Tell Me Shit Thursday

You gotta love the land of bloggerdom.

http://zeke.typepad.com/eyeherdewe/
How has sheepdog work changed you as a person OUTSIDE of the work?

I'm not sure if  it is the sheepdogging or the aging process that has "mellowed" me.  I can still party hardy (3 broken ribs proves that), but there isn't too much that riles me up anymore.  Not even a friend who I thought was a friend who turned out to be a real jerk.  I just turned the other cheek and continued to enjoy myself.  So, I guess I have developed a "tolerance" of sorts.  I don't have to say anything bad. I know there are "sheep whores"...that's what I like to call them.  People that are super nice to your face in order to try to get to work your sheep or be what they think is the "in" crowd. 

That most definitely is NOT me.  I'm honest to a fault.  I'm NOT part of the "in" crowd.  I never have been and don't plan on "pretending" to other people's faces.  It ain't in me.  I have just as much fun trialing in USBCHA as in AKC or AHBA, or at fun days with all of my friends and different breeds. I don't fit in as a BC snob, that's for sure.  Fun is fun.  My dogs don't care which organization we go herd sheep in.  They are just happy we are doing it.

I'm not sure if it's because I have endured cancer (chemo and radiation) and the realization that I might die earlier than I want to OR if it is the "zen-like" moments at the post and in the desert that have taught me the true joys of life.  Some people meditate.  I work my dogs.  It's the closest I can come to "meditation" without meditating.  That and hiking.  It always amazes my husband that I can go work my dogs in any type of weather.  Heck...while receiving continuous IV chemo I was out in a snowstorm working my dogs.  (Little did I know that my chemo was temperature sensitive).  Working my dogs makes me feel good mentally and physically.  I hope my dogs enjoy the experience just as much as I do.

I can "whistle" now.  I have never been able to whistle with or without my fingers.  I have met some truly genuinely "wonderful" people in the land of sheepdogging.  I like how everybody roots for everybody, win or lose.   Sheepdog work is "teamwork" like I have never known before in any other dog sports I have competed in.  Plus, in sheepdogging I have learned to "trust" my dog.    You learn when not to interfere while watching the turn of events unfold while trusting your dog.  Now, that's just too cool!  I can't imagine my life without it. :0)