In this podcast we categorize dogs perosnalitites and break them down into six different categories of personality that we commonly see in bird dogs. By breaking your these personalities down it can help you out in training and picking out your new bird dog! We hope that you enjoy this podcast.
Follow us on Instagram @thebirddogpodcast & @utahbirddogtraining.
If you have questions send us an email at thebirddogpodcast@gmail.com
Thanks everyone and enjoy the show!
In this podcast we categorize dogs perosnalitites and break them down into six different categories of personality that we commonly see in bird dogs. By breaking your these personalities down it can help you out in training and picking out your new bird dog! We hope that you enjoy this podcast.
Follow us on Instagram @thebirddogpodcast & @utahbirddogtraining.
If you have questions send us an email at thebirddogpodcast@gmail.com
Thanks everyone and enjoy the show!
Hey everyone, welcome to the Bird Dog Podcast. My name is Tice Erickson. I will be your host today. Thank you for joining us. Hope everyone is having a great day. And, uh, again, yeah, thanks for being with us today. So, um, if you're interested in following along with us, go to, you can go, Follow us on Instagram at the bird dog podcast, or you can also follow our training, uh, uh, Instagram. That is Utah bird dog training. If you want that out, we, uh, post a lot of, uh, Videos and pictures of dogs doing cool stuff on there. So if you're into social media, check that out, give us a follow. Also, uh, share this podcast, copy paste it to your friends. If they're interested in dogs and dog. training stuff. So, uh, just a little background on me. If you're new to the show, I've been training dogs professionally for 19 years. Uh, our company name is Utah bird dog training and, uh, we train everything. So we've, we've trained cross breeds. We've trained all your pointing breeds, your retrieving breeds. Uh, if it's, uh, someone wants to try to have it become a bird dog. We're willing to give it a try for him. Uh, we also will be honest with them, obviously, as we, uh, you know, work their dog and whatnot, but we've had some actually cross breeds do pretty dang good and, uh, and it's been a fun ride. Still trained professionally today for a living. And that's what we do. So anyhow, if you have any questions you want us to talk about on this podcast, you can go ahead and send us an email at the birddog podcast at gmail. com and we can try to answer those questions you may have on the podcast for you when we get a chance. It's been a busy, training season right now. So I'm a little behind on getting some of these podcasts out. So thanks for sticking with us. Um, we, it's hunt test season right now and going into our busy summer season. Which is usually our busiest time of year and so we're in the thick of it. So I'm up early this morning uh to Record this podcast for you guys and hope you can find it beneficial so something that I've wanted to talk about for a while And that I see in these different, uh, dogs as we work with them is different personality traits. After seeing these dogs, the different breeds of dogs and different personalities for so many years, Um, I've broken these personality traits down into six categories that I have seen consistently over the years. And I'm going to call them The canine personality breakdown. So just like people, I don't know if you guys heard like of the color code personality test, um, or there's a bunch of other tests to kind of people in general will fall into, you know, a certain category of personalities, or maybe we're a little stronger in one area. And, um, You know, the best way to to be in those different categories is really balance is as well balanced. And all of them, you have like yellow, yellow, blue, white, and red, but some people tend to lean or have a stronger personality towards these, the color codes. Um, We're just kind of, uh, you know, genetically, um, that way. And so, um, can you develop these other personalities? Yes, you can. My belief is you can, but anyhow, that's a whole nother story, but that's kind of giving the example we're talking about a little bit in dogs. So, uh, there's, there's a. Six of them I'm going to talk about and hopefully in talking about these, you, when you go to choose a dog, um, you can choose a dog that has ideally the best personality, uh, for training, um, and just having a dog around the house. Or if you have a dog that falls in some of these categories that are, can tend to be a little harder to work with, that you just understand that that's kind of where they're at and try to do the best with them that you can. So we're going to talk about, I'm going to, I labeled these as, uh, low, mid and high. So our low, mid, and high confidence. So first we're going to start off with the hardest dog to train. So the hardest dog to train is what I would call low confidence, not responsive to pressure. Again, let's repeat that. Low confidence, um, or soft. People very commonly use the term soft for a dog. Um, and then not responsive to pressure. Another name for that could be stubborn. Soft and stubborn. Those are your hardest dogs to train. They just, they're soft. They just act like the world's going to end and then they're very strong willed. They're not responsive to pressure. So, um, when I say pressure, I'm going to say it, um, forms of correction. Most commonly, what we're going to see is the e caller in our training. We do use the electric