying this, but I have no problem at all with rehoming dogs when the relationship isn't working; with a few special exceptions, one of which is the person who buys a pup/dog, doesn't invest the time, money and/or energy to properly tend to the animal, sends it down the road, and then gets another one and repeats the mistakes. However, and this is a big however, I believe the owner needs to assume responsibility for rehoming their own dog, not look to shelters or rescues to do it for them, unless there are dire circumstances present and they've exhausted all other options. In my book, shelters and rescues are already vastly overworked and underfunded, and their resources should be expended on dogs that have been abandoned in the real sense of the word. On the occasion that I have decided to rehome, the dog was, at the very least, well socialized and mannered, altered, as well as current on shots, heartguard, flea/tick treatment and kennel cough. I also spent the personal time to visit with folks at their homes, keep in touch to make sure all was well, and insist on return if the match didn't work out. In other words, assume and retain responsibility. There are very few instances where I believe sale money should be involved in rehomes. I have found that new homes are much more likely to return the dog if they don't feel they've purchased the right to dispose of it in whatever manner pleases them. However, I know foks who believe the flipside is just as important - someone is going to care more about something they've purchased. So, maybe it's a rock/hard place deal - I don't know for certain. There is a very good article by Jen Brown, entitled "Recycling Ranch Dogs" in the March 2004 issue of Stockdogs Magazine that does relate to a good number of situations, it reads, in part, "... I have long since gotten over being shocked that someone would buy a pup, raise it like a pig as Scott Lithgow said, spend no time in anything that could remotely be called training, feed it the cheapest food, give it minimal to no health care; then, at a year plus when the pup is a general nusisance, expect someone to pay them for it..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 Hey hastyreply, nothing personal is meant to you about Jon Katz, I just agree that the books and most of what he says isn't specific about border collies and he is just not that informed about the breed. Parts of his books can hit sentimental strings in me, and I did read a Dog's Year, though why he wanted border collies still is kinda beyond me. Caroline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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