From BarJor:

1. What's a song you like that everyone would be surprised about?

I don't know about a particular song, but people are alway surprised and revolted by my love of Cypress Hill.

2. Who's your hero (non sports related)?

I don't know about HERO, because that sounds like I have a Carlos' Mom vanity plate, but I would say that my son right now is one of the greatest people I have ever known…and his sister is another, though she can't do any pushups and perpetually steals my clothing.  I should buy a Cienna's Mom t-shirt.

3. Do you hit the snooze button on the alarm clock, how many times?

I don't know about alarm clock, but something goes off every morning about 6. Jai and Scout start hinting about breakfast by jumping on and off the bed and licking (or in Scout's case, presenting her grisely grinning visage close enough to my face that I can hear her amygdala ticking) and Pat stands at the side of the bed staring at me. There is no sleeping through that.  Do they have snooze buttons? I'll fish around tomorrow morning and see what I find….

4. Name ONE run (agility, herding, etc) from someone else that inspired you and why?

I don't know about INSPIRATION, though now I always wear a belt to the post….

There have been a few especially beautiful runs, but I think one of my all time favorites, that for a long time I couldn't recount without tearing up and feeling like a cheesehead, happened at Lacamas a few years ago with P*trick running Andi. She was very young and he hadn't run her in open for long.  He hadn't expected to get into the double lift finals with her and so hadn't really worked on a look back.  He ended up qualifying to run her.  It wasn't a winning run, by a long shot, but after her first outrun, lift and fetch…when he told her to LOOK BACK and she stood mid field, looking from him to the sheep she'd already gathered…to the Great Come By Beyond which he was seemingly telling her to revisit… she spent this period of time trying to figure out what he meant, what he wanted – – and he articulated it so smoothly, calmly encouraging her, telling her to look back.  Finally, that moment when she tentatively ran far enough out to see the second set of sheep…was really beautiful and for me profound. 

Another time someone lost their pants at the post and I think that's pretty fucking inspirational, too, though I wasn't there to see it.  The story lives on.

5. What's the last book you read?

I'm currently reading The Anthologist, by Nicholson Baker.  Previous to this I was reading The Finishing School by Dick Couch. 

From Willow's Rest:

What are some tips on living frugally?

Squirrels are edible!

Laura asks:

1. What is one lesson you've learned this week?

On Saturday I worked Jai at P*tricks.  The sheep we were working were so new that they still had that new ewe smell (Not really. I never got close enough, but they did not have that world weary attitude that says The Ram Got to Go To The Onions And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Post).

P*trick said these new fresh sheep would be especially prone to flight and that the draw would be very hard to the away side.  He suggested it would be best if we kept our dogs from overflanking and attempting to control the sheep with their physical pressure, which the sheep would continue to fight, and instead we should make them use their eye which the sheep would respect.  We should do this by keeping the dogs more at 10:30 – 11:00, instead of 9. 

I want to just pause here for a moment and say that this analogy will not continue to be relevant in the age of digital clocks.  But for now, seemingly, I understood. I certainly nodded.  

Then I sent Jai, who did a nice outrun, decent lift…then floated erratically between 9 and 2…as if she were a long government lunch.  I kept trying to decide where 10:30 was with a moving clock.  I wished we could use a kitchen timer instead that would make a sound on either side.

I tend to get hung up on technicalities like this.  I wasn't really watching my dog, and certainly not the livestock…I was just sort of sucked into that clock metaphor.

"You need to correct her every time she turns away from the sheep," P*trick told me. 

By concentrating on THE WRONG THING, once again, I was way off.  As soon as I started correcting her for turning away, which made her flank too wide, she was in the right place.  It was that easy.  Pretty much.

The thing I learned isn't new.  I'm sure I should have known that when she was turning away, she was out of contact and that was the moment that was more important than a rough clock reference, but I was focused on the WRONG THING, again.  I wanted it to be a technical solution. Again. A + B = C.  It was more fluid than that and also much easier. 

2. Who or what might you have been in another life? What might you be in a next life?

I was a clock. For sure.  Next life – back to being a clock.  I didn't learn shit the last time around.

3. What unusual things do you like the smell of but don't usually admit?

Really? Hmmmm….dog feet. I can't think of anything else.  I'd admit to almost anything.  Look at me all facing up to being a timepiece last time around when most people think they were Joan of Arc or Cleofuckingpatra.

4. What are your thoughts on continuing on vs. retiring when a trial run is going badly? How do you decide? Where do you draw the line?

I used to freak out with Pat and walk as soon as the he wouldn't take a LIEYOURBLACKASSDOWN!…but that was earlier on when my entire run, each and every run, filled me with panic and the need to pee.   Now I have relaxed some and will only walk if I or my dog can't learn something or get some positive experience out of staying on the field.  I don't know if I can REALLY say that I trust my judgement here…but I'm more likely to error on the side of staying than retiring.  At this point. 

5. This is a call for questions or subjects you'd like to talk about – I'd appreciate suggestions (and please come link up so that I'll be sure to see your post), so here's your chance!

I will work on this one.