caller. We believe it's an amazing tool when used correctly. When used incorrectly, then there can be problems and confusion and lack of confidence. But when a dog is properly conditioned, he understands what's going on, he will have a great attitude, he won't be stressed out, and it's a really valuable tool. Why? Because you can correct the dog at a distance. You don't have to drag a leash around, you can have him off leash. And, uh, In our training, we believe it's a great tool to just stay consistent with things. So, um, again, a low confidence or soft dog, not responsive pressure, a dog like that, they're soft, but then when you put that E collar on them and you start using it in general, we're going to, we use the Garmin profile 50 or some of the sport dog, um, you know, sport dog, 18, 25, um, a dog like that, the Garmin goes one through seven as a low, medium, and high. You can have dogs that are soft and can, you can basically max out a collar and they don't even respond to it. They'll just shake their head. They'll basically take that pressure, take that electricity and you can't get them to work through it. That is extremely hard to train a dog that way because they can't work through pressure. They just shut down, they bogged down and. You're going to have to use either more pressure. Um, and sometimes you have to go with what we call as a hotter collar, maybe like the sport dog, 1825, and put that up on the highest level to get a response out of the dog. So, um, if your dog falls in that realm, It's the hardest. So, be patient. You got to be really patient because it's hard because you're trying to build confidence. You don't want to use a lot of pressure, but you're trying to get them to work through things and when they just shut down and won't move forward, those are the hardest ones to come by. They're not the most common, I would say, which is a good thing. Um, but that is the hardest one to go by. The next one we're going to talk about is low confidence. So soft, but responsive to pressure. So you can have a dog that's, you know, Um, you know, kind of puts its head down when you get after it or, or trying to work nice to get after it, but just trying to work through things or maybe, yeah, maybe you raise your voice because it did something you didn't like and it gets all slinky and, you know, acts like the world's coming to an end, but a dog like that, when you put E collar on them or you do, or you use pressure, They can work through it and they're responsive to that pressure. So a dog like that is still very workable on the dog like that. You're trying to really build their confidence and help them come around. The nice thing is you're going to be on that, um, average to lower range on the e caller, you know, on average, I would say most dogs around a two to three on the Garmin pro five 50, um, and it goes up to a seven. So that's ideally where you're at in that, you know, Two to three. Some dogs are extremely responsive to pressure and you're in like that one and two and a one. It can be feel with my hand. So, um, it's amazing how responsive some can be. But, uh, so you're gonna have low confidence. or soft, but responsive to pressure. That's a dog you can still work with cause it's going to be all about building confidence. If they have a soft personality, be able to use that low pressure, do more repetitions with the dog, help it build confidence. And hopefully we want to, have that confidence come up. So the next range we're going to talk about is the mid range. So this is kind of just an average range personality. Again, you're going to have average range is mid range is going to be responsive to pressure. Um, that's a really good one. That's just kind of a good or all around dog. You know, they're just kind of mid range confidence, like, Hey, they're not jumping on everyone crazy. Um, You know, getting them, you know, getting themselves into trouble because they have too much confidence and they're also responsive to pressure. That's, that's a good dog to work with. Um, you're going to, that's going to train out well. The next one we're going to talk about is the mid range, not responsive to pressure. So you can have a dog that's kind of mid range personality, confidence. Like he just seems. You know, he just seems average confidence, but then again, he's stubborn when it comes to, uh, pressure, you know, using the leash, using the E collar, he's going to grind his heels, heels in. And that one is going to be a little harder to work with. Uh, then we jump up into. The high confidence range, which is responsive to pressure. So lots of confidence, but very responsive or almost sensitive to pressure. Um, that's a really good dog to work with, um, because they're just going to respond, but they have a lot of confidence. Um, they're going to have a really good bounce back and we'll kind of talk about that a little more. Um, and then the other one's going to be high confidence, not responsive to pressure. Uh, that one's. A harder, a hard one to work with. It can be hard to work with too. So anytime a dog is really not responsive to pressure, um, you can't kind of get under their skin to help them work through things. That's a challenge. So, um, it's something hard to know really until you start training the dog. Obviously, if you see a dog and it has low confidence, um, it just seems soft. That is. That's noticeable on the outside, but you can have those dogs that are softer, but responsive to pressure. And those will usually