11/15/2021 Finn’s Big Adventure

The ASCA National Specialty can be overwhelming for first-timers. Especially first-timers who apparently haven't been off the farm a whole lot except to visit other farms. And though Finn weathered the traveling just fine, his first couple days at the Brazos County Expo grounds had him just a wee bit anxious. He'd never seen bleachers, large covered arenas, lots of people and dogs he didn't know milling about (Are they staring at me? I think they're staring at me. I don't like it.), or any of the other strangeness he was subjected to. Thankfully he had his good buddy Ziva along to help bolster his confidence. We spent quite a bit of our free time just strolling around, letting Finn get used to the sites and sounds. Some of which took quite a bit of patience, more than a few treats, and a healthy dose of confidence. His first couple of

10/10/2021 Trial Brain

I had a bit of an epiphany at the inaugural 3 Sheeps to the Wind ASC Corona Classic last week. It came about thanks to comments made by a good friend who pointed out that my cues to my dogs, especially Finn, were practically non-existent. He suggested (rightly so) that I pay attention to that and cue the boys just like I do when training. That got me thinking (usually never a good thing) and replaying my runs in my head which led me to concur that my friend was 100% correct in his observation. And, not that it's an excuse, but I actually came up with a reason, albeit, not a very good one, and hence the epiphany. I suffer from Trial Brain. Upon further reflection it occurred to me that when I enter the trial arena, I feel (on a mostly subconscious level) as though I need to perform. Even though

08/09/2021 Coming Up For Air

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

09/02/2020 Updates All Around

Isn't it the way of things? You prepare to your utmost, follow all the steps or guidelines to a tee to ensure a smooth go, and then the tiniest of things causes what should have been a walk in the park to become more like this

10/22/2019

The past couple of weeks have been tough. No doubt about it. Cian isn't the first dog we've lost and he won't be the last but, in many regards, he was the hardest. I want to take a moment to publicly thank all of you for the kind words, the private messages, the cards, the hugs, the support and the understanding. I've been riding the roller coaster of grief as best I can, trying not to think too much, bouncing erratically from tears to anger, most times settling somewhere in-between as I remind myself to live in the moment. In any case, healing is coming, though it's taking its own sweet time. I read somewhere that if you can tell your story without crying, you're well on your way. Guess I'm not too close to that point yet, but I've been attempting to help it along by doing those things that

10/04/2019

This appeared in my Facebook memories this week.. It's hard to believe that was only a year ago. It feels like it took forever to reach that milestone. So much frustration and self-doubt. So many times I thought about throwing in the towel. I won't stop singing the praises of those closest to me for their support, encouragement, shoulders, ears, and swift kicks in the arse whenever I said stupid things like, "I'm done." I need to remind myself I was on a very steep learning curve. And by 'was' I mean 'still am'. Jig isn't through teaching me things yet. Unfortunately I'm not as smart as Jig and I sometimes don't retain lessons very well. Fully evidenced by the sound thrashing I received from Deb last weekend. Deb is allowed to pound on me. She's one of the people mentioned in the paragraph above. Anyhow, Deb had been watching me trial

09/23/2019

Spend any time on this blog and you'll discover the overlying theme is all about the journey. Specifically as it pertains to living with, training, and trialing my dogs. Like all journeys, this one has had its shares of ups and downs. Sometimes the rough patches seemed like they would never end and made me question the sanity of it all. I believe a lot of journeys are like that. We fight with them because our focus is on the end and we lose sight of the fact that it's everything happening along the way we need to pay attention to. Even the little things. Especially the little things -- the successes, the failures, the stories, the laughter, the tears -- they're what's important. They're what shape us and our journey. Hard to believe, I know, but I can sometimes be a bit impatient. I have, in the past, fought

08/21/2019

It's been a long time since I left a trial feeling anything other than disheartened, slightly beaten down, and wondering why I keep throwing uncooked spaghetti at the wall. That's not whining or a plea for sympathy, just the facts. My attitude was based solely on my mindset which, admittedly, was far from good. I was so focused on all the wrong things, I could no longer see all the good things that were happening. If you're a regular reader, you might remember my mentioning a good arse kicking I received from several of my friends and mentors a couple months back. Obviously I carry my brain in my arse, because that tough love served to reset my attitude and that caused a chain reaction. This past weekend was Outback ASC's fall trial. Along with two days of arena trials, they held a cattle farm trial. No secret Jig and I love

06/10/2019

No, I'm not personally in a dark place right now. Not in general. A good friend of mine sent this to me after the trial this past weekend because of some conversations we'd been having around a decision I thought I had made. I say thought because that same friend gave me her much valued opinion on said decision. Which, in turn, caused me to give it some more consideration in a different light. The decision concerned my continued forays into the trial arena with Jig this year in the quest for finals points. I was using the trial as my litmus test. If we did well and got some points, we would continue on. If not, I'd still run her in Farm Trials and maybe give Post Advanced another go, but no more arena trials. To be fair, Jig and I didn't do horrendous. We had some really good moments, particularly

04/12/2019

First Trial of the Season ~ Part Deux If you read my last post you know how the end of the weekend went, but how did the rest of it go? Of course I'm going to say it didn't go as well as I wanted, but it seems I always want more than I'm realistically prepared to achieve. I had to remind myself (and be reminded) that last year Jig and I went to two weekends of trials the entire year. One in the spring, one in the fall. That's it. This year we were able to train maybe 3 or 4 times prior to the trial. So expecting to lay down some awesome runs was me being unrealistic. Story of my life. Not to say I wasn't happy with a lot of what Jig did. She showed me the training we've been doing is paying off. No crack ears, quiet, calm, responsive