The Shine

 There is a magic that happens in a sheepdog.  The time when the pups go from inquisitive to sheep, to something else.  There is a change in their demeanor, their fundamental energy.  They no longer just look keenly at the sheep, they lock on, tail tightly down, leaning forward.  You can see in their stance, that they now *know* that they are the boss.  They tell the sheep what to do.  If you are lucky enough, you might be able to see this happen.  I happened to be lucky enough to see it.  Brindi had been very interested in going to the sheep for a long time.  She would run up to the gate and want to get in, but it was not in a controlled thought way.  This day it was different. She went up to the gate, tightly tucked her tail, leaned forward and gave a hard eye to the sheep.  And this day, instead of ignoring her, as they had done so many times before, the sheep all left.  They headed out of the barn paddock to the hill field- out of sight of this pup. They felt her energy was different.  Serious.  A threat. She had the Shine.  

"You still needed to learn something"

I have been on a spiritual journey for the past five years.  The person I am now is so very different than I was.  It took a LOT of traveling, falling in love, learning to love myself, and standing up for myself to create who I am now- that is someone who is fundamentally peaceful.  I have changed everything I do.  I have changed how I deal with people, animals, how I treat myself.  It took a long time, but I am there, and now I want to share what I have learned with whomever is looking for what I was.  

What was I looking for?  Peace and rest.  Remove the anxiety, and have my smile be my default.  Be more introspective as to why I feel certain ways, and just plain stop feeling negative- in all circles.  After all these years, finally,  here I am- I sleep well at night.  I exercise every day.  I work my dogs every day.  I put *me* first.  I honor the value of my life.  As you age, you start to see how important that is.

I had a coach tell me that I "still needed to learn something" when I shared with her that I could not get past a certain issue.  Boy was she right!

Everything in my life has turned me to the sheep, and the dogs.  Everything.  I spent the better part of two years traveling in New Zealand, and it was there that I learned to love, Latin dance,  and it was there that I learned what brought me peace. The dancing.  The sheep.  The dogs.  The dancing taught me how to follow- to feel my partner's moves, and move as one with them, and it taught me to work at getting better, to be a better team member.  The sheep taught me patience- dealing with thousands of them on a daily basis will do that to a girl, and the dogs- the one dog especially, well, he reminded me about the astounding heart in these dogs.  

When I finally settled back at home, I got back to working dogs, but I just did not really like it.  I was not a big fan of trialing, really, ever... it was not so much nerves as basically, I felt my dog was good and why did I have to prove it?  Well, that is what I thought my issue was.. but it wasn't. Not at all.

You see, I did not like my methods in training.  Yes, I have trained many dogs successfully, but it did not feel good getting there.  I was tense, I would get angry.  I would always expect the dog to do the wrong thing, so that I could be ready to correct.  I hated that.  Since my early days I wondered why I didn't just teach the dog what the "rules of engagement were" so to speak.  Why not teach the dog what the correct behavior toward sheep was?  Why not encourage the dog to try something else, instead of stopping something?  Why not allow the dog his head enough to learn how sheep work, and what his affect on the sheep is, rather than chase him off? Why not just be quiet and let the dog work.  And most importantly, why not just be peaceful out there.  And I mean it.  No faking being calm, and peaceful, actually being that way.  Walk out there like you are walking down the beach.  I promise you, once you get to this place, you will see a dog who will no longer look the same to you.  You will see a dog immeasurably grateful to you for removing that self imposed tension on him.  You will see a dog no longer misbehave and split sheep because he is so tense, he feels he has to make a mess to clean it up, to give him something that he knows how to do.  There is so much more I could add, but instead, I want to show you.  

I am offering private coaching for all handlers, and working sheepdogs of any level.  I will give you the skills to stop your tension, and anxiety, and to recognize it when it rears it's head.  I will give you tools to walk the beach, as it were when you work your dog, or run your dog at a trial.  I am willing to go out on a limb, having seen many teams of  handlers and their dogs out there, that essentially, the only thing that lacks is the removal of your tension.  Once you have that mastered.. you my friends are there.  Your dog will look in your eyes in a peaceful, loving way on the way to the post, and as she works, she will not be gripped with tension for fear of making a mistake. She will not slice her flanks, ignore your stops, and refuse to come in on a shed.   You will have a new person in yourself, a new dog, and you will be doing your part to make the world a better place.  Isn't that what we are supposed to be doing when we are here?  Oh, one thing I forgot- even the sheep will like you more, and well, I am here to tell you once you get a hold of this, people will wonder what happened to you?  Peace, my friends.  Peace.

