Didn't go

... to the trial today. Something just kept telling me not to. I have to admit I was pretty concerned about going that far for that many hours and leaving the boys here alone. When I entered the trial I didn't know Ben was going to be gone. I woke up this morning with just enough time to quick get ready and head out, but I laid there and thought about it and thought about it and decided to skip it. Maybe I should have gone, maybe it was good I stayed, who knows... This is my life. Not complaining, but little do I get to do without sacrificing something. On top of not knowing if it was a good idea to leave the boys for what I'm sure would have been 12-15 hours, I felt a little guilty about going and leaving them alone... I worked two shifts of 11-8 last week, so I they had to do their homework, chores, dinner, etc all on their own. I felt a little selfish when I pondered still going to the trial. So I didn't. Today was a lose/lose decision and I chose to stay home with the boys. We did get a lot done. The boys got their rooms clean and I got everything except the kitchen clean. The kitchen's better than it was, but it is not done. I blew up at the boys a little today and I banned them from bringing anything of theirs to "my" part of the house and said that daily bedroom checks will be enforced. It's so hard to follow through, but I am so over spending so much of my days off on house work- or worse, doing something fun or something else I that has to be done and letting the house once again get put on the back burner... Ugh. Raising kids correctly is hard! LOL! Especially when you don't want to live as their maids. I love being their mother and doing the things that mother's do, but I am tired of being their maid and I'm tired of them treating our home like a hotel!! Ben and I have worked on this in the past and it will stay good for awhile, and then we quit following through. I vow to never again fail to follow through!

Yesterday I had fun taking some pictures of the dogs using several of the different non-auto features on my camera. I'm really impressed- especially since it was a COMPLETELY overcast day- not much light to work with at all. I can't wait to try it again on a well lit day! :-) As you can see I'm in the process of writing a little profile about each of my dogs. I'll continue to take photos of them all and get their profiles written. I have pictures of Deal and Kit already prepped. Yesterday I let Logan and Emma come in the round pen with the geese and Cruz. Logan looked on for a bit, then squeezed through the cattle panel to watch from what he thought was a safer place! LOL! Emma knew she needed to do something, but wasn't sure what. This is when I love geese. No worries of pups being stepped on, or suddenly scared by a normally quiet sheep that decides a pup is fair game... Additionally they're exciting to watch when they move. (from the pups point of view). I never said a word to Emma and only quietly flanked Cruz when Emma would think about walking into the geese and needed a little back up. It took a bit, but the light came on and she was great. If first impressions mean much she's going to like to drive like her grandsire and she's going to have great stock sense like her sire. I'll wait about a week and then let her in again. She never lost interest- not even when I scooped her up- she watched them the whole time I carried her to the gate. Good Girl Emma! :-))

Well, off to bed cuz it's a... holy cow, quarter to 12!! Oops. 6 am will come quick! LOL!

Toss

Toss. My silly, good hearted, out for a good time, dedicated to me heart and soul, dog. Off sheep Toss is a goofball! He loves to have a good time and is always the one that finds something unique to do, or at least find a special way to play along with the usual games. During games of fetch with the pack, he is the only one I have that'll go get the "sinkers" in the 85 gallon stock tank. You think he's not really paying attention, but the second someone drops the toy that doesn't float in the tank, Toss is on it with no prompting. He will stick his entire face, head, and ears under water if that's what it takes. Running with the atvs, yup they all do that, but he takes that to another level. First off he truly races the atv. He would have been an awesome race horse! LOL! So far, even on the smooth tractor service road in the field I cannot out do him! (Ben can, but I can't) He is hard core fast when there's a reason- and he has the stamina non of my other dogs have. I've often wonder if that's not his highly Imported breeding? His other atv/bicycle running trick is to find something to carry. Anything! He does this when we zoom around in the yard and we can't do much more than about 15mph. One day I watched him run and run and run (with the atv) carrying a 2 foot piece of a treated 4x4 post!! What in the world?? LOL! It must have weighed 5 lbs! Recently I about peed myself because I had not yet picked up my BIG orange cones I use to really dial in my driving whistles. There he was running with the boys on their 4 wheelers with this great big cone in his mouth- nearly covered his whole head!! Toss is also my love-bug. He is a big sap and loves to sit with me and bury his head into my arm pit. As a younger dog he only had eyes and ears for me. He was my dog, and no one else could tell him or ask him anything. As an adult he has outgrown that to the point that he will listen to anyone and would probably work for most anyone, but he is still very much my dog. He adores me. ;-p Because of this trait I had to learn that when Toss was being too much or just plain not using his head I needed to be his rock and be the one who kept their head. It took me a fair amount of time to learn that if I got angry and loud with him it would only spin him up even more and make things even more intense. (on sheep all fun and games end, and every fiber of his being is replaced by intensity to work) He taught me a lot about being a quieter, calmer handler/trainer. I owe that greatly to him and him alone. He was such an intense youngster, coupled with his straight forward type of approach, we had a lot of stressful days of training. Toss took some time to learn how to properly outrun, but once he had it short, it carried over very easily to longer distances. He is a stellar driving dog. He is a big reaching dog in his pace, even at a walk. Currently, he's working very hard to thoroughly learn his whistles. He's doing very well. There's no question he's going to be a wonderful Open dog. He is not a dog that is going to stall out or grip out. Along with whistle work Toss' sessions are greatly centered around keeping his flanks square and not leaning on his sheep. Toss is a lot of dog on sheep, but with growing skills and maturity on both our parts, I'm learning to really appreciate that. If I remember to keep focused and quiet, he is quite responsive to do things my way. :-) It seems impossible, but Toss was born in Nov of 2003. Yes, almost 6! He still seems like such a young dog. He was a loooong to mature dog. Toss is nearly all Imported lines. On his top side his sire, Lacy's Brand is a ##Sweep ISDS 180949 grandson. Also on his top side are Kathy Knox's Ettrick Bob AIBC 92561, and Amanda Milliken's Hazel ABC 15278 and Imp. Boy ABC 39773. Toss' bottom side is 100% Imported. Nearly all the blood on his bottom side is from Wales and include such names as J.R. Jones (multiple times) and J.M. Baker. Like so many imported dogs, he is not without the blood of Supreme Champion, ##Wisp ISDS 161487. I have two females from Toss, both out of Deal. One female is quite a lot like Toss, the other like Deal. His granddaughter, Emma is fast becoming one of my all time favorite puppies. Only time will tell what she turns into. I'd like to cross Toss again with a female of my own, but that's 2-3 years away. Unless something were to suddenly to happen to him, I can see him running and working hard for many, many more years.

Mary Jane

Mary Jane is probably one of the most natural dogs I know. This is a wonderful trait, however it can also be difficult at times. Her outrun was pretty much built in, very little time was spent stretching it out. Lots of time has been spent on the lift however. She does not, at all, like to stop at the top, and she's too much dog to allow that. It has been a lot of give and take to get her to be trust-worthy about stopping at the top. I would still not trust her much past 150 yards to stop at the top. But it's coming. She has lovely natural pace, one of her best traits. Driving and drive flanks have been some work. Mostly again because of her reluctance to stop. She has learned to be quite a lovely penning dog, and can now be nearly 100% trusted. As a younger dog once she was a stride too close, she would surely bust in on the next flank. Lots of time and patience was spent on this. Surprisingly (or maybe not so), penning and chute work is now one of her strong suits. She is a dog that gains the sheep's respect without them being rattled. She is one of my few that can work my ram during his "ugly" months without having to fight him. Once she gets into the flow of driving, she has a wonderfully strong, steady pace. She's one that keeps marching right on. The biggest trick with her is not letting her get to the "I've had enough now" level. She will not quit, but she will stress and is unable to really think if she feels I am asking too much of her. Having Ella work her for the last year or so has been great. Mary's made great strides with this, and it's been quite some time since she has felt I've asked too much of her. Weather Mary will take the pressures that go along with the kind of training one must be willing to accept in order to be an Open level dog is the only thing that would hold her back from being a very nice Open dog. Everything else is there. Including the bloodlines. Mary's from very strong western working lines. As well as from dogs that were proven on the trial field. Mary was born in 2004 and is a Granddaughter of Joni Swanke's Belle ABC 146325. Belle is a very well known and a very well proven bitch that has produced talented young dogs such as Haley Howard's Moss and of course Joni's own Lew and her"one of a kind" Chip. Mary also closely has dogs such as Emil Luedecke's Ben ABC 164512, and Bill Berhow's Nick (3 time Finals Champion/3 time Meeker Top Ten) in her pedigree. Mary's dam was a hard working farm dog that is now living the retired life on the Eastern Shore. Mary's sire, Lacy's Ted was handled by Alasdair MacRae several years ago as a Nursery dog and finished very well at the finals. Mary has had one litter crossed with my Toss. The owners love their pups. Because I really only care to breed when I, myself want to keep a pup or two from the litter, it will be some time before Mary is bred again- if she is. If she's bred again I'd like to find a dog much like her in the way of being very natural- but be a bit more of a dog to handle. Because I have such a preference for biddable dogs, I don't think I have a male quite strong enough to cross with Mary. Off sheep Mary is a fun dog to be around and is the never-met-a-stranger type- and she's perfectly beautiful. To me when people think "Border Collie", she is the picture.

Gwen

Anyone who knows me even just a little knows how much I adore this little bitch!! She just makes me smile no matter what she's doing. Off sheep she is so clever, fun- loving, and sweet. She is incredibly personable. She has a perfect temperament. If she had been trained in agility I have no doubt she would have been awesome! She is crazy fast and the most athletic dog I have ever met. I can visualize her flying across the dogwalk like it's 10 feet wide. Over jumps she'd be a bar hugger and one of those dogs that can land and turn all in the same motion- she would waste no yardage. She's one of those zero to 60 in 2 seconds. She would have been a super fun sport dog no doubt. On sheep I adore her as much as I do off sheep. From day one I have LOVED working her on stock. She was born with an outrun and square flanks. She is fast and responsive, which takes finesse handling, but man is it fun! I hardly have to blow in my whistle with her- I've learned to be very, very gentle in my commands or she over does it. What I blow is what I get. That's an unbelievable thing when you as the handler have it together! Gwen has never done anything but aim to please, and she has absolutely no quit in her- none. Our only work-through area has been with her not wanting to disturb her sheep to the point that she would stall out on the drive. (to the untrained/unfamiliar eye it looks like too much eye, but that isn't it. She has so much respect for their "bubble", that in a drive she can loose confidence in walking into that bubble. She never stalls out or curls in at the lift, and she never gets stuck on her belly at a high pressure pen, both of which can often times be due to eye.) This little glitch is fast becoming a thing of the past, and I have no doubt she will work entirely through it. In the grand scheme of things she is still quite young. She was also forced to take time off to produce and raise a litter of pups. And of course I do not have a big area here at home to work daily (or even weekly much of the time) on her distance driving. Gwen is a 2005 daughter of Del'Mar Dan and HatsOff Kate. Del'Mar Dan is sire by Imp Jim CABC 128108 and out of Imp Nell CBCA 148. Both Jim and Nell were owned by Dave Ellison of Kamloops, BC. Jim is the sire of Del'Mar Turk of RMS Border Collies in British Columbia. There are several nice Del'Mar bred dogs floating around out there on farms and kennels that work at home as well as trial. Gwen's Dam is by HatsOff Bill and out of HatsOff Wynn. Many of Bill's off spring can be found at Oaktree Border Collies, as well as many other operating cattle farms and trial fields in the Oklahoma/Arkansas area. Gwen's own parents live and work on a cow/calf farm in KY. Gwen herself is a wonderful cowdog for the little time she has had on them. Really a true natural. At the 2nd cattle trial she was at I got several compliments about her- one of which was the assumption she was from a Steve McCall breeding. The best compliment was about how responsive she was. :-) She is more comfortable on cattle I believe, than she is on sheep. She works sheep great, but being a cowdog is her calling. Unfortunately for us both there is very little cattle trialing in this area, and even less availability to work cows to train. Gwen is going to go a long way as a trial dog, there's no doubt- and I will enjoy ever minute of getting her there!

