I was fortunate to spend the final week of January out on the great American desert, watching highly skilled dogs follow their passion and do their work. This was the last week of bird hunting for the year; a bittersweet time of year for myself, and the dogs too I suppose. As I watched the dogs crisscrossing the high steppe country where our favorite birds live, I found myself thinking about the parallels between how the dogs do their work and how we humans do ours. Dogs and humans both have similar desires, I’d say: making progress toward some kind of goal. It occurred to me that perhaps this was worth a closer look.
Let’s start with the dogs.
Working dogs make a living by gathering information, making a plan, and carrying out the mission, whatever that might be. Guard dogs observe, watch, listen, make a determination of threat, and launch their attack. Stock dogs watch their prey intently, then use pressure of various types to bend the livestock to their will. They use psychology and physical intimidation to force the sheep or cattle to do whatever they ask. Bird dogs, well, they have their own unique methods, methods that we might learn something from, I’d say.
Bird dogs are selected (genetically) to find birds. I believe it is fair to say they love their job. And while it may look like they are just running around having fun, I would assure folks that there is some serious work going on out there. It is the business of gathering and analyzing information, figuring things out, making a plan, and finally, finding the birds. To accomplish this task the bird dog almost exclusively uses her nose, her sense of smell.
Let’s take a quick look at how this works. First things first: birds have a smell. The birds I am talking about here are what we call ground birds: quail, partridges, grouse, pheasants, etc. I’m not sure whether they smell good or bad, but they definitely smell; they give off scent. And among the millions of different scents in the aerial profile, bird dogs have been selected to focus exclusively on those particular scents.
Ground birds give off scent in two different ways. One way is when their feet touch the soil as they are walking around doing whatever birds do. This leaves a trail of scent that the dog might be able to follow. Dogs that are engaged in tracking birds move across the landscape with their nose very close to the ground, zigging and zagging just a bit, gathering information about the birds as they go. Experienced dogs will often be able to tell whether they are actually following the birds or tracking away from the birds: they analyze the information and determine whether they are going in the right direction or not.
Ground birds also give off scent to the air. When there is a gentle breeze, the scent of the birds will be blown down wind, and although the concentration of scent molecules must be infinitesimal, the bird dog is able to perceive this bit of data and follow along, constantly moving toward the source of the scent. Dogs that are “working the wind” will move along fairly slowly with their noses held relatively high, testing the wind, gathering data, and – we like to say — figuring the birds out. This is a lovely thing to watch. Let’s take a closer look at how this works.
The Scent Cone
As the bird dog moves across the landscape it will encounter a very weak, very diffuse bit of scent being carried by the wind. The velocity of the wind, the distance from the bird, temperature, humidity (and likely many other factors) determine how strong the data is. Still, it is safe to assume that this initial bit of information is very weak. As the dog moves up wind, the scent becomes stronger, the data becomes more reliable. As the dog actually approaches the source of the data –the bird itself—the information is very strong and the dog knows almost exactly where the bird is. With all of this really good information the dog “decides” to stop and wait for the hunter to catch up. I put quotation marks around decides as I am not really sure how a dog’s brain works.
One important note here is to recognize that as the scent cone (information) gets better, the dog modifies its search, narrowing the scope, and finally locks in on the target: finding the truth about where the bird is hiding.
The Information Cone
As I was watching some fine dog work this week it occurred to me that this is the same thing that ranchers do when it comes to decision-making: we gather information and make decisions about strategy. Unfortunately, some of the data we take in is of much less quality than others. This sometimes causes us to make very poor decisions.
Here’s what our information cone looks like:
Based on my five decades of ranching experience here’s how I’ve learned to define poor, better and best information sources:
Poor Information Sources
• Coffee Shop gossip and advice from people who are primarily doing the same things their grandfathers did.
• Social media reports offered up by self-described experts – folks who (perhaps) mean well but have very little experience in the real world.
• Industry sources funded by businesses whose primary interest is selling me a product.
• Internet or printed magazines that do not include professional editing or oversight. They simply print whatever people send them.
• Research papers that are funded by for-profit businesses. These may be from private research facilities or even Universities and tend to promote something the business would like you to buy.
Better Information Sources
• Books written by long-experienced students of nature, science, and business. These may be focused on grazing. Others may not specifically apply to the questions you are pondering, but can be a good place to start because they provide inspiration or new ways of thinking about things.
Best, or High-Quality Information Sources
• Trusted individuals who have a long history of success in your area of interest.
• Journal articles that are peer-reviewed or vetted.
• Organizations that consult, advise, and educate without marketing silver-bullet solutions.
My basic belief on finding success is that seeking those trusted and successful individuals who will be your mentor is probably the most important piece of this puzzle. On the other hand, finding those folks can be very challenging. In terms of finding really high-quality sources of published information, I can only think of two that I truly recommend.
Ranch Management Consultants (the folks that bring you the Ranching for Profit School and many other educational experiences) produces a newsletter called Profit Tips that is always filled with thoughtful, factual information. The only thing they sell is an educational experience that is based on sound business and ecological principles. You can check them out here.
My other suggestion for factual information is the magazine you are reading right now. On Pasture is a journal that is focused on bringing factual information to the grazing community. Sometimes practical, sometimes academic, sometimes irreverent, On Pasture does not accept advertising or sponsorships. Your editor, Kathy Voth, fact-checks each article ruthlessly and often makes not-so-gentle suggestions on ways to improve a writer’s accuracy.
Trust me, I know a bit about that.
Best wishes in the coming year, and happy grazing.
John Marble
P.S. Kathy says we all need a good laugh. Here you go:
