January 21, 2012

Today we said goodbye to Lace.  Therein lies the downside of giving our hearts to a creature whose lifespan is so much shorter than ours.  Even knowing each day was a blessing, it’s hard to say goodbye.

I wrote this poem for Lace’s brother Desi when he died a few years ago.  I don’t think Marie would mind if I shared it for Lace.

Come and take a break, ol’ dog,
your chores are done,
the day is long.
Come and rest here by my feet
your work is done,
you’ve earned your sleep.
And with the coming of the dawn,
I will mourn that you have gone
But I take comfort I was a part
of so much love,
and so much heart.
So come and take a break, ol’ dog,
your chores are done.
the day is long.

Poem Copyright K. L. Schwengel

Safe journey, Baby Girl.

January 14, 2012

Seventeen years ago, my friend Vicky and I jumped into my truck and drove to an Aussie show in southern Wisconsin. We were going there to meet Marie Murphy and pick up the puppy I was getting from her. Marie knew me well enough by then, that I had her pick out the pup for me. My only stipulation was a bitch, and hopefully blue merle. This was to be my foundation bitch and my trialing/showing partner. When we arrived at the show site, Marie presented me with this adorable ball of furwho was to become CH Diamond Aire Silver Lace OTDcd STDs RTDs JS-N GS-N RS-N CD DNA-CP, otherwise known as Lace McCallister. She rode on Vicky’s lap on the way home, serenading us at the top of her puppy lungs.
Today, Lace turns 17. She is the last remaining pup of that litter. I’ve been unbelievably blessed to have this dog in my life for so long, though it hasn’t always been the smoothest run. Lace had definite plans of her own as she grew up, and they didn’t always coincide with mine. She was a dominant bitch who would try to mount other dogs. If they didn’t allow it, she wouldn’t hesitate to try and make them. When she reached the age of two, she challenged my other Aussie Flynne, who was 10 at the time. A tough ol’ dog, Flynne never took any crap from anyone, and wasn’t about to bow down to a two year old bitch with an overinflated opinion of herself. Thankfully, I was there to break it up. She never overtly challenged him again. Although, for the next four years she would shoulder him in passing, and give him looks I’m sure were meant to provoke him. It amazed me that after Flynne died, and I went to pick up his ashes, Lace laid with her head next to the box the entire ride home.
I could probably fill a book with Lace stories, but I won’t bore you. I will share with you my niece’s favorite story about the time she house sat for us, and Lace went on a rampage. Jamie knew something was amiss when she pulled up to the house and saw the curtains missing from the living room windows. When she walked in the house, she found the living room floor covered like a giant gerbil cage, with the shredded remains of a couple years worth of magazines, and all the curtains pulled down. That night, she woke up with the feeling she was being watched. There was Lace, perched on the back of the couch, staring down at her while doing her best impersonation of Snoopy doing his best impersonation of a vulture.

Lace and I competed in stock, agility and conformation and shared some success. She was a fun dog to work, although she occasionally thought she knew better how to do things. Okay, who am I kidding, she *always* thought she knew better how to do things. If she started away from me with her ears slicked back, I knew I was in trouble.
Lace was bred three times, and I kept a pup from each litter, and have one of her grand kids as well.  She was an awesome mom once she got the hang of it.  Her delightful *cough* sense of humor carried over to her children.  She loved (and still tries) to roll on her back and squiggle.  When the pups were nearing the weaning age, she would lie on her back and pretend she wasn’t watching them.  Of course, one would advance for a meal since mom appeared so obliging.  When they got within striking distance she would kick out with one of her hind legs and send the pup skittering across the floor.  I swear she laughed when she did it.

Rowan, Quinn, Lace, Murphy

I thank Marie for trusting me with this incredible dog. She has been, and always will be, Lace McCallister, the Queen Mother, and my Baby Girl.

Some more pics of Lace, just because:

Lace & one of her Pups

Big pregnant belly ~ trying to "squiggle"

Working Cattle (Photo by Alyssa)

Working sheep.

January 9, 2012

“We’re not bringing the dog into our world when we work stock, we’re entering the dog’s world.”

What a fun, but exhausting weekend I had up at Deb Conroy’s!  Deb has an awesome indoor arena and a great set-up for working dogs.  Plus, she’s just plain good fun and packed full of knowledge she’s more than willing to share.  I took Quinn and Shaine along.  I really needed some input on Shaine, she’s a strong, fast dog and I want to make sure I start her right. The handful of times I’ve put her on stock (not at all consistently) I knew things weren’t working.   I could see an old pattern raising its ugly head, one I’ve had my fill of: Fighting with my dog. It’s something I did with Quinn, and I’m still working out of.

