Learning Curve

Learning Curve

By: Kim Russell

I’m a grown ass, 42 year old woman. I pride myself on being confident enough to stand up for what I believe in. I try speak my mind in a kind and compassionate manner but still be forth coming with my beliefs and not afraid to stand up for them. I am a published author and plan to add another publication to my accomplishments one day. I am a good mom to a great little human being who I believe will make his own mark on this world. I have a successful, respected breeding program. I own my own business. I think my friends and family would say I’m a good person and that means the world to me.

So what does all this have to do with anything? Am I here to brag? No. Bear with me, I’m getting to it. I mention all of these “accomplishments” because I’m not afraid to be proud of myself. I’m not afraid to be confident. I’m also not afraid to admit that I’m not perfect and that I have lots to learn in this life still.

I am here to talk about how in knowing ALL of what I just said to be true, I am still a victim to my own insecurities and sometimes that hits home. I’ve been “in dogs” for ALMOST 25 years (holy shit!). I’ve learned a lot and will continue learning till the day I die. I’ve trained, competed in and tried just about every dog sport under the sun from Obedience, Flyball, Frisbee, Agility, Dock Diving, Barn Hunt and I even set foot in the show ring, once. We’ve done movies, commercials, huge event center shows...we have had success in all of it.

Enter sheep herding. NOTHING has made me feel more humble, inadequate and insecure about my dog handling abilities. The learning curve is mind blowing. Finding someone that knows their stuff, can also teach others and is patient and understanding enough to work with ‘newbies’ in the sheepdog world is tricky at best. Add in the cost of traveling to said trainer enough times to make the training payoff, which is really expensive, yet necessary. Also, a dog with the instinct and aptitude to work sheep is a bonus. It hasn’t always been possible to keep sheep at my own home till the last few years and even then I hesitated until recently to take that plunge because, well, sheep like to try and die and I kinda like alive animals. Anyway, that’s a whole other story.

I have FINALLY come to a point in life within the last year where all of the stars have aligned for me. I have a great dog to work with and learn from as well as some really promising youngsters coming up. I have an AMAZINGLY supportive, motivating instructor who challenges my dogs and I to try harder and do better each time we see him. I have the time and (some) money to pursue more lessons. And I just brought home some sheep. This summer was supposed to be our first official trial. Now we have Covid-19 and all of those plans came to a grinding halt. So, we are home doing our best and continuing to learn.

One thing I've come to realize in this life is that not everyone you meet will be tender towards your feelings or insecurities. Luckily for me I tend to be a bit thicker skinned than some people and I can usually let things slide. However, given the current state of affairs in this world, I find myself being more sensitive lately. Admittedly, I’ve always viewed sensitivity as a weakness or a as a fault in my own character. I am struggling the past few weeks with keeping my emotions in check over the fears I have for my child growing up in these times. I have cried more the last few weeks than I have in years, literally. None of it has anything to do with my dogs or training.

Recently, I shared a video of Grit and I messing around out back with the sheep. I didn’t do it to get any sort of accolades or two show off or ‘showcase’ my dog. I guess I don’t really know WHY I shared it other than it was a few moments in time where I felt happy to be outside in beautiful weather with my dog doing something I’ve dreamed of doing for a long time. I didn’t necessarily want or ask for anyone’s opinion but I do understand I subject myself to such things each time I share anything publicly. We were not, are not, perfect. I am not a good handler (yet). He has great potential but is most certainly being held back by me learning still.

After posting that video someone reached out to me and told me I should take it down immediately. It was not “good” and I was not showing my dog in a good light. I will add, he wasn’t misbehaving or being unfair to his sheep at all. I would expect and feel comments to remove such videos would be wholly justified. Yet, the sheep were quite settled as he is a kind dog with no ill will. The person was likely not trying to come off as mean but I took it to heart, more so than if it were ‘normal times’ as I have been more sensitive. I don’t say any of this to call the person out. I am saying this because I feel it necessary to share my experience so others can gain some insight. There is a huge learning curve to sheepdog training. It’s HARD!

