Birds of a Feather

Lily and Tic



     A weird thing happened this past weekend.  First of all I had a rare and coveted afternoon off.  Truly off.  It was pouring rain, thundering and lightening like the Gods were having a merry old bowling game in our desert skies.  I could do NO work, unless I cleaned out my closets and drawers.  So I relaxed and read a book.  The really weird thing is that I had a chance to watch the dogs also relax.  Big old yeller lab was deep in sawing-log-land on his overstuffed chair, no surprise there.  My two tri-colored youngsters from Potato-Land had hunkered down next to each other alternating play with sleep, quite content and happy.  Apparently Lily and Tic have become best friends behind my back.  They must have compared notes.  Black and White - check.  From place that starts with C (Cali and Canada)- check.  Insane/Intense/Strong eyed - check.  Really actually soft when it comes right down to it - check.  And believe it or not my 28 pound 9.5 year old Lily, was most definitely the boss.  Again, weirdly enough, Tic kinda likes it!!!  Finally someone to boss him around appropriately. No sucky whistles involved.  Boyz, go figure!!!






     Airborne Lily living the dream at our first Novice-Novice clinic.  I was so proud.  I thought she (we) were doing a great job!  After all she looks so athletic for her age.  HA!  Read the sheep, they say it all.







      Mr. Try-Too-Hard Tic.  This was at a lesson in ID with DD.  He was full blast in every direction.  After 2 seconds of being handled by a pro, he was relieved and listening.  Less is more.






     But really, even though they are both passionate handfuls, they can both team up when required.  If it wasn't for Lily dragging me into the field to learn from our mistakes I wouldn't be the sub-par aspiring handler that I am today.  HA!






     Tic listening, and wondering why I have to hold the damn whistle with my fingers.  They don't do that in the Great North Aye!!!






Cheers to unexpected best friends!!!  Maybe those are the best kind.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2017 at a glance

Image
     If last year was called ‘Live and Learn’, then I must call this year ‘Miles on the Tires’. 2017 is the Chinese year of the Red Fire Rooster. Boyo boy has it been a year for the border collies and I. It was a mix of circumstances that opened up doors than I bravely jumped through, not knowing the outcomes on the other side. Bluegrass Classic, Soldier Hollow Classic, and the Belle Grove National Sheepdog Finals were all new trials for our team this year. Feist Hill Field Sonoma Wine Country SDT Feist and I started out the trial season strong landing second on the Hill Field at the Sonoma Wine Country SDT The sheepdog team gained valuable experience at the scopey Zamora Hill SDT. Both Tane' and Feist earning points toward the nationals. Tane' putting together the smoothest and most timely pen on very wiley range ewes. Young Jag doing big chores.  Learning. Somewhere between the vast hills of Zamora and our Nor...
Read more

Live and learn

Image
Live and learn      My theme for the past year.  I feel like we have enrolled at the USBCHA University.  This year was indeed a learning.... and living year. Feist watching Joni and Cap Kingston       We went on the road at the end of the season to do a bit more living and learning.  The dogs and I met up with Amanda, Barbara, and Bev at SoHo.  I only watched the last day, but it was amazing.  My good friend and DHS volleyball coach met up with me to watch the final day.   Dorey sporting gold      After Soldier Hollow, I fell in line with my dogs and rig to Meeker.  We picked up another passenger Mr. Monty Man that day.         Bev showed me the ropes around Meeker.  Including the famous statue in down town, as well as the practice field.  It was great to have at least one practice before running the Monty dog.  Barbara...
Read more

Sheepdog journey

Image
And the story continues       It has been a long time since I have blogged. For a variety of reasons. The biggest reason is the ever elusive time.  It seems like I am hitting the busiest time of my life.  I feel like with the passing of my Mother, that my life lesson is, 'to live...fully'. I am hitting my stride - or trying to. I reflect only briefly backwards of the time I may have squandered walking up a path designed by someone else.      A very good friend of mine several years ago gave me the analogy that your dog running parallels how things are 'going' in your life.  Thus the periodic reference to the 'sheepdog journey'. I don't entirely buy into it.  However, when your life is cluttered and your energy is like the hoarder households kitchen, sure enough it's tough to find the focus needed to hold up your end of the partnership with your dog. I have witnessed very good people who go through rough life times and take it ...
Read more