I arrived at Conroy Farm early Friday evening, and no sooner did Deb get home from work than we were bundling up and heading out to the arena.  She wanted to see what problems I was having with the dogs, and where exactly I was at.  We worked them several times Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  I was a little concerned how Shaine’s knee would hold up.  She hasn’t done any intensive work since her surgery.  I’m pleased to say, outside of a little stiffness Saturday night, she held up without a gimp.

Quinn just needed some fine tuning ~ the last puzzle piece.  And Deb handed it to me Friday night, our first time in.  I’ve fought with Quinn.  I’m not proud of that.  We have a lot of history that’s not all pretty.  But one thing I’ve never done is make things totally black and white for him.  I allowed far too much grey.  If he did something I didn’t like and I put pressure on him, if he laid down, I gave.  All that taught him is a down was a good way to get me to release pressure.  It didn’t teach him that if I didn’t like something he better stop it or there would be consequences.  Once I explained that to him, fairly, but in no uncertain terms, I had a totally new dog.  A thoughtful dog.  A dog who no longer wanted to rush to push sheep past me, but started to understand that I wanted him to hold sheep to me.  A dog who now squares on his flanks (and Deb showed me a trick with my stick that makes so much sense it immediately became second nature), and gives to my pressure.  We don’t fight any more.  When I step in to check him up, when I turn to end a flank, he no longer tries to get around me to get to the stock.  By the end of the weekend, Quinn and I were working as a quiet, calm, team.  I barely have to move my stick, and I don’t need to say anything.  He is careful and thoughtful, which makes the sheep calm and trusting.

Also by the end of the weekend, I was working Shaine like Quinn on crack.  Meaning, instead of flailing my stick, yelling, and making fast movements, I was being calm, quiet and slow (like Quinn, but faster).  Yes.  You read that right.  But it took us a while to get there.  I had created a slash and burn problem with Shaine.

As Deb so succinctly and honestly told me, “You created this problem.  You can’t be mad at Shaine.  Now you just need to fix it.”

And fixing it was HARD!  Mainly because we let Shaine do some things that I would have been all over her for – chasing, splitting, barking – but that’s what had caused her on again – off again problem in the first place:  Every time she engaged the sheep, I chased her off.  Deb had me do the opposite:  Every time Shaine engaged the sheep we allowed her to have them, however she wanted.  If she was off sniffing, or not paying attention, we put pressure on her.  Until I could get her trusting me again, until I could convince her I was going to allow her to work the sheep, I couldn’t start asking her for more.  So, until that point, I had to grit my teeth, and allow her to make a mess.  Several times, with Deb in there to keep me in line, we got Shaine to bring us the sheep and hold them to us.  She fell in, approached at a walk, and stopped ON HER OWN.  It honestly brought tears to our eyes.  Yes, Deb succeeded in doing what no other trainer has, she made me cry!  But damn, it was a good cry.

When I went in without Deb, Shaine regressed a bit, which we knew she would.  Within one session I had her working with me again.  Our last time in, she kept in contact with the sheep the whole while, even when I started to demand more of her.  There was no running off to sniff, no diving in and then leaving, I could check her up, lie her down, send her to bring the sheep to me and hold them.  It was fast, and not always pretty, but it was beautiful in a whole different way.  I now have something solid to build on.

The weekend was long and exhausting but I accomplished way more than I thought.  I’m hoping the weather conditions allow me to train periodically through the rest of our strange winter.  Anyone out there have an indoor arena I could borrow on occasion???

January 5, 2012

I hope everyone’s new year is off to a great start!  All the best in 2012.

December 23, 2011

From our family to yours ~ However you chose to celebrate and whatever your holiday is called ~ may it be safe, and filled with friends and family.

May love & laughter light your days,

and warm your heart and home.

May good and faithful friends be yours,

wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world

with joy that long endures.

May all life’s passing seasons

bring the best to you and yours.