Better Day

Yesterday was a better day. Still so much to do, but it didn't seem as overwhelming. I didn't get much extra done before work, but did get my usual evening animal chores done so I wouldn't have to do them at 9:30pm. I colored my hair and made the kids after school chore lists and that was about all I had time for. Today I let myself sleep in. I needed it terribly. My Emma alarm clock went off right on cue at 6:30, so I got up and let everyone out and promptly went back to bed. Work up at 8:45! Kinda late, but it was nearly midnight before I went to bed last night and I have been on the go during my days off for a few weeks straight now.

Work was a bit rough yesterday as my shoulder is really starting to hurt badly. One of the end caps that I had to change out yesterday was a whole pallet of the huge cans of green beans. Great. I talked to my assistant manager about what would happen if I can't do stuff for awhile and she said to get with personnel so she can pull up my actual job description. I wouldn't be able to do it if I had to have surgery I'm sure. I do get 12 weeks of job security (unpaid of course), so at least that's good news. It would probably really depend on the people I work for though. My assistant seem to think as long as I could keep doing the stuff in the IMS screen I'd probably be alright. We'll see. It kept me up a lot last night, the worst it's been.

Gwen is in here with me right now because she's coming in and her and Toss were doing the "I like you, you like me" dance on the porch. No one paid her any mind yesterday and she's not bleeding yet, but she's on her way. She's such a funny little thing. She's so full of personality and is such a sweet heart. I know it's not fair to have favorites, but I do, and she's one of them. Both on and off sheep. In the future I would like have a Gwen X Toss pup. They are both very nice dogs and compliment each other. I suppose you could get a Gwen or get a Toss, but if you had a blend that would be one hell of a dog!! Her maturity and natural outrun and feel for sheep combined with his straight forward approach and love for driving!? Yup, that'd be one hell of a dog no doubt!! And fast, holy crap would they be fast! I suppose they'd ALL be freckle faced with really, really fun personalities! LOL! I really, really, really like Gwen a ton on sheep, but I am going to wait and make sure she comes fully around on the bubble crap on the distance drive. Both Carol and I believe she will. If I don't cross her with Toss in the future, I may cross her with a dog named Keen that came from Canada that is highly imported bred with all the "right" names. Carol runs him right now and he's a very nice dog. She thinks very highly of him. She calls him Cruz with more push. Like Toss would, Keen would compliment Gwen in that he's a very forward type dog. That's a year or more away thought, so no need to ponder it too greatly right now.

Well, I need to get to things. I have to get to the feedstore before noon and I have a few things I want to get at the hardware store. I'm getting to the end of my paycheck though, so the hardware stuff may have to wait. I'll probably take Gwen along with me so she doesn't have to be in her kennel. She likes to ride- well at least ride with me. ;-) I always feel bad for the girls when I have to lock them up! :-( What I don't feel bad about is locking the boys up as well when the girl(s) gets to the "good" days and the boys are SO obnoxious that I can't trust them. (ie dig into the girl(s) kennel, fight with each other, etc).

I was thinking about moving the geese around in the round pen for Emma and Logan today. Maybe I can get one of the kids to video it. I have no idea if the interest is there yet or not. It's a good ear day for Emma, looks like both her ears will be prick, or at least 3/4. She's going to be such a neat looking dog! Logan's are currently "wings", so we'll see what happens. I've seen a lot of wings on puppies turn into prick ears. If nothing else, at least they are not down. It's just not a look I like. Not that it really matters one bit, it's just nice to have to the look you like you in a dog you like the rest of! :-) I've been following the Finals blogs. It's fun to read about the runs. No matter the skill and talent level of both the dog and handler, there is always going to be such an element of luck involved. I think that's what keeps it from being the same 'ol, same 'ol. No two sends to the sheep are ever going to be same, and that's where a handler's skill and a dog's talent shine- when they make it look like the same run as yesterday, last weekend, etc. I've enjoyed the write ups about the runs that were either a very low score, DQ, or RT, but the writer was very impressed with the handling, the dog, or both. Sometimes a no score run was really the best run of the day, and the good handlers recognize that. At least in my area they do.

Well, I best get off from here so Freckles and I can run to the feedstore quick.

Just Great...