Laura from C&C asks:

1. Stopping your dog – what do you prefer? On their feet? On their belly? Some combination?
Pat needs to lie his black ass down.  No compromise. He needs to hit the ground.  Jai self-stops, often too much, so I am working on a Stand with her.  I think just a slight pause on her feet would serve us better.  It would encourage flow and discourage the laying and staring option, something she often employs; feels more comfortable with in tricky situations that eventually often lead to a thorough Trial Thanking.

2. At what point do you start teaching this?
I like to think that, optimally, you start teaching a skill you need as you need it.  But, then, I like to think that this newish fleece pullover I bought is really cute and stylish though my daughter assures me that it actually looks like something that a bear would shit out after eating a movie's worth of muppets.  Anyway, as far as training and DOGS go – I haven't trained a dog from SCRATCH, so to speak, and both my dogs understand what Stop means, but it needs to mean something slightly different, depending on the dog and situation.  It's like Snow in Eskimo and WTF in my refrigerator.

3. Do you have a favorite dog? I won't tell.
Not really. I love all my dogs, but I think I'm especially drawn to Scout because she's such an odd little thing.  She asks for nothing and gives almost nothing in return.  I cannot understand her at all; what motivates her, what makes her happy…where all the Scoutrage comes from. 

Jai is a joyfilled dog and you can't NOT be happy around her.  She loves everyone and everything…except my daughter and Scout's barking. I love the way Jai snuggles up to me in her quiet moments and I love the way Jai vibrates with pent up energy and enthusiasm any other time.  She is a 0 to 99 MPH dog.

Pat is a sweet, goofy ole perv with a lot of talent and a heart as big as his floppy feet.  He is my soul mate. (Or a hamster is, who can say?)

LIkewise my other dogs have similar endearing qualities…but these are the 3 dogs with whom I am closest.  Each one is my favorite, depending on my day and my mood.

4. What is the #1 thing a dog can do to push your buttons?
Bark.  Or bite me while I try to move not quite fast enough.  Scout likes to rush and bite my ankles during our walks/runs.  I have tried EVERY POSSIBLE THING to get this to stop and NOTHING changes this behavior.  I hate it and it makes me yell and rush her, or shake her by her collar and say NOGODDAMNITNOFUCKINGNONONONO… and she barks and does it more.  LIttle Fucker.

5. Brrrrr… it's winter. What is your favorite soup recipe?
Green Chili Stew.  Main ingredients are pork, roasted green chilis of desired spiciness, potatoes, onion…seasonings to taste.  Simmer a long time for best flavor.

It's Shark Week* for Jai…which means that she'll be In the Kitchen next week. No running Pat at The Big Tease. He'll be crazed with lust.
He'll be peeing himself, mad for The Hump That Wasn't.  Poor ole guy.  My leg 2 years ago was the last time he made a Love Connection. 

Jai, meanwhile, has gotten Kate Moss thin and is shedding her coat as if it were last years fashion. As if she has a new one on order from Neiman Barkus. Maybe.

New Question: What's an odd behavior that you believe to be fairly unique to your dog? For me it's Jai's weird habit of staring in at us from outside through the big picture window on the patio.  She does this for HOURS as if she's watching one of her favorite shows: Us sitting around watching television.  It's on THREE or FOUR times a WEEK!! The other dogs lay on floors and couches, snoozing.  Jai stands outside looking in,  big ears alert to what might happen next – I might get up and retrieve another beer, Carlos might check his email.  She looks from me on my chair to my son on the loveseat, to Zeke Finley sleeping on the floor…Jen on the futon… Sometimes she runs in to see if its as real inside as it appears to be from outside, through the glass.  We're just not as interesting in person.

She only does this in Boise.  In Greenleaf she is in the house with me and Pat and Scout, laying around, chewing bones, acting normally. For the most part.

*Bleeding the fuck all over my furniture

**Wants to put Something in the Oven

***Ain't Happening

Yesterday I worked Jai in the desert with DD and Kelsey and Jody R.  It was a beautiful day, if you don't buy into that whole Climate Change is Real and A Beautiful Day in January with No Snow Pack in the Mountains Means Drought and Certainly Crop Issues if Not Global Food Shortages and Eventual World Wide Hunger and Cannibalism of Poor People's Irritating Children Plus Maybe My Chubby Neighbor Who Drives a Lexus SUV In Spite of There Being No S or U in her V.  The one who HONKS every morning for SOME fucking unknown reason.  HONKS! leaving her DRIVEWAY!! As if She Were Going on a Cruise Instead of 3 – 7 miles to her Bullshit Office Job Where Everyone Dresses As If Dillard's Department Store Sales were run by Polpot.  Bitch. I mean, TASTY!

Anyway! GREAT day in the desert.  Jai worked very well for me; as she has been very consistently lately.  No gripping, no excessive laying down and avoiding.  Pretty good about taking the flanks, very good about taking the correction and adjusting.  DD commented on how good she is looking, as did Jody R. and Kelsey. 

Clearly Jai knows that she'll be eating Soylent Green soon.  Perspective. The sheep no longer seem so intimidating. Or tasty.

I am looking forward to the Big Thaw (I know…Chill is for you DOUBTERS)… because it will be fun.  Fun people are coming into town.  Fun people are resident in town.  Jai may or may not be the Jai I've seen lately.  I don't care.  Either way: Fun.