Holy Moly It’s Spring
It seems I went to sleep about a month ago and had an endless dream that I woke up in the Aleutian Islands. Days and days of forty mile an hour winds, forty degree temperatures, lots of rain. I woke up for a few days in Wisconsin, then had a nightmare that I was in Alabama in August. (Apologies, Alabama, but I am a disaster in hot humid weather.) Ninety four degrees, super humid, for days on end. I am happy to say that I have finally awoken into my home state in May again, with temps in the 60's and low 70's. Low humidity, light breeze. Heaven. However, my plans for a content-rich post have been squashed by the following To Do list, made extensive because, well, see the weather above. Read More
Skip for the Win!
[Caution: The following contains details of sheepdog trials and a video of one of Skip's runs. If that bores you to tears, no worries, I won't be offended. Just skip this; I'll see you next time!) We're just back from the Nippersink or Swim Sheepdog Trial outside of Lake Geneva, and in spite of blustery winds, cold, and rain, we had a truly great time. It was great to see people we only see at trials (friend Dan said "It's like going back to summer camp"), to work on a gorgeous field with challenging sheep, and to let the dogs do what they were born to do. To say that the sheep were challenging is an understatement. They were super reactive, meaning your dog had to work far back away Read More
Holy Moly, MORE great new books!
I know, I know, I have books piled by my bed glaring at me waiting to be read. But here's the good news: These two new books on Treat Search Tracking and Trick Training are the kind of books you can read a little or a lot, and take out what you want. I have to keep this short, given getting ready for the first sheepdog trials of the season, my novel (2/3 to 3/4 done!), and oh yeah, spring and a gazillion weeds attempting a garden take over. But I couldn't resist talking about these two books that I'm already loving, even when I haven't come close to reading them from start to finish. First, Super Dog Tricks by Sara Carson is a wonderful addition to all of our libraries. Sara and Read More