Well I'm pretty sure I have at least a partially torn rotator cuff. (but I'd bet it's terribly torn) I hurt my shoulder really bad nearly two months ago, and it has only gone from unbearable to awful with time. I can hardly pull my own shirts on and off and I have to be really careful with what I do, or the pain is almost drop me to my knees. (sometimes I sound like I have turrets or something, because I appear to spontaneously curse!) This sucks for me, as I'm a bit hard core and I am not used to not being able... The worst though is sleeping. It's miserable and the last couple of nights I have woke up in a position I can hardly move out of... I guess it's time to go in. We have FULL medical, yet I don't go. To give you a reference, after my postnatal (I did go to all my prenatal appts) with Dylan I hadn't been until last fall. (Dylan is now 11). But I can't keep this up. It's not getting better. I've given it plenty of time to heal. If it was going to heal on it's own, it would have by now. I read about the pain, and what I have is textbook and now my gut is in knots over how it's fixed, and even more about how LONG it takes to heal. Just freakin' fantastic!

I had "one of those days" today. Everything right now seems over whelming. I have a very full plate all the time, and sometimes it seems like too much. As I wrote earlier, Charlie had his orthodontist appt on Tuesday. On Wednesday, some of things they put on came un-done. Great. That's another 75 mile round trip and at least a half day of school for Charlie, and will have to be some lost hours for me, as I work M-F next week. I feel like they should credit our 4 digit bill a good 30 bucks! RRRrrrr! Work right now also seems over tasked. It just seems like there are too many people that don't give a shit, that the people who do are never going to be able to get their areas right... We met our new store manager (informally). He's a 61 year old retired Marine who did 2 tours in the recon. division in Vietnam. He doesn't seem very military though. He was very pleasant and seems rather personable, but we'll see. It seems like I can never caught up in my house and that's a constant frustration for me. I get home and take care of the kids (making sure homework, showers, pet care, projects, AR book reading etc are done), make dinner for all, take care of the dogs (maybe work a dog or 2), then clean up dinner, and then *poof* I'm out of steam. Like right now I should be cleaning something, something, anything... but I just don't have it in me. But maybe it should be. Maybe I need to push beyond what I do. This is one of my biggest issues- I never think I do enough, try enough, or am good enough at everything I want to do. Anything that's not perfect I take the hit on. I feel like everything is on me, and anything that's not done is a reflection of my failure. Blah. I toyed with the idea of staying up half the night to clean, but I'm opting to get up at either 5 or 6 and dig in. I work 11-8 tomorrow, so I have some extra time in the morning. I'll be draggin' come 8 tomorrow night, but I have the weekend off. It'll be busy though. Saturday will be house work and dog work. Sunday will be an early start and long day as I'm going to NC to a trial. Then I work M-F. Thursday is the State Fair, so I'm bagging out that day. To add to it, Ben is on the ship right now. They were supposed to leave Monday for 2 weeks. Well, shit happens and they are maybe leaving tomorrow- still for 2 weeks. Yeah, great- so now we're up to almost 3 weeks. Most of the guys have been working till 3pm and coming home. Not Ben though, they've had to stay. So he's been gone since Sunday morning (because he had duty) and is only 40 miles away... It was hard not having him here tonight when I had myself in such a this-is-too-much frenzy... he is always the one who reminds me to not over think the little stuff- which I do horribly! Not only do I not see the big picture (which is a lovely picture for us), I put on my big 'ol crap-glasses. These are the glasses you put on and all you see is crap... Ugh, I hate that about myself.... Off to bed so I can get up and hopefully get enough things done before work that I will feel a little better about myself tomorrow...

Who's Like Who...

It's always so interesting who pups take after. From Deal's first litter, the 2 males are very dark and built like Deal. The female (Kit) is all Toss, in looks, in working style, and temperament. Her 2nd litter of 3 females produced all dark, "Deal" types- except that Lokie got coat. (throw back to Deal's sire). The Cruz X Gwen pups are half and half. One male and one female are marked just like Gwen and act more Gwen than Cruz- especially Ivy. Ivy works just like her mother and she is all Gwen temperament-wise. The split face pups look like Cruz in the face, and are like him in temperament. Wren works just like Cruz did as a young dog.
In these 2 pups I see one throw back to their grandsire, Toss (Emma). And one throw back to their sire's side, which is HatsOff (Logan). Logan has a very HatsOff type head/face and he has the same eye color as several of the HatsOff dogs I've seen. None of my dogs have that eye color. Emma is very intense like her grandsire, Toss and is fearless like her granddam, Deal. She is going to be a handful on the field I suspect. For as intense and confident she is, she's also very loving and reacts appropriately to a correction.

Logan reminds me quite a lot of Cruz in temperament as pup, although so far he is much friendlier to people he doesn't know. Like Cruz, he seems to have an on/off switch- which is so wonderful. He seems quite laid back much of the time, but it takes only a toy or an encouraging word and he is spun right up. Only time will tell how they turn out, but right now I'm enjoying them both very much. Maybe in a week or so I'll let them loose while Cruz moves a few sheep around. It's always fun to see that first glimmer of "this what I'm here to do". :-)

I've been reading my camera book and starting taking some "non auto" pictures. I only took a few yesterday, but I like this one of Edge. I like how the blurry leaves are the same color as his coat. I took the photos using both the jpg and the raw form. I don't think my laptop can support my camera software, but I'll try it on one of the boys' computers. Sounds like you can do a ton with photos taken as a raw.

One More Day

....then I have 2 days off. Last week my 2 days were at opposite ends of the week, so it'll be nice to have them back to back again this week. Tomorrow I have to take Charlie in to get his braces adjusted. While we're out I need to stop and get Dylan some more reptile lights. His Tegu passed away about 2 months ago, but he still has a bearded dragon, 2 ball pythons, and an iguana. (along with his guinea pig and dogs). I'd like to go somewhere to get to some new pants for work. I'm tired of wearing the same 2 pair of tan Levi's. There's a good size Goodwill in Suffolk, so we may come home via that route.

