Facts trump blame and shame game
Teams of dogs are interesting. With the range of ages, abilities and temperaments in our working dog team there are always ‘‘dynamics’’ to deal with.
Grumbles sometimes lead to rumbles: A canine leg lifted in an inappropriate place producing an inappropriate puddle; and the one that winds me up most is the barking in the kennels which sparks more barking along the row. It is so easy to blame the young ones for misdemeanours but it could well be the oldershould-know-better dog at fault.
Building the team and training each individual well involves finding facts rather than rushing to conclusions and disciplining the wrong animal.
Better to understand each situation, give praise, and reward good behaviour.
Jumping on the same dog every time, with the assumption that it must be that ratbag again, ends up with a surly sulker not willing to listen.
Similar with children really, although the ‘‘naughtiness’’ is
different in a classroom or family: Names carved in the desk, pens poked into ribs, bad smells wafting, bad language and scoffing, sneaky put-downs and a range of other inappropriate behaviours. Again it is easy to blame the same ‘‘bad’’ child because he/she caused trouble before. It could be the ‘‘good’’ ones winding the situation up.
Much better to try understanding rather than rushing to conclusions.
Frustration builds when you don’t get recognition for improving behaviour and working on doing things better.
Being jumped on for stuff you didn’t do because others continually make assumptions and assign blame is discouraging whether you are a dog or a child ... or a farmer.
I will use an example of a recent ‘‘news’’ item on TV showing cows in the mud followed by footage of a brown waterway. That leads viewers to jump to the conclusion that this is a ‘‘naughty’’ farmer again doing ‘‘bad’’ stuff. But unfortunately there were some important and relevant facts the TV chose not to show. Revealing these crucial facts radically changes the understanding of the situation. There were multiple unstocked grass paddocks between the paddock cows were being break fed and any creek.
The crop was actually a good distance from the waterway. The grassy paddocks are flat meaning minimal water runs off toward the creek. And significantly, next to the grassy paddocks was a well-established, fenced-off, planted buffer area before the creek. All recommended good practices.
Plus there was a view of the creek flooding over the road caused by the recent rain. We all know floods make waterways run brown whether they flow out of bush, farmland or cities.
Before many of you jump to more conclusions, I assure you I am not at all condoning bad farming practices. But I am also not going to ignore bad journalism practices.
This example is not an issue of mismanagement of farm but of mismanagement of fact. How much better it would be if good behaviour was identified, recognised and applauded. What a difference to farmer mental health if blame, shame and putdowns were not such a game.
It is far better to make an effort to understand a situation and show some appreciation for good work. So please pat the good dog, reward the good child and praise the good farmer.