transition into the realm of more confidence as they understand the training, they get the work, they get out and, uh, and get going through things. So, um, let's talk about bounce back. So dogs ability to bounce back. So when you're working through a concept with a dog, anytime you're teaching a dog, a new concept, um, it can be. It can be stressful for the dog sometimes. Um, obviously it depends on what type of, um, training you're doing. Now, if you're doing tree training and it's a new concept, it's solely reward based so the dog is, it's generally not going to be. But if you're doing a formal training where you're using a slip lead or some type of correction or, you know, pressure related training, it can be a little stressful for the dog in the beginning as they're understanding the concept because you're showing them how to do it. You're making them do it saying, Hey, you got to do it this way. And you're coaching them along and that can be kind of stressful just on their brain. Um, understanding that new concept. So if a dog. Um, you know that a dog does something, it's corrected maybe with the e caller. Ideally, a dog can just bounce right back. They're just like, hey, that was, okay, that's, that's, that's not a big, you know, that's no big deal. Um, and they, you help them out, work through it, and then they can come right back out of it. Um, a dog that's, you know, doesn't have that confidence, um, and not responds to pressure, they can have a harder time bouncing back. And Obviously everyone wants a really confident dog. I want confident dogs. Everyone likes to see a confident dog, um, that enjoys working, um, holds itself upright. And so, um, bounce back is nice to have generally well bred dogs are going to have good. So they're bred to work through things. They're bred to withstand pressure. They're bred to, yeah, like I said, work through pressure and come out on top. And so that's one thing you, when you're looking at good breeding, that that Usually is a dividend from that is a dog that can work, work through things. Um, there are certain breeds that, that I would say have these generalities. So I would say your setters, um, you know, or a softer dog generally. Um, and again, this is a generality, so I don't believe every, all of them are that way, but if you're looking at these breeds and I would say it leans a lot in the pointing breeds, um, is where I see it the most. Like a Britney, the Britneys, the Setters, the Vishlas, the Weimaraners, the, um, sometimes some of the Griffins. These pointing breeds tend to be, um, softer. Now some of them, um, are responsive, very responsive to pressure. They're in the, again, soft and responsive, but then you get some, the setters, I would say are can be that soft and not responsive more. Now I personally own a setter. I love them, but you're going to have to be patient. You're going to have to try to, um, you know, cheerlead them along. Um, We've trained setters also actually have a pretty good backbone to them and have good confidence and, um, are responsive. So again, there are some breeds that generally, generally lean one way, but, um, I would say you're retrieving breeds. Generally are more in that mid range confidence and responsiveness to high confidence responsiveness Um, I think just because they like to move and retrieve and do stuff like that that they tend to have that So, again, just kind of to reiterate the different personalities, and pretty much when a dog comes out, besides how they respond to pressure, um, you can pretty much look at them and know that they fall into these range. So, uh, low confidence, you have basically low, mid, and high range. confidence that are responsive to pressure, and then you have low mid, um, high, not responsive to pressure. So there's about six different categories that dogs are going to fall into that are pretty much going to, um, be right there. So, um, how do you know if your dog is a certain way? Again, I would just, you know, you're going to look at the thing as you start working the dog, you're going to know, but also you're going to kind of find out just as your dog's personality develops now, can these things be environmentally environmentally influenced? I would say there's probably something to that. Um, Dogs that aren't socialized well obviously generally have low confidence. They just don't know. They're just nervous about things. They don't know what's going on, um, with their surroundings. And it's because everything is still kind of new to them. As they should have been socialized well as a puppy growing up. And so they've been kind of sheltered and then all of a sudden they go out into the public. And there's all these new things. They They're kind of past the absorption state, I guess you could say, and the outlook of the world is kind of solidified in their brain. So that's why it's really important to socialize that dog. We want them to absorb the correct information and have confidence in that people are great and that their environment is a, is a great place to be in. Um, dogs that are not socialized well, again, they're kind of bubble wrapped and all of a sudden they, um, It kind of almost locks or seeds their view of the world in to who they are and their personality. And so once, and they grow so fast, obviously a dog is going to go from in that first year basically to adulthood. So in 12 months, they're going to shape their view of the world. In that 12 months in a large way. And so that's why it's so important