NvShadowBCs-Noggin' Doggin'

The dogs off sheep      Navigating a nice balance.  Just the same with the dogs.  All work and no play......    Here are some instances of sheepdogs, just breathing and being dogs.  Not leaning the instincts away from their calling.  Not satiating the hunger for sheep by finding an alternative outlet, but rather finding a happy balance.  Happy dogs. Thanksgiving day spent exploring the Pony Express Trail Cold Springs Station   Lake Tahoe swim after long trial weekend                                                            Ready to go to (my) work at the crack of dawn.  Always leading the way. Ranch stuff and workouts Family time After trial visit to Pacific Local mountain hikes and conditioning       "Happiness is not a matter of  intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony." -T. Merton "In art and dream may you proceed with abandon.  In l

A Change of Season "Autumn...the year's last, loveliest smile." -William Cullen Bryant      If wishes were horses...  this beggar would ride.  It has been an amazing trek down the unmarked pathway this year so far.  I was stressed and somewhat disappointed that I was tossed time wise back into the working world as harshly as I was.  Logging hours.  Covering about three full time jobs. Balancing work, home, and sheepdogging precariously.   It hasn't been bad at all.  It has been good.      We now have a bit of lease property with a starter flock that we are trying to shape into the consistent animals desired for training/trialing.  I have not quite built my "Mecca", however I have acknowledged the resources that already existed in my own backyard.  Sandra built a stockyard on our back property that is amazing, for 'working' the sheep.  The ranch fields are just a small haul out away.  The Horned Toad flats are just a small haul

The end of wisdom is to dream high enough not to lose the dream in the seeking of it. -William Faulkner        

About Style, Method, and Relationships      Recently, I have been pulled back into the world of work too many hours per week and have not seen my home or dogs nearly enough.  However, any spare minute I might have I have been reading about herding and watching random dvds/videos.  One of the topics that has jumped out at me is that a dog has to develop their own method of moving and working their sheep.  This is so true.  Every dog that I have has a completely different technique.  I am also evolving, trying to recognize which style I like and feel comfortable with.  In this realm, I truly do have a different relationship with each one of my dogs.  Not better.  Not worse.... just different.      I have also been training and talking with different handlers this year, and have gained a different perspective on training outlooks.  This one open handler likes dogs that are NOT complicated.  Talented, athletic, and forthright.  From her view point, that is that.  I like it a l

    Dry Lake SDT 2013.  It was a quick trip up to Tule Lake and back.  It was great to run 3 dogs in PN in the Wheel-of-Fortune of weather.      The field is scopey.  The yearling range ewes are solid, good, and challenging.  I was excited to see where we were compared to a year ago.  This was the first big trial we had ever entered.      Visually, the field seemed smaller than last year.  I think that may be a result of the fact that my perception is expanding.      Ben had a family reunion.  Five Peg x Riggs brothers were all entered in the trial, either at Open or PN levels.  Ben wasn't voted Most Talented or Best Looking.... but regardless he is my favorite!      Tic ran early in quite a gael.   It was a solid run for us overall.  It took me awhile to team up with him via whistles.  Narrow outrun, and drifted offline a bit on fetch.  There was a lot of tension in the tight post/judge table-pop up turn (one pop up nearly blew over as we made the turn). Drive away we

     So I love the 49ers.  I used to be a true fanatic, and have since entered into fan-atic recovery.  I love love love Joe Montana.  I love Steve Young.  I kinda like Colin Kaepernick.  Joe Montana may not have had the pure power and athletic-prowess as Young or Kaep, but he was a true champion.  He was all that a NFL quarterback should be.  Truly a hero.      I think young Colin Kaepernick has potential.  Physically he is a force to be reckoned with.  He is young.  A rookie.  Not a lot of touch.  No touch really.  His sight and feel is narrow.  Powerful.     Steve Young, on the other hand, was extremely smart.  Maybe just a little bit more of a physical threat than Joe in his arm, but not so much in the mobility department.      Ronnie Lott.  The best.  Crushed his pinkie finger just before a play-off game.  His choice; miss game or amputate finger.  He played.  To me that was hard-core and super cool.      In a nut shell the reason I admired Montana is that he beca

It is just a difficult as you want to make it. It is easier to do anything if you have the right equipment. Practice harder than you have to compete. Make realistic goals. Do not make things more complicated than they need to be. Don't get caught up in the sentimentality.       Over the past ~6 months, I have revisited, and have been reminded by open-handlers  some of the 'unwritten rules' of sports in general, life, and sheep dogging.  Axioms that maybe I had known at one point in my life and had forgotten, that may be still pertinent today.      Don't have the ego that you can fix everything.  Don't be the little league parent and push too hard.  Keep it fun.  Don't over think EVERYTHING.

Sonoma pictures Special thanks to Gloria Atwater      Not sure if I have taken a knee in prayer.  Contemplating.  Or leaning on crook as not to fall over from nerves.  Ben looks happy and interested.                                 BEN                                 TIC Ewe knows how it feels to make it  to the end of the trial!

Zamora In the beginning....    Years ago my friend Peggy Wines convinced me to go to their family sheepdog trial in Zamora.  'Sheepdog trial?!?!  What is that?' To which she responded, 'well, you DO have a border collie.... '   'I think Lily will be a cow dog.  She is just a puppy you know?  But she is super smart and tough to boot!'         I must thank Peggy and Shannon Wines for almost literally dragging me to Zamora the first time.  Bill Slaven for testing Lily and declaring her "quite eager", sitting me at the judges table, and eventually setting me up with my first lesson with Patrick Shannahan the following year.  Driving home from my first taste of sheepdog trialing, I was hooked.  I thought it was impossible for a dog to do exactly what I witnessed all weekend.  It was magical.  I was thirsty to learn more. A Tale of Two Dogs (well 3) The Sledgehammer and the Feather      I can not explain to you