Tierra Vida Farm

06/01/2026

This doesn’t look like much but believe me, it’s a very big deal for these two!!!

05/27/2026

We are home and this boy is quite certain I do not need to finish my cup of coffee before we go do morning chores!

05/25/2026

Our trip to Soldier Hollow Classic started off with some truck trouble but we made it.

AAA got the truck home, the motorcycle got Daniel home, a nice gentleman opened his private campground for us to stay at, and 12 hours later we were back on the road with our other truck.

It’s been really fun to participate in the duck demos, watch the competition, spend time with family, and meet a new group of handlers!!

05/21/2026

Our house is never as clean as when we have a farm sitter coming. Grateful to be able to get away together for a change. Truck and trailer are packed. Two more lessons and then we pull out and head to Soldier Hollow!

05/08/2026

MAGIC MOMENTS: they ain’t all like this but it sure feels awesome when they are!

If you train with SUMMERNY RANCH or myself, you know we put a big emphasis on letting the dog work and using as few mechanics as possible.

We also talk about knowing what you want the end result to be so that your training supports that goal instead of accidentally undermining it.

End Goal (for me): a dog that understands the rules and works within them. A partnership where I can give the dog the info he needs to execute the job and then step back and let him do it. I DO NOT want to have to manage lines, rating, flanks, etc. with tons of mechanics.

This video: I wasn’t planning to video but this young man was holding his line and rating so well I couldn’t help myself. About 20 seconds before I started the video I had given him a single cue, “there”. “There” is my drive command and it means, “take the stock, on the straightest line possible, until you hear another cue from me.” If all is going well, I shouldn’t have to say a word until we need to switch directions or the job is done. All went well this morning. And yes, I was teary eyed.

BUT ……..

For every moment that goes perfectly, I guarantee you there were far more that did not (just take a peak at the video in the comments from yesterday). That’s training. It isn’t polished. It’s messy. Growth is rarely linear. What I’m looking for are trends.

My point in this early morning ramble is that herding is hard. It’s messy. It takes time. It takes patience. It takes humility. It takes a sense a humor. It takes grit. It takes letting go. It takes leading.

There are trainers who will show you the mess on social media - not just the polish - watch those videos. Because as much as I love sharing - and watching - the magic moments, I learn far more from watching and re-watching videos that share the reality of the journey!

05/07/2026

THIS!!!

Ok, keeping it real here folks: We need to normalize failure. I’m not talking about poor stockmanship. I’m talking about mistakes, failures, errors on your part or your dog’s.

An acquaintance, someone I see as accomplished but who I don’t know very well personally, said to me the other day: “I go to trials and if I don’t have a good run, people say to me, “Man, I thought you were better than that…. You’re slipping.” And it was crushing to this person and produced the kind of anxiety state that their competitors really wanted them in.

Failure is normal - for everybody, whether you’re at the top or whether you’re like me and just watch the people at the top a lot (trust me, it may not seem like it, but failure for them is normal - I see everything).

It shouldn’t cripple you or even embarrass you. It should motivate you. Most of those people at the top barely bat an eye after a failure - they’re onto the next thing and not worrying about what other people think. They have trials to win and good dogs to make.

Mistakes are normal.
The learning process (for both you and your dog) isn’t meant to be linear. It’s all over the place, a beautiful mess of big and little errors that get smoothed out over time. As long as the sheep are being treated well by you and your dog, you are on your way.

Somewhere along the way, due to social media, or maybe just because people talk, it’s become as if every trial you go to is a life or death situation for your dog’s reputation or your reputation as a “good” or “bad” handler. It used to be that people understood that dogs need miles. Miles means experience and experience means you’re going to do a lot of losing.

People say to me all the time: “I bet you’re sad you put so much time into (insert all the misbehaving inexperienced young dogs) now, aren’t you? Were you embarrassed by (insert “what the heck were you thinking” moment at trial XYZ)?”

Well, should it be embarrassing?
I’ll leave that up to you, because, honestly, I can’t be bothered with it. Luckily I don’t have anything I feel like I have to protect, and attempts at sabotage are comedic relief to me.

So let’s normalize a different way of thinking and give the dogs and their handlers some room to breath and do the same for ourselves.

One bad trial doesn’t make a bad handler or a bad dog.
Two bad trials don’t make a bad handler or bad dog.
So where’s the cut off?
There isn’t one: your enjoyment of the process is the cut off. If you’re not enjoying working (or trialing) that dog then, for me, that is the point where you may need to make a change.
Otherwise, carry on learning and being a better trainer and let the buggers ring their bells.

End of soapbox.

04/24/2026

Training is sometimes about drills and reps, but more often than not, it’s about all the consistency (or lack thereof) outside of formal training.

It’s about the expectations of behavior that you want your dog to hold themselves accountable to so that you don’t have to constantly micromanage them.

Noticing moments that present themselves and then pausing for a couple minutes to ensure the dog is clear on the rules is worth more than any number of obedience reps (in my opinion).

Ace has seen the horses plenty in the fields and has passed by them numerous times off-leash but we’d never run into them on the driveway. He was pretty curious so we took a minute to ensure he was comfortable being so close but held himself to our cardinal rule; we do not herd things without permission.

Some things he gets permission to herd pretty regularly: geese, ducks, goats, sheep, and cattle.

Other things he will never have permission to herd: cars, bikes, wildlife, and horses.

The cool thing is, unless he’s given permission to work, he knows the rule is to mind his own business, even if it’s hard … he holds himself accountable.

At the end of the day, that’s what I want in a dog and it’s why I use pressure & release as the foundation for how I live with - and train - my dogs.