to start that dog off on the right track when it comes to, you know, whatever you plan to do with the dog and, and help them build confidence. Now I'd rather, I wouldn't mind, dogs are fine if they have lots of confidence, they've been socialized well, but they've had like no obedience training or no hunting training. That's a dog that's going to be easier to work with than a dog that. You know, has that personality hasn't been socialized and then we got to basically build its confidence and socialize it as we're training it. So training will generally help with that. If a dog was not very socialized, just getting him out, working him every day, getting in the environment. Um, if it's still a young dog, you know, between, you know, obviously puppy to two years of age, um, that dog has more life ahead of it than behind it. And so it's a dog that can be, you know, easier to work with. Um, genetics does play a large role in this. In my opinion, if you have two parents that are soft and they are not responsive to pressure, guess what? The pups are probably going to be that way, right? That, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. And so it's really important to If you are a breeder or you're thinking about breeding that you kind of under, you understand your dog's personality, you understand kind of these categories. And when you go to breed your dog, you are trying to better the breed, right? So, um, you can look at these different categories and obviously you want to cross them with the best. Like, um, maybe you don't want too high confidence, responsive dogs to pressure unless you're like a field trial or something that could be a dog with maybe a lot of energy high confidence could be another name for maybe Lots of drive, lots of energy. And if you breed those together, you're going to have really nice working dogs, but they might not be a good fit for every family. So maybe if you have a, you know, a high confidence dog, responsive pressure, um, you know, breeding to a mid range confident dog, um, something like that would be good. Um, or if you have a mid range dog, that's, you know, not responsive to pressure, then breed to a mid range. responsive to pressure or a high range or high confidence, responsive to pressure dog. Um, you're just trying to better the breed and balance that out. Um, those pups are hopefully going to be a middle, middle of the road combination, or they're going to be like the mom or they're gonna, You know, be like the dad. So when you're breeding or buying a dog, just remember these, uh, these different personality types, and that'll definitely help your life. And, uh, hopefully it puts you on the right track when you're building up the, you know, a really nice hunting dog. So. Um, it's really, it's been fun over the years to see these different dogs and see their different personalities. Um, you know, working with these animals so much, you can pretty much almost judge a book by the cover. Um, when, you know, when a client shows up with their dog and we're looking at the personality. Again, the ones you really like is a dog when they come out of the vehicle, that they're happy, that they have a form of confidence. I mean, I'd rather have a dog that jumps up on me and he's excited to see me when he greets me. And, and he's your new best friend compared to a dog that you see. They are trying to pull them out of the truck with the leash. The dog is grinding his heels in his eyes or he looks like a wild coyote and he just is not wanting to come out and say hi or he comes out and he's drooling because he's never been in a vehicle. Um, dogs, it's kind of, it's kind of actually funny. Um, it's interesting and I don't know, it's What the substance is but when a dog is nervous and I see it very commonly Um, when dogs come in and have not been in a vehicle or socialized well, they'll get this tacky drool. This, the drool just, it just will hang about, I mean, it hangs almost to the ground sometimes, but I would say a good 4 to 6 inches, you know, before it kind of breaks off, 6, you know, 4 to 8 inches. And there's something when a dog is nervous and they salivate that that drool become really tacky and that's the only time I see it and it's very commonly if a dog again is not comfortable in the car, um, and you know, has not been socialized well, the world is just, you know, is not their oyster. So, um, do yourself a favor when you get that little pup, you know, don't, don't isolate him, get him out, get him around people, you know, expose them to birds, even if it's just some dead birds. Um, because again, they is so important that first really six months of age, um, to a year of age in my mind that they just, um, they're just, they're building their outlook of what the world looks like. And if you can build that in a positive, um, outlook, your dog's going to have confidence. Life is going to be good. And that's going to help that dog be a good bird dog. Um, a lot of people say, what should I do? You know, before the dog comes to us, usually a dog comes to us at six months, six months of age or older. And that first six months of age, um, I really believe it's pretty simple. Um, reward based training. So treat training when they're puppies, usually they're food motivated. Um, they're small, they're easy to have in the house and, or they're just easy to work with because again, they're, they're really reward based motivated. So, you know, if you're working on the here command or, or whatever command