Winter Time

I've been thinking a lot about one of my past posts: mistakes.  I've received some good emails.....good meaning filled with thought provoking feedback about dog mistakes/training mistakes.  I also had the opportunity to attend a day at a Jack Knox clinic and as always, Jack challenged me to think! 

Recently, I zipped out to the Sheep Boss' place....I pulled into the barns and there, in the field adjacent, was the Sheep Boss on a four wheeler, young dog in tow trying to move a flock of sheep.  I knew he was down in numbers of hands to help with sheep work so I grabbed a dog and went to the task at hand; me thinking these were pregnant ewes and a goal of walking ewes with good stock management would be in order.  What I found was...these were lambs and it was later revealed that these were lambs that had never been worked by dogs before coming from a five-string poly wire grazing life.  Having never been worked by a dog meant they had not respect for a dog, nor did they want to stay together...at all...and pushing them over the two string fencing that was on the ground was near impossible!  I will say...I made mistakes, my dog made mistakes.  I had to grab another dog and work brace...and all three of us made mistakes!  True confession:  I loved every minute of it.  I was frustrated at times....Bella covering escaping lambs to chase them and take them down.....slapping forehead, "I thought we were done with that crap!".  That second of chase, relieving the pressure so the flock could start to turn back up the field took time and it was as if we had to start all over again.  Bella is smart, she figured it out real quick and she started to bend and cover, bringing the renegades back,  while pushing and maintaining the pressure on the flock.  Nell was a good partner to Bella, she gained a lot of confidence with Bella as her wing biotch. Although I'm sure if you ask...Bella would have seen Nell as the secondary worker. 

Then again, a few days back, I got a call from the Shepherd.  Lambing is on, his dogs are in transition and he wanted a spare, if not free hand to help with the days work.  It was a huge field with not-quite- yearling lambs there to graze and the goal was to gather, sort out the fat lambs, load the trailer and ride off into the misty rain.  Again it was another day of mistakes and learning.  I'm working on my skills of observation...indeed I did see that little creek as Bella jumped it and sprayed a bit of water coming in short on the other side.  She ended up bringing about 1/3rd of the flock and here is where "I should have known better; or maybe had a better plan".  It was the perfect set-up for a sweet look-back but hindsight, I should have brought my little flock over the drizzle of field water before sending her back.  Nope instead I sent her back, creating a large flock of lambs not wanting to get their feet wet.....and so back to brace I went.  This time grabbing Gyp for a go; good, confidence producing tasks for a young dog who was up for the challenge. Especially when the Shepherd brought out his handsome Huntaway to show off for my swooning girls! 

I love this work.....it fills my soul.  After the job is complete, I often wonder at the difficulty that was thankfully unseen as I entered the field...leaving me to finding ways to get a job done without knowing the challenge before hand.  It is also a crazy wonderful environment; the years of experience the Sheep Boss and Shepherd bring. Knowing that sometimes things just don't go the way they are planned allows me to learn; make mistakes and really learn.  Sure I've had my butt chewed a few times...more times than not, fun is poked....I've learned a few new ways to use old cuss words and I don't shock anyone with my creative flare of making sentences where all the nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs are cuss words when I hurt myself.  I have to harden my "softy heart" as I go into the lambing barns this time of year......hundreds of ewes lambing magnifies the agony of defeat.  It becomes a numbers game and heart can't dictate reason when the production is a business; so they tell me.  But I learn from those "mistakes" as well. 

Winter time: a time of less training and more learning.  I'm counting down the days to my first lambs.....trying to store up my sleep so I can be ready for the "every four hour" checks!  As the Terminator said, "I'll be back"! Maybe after lambing is done at Rocking Dog Ranch...but I will be back!

Seize the Day!