As I said, I am NOT here to talk crap about the person that wrote to me. In fact, I’m taking her messages and using them as motivation to get better and for that I am grateful. I will work harder because of what she said. My dog and I ARE worthy of sharing our experiences together even when we are not perfect. BUT...not everyone is able to turn things like this into motivation. Some folks would have been truly hurt and very discouraged and disheartened. I did remove the video before I was able to process and think it through. I took it down as a knee jerk reaction because someone that ‘knows more than me’ told me it wasn’t good enough to share. I was embarrassed. I was worried about looking stupid. I didn’t want to embarrass my instructor (which I know I don’t NEED to worry about). I wish now that I hadn’t removed it because maybe in a year I would have been able to look back to see how far we have come. Several lessons learned and none of them were about the actual work I was doing with my dog.

Anyways, my entire point of this long winded post is for the people who are trying their hand at something new, anything. Find your people. Find the ones who inspire you and don’t let them go. For those out there who have mastered their art ...be kind. Be aware of how your words will affect someone who is getting their feet wet. Know that you have the power to either encourage someone or totally discourage them from wanting to go any further. In your effort to “help” your words may hinder someone who is lacking the confidence to push past the negatives. On the whole, the dog training world is harsh...but guess what, even those who are the ‘greatest’ have had to fail in order to learn. Share the imperfect videos. Share your failures as much as your successes...the fact that you keep going after your goals despite a failure is the real inspiration to others. Chin up. Eyes on the prize. Be the inspiration.

Hiking for Likes

Hiking for Likes

by Anya Varrone

Your dog definitely wants to go for a hike with you. I’m sure of it. Don’t believe me? Go open your front door and see what the dog does. Go ahead. I’ll wait right here and you come back and tell me what the dog did. In fact, you don’t even have to open the front door, you can probably just go near the front door, or even just touch the dog’s leash. Or just say the word “walk”. Did your dog get excited? Freak out? Start spinning in those adorable excited circles or stand by the door doing tippy-taps? Any dog in reasonably good health, big or small, young or old, wants to hike. So do you, even if you don't think you do.

Your body and the dogs are both designed to move, and they will thank you for the opportunity to do so. Movement is what we do, its what we’re built for, and its the basis of our thirty thousand year relationship with dogs. I imagine the first dog/human pairing began with one of the two species asking the other, “Going my way?” Okay, maybe it started with “Are you gonna eat that?” But then the next thing they did was go for a hike.

So what happened when you opened the door? If your dogs are like mine, they got right up and ran out. In fact it probably took you a bit to get back here to read this because once they were out there was all the whole world to sniff and pee on and gross things to eat and roll in. I would bet they didn’t come back quickly. They tricked you into taking a hike with them. Even if it was a brief one. Taking a hike with your dogs, I mean a purposeful one, might seem like a lot of effort at first, but it will reward you in many ways.

1. And most importantly in this digital age, is that if you have a camera or cell phone, you’ll get a lot of adorable photos of your very happy, very outside, dog that you can post on social media, and you can get a lot of likes for those. Totally worth the mud and the sweat and the mosquito bites, or freezing your butt off, depending on the season.

2. You will see the world and have new experiences that you simply can not have if you are sitting home on the couch watching nature videos. Your dog does not care about nature videos. They smell of nothing. Fooey.

3. Hiking with your dog may not become evident until you get home, but folks with hyperactive dogs, dogs that are loud, or are destructive, or have any of the other myriad of behavioral issues that can make living with Fido less fun than it looked in that one movie you saw, may notice that at least for a while after that hike, the dog is settled. Calm. Fun to have around. Willing to chill. That is because “a tired dog is a well behaved dog”. From the dogs point of view, they have for the moment fulfilled their purpose: they have covered ground and patrolled a territory of sorts, and they can rest. They have moved, been stimulated mentally and physically, and now they can be still.

4. Your hike with your dog gives you all sorts of opportunities to practice your basic manners and obedience skills, such as walking nicely on a leash(yes, on a leash. Unless you are hiking on your own property or on private property where you have permission to run your dogs without, it is both good etiquette and the law in most places to have your dog on a leash. More on that in another article.). Your dog has opportunities to learn to stay calm around unfamiliar dogs or people and in novel situations. Your dog will bond more strongly with you and learn to accept your leadership with better and better results every time you encounter a situation and guide your dog through with consistent expectations for their behavior. Bonus, you encounter these situations with a dog that has had some exercise and is maybe a bit tired and a little more willing to listen.