It was a good weekend at work because the new management structure finally seems to be coming together. I enjoy the merchandising, and I'm happy when I can spend most of my day doing that. I spent a little time working live freight in HBA, but mostly it was just keeping the 6 people that don't normally work there on task. Saturday I spent most of the day merchandising in grocery, and Sunday in HBA. I got lots of merchandise out of the backroom and onto the salesfloor for HBA yesterday by setting 4 new features. The merchandise from the low features I killed went mostly to the side counter (rather than the backroom). Great. HBA is in a world of hurt right now between too many outs and WAY too much freight in the backroom. Lots of the freight in the back is what we call "non-basic", meaning it's old features (or new) or deleted items. Unfortunately these items did not get "cut in" to the side counter so they are just sitting in the back and will never go to the floor via the system because they are not in a modular. This is a big part of my job. I have to figure out how to get these non-basic items either featured, or somehow cut in to the side counter. Sounds easy enough, and if the past dept. managers had been able keep up with this, it would be. (would be easy for 1 dept- but I have 10!) When good dept. managers (or those that are not over tasked) set new modulars, they make sure the deleted items from the old modular still have at least one facing in the new modular until it sells. Good dept. managers get their features out, rather than just letting them pile up in the back, and when they kill them, they work them into the side counter with a shelf cap so the remaining merchandise from that feature will continue to come to the floor until it's gone. But what happens so often is there isn't enough time for them to spend that much time merchadising, they have too many other dept manager duties. This is a big part of the new structure. Dept. managers no longer need to worry too much about their features and non basic items. That's my job. I may still have to do delegate to them to get it done, but I have done the leg work to find it in the backroom, have found it a new feature home on the floor, and if needed pulled down from the steel. (not many dept. managers have their lift operator license)

Not much else happenin'. Charlie's appt. is at 1:15 tomorrow, so we're going to leave early enough that we can do the errands before his appointment. I can work dogs in the afternoon, and work them again on Weds. I'm looking forward to the trial on Sunday. It sounds like a nice, low key trial. I have never been to this field, so that's exciting. :-) Clare is on day 15, so hopefully she'll be out soon. Now that the kids have gone back to school the dog routine is I turn them out loose at 6am, then put them in their 10x10's for the day when I leave at 7:30. When the kids get home at 4pm they let them back out. I don't feel comfortable having them out in the stock fence all day with no one here. I also don't think they need all that opportunity to get into shit. And they do. Not all of them, but the young dogs- or just the "bad" dogs that seem to love to find stuff to wreck. (not normally a BC thing, this is more the pet dogs' mo). This morning however I kenneled the male dogs along with Clare. I'm over watching them being stupid around her kennel. I even put an xpen around the one side of her kennel that they can get to. That worked fine, (made it so they couldn't get to the kennel) but I hate smelling all that male piss and I get tired of looking out the window to see Cruz and Edge both laying by the kennel giving each other the evil eye. So Clare, Cruz, Edge, and Toss all went right into their 10x10's this morning. Not much I can do about that.... By the weekend it should all be over. Although I suppose it will be someone else's turn... Ugh! The joys. LOL!

A Second Go

Last night after Ella worked Wren, I showed her what Ivy was doing. She did a little bit of the bubble crap, but she was not nearly as overly cautious as she was just hours before. I'm completely confident that she is simply going thru the same stage that Gwen went thru. Yesterday, Gwen worked the most forward and confident that I have ever seen her work! :-) I'm going to keep it simple for her and come up with practical reasons/ways for her to walk on to the sheep.

Ella has done a wonderful job with Wren, and Wren is a very talented pup. Of the pups, she works the most like Cruz. She doesn't want to flank and hold like Gwen and Ivy. Like her father, she will need the most work on developing square flanks. I don't anticipate it will take a lot of work though. Yesterday she was flanking plenty square, she simply needs experience so she learns to flank in a more relaxed, fluid movement. She's fast on her flanks, which is perfectly fine because it's easier to dial that down, then hope you can more speed later. Mary worked very well for Ella. The two of them have their novice skills wrapped up, so we started working on driving. Initially, driving is such a hard thing to grasp! Mary knows her flanks, including inside flanks, but isn't 100% confident in the job and can still very quickly turn her drive flank into a fetch. So IMO, they are a good match. Mary has enough skills that she quickly realizes what Ella is asking, yet she is not so "finished" that Ella isn't learning how to handle the drive. :-)

My trial dogs worked nicely yesterday. Like I mentioned, Gwen was wonderful. I don't think I've seen her drive so forward and confident. It's wonderful to see. She's such a cool-ass dog to work! :-) I'm very much looking forward to the 2 upcoming trials. :-)

Hhmmm....

I figured out today that Ivy's skating away really isn't all "oh it's too much". Because I used a line today (which I resorted to half way thru last time) I realized she is doing the same over-the-top bubble crap her mama did. She isn't skating off to get away, she's flanking big and not wanting to walk into the sheep when they are either a) stopped in a neutral place or b) walking nicely with me, regardless of how far away we get from her. I know I'm right because if I walk into the sheep and push them back towards Ivy she will not let them get past her, and if for some reason one slips by, she does a look back, covers the single, brings it back to the others just as pretty as can be, but then plops down and I cannot get her up. I need a bit longer line so I can be in front of the sheep and have a hold of the line so when I ask her up I can give her a tug. I did have her basically driving using this method, thinking maybe if she simply learns what "walk up" is, I'll be able to get her up. Like I said earlier this morning, this is the age Gwen really gave in to her desire to just cover and hold. She had more training so it was not as obvious. Where it showed with her was about 75 yards out on the drive. If the sheep stopped, so did she.... So I need to really think about this as well as talk it over with some trusted people. It's just a thing, and I know she'll work thru it, I just don't want to do the wrong thing with her.

