Because I was there.....

Yesterday, after I made a cute little felted lamb with a big head.....I made arrangements to head over to Palm Cottage to work the girls on a bigger field.  I was already down south...what the heck!  As much as I loved spending time with my friends and getting in touch with my "crafty" side.....it is the working of dogs that makes my heart sing.  There you have it....true confessions of a dog addict.

There are a few local one-day, winter trials coming up and I think Bella might be ready to visit the trial field after her long hiatus.  Try as I might, I could not get any serious tension out of her while working with Scott Glen....time to increase change and look closely at criteria.

Out of 4 larger outruns, she only exhibited tension once...and was able to be corrected out of it.  Thinking over this one view of Bella tension, I realized she was sliding through that first initial stop at the top and correcting that gave me a supple dog.  She is beginning to feel her sheep and sort out the pressure point.  These sheep were a gift of quick-footed lightness and seeing Bella sort through how far off she had to be to work them calmly was amazing.

Next up was Miss Nell.  She is working on her fetch......and as always.....keeping her head on light running sheep. 

Sage words....training is often like chocolate.....a little will do you.  In other words....more is not always better!  That certainly is an interesting way to look at chocolate!

Gyp had the privilege of coming out and working these light sheep......I was curious and excited to see how she would respond.  It is fun to see young pups sort it out, find the distance, get control of the sheep, and start to read and feel them.  I'm very much enjoying this journey we are on.

I've been thinking a lot about Brene' Brown's talk on authenticity.  While thinking, I've been spending some time on her blog Ordinary Courage; reading her entries and listening to more talks on Wholehearted living.  Interesting to be putting a few footprints on this path...certainly not comfortable but, like exercise and eating for health....a "good thing".  Brene' interviews a gal by the name of Myriam Joseph and asks her "what are your greatest creative barriers?" Myriam replies, "My greatest creative barriers are the groups of squatters that take up space in my head. They lay around all day, shouting their bad advice and accusations, they don’t work, they don’t pay rent, they just talk, talk, talk."  I have a few squatters in my head as well.....and maybe even a few in my real life.....perchance it is time to embrace venerability and continue to strive for authenticity.

Seize the Day!

fun, Fun, FUN

Today started with a field trip down to Kenleigh Acres Farm where my good friend Shannon was teaching a felting class.  Now admittedly, I am not the craftiest person ever.  At least not in the "arts and crafts" sort of way...though friends might find me crafty in other ways.  Shannon assured me that I could be successful at felting a little lamb.....and being open minded to getting in touch with that other side of my brain......I was there taking her class.

Shannon kindly put a finished example on the table.....so I could visualize what the end result would look like. 

Then she gave me the necessary items to make my sheep.....which in my very humble opinion looked nothing like what I was shooting for.  I think I heard her mutter something about patience and virtue....we continued on.

Shannon then began to give detailed instruction on how to make a sheep.  Patiently starting with step one: telling and showing as she went.

A couple of my other good friends were there with me....learning right along side of me how to make cute little felted lambs.  Both of them are fiber fiends and crafty to the core so I had to push myself to keep up.

The most difficult step for me was the making of the sheep ears.  They are tiny and need to be a nice shape...and equal but mirror...you know, left ear versus right ear.  Shannon was very patient!

 Once the face, ears, and legs were made.....we atteched them by felting them onto the prepared body.


Adele assembles her sheep.

TA DA!

Not baaaaad for the first attempt at making felted sheep!  Though I admit to coming  home and making my sheep face a little tidier..... Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks!  Thanks Shannon for being such a kind, gentle teacher......with a great sense of humor!

Seize the Day!                                      

Are Your Ready to Expand Your Perception?

A friend suggested watching this.......it is well worth the twenty minutes..........



Whole Hearted......

Seize the Day!

When in Doubt....Blow Them OUT

I just got home from the Island Crossing Sheepdog Trial that was held up in Arlington, Washington.  This is the same field that the girls and I ran on in August...so I was looking forward to seeing if we had made improvements.

Nell ran first for me....and thanks to all the help and support of my good friends...I did indeed take the correct dog to the post!  She really wanted to go right....but the course was definitely a left send with tons of pressure at the top.  As Nell left my feet...she started coming in...I blew her out on the fly...she took it.  I gave one more little blow out as she entered the big ravine that runs through the field....and she came up out of that ravine bending left.  Atta girl Nell!  The rest of the run was pretty rattled but I loved her blow outs.

Sally crossed both time in August....so this time, I blew her out as she entered the ravine with the same result....she came out bending left!  Her run was real nice and we will continue our shed work.  I liked how she ran for me!

My friend Geri has been talking to me at trials....as I have a tendency to not support the dogs on the outrun if it starts coming in.....and then end up with a cross as I frantically try to get the bend out once the dog is committed to cross.  She says "spend a point, save a run".......this mantra is now stuck in my head and I am watching the outruns to support my dogs littlest intention of starting to come in. At the end of the day....I think this will add to the relationship I am developing. When in doubt...blow them out.

