I’ve often said we are the stories we tell, and I think that is very true of me. I was fascinated, touched and challenged by the many responses to the proposed first draft  redesign of bedlamfarm.com. People liked it, overwhelmingly and enthusiastically, which is nice.  There were some good and thoughtful ideas about it. Some were poignant, surprising to me. A few people said they were concerned because, as one put it, I was the “dog guy” and the redesign suggested there was more to me and the site than just dogs. A number of people said they would miss the border collie graphic – Izzy – which has been the symbol of the website from the beginning. The blog is, of course, a reflection of me and of my identity, so it is natural people would sense changes in that.

Identity is important to me. I’ve lost my own sense of identity many times, sometimes at my hands, sometimes at the hands of others. I have learned to take my identity seriously, and I have also learned that I learned to build and keep my identity through the stories I tell and the photos I take. They are my soul,my ego, my truest expression of self.

Dogs are the heart of the enterprise for me, because they interest me the most, I love observing them, training them, writing about them and learning what they tell us about our culture, society and the people who love them so much. Still, is true that my writing encompasses much more than that. I write about life, rural life, fear, donkeys, cats, chickens, sheep,  emotion, loss, spirituality, self-determination, love, health and a lot of other things. That has evolved for many years – I wrote about many things before dogs – and been, I think, a significant reason for the explosive growth of the blog. I have never written as a dog lover, rescuer, or worshipper, as there are plenty of those, but as a writer interested in dogs as a mirror of our lives, as an observer of the impact animals have on our world.

At almost every reading, someone asks me a curious question about dogs or veterinary issues. How do you housebreak a dog? How do you get dogs to get along with one another? How do you tell a well-bred dog? At Sunday Adirondack Monday, a man surprised me by asking what he could do about the ticks that are on his dogs. I am always taken aback by this. I am not a trainer, and not a vet, and writers are usually not asked about ticks and housebreaking. I am always asked if people can bring dogs to my readings, and some people have, even though  people would never think of bringing animals to most book readings.

People, understandably, bring their own passions and interests and sometimes have trouble separating their identity from mine. They make assumption about me, as I perhaps make assumptions about them. Never a good thing to do.

Identity is never settled and is always ours to define. It has to be nourished, protected and affirmed continuously. People are always ready, often unconsciously to take it away. So some people looking at the redesign sensed that my identity is not just as a “dog guy,” whatever that really is, but as something more. That is a good thing. They are right. The “Izzy” logo, good as it is, cute as it is, doesn’t work for who I am now, and what the blog represents now. The site isn’t just about adorable dogs, although it is sometimes about that. It is time to move forward – perhaps that is at the core of who I am.

I hope I write a dozen more books about dogs. I could.  But in our culture, websites and blogs are a reflection of us, and of our stories, and I guess the redesign does show that we are always evolving, and good for us. Which makes me love the new bedlamfarm.com even more. And thanks for all the great responses, thoughts, ideas and suggestions.