come, whatever you want to call it, you know, here, here, here, they come in, you give them some food. And then that dog goes, Oh, I hear the here command. I know I run to him and I get food and then down the road that can transition to, you know, petting the dog or just verbal positive praise. But you're, you're trying to build that dog. And so, um, you know, You tell the dog sit, help them sit. Once they sit, you give them a treat. You mark that behavior. Yes, good dog clicker training. Um, any of those things to mark that behavior and that dog's going to realize, Oh, if I do this behavior, I get this reward and they, what did they want? They want food. They want to be rewarded. And so it's pretty easy to train them to do those things. So as a puppy, I really like to, um, You can pretty much get them trained up understanding concepts just by reward based training. And so when they come to us at that six month of age or older and we build on that, um, we like to give our clients the same commands beforehand. So we're using the same verbal language when they go from puppy to transition into formal training. And that dog's going to have a lot more confidence because he already understands the basics of kind of what is going on when it comes to just the obedience training. Also, when it comes to retrieving, I like a dog, if it is a retriever or even a pointing breed, and you want your dog to retrieve, I don't know many people that don't want a pointing dog to retrieve, even though in some trials they won't do retrieving, but If you're a hunting person, you want that dog to go get your bird when you shoot it clear down the hill, if you're chucker hunting or out in the brush for a pheasant or in the woods for a grouse. So building the retrieve into a dog is really important. Less is generally more when they're puppies. Don't over get, don't over retrieve with that puppy. You want to keep this session short, impactful, and so there's progression, but don't overdo it. Stop with the dog wanting more and that and it's just analogy I've given people is kind of like if you buy a brand new car and someone only lets you drive it for a minute a day Then you're gonna be oh the next day you get in you get to drive it for another minute Oh, you're still kind of this is cool and you're still kind of getting comfortable with it But you buy a brand new car and if you just drive it for the whole day after you know Two three hours like yeah, it's kind of old news. It's not that exciting anymore Like the next day you maybe do it. Oh, yeah, this is kind of cool for You know a minute and then it's over and then so you're just giving them a little bit of a little bit of food One day at a time, you know a little bit of taste of that excitement And that's going to build continue to build and get stronger and stronger Until your dog just wants it wants it wants it and then you as that dog ages We're talking about retrieve here that that retriever that desire is going to grow and so maybe the when it's a puppy You start two, two to four retrieves. And then, you know, as that dog is now, you know, going from maybe you know, eight to 10 weeks of age. Now at 12, 16 weeks of age, now you're doing, you know, six to eight retrieves. And so you can incrementally increase that, but also, uh, you know, you want that dog just to want more. And so that's really important in my book is having a dog that loves to retrieve. So less is more, uh, treat training, environmental training, um, obstacle training is really important for the mental of the dog. So if I see. I don't take the dog around it. I go right over the log. I want that dog to build confidence. So when it goes out in the marsh and all of a sudden there's a tree down or a big brush pile or something like that, or in the woods and the dog has to be jumping over logs, we don't want that dog to have to go around those. We want them to go right over them to have confidence. And so taking them out in the field, working him through the brush, you know, working him over logs, Anything in those obstacles going up and down stairs, those things are going to put in that dog's brain. These things are fun. These things are okay. I can do these things and that's going to help that dog have that nice confidence. If you're self training or you're going to take it to another trainer, you know, socialize the dog, take it around people. start off with your reward based training, you treat training on all the obedience, develop the retrieve, you can develop the prey drive. I really like personally to put the dog, uh, worst case scenario on a dead bird, um, or even a live clip wing pigeon. Between like that 12 to 16 week range, um, puppies love to chase everything, right? Um, if you have a little kid, and he runs, and there's a puppy, and he runs, what's the puppy do? He chases the little kid. That prey drive is in there, and what do they usually do? They're trying to nip at the heels of a little kid. Um, when you see a teenage dog, And a little kid runs by generally, they're not, they might kind of chase them, um, or a little bit older dog, but generally they're not, they've built up enough kind of self confidence. They're just like, eh, that doesn't look very fun, but a puppy, they love to chase things. And so when you put a puppy, a 12 to 16 week old puppy on a little pigeon, that's flopping around, It's very fun for them and they love to chase it and they're going to get in there and bite at it. And they just don't really, the world's not painted