Clare was wonderful this morning. In thinking about it, she's a lot like Deal. Deal is a very lovely dog. She is very confident and very stable. She enjoys loves, but she is not a "big" personality. She is not a "stand out" off sheep. On sheep she is drop dead serious, typically spot on, and a bit of a determined type to work, she is very, very intense. She lives and breathes to work. As a pup I remember being so blown away by her. I thought about it today and realized I would have probably been just as blown away by Clare that many years ago! Clare is also very serious and has that same quiet but deadly way about her (picture a seasoned big cat hunting). Clare has Deal's natural cast, she is going to be a breeze to get a huge outrun on. She has Deal's good steady pace and lovely feel for her sheep. I've mis-judged Clare I believe. I need to give her more work and not worry that she doesn't ring my bells off sheep. I kept her back for a specific reason and I'm realizing I was probably not wrong in making that call.

So anyway, I suppose lunch break is over. I want to set my free-standing chute up again. Toss is being a complete moron with Clare being in, so I think I'm passing on working him today. He is most certainly a 17 year old boy when it comes to girls who are inviting!! Lordy!

Age and Ups and Downs

My girls are currently at a funky stage. Clare is explainable at the moment as she's in the peak of her heat cycle. But Ivy isn't in, and has been kind of downer lately. She's not been her (or her parents) typical die hard self. She wants to work sheep, but when I start asking her to do things that she maybe doesn't think is so cool, she skates off and basically quits. She doesn't ever quit watching the sheep, but she quits doing anything productive. I'm not asking her to rope the moon, so this is disheartening. Her parents are biddable, yes- but both have die-before-I-quit work ethic. When I think back, this is the age when Gwen started to really question her ability to walk into the bubble on the drive (Gwen had oodles more training at Ivy's age), it's also the age that I nearly gave up on both Kit and Mary Jane for similar behavior. Interesting. I made Ivy hang with me the last time that she was on sheep, but I have since just let her be. I think this was a good thing for both of us. For me, I've been able to sit back and think about the other dogs when they were her age, which has made me pretty confident in deciding this is simply a weird stage/age for my type of dog. I have made one management change with Ivy. She is a clever pup and comes up with things to keep herself entertained without getting herself fussed at. (iow- she doesn't dig, chew, bark, chase etc) Her favorite being watching the cats. I mean, border line ocd watching the cats. She stares at them, flanks them, etc. Basically she knows where as many as 3 of them are at any given time. I never see her out doing normal dog things, she is laying somewhere staring at a cat. So she is now kenneled. Bright dogs are like bright children. It's both wonderful and miserable. All BCs are smart, but some are above even that. I own a few like that. Gwen and Cruz (Ivy's parents) are 2 of them. Ivy's littermates Wren and Keele also do "interesting" things to keep their little wheels turning. So hopefully housing her differently until the cats die off (no more cats when these are gone- they are so dang destructive and into everything!) will help redirect her determination and fascination. I'm sure age and maturity will help all on it's own. I know she needs to be "entertained", so I was really prepared to start to get serious with her sheep work... She's been put up for a week now. I was going to give her more time, but I'm going to work her today. But I'm going to work her in the small sheep paddock so she does not have anywhere to skate off to. I think if she can't just easily fling off, she'll stay focused and happy to work. I decided the last time I worked with her that I was done treating her like a pup. In other words, no more just going off to sheep when I really didn't send her, no more not staying put when I step away so I'm in a better position to help her be right on a send etc... Time to grow up. That in it's self should give her brain more to wrap around. Ella is coming with Wren today. I haven't seen her on sheep for several months now. I know Ella's been working her, so I'm excited to see her.

Well, it's 9am now so I better out to work with some dogs. I'm anxious to see how Ivy does today. I've been working Kit on a regular basis and I'm very happy with her. She's going to be a lot like her sire, Toss. She needs an outrun. Everything else for ProNovice is there. She has nice flanks, pens well, and drives nicely. She flanks nicely on the drive and will give me inside flanks with very little body language from me. She has about a novice length outrun. She's like Toss was in the way that with too much distance she tends to go tight, make a mess, fix the mess, then bring them to me pretty as a picture. LOL! She's better at fixing her own messes than her daddy was at her age. At Kit's age Toss would single one off and have quite a good time.

Off to get everyone worked. Hopefully I can remember all their names and what I'm currently working on with them without having to go back to my picture flip book! LOL! Sorry, that was ugly, but I couldn't resist!! :-)

Ramblings

Today's my day off from work, and I need it. I was yawning and kind of dragging most of the day yesterday. My new position (Zone Merchandiser Manager- Consumables) is nice. It's a lot more since I went from only worrying about paper and chemicals and only myself to paper, pets, chemicals, dry grocery, HBA, cosmetics, and pharmacy, and all those dept. managers and associates. Our store's biggest issue right now is that we simply do not have the people to get the work done that they expect to be done. It's simply impossible. So that is the biggest stress when we have our meetings and make our task managers for the day... Yesterday I did some other things, but most of my day I spent in HBA working live freight because the one and only HBA overnight associate called out. My HBA/cosmetics (she used to just have make-up, the HBA dept manager moved to the backroom and she will not be replaced as of now) dept manager walked into 6 pallets of live freight.... Lord! We continue to struggle with my dry grocery dept manager as she doesn't want that position and in all honesty it's too much for her. (she also has candy and the front end goodies (82) ). She was one of the several people that just assumed they were one going to get a ZMS position and didn't. She was sure she had the Front End Operations ZMS position, so she gave up her part time CSM position to be the candy dept manager. Well, she didn't get the ZMS position. Additionally the person they picked for the dry grocery area did not want it. So that's what she was offered- take it or step down to a part time position... So she's bitter and grocery is an intense area- you have to want it over there, and she doesn't. So that continues to be an area of concern. I don't like people to be unhappy with me, but I think it's unavoidable. Both Michelle and I have tried the "coaching for success" already. As have our 2 assistant managers.... Wednesday I did all of her prices for all 3 of her depts- for some reason she can't keep up with this, yet I did all 3 depts. in about 2 hours... She was supposed to comp several items, which she did, but she didn't change any of the stackbase toppers to save even more and make a was card for them. So I had to get the paper from the assistant and run around and change all the toppers and print off was cards. These are the kinds of things I have to be able to trust that she's going to get done. My verifying it was completed should only be asking her if it was done, not having to look- and worse yet have to finish it!! So I'm not sure where this whole situation is heading, but I don't think it's heading anywhere positive.... So that's work.

The boys seem to be having a good time in school thus far. Dylan's enjoying his gifted class with his new teacher. (different teacher and school for the 6th-7th graders) She has some fun field trips planned for them and some cool units. Charlie got into both of the accelerated classes that they offer. He's in 8th grade now and is taking a high school credited Math and Science class. (they don't have a gifted and talented class after 7th grade). He's quite excited because he's in Art this year. Ben leaves Sunday for 2 weeks. Welcome back to the "real" Navy. He's been off a ship for over 3 years and the last ship he was on was just being built. So it's been quite a good while since he's been on a ship that comes and goes.

Today will be split between the dogs and the house. I could really use about a 3 hour nap, but I doubt that's in the cards. Go, go, go. As they say you can sleep when you're dead. I've had the displeasure recently of someone doubting the bonds and relationships I have with my dogs. It was "suggested" to me that I cut down on the number of my dogs because how could I possibly work full time, have a family, and have strong bonds with the number of dogs that I do. I was told to not take offense to it... (pretty hard, wouldn't ya say?) which I didn't, as I don't have anything to be defensive about. The kicker is that this person has never seen me with my dogs, has never spent a week "in my shoes" to see how my days are managed, or asked anyone who does know me what kind of relationship I have with my dogs. It was hurtful at the time, but I guess it's just a thing. I told my husband about it and I won't repeat on here what he said. My poor husband, if anyone knows what my dogs mean to me, how much time and energy I spend on them, and how hard it is for me to put much at all before them, it's him. If I only have one day off during week- even if it falls on a weekend when Ben and the kids are home, he knows (and understands) that there is a pretty darn good chance I will either be off to train somewhere (and with a truck load, so I am gone the whole day) or I'm off to a trial. Or I simply spend about 4 hours rotating thru the whole crew here at home. Questioning my commitment to my animals is just about the most personal way to attack me. (Only topped by questioning my love and commitment to my kids or husband. ) I think the lesson here is do not form opinions or pass judgements on someone/situations that you have never even met/witnessed. I think that is the one of the big dangers of the internet. People think that they know each other via email, blogs, websites, etc... They don't. There's no way you can. The internet is like tv, it's only entertainment....

My Babies!

FluffBall!

Non-wicked looking Emma... Wicked looking Emma.

Happy Boy Logan!

Thank goodness

...some fall weather has arrived!! I'm really growing ill over these long, hot, miserable southeast summers! I'm beginning to think that I'd take the good 'ol Midwest winters over these summers! I'm over it. You just can't do a damn thing when it's so hot and humid. It's hot for people, too hot for dogs, and certainly too hot to be moving sheep around!! So I hope this cooler, drier air stays for good. It's so nice to have the windows open that damn (expensive) air conditioner not running, and running, and running!

I need to go out and make a plan for each of the dogs and get them some work. I think I might work at the pen with the 2 young girls. I think some meaningful work would be beneficial for them. This is the period of time I really wish (I say really, because I always wish it) I had a bigger place and more stock. Right now Clare and Ivy would really, really benefit from some real chore work. Simple, but meaningful. I hope my little ewes are bred, or will be soon. Even though my space is pretty small, I have had more sheep than right now for several years. I almost quit and let myself get down to just a handful of sheep... At one time I had close to 20 sheep (including lambs). I'd like to get back to at least a dozen. That way, albeit small, there always seems to be a little something that needs to be done. I honestly believe that a lot of Cruz's fantastic stock sense came from being the dog that muddled thru with me. Of course not all of it was good, and some of it was just plain ugly, but it made for a better dog IMO. Although I would never tell someone to make their first small flock a group of adult, bred, wool sheep that had never seen a working dog in their life, it was certainly a swim or drown experience for us both! And although we certainly had to hold our breath while we half-drown, we both became better swimmers for it. :-) Just like everything else in life, I truly believe the only way you can be really good at something is thru blood, sweat, and tears. All the "ah shit!!" moments only make you better. (if you are willing to learn from them) We all have to fail to succeed.

