by Jon Katz
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Rose
Rose, my other border collie, told me that I could live on my farm, be in the country, do something I never imagined doing. She showed me how far I had come since Lucky, how much I needed her help, how she empowered me to survive those years alone, those awful blizzards, those belligerent rams. To hear the cries of the newborn lambs, to open my heart to the ancient glory of the shepherd, to walk our sheep through the woods and down the faraway paths. To move in harmony, as human beings have been doing with dogs and sheep since the beginning of recorded time.
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Simon
Simon the donkey opened me up, as much or more than any animal since Lucky. For a time, I wondered sometimes if he might be Lucky reincarnated. Simon told me I could put my hand in his mouth and put ointment on his painful and swollen gums. He told me he trusted me to put drops directly into his badly infected eyes. He told me he trusted me to pour balm on his sores and open wounds. In doing so, he led me to new experiences, to agreeing to take Red, even though I had never seen him. To walk in the woods with him, as the ancients did with their donkeys. In healing him, I healed myself. He also drew me more deeply into the wonderful world of equines, which led me to stop and take a picture of the blind pony Rocky, which led me to Maria and to buy the farm Rocky loved. Open up, Simon told me over and over again, in many different ways. Open up. And so I did.
* * *
Ma
When Ma, the ewe, was struggling while giving birth, I wondered if it would be most merciful to put her down. As she lay gasping for breath in labor, I heard her message very clearly in my mind, and felt it in my heart and soul: I have two babies in my womb, please let me live. She showed me how to pull one out, and then the other. They both lived, and Ma climbed to her feet. Exhausted and bleeding from the inside, she licked them both clean and lived long enough to give them the milk they needed to start their own lives.
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Frieda
Frieda, the man-repeller, told me that she would always protect Maria, and she would trust me when Maria trusted me. She showed me the way to Maria’s heart by learning to love me and, eventually, trust me. She opened my heart to love, and its possibility. She gave me the courage and strength to persevere with an animal that seemed impossible, even frightening to work with. She made me understand how important love was to me, and how patient I needed to be in order to have it. And she showed Maria that I was worthy of love and trust when both of them had struggled so long to find it. She brought me to love. Maria told me later that she trusted me when she saw how I showed Frieda how to trust me. And I did it by imagining what I wanted, and it came to be.
* * *
Rebecca
I met Rebecca, a beautiful draft horse rescue from an auction house, in a New York carriage horse stable. She looked at me in a particular way, and when I left New York to come back to my farm, Rebecca’s voice came with me. We are content here, she said. We are living our destiny, to work with people and be active and engaged and have a purpose. If we leave, she told me in the middle of one dark night, we will take the wind and water and fire with us; we will take the last drop of magic from the big city. Do not let them take us away and hide us from view again. We are the partners of people; we share the joys and travails of life. Tell our story, speak for us.
* * *
Red
Red came to show me the great heart of animals, their generosity of spirit, their mystical ability to enter the lives of human beings and walk with them through life. Red is a therapy dog; he lifts the spirits of troubled people. He is a working dog; he helps us live on our farm. He is a companion dog; he accompanies me on my journey through life. He is a spirit dog, here to mark a passage of my life. He is a muse; he unlocks the spirits, chases away the demons, and helps me to write.
* * *
Rocky
Rocky, my blind Appaloosa pony, had lived alone on our farm for many years. He was sick and tired, and he told me and Maria when it was time for him to go. He could not face another winter. He could not survive the determination of the donkeys to drive him away because he was sick and infirm. He taught me that the quality of mercy is not strained. He begged us to let him go and join his ancestors rather than keep him alive and struggle so that we could feel good about ourselves. He reminded me once again that we don’t have to guess or argue about what it is animals need and want.
If we listen, they can tell us.
* * *
Acknowledgments
I want to thank Maria, and the very many people who have shared my life with animals, taught me how to live with them, came to my aid when I needed them. There are too many to list without leaving out others or inadvertently hurting some.
But some have to be named.
I wish to thank Mr. Wisnewski, the janitor at the Summit Avenue Elementary School; he stood up for me and started me on my journey with animals.
I wish to thank the vets: the Granville Veterinary Service–Large Animals; Tom Wolski and Suzanne Fariello and the Cambridge Veterinary Service; Ken Norman, our farrier; Jim McCrae, our shearer; Peter Hanks, who brought me Elvis; Karen Thompson, who brought me Red and Fate; Gretchen Pinkel, who gave us Lenore.
I want to thank the many farmers who befriended me, took pity on me, taught me what I needed to know, sold me good hay, taught me about grass and the seasons.
I want to especially thank Ed and Carol Gulley, our friends and hardworking dairy farmers, for their friendship, inspiration, and support. And Kim and Jack Macmillan, our neighbors and friends, who have rushed to our aid too many times to count.
I thank my close friend Scott Carrino, whose friendship has sustained and nourished me in my new life. He is a wonderful friend.
I thank Bruce Tracy and Brian McLendon, both formerly of Random House, for publishing my first animal books and supporting me, and Richard Abate.
I am especially grateful to Rosemary Ahern and Christopher Schelling for representing me, standing by me, editing me. And Peter Borland of Simon & Schuster for believing in me and this book.
I thank all of the wonderful people who have read my blog, supported me and it, and encouraged me to keep writing books when I wasn’t sure I could.
About the Author
Jon Katz has written nineteen books—seven novels and twelve works of nonfiction—including The Second Chance Dog: A Love Story and The Dogs of Bedlam Farm. He has written for The New York Times, Slate, Rolling Stone, and Wired. He lives on Bedlam Farm in Upstate New York with the artist Maria Wulf; his dogs, Red and Fate; his barn cats, Mother and Minnie; their donkeys, Lulu and Fanny; and ten sheep. Learn more at BedlamFarm.com.
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Also by Jon Katz
Nonfiction
Saving Simon
The Second-Chance Dog: A Love Story
The Story of Rose (ebook)
Going Home
Soul of a Dog
Izzy & Lenore
Dog Days
A Good Dog
Katz on Dogs
The Dogs of Bedlam Farm
The New Work of Dogs
A Dog Year
Geeks
Running to the Mountain
Virtuous Reality
Media Rants
Fiction
Dancing Dogs
Rose in a Storm
Sign Off
Death by Station Wagon
The Family Stalker
The Last Housewife
The Fathers’ Club
Death Row
Children’s Books
Lenore Finds a Friend
Meet the Dogs of Bedlam Farm
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Copyright © 2017 by Jon Katz
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First Atria Books hardcover edition May 2017
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Interior design by Amy Trombat
Jacket design by Janet Perr
Jacket photograph by © Maria Wulf
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Katz, Jon, author.
Title: Talking to animals / Jon Katz.
Description: First Atria Books hardcover edition. | New York : Atria Books, 2017.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016032799| ISBN 9781476795478 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781476795492 (trade pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Human-animal communication.
Classification: LCC QL776 .K38 2017 | DDC 591.59—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016032799
ISBN 978-1-4767-9547-8 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4767-9549-2 (trade pbk.)
ISBN 978-1-4767-9550-8 (ebook)
