Perfection, Part I

I recently became interested in the Shingo Model, which I learned about from Dear Daughter who is completing an MBA with a Shingo Model emphasis. I even did an online training and got a certificate — Go Me!

I love learning!

And that is why I am not making attainable goals in 2024.

Nope.

I am going for perfection.

This is me on a New Year’s Eve two-hour Peloton bike ride 💪🏼

One of the Shingo Guiding Principles is Seek Perfection — and that kind of blew my mind, which was good because it caused me to reflect about this as it relates to goals — and Life, with Dogs.

Sparkle: “Great, could we go on a perfect walk now?”

We get a lot of messages about not trying to be perfect, and the need to make goals that are realistic and achievable.

It is like we build in permission to have defects so that we are not sad and disappointed when it isn’t perfect.

Huh?!

Upon reflection, that seems kind of bonkers.

Why not learn how to not be sad and disappointed when something isn‘t perfect? Those are, after all, just thoughts and feelings that originate in our own minds (unless you are possessed by demons, which is a different problem) and therefore, we have the ability to choose NOT to feel sad and disappointed.

Personally, I do not enjoy sadness or disappointment and so I will not be signing myself up for extra portions.

What if we learn to see defects, errors, and mistakes as invitations to quickly and thoughtfully course correct on the path to perfection?

Wait, WHAT?!

A mistake as an invitation to get closer to perfect and not an opportunity to feel badly about ourselves or poke at our bruises — or blame our dog?!

Exactly.

Ponder that, if you would.

And HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Capella's Excellent Idea

Check out what Capella has offered as her plan for article indication.

Although I like the dog to pick up the articles, tracking is a team sport and so if Capella has a different idea that will accomplish the same thing — totally fine.

And super cute. ❤️

Something else we are doing is learning the Scentwork game. The Christmas boxes have been great for this but we have two slight complications.

Complication #1

Complication #2

“You left a box out.”

“And this one — you also left this out.”

“FYI — this box was also left out.”

Happy Saturday!

Flying my Tri-Colored Kite

One big advantage of being a morning person is you are awake to appreciate the sunrise. I took this from my deck this morning.

Pozy is also tracking, and today was her day.

Can you see the start flag?

In 2024, I would like to have Pozy ready for a TD.

We continue to work on track commitment, which means that I want her consistently on the track. The above photo is perfectly fine — she is checking out something to the left of the track but is not off the track. The tree is the marker and so you can tell that she is still on the track — look at how the tracking line is directly in line with that marker tree. Good job, Pozy.

This photo also shows excellent track commitment.

These next three photos show what I am trying to work through with Pozy. She will be going along just fine and then suddenly she is doing a giant circle around me.

Like a kite!

And then right back on track to the finish.

The circling is a waste of energy for her and risks the line getting tangled up. It also creates the potential of getting lost — me and/or her. Circling can and does happen at corners but Pozy does it randomly on straight legs — not corners.

I am decreasing the behavior with more reinforcements on the track and also reeling in line when she starts a circle so she cannot go very far afield, so to speak. It is getting better — only two circles today on a long two-turn track ⭐️

After enjoying her end-of-track meal, Pozy got to play.

She is SUCH a smart working dog!

Are you getting your 2024 aspirations ready?

📋