Getting Ready

Indeed, lambing time is imminent...well, not gonna happen at 'any moment but still, looming closer than further away.  The barn is clean, the birthing lights hung, I'm stuffing the holes in the barn wall with what was taken off today tagging the ewes in preparation for the big days ahead.  I used CIDRs followed with a less-than recommended dose of PG600 and it looks like all the girls took!  In fact, some of the ewes look to be carrying litters of lambs (RDR Urban Dictionary defines this as more than two). I have my fingers crossed that those girls who look to most certainly be carrying triplets can find a way to lamb on a day where a single is born too!  Synchronized breeding should help with the odds of that miracle...fingers crossed.

It was a cold day at the spa while the girls all got their Brazilian shear job.  The rain held off and we finished just as the first drops entered stage right.  Even though I have a dry barn, it is a bit drafty so instead of shearing all the wool off, I opted for the tagging.  Once the lambs are here, they will appreciate a nice, soft, wool bed of a mama to lay on....they always do when I leave the wool for them!

Tagging makes it easier to see who is thinking about having her lambs. Although I put a marker on the ram and I know the exact day each girl got bred....that will help too!  I've checked all the supplies, ordered ear tags, and have filled the medicine cabinet: BoSe, Nuflor, Banamine check.  If only I could find a way to get some wifi...I'd hook up a camera for the loafing area so I could do my midnight checks from the warmth of my home!  I should be done in nine days....that word "should" is a variable I am hoping stays true! Now if we could have a little warm front come in...I am working on my heat lights and have a few pair of lambie jammies ready just incase Mother Nature wants to keep me on my toes!  Lambing....it is indeed imminent.....it's that light at the end of the tunnel...may it be sunshine rather than a train!

Seize the Day!

"Most Important"

Gosh I love football season!  First, it is LONG....seems to go on forever:  August into February this year!  Then, I love those shows where they mic the players and we get to hear all the things that are being said on the field....well maybe not all; okay, I'm sure not all!  I also think it is pretty cool how there are pros from other teams that are good friends and they tease each other in a good natured sort of way.   Maybe another reason I love football is the fact that it is easy, in my mind, to compare it to sheepdoggin'.  All the pre-season work and discipline, needing to trust teammates at a distance, the intuitive changes made by the quarterback, so much unpredictability! 

I also love the quotes....last night I caught a great one:

"The most important play is the next play!"

I remember a talk that I got from a top handler one time.  It went something like this....everyone makes mistakes on the trial field. However, you can hardly tell when the good handlers make one. Their response time is very quick, they don't change their demeanor, and they move on, not dwelling on the mistake. 

The most important step is the next step.....not the step you just made, nor the step that is going to happen in 20 steps...the next step.

Isn't this all a metaphor for life?.  Not dwelling on mistakes of the past, nor worrying about what might happen in the future.....the most important play is the next play. 

Seize the Day!

It Depends

1. Are you disciplined?
2. Do you take rejection personally? What about criticism?
3. Do you bounce back quickly from making errors or failing over and over again?
4. Are you a planner or do you do things by the seat of your pants?
5. Are you prepared to take risks? Moderate or Big?
6. Do you stay focused on one thing and one thing only until the result you want is achieved?
7. Do you have the stamina to keep going long after everyone else is tired?
8. Can you delegate well, or are you the only one who can do things right?
9. Do you wait for things to happen or do you aggressively go after what you want?
10. Do you do whatever it takes to achieve your goals or just what’s convenient?

Seize the Day!

Mistakes

I was watching the pre-game show before the Notre Dame/ Crimson Tide National Championship Game and was amazed at what I heard.  We Tivo'd it and I actually had my hubby go back so I could hear it again!  Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said, "the team that makes the most mistakes may well win tonight."  There has been a lot of debate over that statement since the words tumbled out of Kelly's mouth.  Tom Ensey from FOX reports, " He explained that odd statement Sunday at the final news conference before the national title clash with Alabama at Sun Life Stadium. He meant the team that is the most aggressive, takes the most risks, forces the action and makes things happen, will win. When you play like that, you make mistakes. You also force the other guys into mistakes."

Hmmm, mistakes!  At that level of football play, Kelly is NOT talking about the  mistakes of the unprepared, undisciplined, nor those lacking intensity, desire, focus.  No, these mistakes, the ones that make winners, come from risk, action, thinking outside the box, giving it all, laying it out there.

