Bedlam Farm Blog Journal by Jon Katz

Here’s something for you dog mystics and spiritualists to consider: Bud and Red have precisely the same markings on their bodies. It is eerie how their markings almost completely match one another.

And Bud loves Red, he is already resting his head on Red’s body when he lies down. I think Bud may be a “Doppelganger,” a non biologically related look alike or double of another living thing.

So we have three dogs again, and Bud got his first look at the donkeys today, and they at him. He kept his distance, a wise move. We aren’t letting him into the pasture for months, if at all.

Once the donkeys realize Bud lives here, they will be fine with him, as they are with all of our  other dogs. Until then, they might just regard him as a coyote or intruder.

I’m still shaking my head at how similar Bud and Red are in their color and coats. There has to be some meaning in that.

We took Bud to the dump Saturday afternoon along with Fate, and Bob showered both of them with biscuits and love.

I think Bud will be a regular at the dump, Fate tried everything but throwing Bud out the window but he hung in there and got his share of biscuits. Bob is a total animal lover.

Robin And Sandy

My granddaughter Robin is loving her new pup Sandy, they sit on each other and love each other in only the way children can love a dog, and a dog can love a child.

I think a dog is a great gift to a child in so many different ways.

As a writer and a dog lover, I have always been fascinated by the ways in which dogs do or don’t bond with humans. They seem to make split decisions, they follow a complex series of emotions, smells, sounds and sight and instincts.

Watching the dogs come off of the big dog rescue truck in Brattleboro, I saw joyous sights of bonding and connection, squeals from people and from dogs. Bud and I didn’t bond until he crawled into my lap a few miles outside of Brattleboro.

Then we bonded, and our bonding has continued throughout the afternoon. Maria also is connected with Bud, he seems safe and at ease with her as well. I felt something special for this dog today, it is hard not to feel some emotions knowing what he has gone through in his young life.

Dogs suffer, people suffer, many far worse than Bud and certainly than me, but our ability to ease the suffering of dogs and other animals is  a major factor in the rise of the rescue movement the need for so many people to “rescue” a dog.

It brings us joy and happiness.

Certainly, something special is going on in terms of my short relationship with Bud, and I am sure there are storms and bumps ahead. None yet, it just feels like a love fest all a round.

I especially love the character in Bud’s face and his very calm and easy demeanor.

I guess you’d have to say Bud is comfortable at the farm, he hung out with Red and Fate in the back yard, marked every single bush and rock, took a dump and came over to me for some attention.

I took him up into my lap and he turned over on his back for a belly rub, which i was happy to give him. He was practically purring. Carol Johnson sent some Cashew Brittles from Arkansas with a note saying they were for us, not Bud.

Bud is a young dog, about a year old, but an Old Soul. He’s only been her for a couple of hours, but it seems he has been here for years. Thanks Carol and the good people at FOHA for bring But to us, he is a wonderful creature and belongs here. I’m glad he is home.