All the puppies

Joy!

Jill, and Joe created 9 beautiful pups. Though not quite in my plans at the time, i was certain I wanted pups by Joe, and Jill. At 9 years old, and having not bred previously,  I guess he was very smiiten by Jill. Jill has been a super mom. I have to say, Jill has the best smarts, and temperament of any female dog I have ever had. On sheep she is naturally forward, with built in push, gather, and desire to please. She not only looks like Joe, she works like him. Joe's trial record speaks for itself. Many placements in the USBCHA open trials, and never ever beaten by sheep anywhere, anytime.  Below are their pedigrees. Jill is heavy in the cattle working lines. These puppies will have excellent potential to be very good ranch/trial dogs. They will be ABCA registered. 

Joe's a daddy!

Jill, and Joe decided to make a family.  This was not a planned pregnancy, but both dogs are the best ones I have owned.  They had 9 little junior mints.  More updates soon!

2021!!!

 Hi everyone!  Long time no see!  How are things in your nook of the world?  What a year 2020 was!  Things toodled along at Cheviot Hills.  The sheep and the dogs have kept me centered, as usual. Let's see where we are at...

Sheep. Well, I sold off a lot last year; only keeping the best.  I got a new ram from my usual ram supplier.  I trust him implicitly, and am always happy with the lambs his rams produce.  He came to me in September, as a ram lamb, and immediately started to breed the ewes (as in the minute he walked into the field, he bred a ewe).  I added three North Country Cheviot, Suffolk cross ewe lambs to the flock, as purebred NCC ewe lambs are not easy to come by, and I wanted to see what them crossed onto a NCC ram would give me.  I still have two of the three Dorset ewes I bought as lambs two years ago, and they got bred to the NCC ram lamb as well.  Lambing started the first week of February, and there is one more to go.  Most of the lambs born in the two first weeks of February.  He did a great job that ram lamb...  My management was better this year, and we saw a lot more twins, and overall health of everyone is really good.  They are growing very fast.  I believe the two most important things for sheep are 1) Food that goes in and 2) Parasite control.  My grass leaves a lot to be desired.  Last year we had a drought, so I had to supplement everyone with some grain (not much at all, but enough so that they did not rip the grass out by the root).  I would give hay, but they will not eat hay unless there is almost no grass.  Sheep are sort of all or nothing, it seems... at least in my experience.  So, they had some grain before the ram cam by a couple months, and had good body condition.  I also brought them in for FAMACHA checks to see how they rated, and wormed whomever was not up to par- I also made a mental note of a big check against anyone who was repeatedly pale- they don't stay on the farm- it's a pretty big offense..  Anyway, I also wormed everyone when I vaccinated at three weeks before earliest due date.  Normally, I would only do those who scored low, but I have learned that just because they score well on FAMACHA, that does not mean they are not overburdened with worms, and could likely falter when faced with carrying lambs, and trying to produce lots of good milk for them.  FAMACHA is good, but it does not replace applied knowledge over time.  So, the ewes clearly appreciated the better maintenance, given the lamb crop this year, and the good health of the ewes who had them.  Lots of girls this year too.  The last few years, when I was sort of checked out on the sheep thing, we had lots of boys, and well, they don't stay, so we were hurting for having anything to keep.  I am proud of my sheep.  I have spent my $, blood, sweat, and tears on them over the years.  I buy the best rams, and I work very hard to cull out low performers.  Any sheep bought from me as breeders will improve *any* flock.

Dogs.  Well, let's see.  I have Joe, Robbie, and Jill.  Joe is 9 now. He's still my best dog.  I can't believe how lucky I was to get a dog like Joe. He fits my like a glove.  I never have to worry about him injuring a sheep, or not getting a job done, or hurting a lamb.  And he is as fit as ever.  

Robbie, he is doing well, albeit bored.  No work for him lately, because of the ice, and because Joe is just a really good lambing dog.  We are going to get back out there soon though!

Jill.  What can I say about Jill.  She's the nicest female I have ever had. She has an excellent temperament- loves people, and is the smartest dog I have ever had. On sheep she is forward, and if a sheep challenges her by coming toward her she matches the tenacity.  Never over does it, but will move things very well.  She works a lot like Joe.  (HOW awesome is that?!)

Meow. I lost Meow last month. I still can't really talk about it, except to say I lost my best friend.  I adored him, and he me.

 

That's the update for now.  Stay tuned for updates on sheep and dogs!