Interesting that, though Coach Kelly stirred it up in his pre-game interview..... these words have been uttered by basketball coaches that have gone before. "The team that makes the most mistakes will probably win" These are the words spoken by Piggy Lambert, former college coach at Purdue, and then spoken again by John Wooden, former master college coach at UCLA. John Wooden continues to say, “the truth is that the doer makes mistakes, and mistakes come from doing – but so does success. The player who is mistake free is also probably the one who is doing nothing to guarantee success, which is the biggest mistake of all.”  Dr. Haley goes on to say, "Mistakes are made when an athlete pushes his/her boundaries. The more comfortable an athlete is in training, the less they will improve. The more they challenge themselves, the more mistakes they will make. The more mistakes they make, the better chance they will have at realizing their true potential."

When it comes to dogs, I've heard Scott Glen say, "I want a dog that is not afraid to make mistakes."  There it is again.....mistakes being made and wanting that try!  Funny, I've had conversations with Jack Knox about this very same idea.  Me, well, I'm a perfectionist.  I battle that.....Buck Brannaman says, "there is a difference between being particular and being picky". I've run myself through that sieve a few times over....trying to get to the particular while leaving the picky behind.  I think I have become more forgiving of my dogs...enjoying the mistakes, seeing the improvement from them, embracing those mistakes as not a year-end grade but more an evaluation.  But I struggle with myself....I fight the stumble in my head, bumps in the road from mistakes battling perfectionism. 

 

Recently I have had the opportunity to start a few young dogs.  I filmed each dog's first go on sheep; wanting a base from which to begin to see the dog's progress, as well as being able to evaluate my training and skills of communication.  I've watched those videos a few times over, thinking, "why did you do that?"  "what did that do to the dog?" "what could I have done better to help give understanding?"  It's been amazing to let go of perfectionism and embrace my mistakes.....it really is about pushing boundaries, learning more and becoming. I find my fluidity of training comes from not being so worried about mistakes and more focused on my response to them.  They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  I am begining to believe that mistakes, when learned from, are truly the key to becoming.

 

Here's to taking risks, making mistakes......

 

Seize the Day!

 

Stay Put In Today

I've just watched my youngest son drive off; Durango filled with college kids stuff X2.  He is taking three friends back to college and I wonder and laugh...how will they fit all their STUFF in that there vehicle?  He said it all fit coming here in December, with an additional boy riding along...but now they have crockpots, and steamers, and glasses and all those Christmas gifts in addition to what they brought home to be washed.  I hope he takes the picture I requested once all the boys are loaded up.  Now the house is back to boy-empty...food and laundry chores diminished to just the two of us; we don't often do multiple wardrobe changes during our day!  Does it ever get any easier...the saying good-bye?  My Granny used to tell me she went through these same feelings after the bi-yearly visits from us four grand-girls.  She missed the long hair clogging the sink, the trips to town to shop, the adventures to the House of Mystery, the little Butte Falls Fish Hatchery, the inevitable bickers with a home filled with so much estrogen!  Seasons.....43, 41, 39, 47, 35, 25.......good over-thinking fodder for sure!  Enjoy......

45 Lessons and 5 to grow on: by Regina Brett, The Plain Dealer

May 28, 2006

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.

It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolls over to 50 this week, so here's an update:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don't ask, you don't get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift....

Seize the day........

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Just as the clock struck nine, and I began my nightly ritual of "turning into a pumpkin", I put the final period on the last sentence of 2012.....The End.  I was indeed awake at 12:01 to greet the new year; a tender moment shared with my 12 year old border collie who could not understand the war of welcome going on outside.  Me, either, Spark-man, me either.  As least it was short lived, that burst of start spangled banner left over from the Fourth of July. 

2013....Welcome!   I got the 7 Clinics with Buck Brannaman DVD series for Christmas and am starting on them today.  That and a good cup of coffee.....looks like a great beginning to a new year.

Happy New Year everyone! 

Seize the Day!