I worked over night all week at work and Weds night ended up pulling 15 hours... needless to say I have today off! I work tomorrow and then have Sunday and Friday off. Hopefully I'll be able to stick to the Zone Manager's schedule for awhile again! Working overnight sucks so much. I can't believe I did it as long as I did!! The few hours I had at home were pretty unproductive. I did some land browsing in my "awake, but not enough energy to do a damn thing" time. Looks like KY and TN have a lot to offer as far as what I'd be interested in. Lots of land that is mostly pasture. There's also lots of property that have still running, but older, and on the small-scale dairy farms. That would be ideal. Even if I wasn't interested in the dairy end of it (which I'm not sure I would be- that's a huge commitment) the properties have out buildings, hay barns, cement floored milking barns, and fences... And seemed to be priced so that we'd be able to build a small house. Some have houses that need work. I would imagine that being west of the Appalachians would eliminate some of this sea air and thus eliminate the adaption of human gills. Something that after about 10 years you form (some people that were born and raised around here can breath under water!) when you live right here on the coast. Until you live this humidity you do not get the "dry heat" concept!! South East Humid means at 3am it is still as hot and miserable as it was at 6pm. South East Humid means even with the a/c running certain textures in your house are sticky to the touch... And this humidity lasts from Easter until Halloween! Sometimes longer. You simply cannot do outside activities in this moisture. Yeah, 90 degrees isn't too awful, but factor in the dew point and just about anyone, and anything turns into a bowl of jello in about 15 minutes! Dogs that are in shape last only a few minutes before their tongues are 10 feet long, and some of them are "squeaking" for air. Lord knows you can't ask the sheep to participate in this weather- they'll simply croak. They aren't supposed to be in this climate anyway- let alone be "worked" when really you don't run/walk, you swim! I grew up in the Midwest where it does get humid, but not like here, and of course not for the duration. Yes, the exchange is for 20 below zero, but again the duration of 20 below isn't so long. I guess it's all a matter of taste. The nice thing about the south east (speaking livestock) is that as long as they have some simple shelter for the cool and wet of Oct-Feb, and shade for the summer they are good to go. The Midwest requires a more thorough winter shelter and things like lambing/calving have to be either very carefully planned, or have to be very carefully housed (or both) if one does not want to loose lambs/calves in the snow of Feb. I have pictures of Dylan holding a lamb born in December and he is in short sleeves...

Here are some of the "dream" farms I saved. It's too soon to pursue any of these, but not too soon to start to get a real idea of prices and locations. It's quite possible we may do what my parents ended up doing, and that was my Dad got his new job and moved to the area 15 months before my Mom did. That's a pretty likely possibility for us as well. It's hard to time the buy/sell/job move move thing all at one time.... This is one dream I refuse to give up on. I WILL have my farm of no less than 40 acres. It's very possible I do my Assistant Manager trainee bit in the area we think we'd end up in. (You go to another store to do the training) I have to do this ZMS job for 6 months before I can put in for assistant manager. The difference in the 2 is very little job wise, really I'd just have to learn the operations part (schedules, hiring, firing, etc) the rest of it I do and know. The wage pay is more than double for me. I started low because of no 5 year job history. I've gone from $7/hr part time to $11.40 full time in 15 months. Starting salary for Assistants is over $30,000. That's enough. Ben will have retirement plus whatever he decides he wants to do. (I think he needs to get licensed and insured in construction as I have never seen any better work than he does- and he loves it) The boys will most likely do school via the military, or thru scholarships. We're blessed to have such smart kids who apply themselves. Both have been in the gifted and talented classes since 4th grade, and now in 8th grade Charlie is taking 2 high school credited classes (only 2 were offered), as well as the gifted art class.

Anyway, here's some of my favorites.

http://http://www.landandfarm.com/properties/3668_acres_in_auburn_ky.asp

http://http://www.landandfarm.com/properties/farm_looking_for_new_owner.asp

http://http://www.landandfarm.com/properties/house_3_acres_sullivan_co_mo.asp

http://http://www.landandfarm.com/properties/beautiful_57ac_mini_farm.asp

http://http://www.landandfarm.com/properties/43_acres_with_home_site.asp

http://http://www.landandfarm.com/properties/2_story_home_on_80_acres.asp

http://http://www.landandfarm.com/properties/dairy_farm__1.asp

http://http://www.landandfarm.com/lf/s/63/beautiful_120_acres.asp

Now to just get bills straight... Good news is I think I finally have Ben on board with this. Previously I believe he thought of it as a pipe dream. Now he knows I am dead serious. I will have my farm- and if means a the ultimate compromise (I will not enjoy it one bit- not one, not at all) then so be it.... I refuse to give up on something that is my heart and soul!

Cheers,

Ali

Fall Trials

We'll be going to a few fall trials, not a whole lot but more than I have done in the recent years.

• September 27- Oxford, NC (Cruz Open, Deal Ranch, Gwen, Mary, and Toss ProNovice)
• October 1- Doswell, VA (Cruz Open, Deal Ranch, Gwen, Mary, and Toss PN)
• October 3-4- Montpelier (Cruz Open, Toss PN) (Gwen PN, Deal Ranch as additional dogs)
• November 21-22- Church Hill, MD (Cruz Open, Deal Ranch) Gwen and Toss may be ready for Ranch by this time. If not, they'll be in PN.

Just For Fun

Charlie, 13.
Dylan, 11.

My brother's son this summer.

My sister-in-law's daughter this summer.

My Mom, brother, sister in law, and Dad.

My brother and family.

My cousin's Granddaughter. I'd say she's about an 11 on the 1-10 cute scale!!

My cousin's Grandson. Gotta love those toe-head curls!

Me and my bro.

Me, my brother, and sister in law at their wedding this summer.

Me and JT.

What a Lab should be! Ms. Maddie-McPaddie.

What is a hound dog to do? Oh, maybe just pose for the camera.

Or lay in the grass and chew.

Or maybe lay in the grass, and just... well, lay in the grass!

McCoy and Hattie. Found on the Hatfield and McCoy trails in WV this summer.

Toss, Kit, Mary, and Clare.

A rare moment of stillness!

McCoy, Kit, and Clare.

RedDog (Edge) looking good at 7 years old.

Maddie, Edge, and Toss.

Clare.

Clare again.

I guess she was just in the right place at the right time a few times!

Most of the gang.

A moment in the shade while Dylan gets the toy he threw over the fence.