I also got the chance to talk to a "finger whistler" to help me sort out what I might be doing wrong with my whistles.  Mine often sound airy....like blowing a wood flute....and I want crisp like a brass whistle.  She really took some time to help me sort it.....so now I have home work.  Thanks Vicki Close! 

As I left the trial...her parting words to me were "some people like to learn, but not all like to be taught."  That is a good thought to ruminate on.....I think I am a little of both.  I like to work through things on my own...and get some instruction when I find myself not sorting it. I'm also learning to value consistency.....

Seize the Day!

Honest Dog

Oh MY!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE these border collie prints!!!!

Alison is the artist who designed the prints, then hand-carved these images onto blocks, and then hand printed each and every shirt and sweatshirt creating unique designs!  I want to own everything she has done....I would wear this stuff every day!!!!

I just smile every time I see this face as I put on my tee shirt!  So here's to Honest Dog!  Honest Dog, I think I love you....but you already knew that!

Check them out

HONEST DOG ARTS

Seize the Day!!!

The Lessons Keep Coming.....

My mentor told me years ago to evaluate, pick, and stick with one "style" of training (my words not his)  I've been pretty true to that motto.....and love the results in my girls and myself.  My Sal is running real nice and consistent for me right now...giving me the huge gift of being able to look at my handling, timing, sheep reading skills...and with that I have added to my mix of folks I enjoy working with.  Yesterday, I took a long lesson with Scott Glen.  Scott is quite a lot different from my foundation and I love looking at things with different eyes. 

I brought Bella out to see if Scott could help me with some "tension" issues.  He knows her lines very well....and I love what that knowledge brings to the thoughts he shares. At the lesson, I could never get Bella to fire up but Scott pointed out some ways in which I was handling her that he could see were not helping resolve tension if it were there.  Funny, exactly what I have been told before!  My gray training.....allowing Bella too much thought for herself.....was not giving confidence.  The good news...all the work Bella and I have been doing is paying off.  She has not worked lambs for a long time and was having to work to read them....which created some confusion...but not tension.  Atta girl!  One note to myself, besides a stop being a stop...is to put her back where she needs to be after the correction. By this I mean....on a drive away...Bella was attempting to flank off to create a fetch.  I was stopping her, giving a correction so she would not flank off to the sheep heads....but never put her back where she needed to be with a counter flank.   I've been letting her try to sort that on her own. That created a bit of missing clarity and difficulty driving as she was out of position.  I needed to step up and give her some of the answer to have her be correct.....which could allow for some tension when I don't. 

Scott asked me to take the sheep up the field a ways to the fence and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to show off my finger whistles.  Oh dear.....pride cometh before a fall.  So I'm finger whistling and Bella is doing what she thinks she should do...walking on from every whistle.   I would blow a come bye....Bella would walk on.....I would blow a steady....Bella would walk on.  She would take the stop whistle and then...yep next whistle walk on.  So I started blowing the whistle and then giving her the verbal command because Scott was not getting the fact I was showing off my finger whistles.  He finally said, "you need to get after her for not taking your whistles!"  That is when I confessed that I had not used finger whistles on Bella before...and he started.....LAUGHING!  That explains it!  He told me "they were coming along but were not quiet there....lacking crispness. So maybe I should practice some more before applying them!"  Okie dokie!

Nell and I shed...or tried to shed.  I felt better but it was good to get input on my shedding.  Note to self....move, get out of her way!  Darn it...same song next verse!  I'm going to get that tattooed...and somewhere I can see it!!! I'm still on my Shedding with the Stars daily meditation....I will get this! 

Last but not least, I brought out Miss Gyp for her debut at Fido's Farm.  She was really cute, not really knowing who to hold the sheep to....me or Scott.  What I loved best about Gyp's lesson was the discussion that happened about dogs, training, reading, changing.  All that was shared in that one little go on sheep applied to all that I had done the entire lesson with each dog.  Stop means stop, give one correction to get what you want, experience is the mother of training as long as the dog learned, sometimes putting a dog up is what they need.  It's funny, how different training methods ...at the end of the day.... are not so far apart on what the outcome is. 

I now get to sort through all that was presented in my lesson.  Thinking about how it all works for me and my dogs and how I train.  I've got some "black and white" work to continue with Bella.  I'm still sorting through my finger whistles.....I understand all the nuances that come with using them......its just that my brass whistle is my good friend!  Now there is one for the Rocking Dog Excuse book!

Seize the Day!

Making a List.....

Checking it twice...and I'm not talking about Christmas yet!  I am talking about my Scott Glen lesson tomorrow....an hour and a half long....4 dogs to work....gotta make that list of thoughts and questions concise and thorough. Poor Scott!  What comes to mind off the top of my head is.....shedding and tension. I have a half sister to Scott's Maid...and since he runs Maid well....I want pick his brain.  Hope brain picking is included in the lesson fee!

Seize the Day!