THE END OF AN ERA
After 19 years of training stockdogs professionally, I am hanging up my floppy straw hat and will no longer be doing lessons. As you can imagine, this decision did not come quickly or was it made lightly. I do believe that this has been one of my callings and I have loved doing this for 25 years now, but it’s become clear that it is time to move on to a new phase of life and a new calling.
Three years ago I decided to try my hand at doing lessons and farming full time after 5 years of doing it alongside an off-farm job. According to all of my numbers and calculations, it should have worked. What I couldn’t have foreseen was a rise in gas prices and crippling inflation across our economy. Everyone has had to cut back, and the first thing that goes is recreational dog activities and pasture raised lamb and goat. I’ve gotten by as best I can, but it’s become impossible to keep up with expensive maintenance and repairs like a new water softener and water heater, and new gravel in the driveway. (Sorry about the holes, I been poor, lol.)
Long story short, I had to get a grownup job that pays more money so that I can afford stuff and my kids don’t have to keep doing without. Unfortunately that requires letting go of doing lessons. I’m older now than the woman who used to work seven days a week, and I burned myself out burning the candle at both ends for those five years. I’ve been offered a position as the hospital manager for a veterinary clinic in the Nora area of Indianapolis, and I’m looking forward to getting back into a veterinary practice setting to put to use all of the invaluable skills that I’ve learned over the years.
This Friday, October 18th will be my last day of lessons. All lessons scheduled October 19th and beyond are cancelled. I do apologize for the short notice, but they’re wanting to move quickly at the clinic to get me up to speed.
Here is a resource for herding trainers in the area: http://www.blueboniff.com/midwestherding/trainers.htm
I’m not sure exactly how current the information is, as my info there is nearly 10 years out of date, but it’s a good place to start!
I want to thank each and every one of you for trusting me with your dog’s training and for showing up in all types of weather, week in and week out. It has been a dream fulfilled to learn from every dog in my program and to help them become the best version of themselves. Thank you for supporting my dream and passion for all of these years and allowing me to grow as a trainer in ways I could have never imagined. I’ve been so fortunate to meet so many incredible people from so many different walks of life, and I’m proud to call many of you friends after all of these years. I’ve grieved the loss of dear friends, both human and canine, and delighted with you over new puppies and babies. Thank you for joining me in this small slice of our lives. You’ve all impacted me in a million wonderful ways, and I can only hope to have impacted yours as well.
Please don’t be a stranger, and reach out with your questions or updates! I’m not really on Facebook anymore, but I’m sometimes on IG and I’m definitely on TikTok more than I should be, so feel free to find me there and send me lots of funny dog content.
Take care, best wishes, and scratch all of those dogs real good for me!!!
Three years ago I decided to try my hand at doing lessons and farming full time after 5 years of doing it alongside an off-farm job. According to all of my numbers and calculations, it should have worked. What I couldn’t have foreseen was a rise in gas prices and crippling inflation across our economy. Everyone has had to cut back, and the first thing that goes is recreational dog activities and pasture raised lamb and goat. I’ve gotten by as best I can, but it’s become impossible to keep up with expensive maintenance and repairs like a new water softener and water heater, and new gravel in the driveway. (Sorry about the holes, I been poor, lol.)
Long story short, I had to get a grownup job that pays more money so that I can afford stuff and my kids don’t have to keep doing without. Unfortunately that requires letting go of doing lessons. I’m older now than the woman who used to work seven days a week, and I burned myself out burning the candle at both ends for those five years. I’ve been offered a position as the hospital manager for a veterinary clinic in the Nora area of Indianapolis, and I’m looking forward to getting back into a veterinary practice setting to put to use all of the invaluable skills that I’ve learned over the years.
This Friday, October 18th will be my last day of lessons. All lessons scheduled October 19th and beyond are cancelled. I do apologize for the short notice, but they’re wanting to move quickly at the clinic to get me up to speed.
Here is a resource for herding trainers in the area: http://www.blueboniff.com/midwestherding/trainers.htm
I’m not sure exactly how current the information is, as my info there is nearly 10 years out of date, but it’s a good place to start!
I want to thank each and every one of you for trusting me with your dog’s training and for showing up in all types of weather, week in and week out. It has been a dream fulfilled to learn from every dog in my program and to help them become the best version of themselves. Thank you for supporting my dream and passion for all of these years and allowing me to grow as a trainer in ways I could have never imagined. I’ve been so fortunate to meet so many incredible people from so many different walks of life, and I’m proud to call many of you friends after all of these years. I’ve grieved the loss of dear friends, both human and canine, and delighted with you over new puppies and babies. Thank you for joining me in this small slice of our lives. You’ve all impacted me in a million wonderful ways, and I can only hope to have impacted yours as well.
Please don’t be a stranger, and reach out with your questions or updates! I’m not really on Facebook anymore, but I’m sometimes on IG and I’m definitely on TikTok more than I should be, so feel free to find me there and send me lots of funny dog content.
Take care, best wishes, and scratch all of those dogs real good for me!!!