There's been way too much of this /\ going on lately. The top part, not the bottom. Point in case: I walked out to open the gate between the arena and the pasture the other morning so the sheep could get out to graze. Nearly to the next gate it occurred to me that I'd been so busy in my head I closed the pasture gate behind me out of habit. I do tend to subscribe to the rule "Leave the gates how you found them" and since that gate was closed when I came through
I've gone through lulls on the blog before, but I find it hard to believe I haven't posted since February, especially given my 'restructured' schedule. Though, admittedly, I've been rather preoccupied with navigating the changes we've experienced over the past seven months. A great deal of time and energy went into developing and launching my new venture Journey Impressions (if you need any Stockdogs Rule items or other embroidery or screen printing that's the place to go). Not enough of that time and energy went into the launch of my latest fantasy novel Bound in Shadow (available wherever e-books are sold with signed paperbacks available here). Whatever remained was taken up with the dogs, dog events, everyday stuff, and the general stress exacerbated by all of the above. Needless to say, most of my days have felt like this
It's been a while since I've done one of these. And since I've been keeping that little Canon in my pocket, I'm starting to get a collection of daily life farm shots. Time to share some.
For everyone who expressed concern for Jig over the last couple weeks, I'm pleased to say she's back to 100% piss and vinegar. She had her recheck on Tuesday and passed with flying colors. She was even gracious enough to leave one suture in-tact. The vet decided Jig did that to make her feel like she had something to do. She doesn't know Jig very well.
My dogs have an uncanny ability to see challenges in the strangest places, and they are more than happy to pick up the thrown gauntlet. For instance, if my vet says, "I'll be out of town this day this day this day." One of my dogs will invariably counter with, "Time to develop some mysterious ailment." When my vet says, "I'm retiring from doing surgeries." You guessed it. Challenge accepted. Happy New Year May the best day of your past be the worst day of your future.
A year ago we introduced this guy to our family. You can read about that momentous day here if you missed it the first time around. Gotta admit, it was a bit of a rocky puppyhood for us both. Looking back, I have to take the blame. I wasn't ready for a pup. Not to say I didn't love the little bastard straight away. Finn claimed his piece of my heart the moment he climbed into my lap and told me he was mine. I tend not to argue in those cases. Still, bringing him home hadn't been easy and I probably shouldn't have done it. I was an emotional trainwreck; still reeling from losing Cian. The Sad my constant companion. I undoubtedly wasn't in the best frame of mind to raise a pup and I believe there were times when Finn told me as much.
November has been pretty mild so far which means I've been able to work the dogs with relative frequency. Given the shortness of the days, this usually takes place on the weekends, which also means I can generally talk a training partner into joining me. It's helpful when it's someone unafraid of telling me when my bad habits are showing. Not that I always agree, or want to hear it at that particular moment, which can lead to some spirited arguments discussions. There are, after all, multiple ways to skin the proverbial cat (sorry, feline friends) and perhaps there's a reason (in my mind) for what I'm doing. More often than not, however, I'm not even aware of doing whatever it is because it's just one of those things I fell into while training solo. And that happens far too often. Just ask my dogs.
The quote in the feature image really resonated with me when I first heard it several weeks back. Probably because I'm going through a period where I'm facing several endings on both personal and professional levels. Won't lie, there are one or two I'm struggling to come to terms with. As the rest of the quote points out however
There's no question, at our farm, Jig is the power. When there's a task that needs doing, and I suspect the stock might not cooperate, Jig is the one who gets the call. It's a very handy on thing to have, especially on cattle. It can sometimes be a bit much on sheep. Though, over the years, I've been able to convince Jig to tone it down a bit. Most times. Still, loading the chute is one of her favorite jobs because she might just have to use some of that push. "Just say the word, boss." Last Saturday morning I suspected I would need a little of Jig's touch. We were loading three sheep into the back of a pick-up, up a steeper ramp than they're used to. Our plan consisted of running the sheep into the small side of the barn to a temporary chute and up into the truck. The
A friend sent me the above text in a conversation regarding how Dillon had done at our most recent trial. Up until then, as seems to happen frequently, I had a different post all set to go. It was basically just a run down of why I haven’t written much of late and how the dogs were doing. (The answers to which are: I’m working on revamping the site and thought I’d post at the ‘reveal’ but it’s not happening as soon as I planned, Jig is semi-retired, Dillon is exceeding expectations, and Finn… In any case, my friend’s text struck a chord with me and prompted this post instead of the original. Dillon has been a hard dog to figure out, and I still haven’t got him 100% pegged, but I’m getting closer. A lot of folks I know would have given up on him. Some even suggested I do so,