I am actually on my way to Utah to spend a few days with Dear Daughter (she is having surgery today) but came through Boise for a quick visit.
Sparkle — these photos do her justice.
Monday Round-Up & Confirmation Bias: An Example
Let’s start with some wonderful news.
I tuned in to the live stream of a big show back east and who do I see but Lori and Ruthie (Sparkler)! I watched while Ruthie was placed third in a lovely and big class of Open Bitches — well-handled by Lori. How awesome is that?! Congratulations Team Ruthie.
Littermate Kiri also had a good weekend at one of the same giant shows. In spite of being the only of the many lovely Special bitches sporting her summer coat, Kiri received an Award of Merit from Breeder-Judge Libby K. VERY cool. Kiri is, of course, owner-handled — and very well, I might add. Love the live streaming!
Congratulations are also due to Marti and her girl, Lili — Lili (an adopted member of the Kaibab family ;) completed the requirements for the BMDCA Versatility Excellent award! WOO HOO and big congratulations to Team Lili.
Okay —now onto Confirmation Bias: An Example.
I was giddy with excitement — the countertops were arriving!!!
They wheeled in the first slab.
“Is this the color you ordered?” he asked with a smile, clearly joking.
“No, actually it isn’t,” I said.
Awkward and incredulous silence ensued.
We both got on our phones — him to the Countertop Mothership and me to the Kitchen Designer.
In the end, the guys offered to just install the wrong ones so we have countertops until the new ones arrive, and told us how much they appreciated we were nice people and were not irate.
Check out the current mortuary-themed kitchen — or maybe Halloween?
I sigh a lot.
Sigh.
An important and related aside: It is okay if we say “at least…” to ourselves but never to others.
At least I have countertops now!
You may recall the giant tree episode — the one that missing falling on me and two dogs by a matter of minutes?
Apparently I have offended the Wood gods.
I was driving home from tracking yesterday and chatting on speaker with my Perfect Sister when suddenly there was a giant BOOM and the window right behind me exploded.
With Claire in the crate. Luckily, I had the mesh screen up and that prevented the glass from showering her.
It did not seem likely that someone shot my window with a cannon but it sure sounded that way.
I called 911 and a nice deputy showed up. He went up the road to investigate and at the point there was glass, he also found this…
It even had incriminating glass that matched my window embedded in it! Clearly the culprit.
Okay, how shall I interpret these three unfortunate experiences?
The experiences and events we have as we walk through the world are pressed through our mental filters and those things are either grabbed as evidence or discarded as irrelevant based on what we already tend to believe — about ourselves, about others, about the Universe, about God.
THAT is Confirmation Bias.
We can understand our Confirmation Bias(es) by paying attention to what emerges after an event/experience goes through those mental filters.
For example, I tend to quickly and easily see the benefits and positives when things do not go according to plan.
My windshield needed replacing anyway — this shattered window will get me to finally take care of it.
At least I have countertops now — the end is in sight!
What a blessing I was running late and not crushed by the tree.
My Mental Channels tend towards the Optimism Channel and Good Intentions Channel — not the “Poor Me” or “Life Sucks” Channels.
How and why can I do that after almost being crushed by a tree, having a piece of wood miss my driver’s side window by inches, and having yet another kitchen mess up/delay?
Because Mental Channels are a choice and in my mind, I control the remote.
Monday Round-Up
I always hesitate to overly recognize a dog, fearing that others will think ribbon-related accomplishments are what matters to me.
How can I adequately convey that what I value for our Kaibab dogs are interesting lives, and that I know well there are so many ways that can be achieved. I fear that my words may not be adequate — but I mean that most sincerely.
Abbie’s interesting life involves being a canine big sister to Hal, and being loved to pieces by her humans. Ze.D is beloved by his two dads and has an extended canine and feline family as well; he also gets more exercise than most of his littermates — or any of us! Abbie and Ze.D’s lives as valued family members and companions are not less-than simply because there are no ribbons or recognition for their accomplishments.
Creating puppies that have the abilities needed to fit into family and community life is no small feat, and the measure of our success in achieving that goal is in the charmed lives those dogs live as beloved companions to wonderful humans. There may not be ribbons for those dogs — but just know there is plenty of appreciation for their wonderful lives.
Ruthie, Jordan, Zimmer, Lucas, and Tika are leading their humans on wonderful learning adventures. Each of those teams will be reflecting their interesting lives through continued participation in dog events.
Every Sparkler is in his/her perfect home and living his/her perfect life.
It is also true that as a reputable and ethical breeder of Bernese Mountain Dogs, the dogs who are actively competing are our “face” in the larger breed community. The competing dogs are the more visible proof in the pudding, so to speak, about how we are doing in achieving our commitment and responsibility to produce Berners who accurately reflect the Breed Standard.
Kiri is one of the Sparklers who carries a particularly heavy mantle in this regard. Actively competing in both the breed ring and performance events, Team Kiri represents us as breeders, and our larger Kaibab Community — especially, the Sparklers (our J Litter).
Team Kiri is giving our community much to celebrate together, and she is representing Team Sparklers well. Over the weekend Kiri (always owner-handled) picked up six more points towards her Bronze Grand Championship — only nine more points to go (a dog needs 100 for Bronze).
Last weekend Kiri earned her AJP (an excellent level agility title) plus her first PACH points.
And we recently learned that Kiri is the BMDCA’s Top Novice Agility Dog AND the Top Open Agility Dog for 2019.
WOWZA.
This is Kiri and her uncle Tristan (iPup) in their holiday photo showing off their excellent core strength…
Congratulations to Team Kiri — and thanks for making the rest of us look good from the comfort of our pile of snow…
Claire resting after hearing about her sister’s recent activities!
Happy Monday doing whatever fun and interesting things you have planned for today.