kelpiegirl Posted July 31, 2008 Report Share Posted July 31, 2008 The other night, after seeing a commercial for the show "intervention", I thought to myself, do I fit the criteria for having an addiction? I looked up the signs of addiction, and indeed, I think I do. I have taken this from http://www.addictionca.com/drug-addiction-signs.htm, and fit it to the sheep aspect of our lives. Do YOU think you need an sheep-vention? * Increase or decrease in appetite; changes in eating habits, unexplained weight loss or gain. * Smell of sheep, body or clothes. * Extreme hyperactivity; excessive talkativeness- about sheep and working them. * Bruise marks or bruises on lower arm, legs or top of feet, from sheep running over you. * Change in overall attitude / personality with no other identifiable cause. * Changes in friends: new hang-outs, avoidance of old non-sheep crowd, new friends are sheep users. * Change in activities; loss of interest in things that were important before, now the only thing that matters is working sheep. * Drop in school or work performance; skips or is late to school or work. * Changes in habits at home; loss of interest in family and family activities, or anything that doesn't have to do with sheep/sheepdogs. * Difficulty in paying attention; forgetfulness, except for trial opening dates. * Lack of motivation, energy, self-esteem, discipline. Bored, "I don't care" attitude, except for sheepdog work. * Defensiveness, temper tantrums, resentful behavior (everything's a hassle), when you can't work sheep. * Unexplained moodiness, irritability, or nervousness, when you can't work sheep. * Violent temper or bizarre behavior, when you can't work sheep. * Unexplained silliness or giddiness, when you schedule lots of sheep work. * Paranoia -- suspiciousness, when people whiff you in Dunkin Donuts after working sheep. * Excessive need for privacy; keeps door locked or closed, won't let people in, unless being invited to work sheep. * Secretive or suspicious behavior- in the eyes of non-sheep people- to sheep people, you are just shy. * Car accidents, fender benders, household accidents, while rushing to get to the sheep. * Chronic dishonesty; trouble with police, when questioned about how much money you have spent on a dog, or sheep lessons. * Unexplained need for money; can't explain where money goes; stealing - to be able to work sheep more * Unusual effort to cover arms, legs, and neck, to hide the sheep bumps/bruises, and lanyard. * Change in personal grooming habits, as long as there isn't obvious sheep poop on your person, it's passable. * Possession of drug paraphernalia for sheep, and dogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurae Posted July 31, 2008 Report Share Posted July 31, 2008 That's hilarious, Julie. The worst for me is "excessive talkativeness- about sheep and working them." My friends' eyes just glaze over all the time before I realize I've been talking about the finer points of how I'm going to fix Taz's slicing this time for the past half hour again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiegirl Posted July 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2008 I was hoping you would take a look I do feel like it is an addiction- truly. When I think I can't work sheep for too long, I get all buggared up, and I just want to explode. Then I walk into a field, and ZEN comes over me. I hope more people check this out, as I think it probably fits for a lot of us. I wish you and I lived near eachother so we could coordinate our training, and keep ourselves grounded... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurae Posted July 31, 2008 Report Share Posted July 31, 2008 Keep ourselves grounded? I think if we lived near one another, we'd lose all semblance of balance all together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tip's Mum Posted July 31, 2008 Report Share Posted July 31, 2008 OMG Julie... I'm definitely addicted. Shall we look for a 12-step program, or form our own support group of people with the addiction who don't want a cure? I have one addition to the list: *spends countless hours surfing the internet reading sheepdog-related websites at the expense of office work, house work, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Bo Boop Posted July 31, 2008 Report Share Posted July 31, 2008 I was just thinking about that the other day, and how all consuming this has become Golf was never this bad! But I was thinking how much of my time this really takes up, scary! Everyday, as soon as I get off the air (9am) Im down at the barn working dogs or taking care of sheep and horses...and I'm usually piddling with them , working on the barn, pasture etc... throughout the day till I go back on the air at 3:30..then I ususally take a dog to feed with me in the evenings...and of course my poor husband has to listen over dinner to how good or bad the dogs went that day , how my sheep are doing ;-) what trials are coming up blah blah blah LOL poor guy! Yep very scary indeed! I love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsnrs Posted August 1, 2008 Report Share Posted August 1, 2008 We are newbies but love talking dogs, getting tips for training,e tc. My friend with BCs (we have Aussies) goes Thursday to a trainer and she calls me before and after. I used to go Wednesdays and did the same thing. Now working my own 4 hobby sheep and talking to her about that every day. We are definitely addicts. My Alfie's BD is tomorrow. SHe will be 4 yrs old so she gets to do her favorite things: herd sheep in the a.m. and play ball. Priceless. N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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