5. the health benefits both mental and physical for you and your dog are numerous and well documented. It all boils down to that aforementioned phrase, “A tired dog is a well behaved dog”, and it applies to people too. When you have exercised, your body and brain say “thank you” by feeling good and happy and ready to rest.

Hiking isn’t the only way to get the benefits listed above for your and your dog, but it certainly is one of the least expensive and easiest to access. You don't need any special skills or equipment besides a leash and maybe a water bottle, and you can go anytime and for as long as your schedule allows, which I hope for both you and your dog is often and long. But most importantly, remember, if you hike for no other reason #getoutside to get the dog-pics to post, the stories to tell, and to get the likes on your social media page with your #dogsthathike . Nobody hashtags #dogsthatdont.

10 Reasons You and Your Dog Will Love Playing Disc!

By Taylor Justice

1) Run, and Run, and Run! Physical exercise is just as important as mental exercise. Luckily, Disc dog has BOTH! Your dog will get the rush of physical stimulation along with mental stimulation when playing with a Frisbee.

2) Team Work makes the Dream Work! Disc Dog is a cooperative sport, that means you and your dog need to work together to accomplish a shared goal. You do a good thing, I throw the Frisbee, then repeat!

3) Prey Drive to Play Drive! Giving your dog a healthy outlet for their natural prey drive will help them relax and blow off steam. What’s a better way to engage natural behaviors then in a constructive way?

4) Work That Body! Disc dog naturally teaches collection, drive, and extension control. If you want to catch the thing, you need to work your body the right way. Create healthy body mechanics that can be applied to other sports.

5) Full Throttle Focus! Playing disc teaches your dog that fun comes from the Frisbee and being engaged. Dogs that play Frisbee learn natural handler focus and off leash skills.

6) No Rules! Disc play can also be used as a way to unwind, have no rules, no goals, just a dog, a handler, and a disc. Playing with no criteria then to blow off steam.

7) Cross Training! Have goals of becoming an agility superstar? Herding hero? Obedience champion? Disc dog is a great way to work those muscles.

8) Make Great Friends! The disc dog community is full of nice and caring people. They want to see you succeed and welcome any breed, any level of skill, any goals. These are some of the best people you will meet.

9) Bring On The Titles! Disc Dog through UpDog is now partnered with AKC to offer Disc Dog titles. Looking for a new AKC showing path? Add on Disc!

10) ITS CHEAP! Disc dog is one of the cheapest sports you can play with your dogs. Entry fees are typically $20/day or $4-$7 per game depending on the venue. Where ever you live, there is a disc dog club, and if there isn’t? MAKE YOUR OWN! There are so many organizations that creating a club is fun and easy.

Our upcoming Disc Dog Workshop

Photo Credit Sara Brueske

Success in the big sheep field

Neville says “Mom! I know I did good but you’re embarrassing me!!”

Love to see happy teams coming out of the field.

-STUDENT OF THE MONTH-

-STUDENT OF THE MONTH-

Toby is a 10 year old Junior handler and Finn his Border collie/Cattle dog cross, have been taking lessons for about a year now. Toby has the makings of an exceptional dog trainer!
He arrives at each lesson eager to learn no matter what chores or work he's done before class on his family farm, he is still raring to go and excited to learn. He always has a good attitude and new ideas about how to work livestock. Toby has shown great determination and patience even when his lessons get challenging or his dog is in the mood to give him a run for his money. Finn and Toby make a wonderful partnership! They have both come so far together and continue to grow as a team. They offer some good laughs while on the side lines to the other students. 
I can't say enough good things about this boy and his dog. One thing is for sure- I'm so incredibly lucky to get the opportunity to teach them and be apart of their journey!

STUDENT OF THE MONTH!

-STUDENT OF THE MONTH-

This time goes to a human student! Melissa has been coming for 3 years, In this time I've had the pleasure of watching her grow as a dog owner. She has pushed herself and gone outside her comfort zones. Melissa continues to show up eager to learn and further her education. She is always encouraging of other students and offers up her own experiences in support no matter good or bad. Melissa possesses an important quality in a student and its that she TRIES even when its hard!

I am so proud of Melissa and honored to get to help in her dog training journey. Looking forward to watching her achieve great things with her dogs and becoming a better and better partner for them!

Pictured training her newest dog Neville (border collie x Corgi mix)