in a certain way, but they just love to like chase things. And so, um, I think that's a really good age to imprint, you know, prey drive and confidence on a bird. It seems like if you do that with even a dead bird or a live bird. They just down the road when they're a six month old teenager, you put them on birds, it's just boom. It just refires and they are good to go. So expose that dog to bird birds at a young age. If you want a strong bird dog. Now, if you don't have access to birds, that is what it is. Do it at whatever age you can. But I can't ever think of a puppy that didn't come around on a live pigeon and really gain confidence. That was out of, decent lines. I can't remember a thing going out of bad lines, but anyhow, start, if you know how to wing lock a pigeon, you can tie those wings up, lock them. So initially when you let that little puppy smell that bird and you throw it for retrieve, um, that The, the bird doesn't instantly flap and hit it in its face. Some dogs, I just, a puppy will just, it'll just amp them up, but we want to again, build confidence and see if you have that pigeon wing lock so its wings can't beat the dog. In the face. Then when you throw that bird out there, the dog's going to go out and grab the bird. Nothing's going to hit it. And then he's like, Oh yeah. And then he hopefully brings it back to you again, put your dog on a little check cord so he can't just run off. If your dog's retrieve is, isn't the best naturally. And then. And then, and then gradually unlock the wings. Um, you may throw a couple of retrieves with the law, the wings locked, then throw a retrieve with them unlocked. And that's just gonna, baby step that progression of confidence. Then that dog's gonna, Already have confidence on the birds and the birds flapping and then it's more exciting. And, uh, and so that's, and that dog's going to build that confidence in itself as a predator. So when you introduce a dog to birds, you want the dog bigger than the bird. So don't put your eight week old puppy against a pheasant or a full size duck or something like that. At least a live one. Okay. You can use a dead one. That's fine. Obviously it's not going to. Intimidate the dog that much because it is such a big thing, but ideally we want that you know We want that size of the object to be smaller than that Dog because we're trying to again build confidence So just think of you know, if you were that dog and all of a sudden someone throws out this You're this little puppy and throws out this monster pheasant and it's way taller than you. And all of a sudden you run up to it and it pecks you in the face. Well, that's not going to build your confidence very much. So, but if you throw a little, little bird out there that's kind of squeaking, trying to get away and you're bigger than it, then it's going to instill confidence as a predator. So. Um, I know we kind of went down that rabbit hole a little bit about puppies and starting them out, but it kind of goes into this whole realm of, uh, personalities that we've seen. And again, we're trying to develop one, we're trying to develop a good personality, even though genetically a lot of dogs come certain ways, but I think environmentally we can shape these, shape these personalities to, um, the way they respond to pressure, I believe is a genetic thing. Um, so it is important that you. Again, if you listen to one of my, the previous podcasts, I talked about how to choose a dog and talked about all these different things. So you can go back and listen to some of those podcasts if you want, but just as a basic overall view, I don't even look at the puppies. If I go to look at a litter, I first look at parents, I look at paper, okay, what are these dogs trained to? What have the generations beforehand done? Um, and titles are gonna help me. See that on paper if there's no titles. I have no clue what the dogs are I just see their registered name and I don't know what that is You know, we're just gonna have to work the dog and see So but if I see a lot of field trials master hunters senior hunters I know those dogs can work through pressure. I know they can come out on top at least to a those degrees, right? To be able to pass those tests. That's why those titles are important. If not, I would look at the parents. Hopefully the people, um, are good breeders. They know their dogs. They know what they're talking about. And you can ask questions. How's your dog respond to the e caller? How's your dog respond to pressure? How's his retrieved desire? How's his confidence? And if they don't really know and you are set on getting a pup from that litter, Then say, Hey, can I spend some time, you know, with the mom and dad and just kind of try to evaluate, look at them. Hey, do you mind throwing a retrieve for your dog for me and evaluate that personality? And if you like, again, what you're seeing, um, out of the parents, then, you know, and then you could choose a pup from that litter if you like what you're seeing. Um, but anyhow, so hopefully this helped you guys out today. Talking about these different personality traits that we've seen over the years. In these dogs, hopefully they'll help you make a good choice when you're picking out a puppy or working with your dog. And, uh, again, hope you guys have a great day. I gotta go on and get some training done. Thanks for listening and we'll see you in the next show. Have a great day and good luck training or hunting or whatever fun stuff you're doing today.