December 15, 2011

This time of year there isn’t much going on.  Training basically gets cut down to weekends, clinics are non-existent, trials don’t start up until Spring, and I can only talk about chores and how fat the ewes are getting for so long before you’ll be bored to tears.  With that in mind, I’ve decided to add some guest posts and other features to entertain you over the winter months.  Perhaps you already noticed that last week I featured a guest post from best selling author Devin O’Branagan, as well as a review I did of her book Show Dog Sings the Blues (and if you didn’t notice, go back and read them.  Now.)  I’ve got some other posts planned, and am hoping to talk some of my friends who are trainers/trialers (you know who you are, no hiding!) to share some of their experiences, tips, tricks, and assorted ideas.

If you have a suggestion, something you’d like to see a post on, someone you’d like to see a guest post by or an interview with, leave a comment and I’ll see what I can do.

December 12, 2011

Working with dogs and livestock has inherent dangers.  Dogs, stock, and even people can get injured or killed.  Even when you think you’re being as careful as you can.  It happens.  If you’ve done this for a while, you know that to be a fact.  If you haven’t, and you think you’d like to, keep that in mind.

This past weekend was an awesome one.  Saturday was an evening of socializing with my SBSDC pals over wine, fondue, more wine, and more fondue.  Sunday morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then headed out to work dogs.  The weather was awesome for December in Wisconsin.  Some of the dogs have had quite a bit of time off, but everyone did well, and it was great to get back out there and enjoy the camaraderie.  Sad to say, our working session ended on a sour note, which I’m going to choose not to elaborate on.  But it served as a reminder of what can happen when things go wrong.

When that happens, you have a choice.  You can get back on the theoretical horse that threw you, coming away from it perhaps a little wiser and more humble than you were going in.  Or you can walk away and not look back.

For me, personally, I can’t walk away.  My dogs and working with them are a passion I’ve had since childhood.  I’ve fought to keep it in my life, though there were stretches of time when I didn’t even own a dog.  Plus, I’m a bit stubborn.  If a horse (even a theoretical one) throws me, I’m going to find out why and work through it.  Hopefully. And if I know why, I’m going to try really hard to never make the same mistake again.

I got thrown this weekend.   I’m glad I had my SBSDC sisters there to pick me up and dust me off.  I can’t change the event and, in all honesty, I can’t guarantee it won’t ever happen again.  That’s the tough part.  But I’m going to have to accept it as part of my passion and move on, getting back on the horse even if I am a little sore and a little more cautious.

December 7, 2011

As promised, my review of Devin O’Branagan’s Show Dog Sings the Blues

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to find yourself in a foreign land, unable to speak the language, and mistaken for someone else?  That’s the situation Tali, or rather, Spiritsong’s Lucky Talisman of DeMitri finds herself in.  Used to the life of a pampered showdog – including manicures, perfumed shampoo, organic kibble and bottled water – Tali never thought her life would involve wrangling cattle or facing off coyotes.  That’s her sister’s job.  But when Tali gets mistaken for her sister Maddie, and has to spend the day working on a ranch, she learns that sometimes we have to dig deep to find what we’re really made of.

Told from the viewpoint of an Australian Shepherd used to a life of luxury, Devin O’Branagan’s Show Dog Sings the Blues is a lighthearted romp through a day of mistaken identity.  There’s action, adventure, laughter, and even a few tears as O’Branagan spins her tale of the power of love and coping with what life sometimes throws us.

Anyone who’s had a working dog and/or a pampered pooch will be able to relate.  If you’re looking for a quick, light, and entertaining read, be sure to pick up Show Dog Sings the Blues, or add it as a stocking stuffer for your favorite dog lover.  A portion of the proceeds from this novella will be
donated to www.AussieRescue.org

December 5, 2011

**Today I’m turning my blog over to best selling author and former Aussie owner, Devin O’Branagan.  Watch for my review of her novella Show Dog Sings the Blues later this week.  Enjoy!**

Kolbe and Jazz, beautiful blue merle Australian Shepherds, were my first and only dogs. Kolbe was a prissy, pampered show dog. Jazz had been born on a ranch and was my wild child. They were wonderful.

After they died, I was desolate. So, I decided to deal with my loss by incorporating the girls into my novels. Kolbe (pronounced Colby) became the pampered show dog Talisman in the humorous Red Hot Novels. Jazz was the model for the intrepid demon-fighting Hallelujah in The Legend of Glory urban fantasy series. They are now forever immortalized in my fiction.

In honor of Kolbe and Jazz, I also use my writing to support animal rescue. In conjunction with The Red Hot Novels I have held two major raffles to benefit Best Friends Animal Society, the nation’s largest no-kill sanctuary for homeless, abused, and abandoned animals. The prize I offered was that an animal companion of each winner would become a character in the series. Besides the two grand prize winners, I also chose a variety of dogs and cats belonging to other people who entered the raffle and worked them into my books. As a writer, it’s been a challenge to find seamless ways to integrate these animals into the plotlines.

The grand prize winner of the first raffle was a Basset Hound named Ross who was famous for winning costume contests. In Red Hot Liberty I had already created a kooky character named Liberty True who is a tin-foil-hat-wearing, conspiracy-theory-believing rebel patriot. So, I decided to make Ross her dog (named after the designer of the American flag, Betsy Ross) and have Liberty dress him up in the American flag and say the Pledge of Allegiance to him every day. How’s that for clever?!

The grand prize winner of the second raffle was Bocker the Labradoodle, a real-life canine model and actor. As an actor, he was in Steven Speilberg’s movie, War of the Worlds. When he won the raffle, it was my plan to feature Bocker in the planned third book of the series, Red Hot Vampyre. All I knew about the theme of the book was that it was going to poke fun at all things supernatural. In this case, Bocker’s history gave me the actual plot: Steven Spielberg comes to town to make a vampire movie Bocker is starring in, and Bocker gets dognapped by “real” vampires who hold him ransom until Spielberg agrees to use “real” vampires to star as the fictional ones. Fiction imitating real life imitating fiction imitating…um, well, you get the picture. Stay tuned for that novel.

Then there were six other animals from the raffles to whom I gave walk-on roles, and I had a lot of creative fun fitting them into the storylines. If you’d like to learn more about them, follow this LINK.

Not all the real-life animals I feature in my novels are related to my animal rescue work. In 2006, Jazz and I watched the prestigious international dog show, Crufts, on TV. Jazz was extremely ill and I was soon to lose her. When an Australian Shepherd named Chance won Best in Show, I was overjoyed. Chance was the first Aussie to win Best in Show at Crufts, and I remember sitting on the floor holding Jazz in my lap and crying. While the light of my Aussie was fading from this world, I was thrilled that the light of another Aussie was at its zenith. It’s hard to put my feelings at that moment into words, but they were profound. A few years later I met and became friends with Chance’s person, Nancy Resetar. I asked if I could incorporate Chance into my novels and she granted me permission, so Chance became Talisman’s “forbidden love.” As the mating of two merles is discouraged because it can produce deaf and blind pups, the romance between Talisman and Chance is “a tragic tale of tailless tragedy.” Chance was introduced into the series in Red Hot Liberty. If you would like to read a humorous excerpt about Talisman and the 2006 Crufts Best In Show – BISS MBIS AKC/ASCA Ch Caitland Isle Take A Chance AX AXJ RS-E JS-E GS-E STDs TDI “Chance,” please follow this LINK.

Finally, another real-life Aussie I incorporated into my fiction was Kolbe’s daughter, another blue merle named Maddie.  Maddie is the inspiration for a fictional cowdog who is the sister to show dog Talisman. In Red Hot Liberty, I have a scene where Talisman and Maddie are accidentally switched, and Talisman has to work on a ranch for the day. It was such a funny scene that I wrote a spinoff novella told from Talisman’s perspective: Show Dog Sings the Blues. A delightful tale, it hit the #1 spot on Amazon’s Hot New Releases and landed on Amazon’s Bestseller List for books about dogs. In memory of my girls, I donate a portion of the proceeds from this novel to Aussie Rescue.

So, although circumstances have prevented me from adopting any more animal companions, I have a great many who live with me in my fiction. If you’d like to learn more about my dogs, my novels, and my work to support animal rescue, please visit my website at www.DevinWrites.com

Thanks for stopping by, Devin!

November 30, 2011

It was actually nice out today.  Sunny and 41 by the time I got home from work this afternoon.  So I decided I’d work the dogs.  I also decided to take my camera along.  That’s a little tricky but I managed to get shots of everyone except Quinn.

Rowan, moving the ewes and ram out of the alleyway. She was beyond thrilled to be helping again.

Row, bringing the working sheep to the pen for sorting.

This is how the sheep look when they realize . . .

. . . this is the dog in the arena.

It's the rare Shaine-a-roo!!

Incoming!! No, NOT the start of a nice flank.

"Hey, Chunk, where ya goin'?"

"I am lying down ONLY because I choose to. NOT because you told me to."

"Wanna kiss?"

Grady, doing a little driving, a little fast.

Such a handsome boy!