The other day I was driving, and I saw a woman whose minivan license plate was ShipWrk. Then I saw the sticker on her back window and it said, “I run a tight shipwreck.” I had visuals of the Titanic and the crew saying the same: “We ran a tight shipwreck.” It did crack me up a little bit. Yet, what I found interesting was that this was such a point of identity for her that she actually went so far as to pay the extra money for the personalized plate, and took the time to put the sticker on her back window.
To be fair, it bothered me. I decided to take my own advice and dive in a little deeper to that emotion, why did this make me irritated? Chaos is a part of life. There is order and there is chaos; the yin and the yang. Yet, I love how Jordan Peterson explains it: he says the yin yang symbol reminds us that life is the balance of chaos and order. The little white dot inside the black reminds us that order can still emerge out of chaos, but the black dot in the white reminds us that chaos can always rise when we thought we had order. He further explains that with too much order, life is boring, but with too much chaos, life feels aimless and overwhelming; it feels like chaos. The way to live life is to walk the line between the black and the white, using the order you’ve built to allow you to step into the chaos, or in other words, the unknown.
When I met Bill, my life was in a bit of chaos, as most of you know—the dogs, the divorce, the being super-broke—Bill brought order to my life. He helped me see that I was living a little too much in the black, and to be fair, I think I felt my shoes were a little too dirty and I wasn’t quite worthy to step on the white.
Yet, as time went on, and order gets more established, now you have the foundation to step into a little more chaos. Why would you want to step into chaos? Well, because chaos is the only place we grow. We have to step into the unknown for things to change, especially change for the better.
Recently I’ve been feeling like my life has been in a bit of chaos. I went to three events in February. First, I was given the opportunity to go to Westminster with a dear breeder friend, Cristine of EverSummer Miniature American Shepherds. She encouraged me to join her there, learn more about the show world, the breeders inside, and the culture. While I was there, I met so many amazing people, but it was completely new; the show world is a different world. I don’t know that it’s bad; it’s simply different–different motivations, different rules, and it opens the doors to a lot of discussions.
Secondly, there was a small pet-food expo in Phoenix in the middle of the month, and I was able to drive up there for a day and meet a lot of fascinating people and their businesses, learn about lots of new and innovative dog food, especially raw and freeze dried, along with treats that aren’t so toxic to dogs.
Thirdly, I then had the honor of being the keynote speaker at the Goldendoodle Association of North America’s Breeder Conference. It was a wonderful event, and I met so many incredible breeders at all stages of their breeding journey. I learned their hopes, their fears, their struggles, and I saw that all of them were trying to do the best they could.
This is a trend I see with nearly every breeder I’ve worked with: they’re all trying to do the best they can with what they have.
February was a month of stepping into the chaos, expanding, and learning. It also had some additional chaos, as I had four litters on the ground—my daughter actually whelped a litter the night after I gave my talk—and my husband had to leave to another state to help his friend with a job. So I had to fly my dad down to drive my kids around to all their activities. Chaos feels like the best way to describe February.
Life is always flowing between order and chaos: we step into the chaos—sometimes it ambushes us—then we work to bring it into order. When we stabilize into order, we can consciously step into chaos to do the next level of growth. Order gives us the security and foundation that allow us to step into chaos and not lose ourselves.
This is the same with our breeding programs. I see this all the time with coaching clients. Sometimes clients come to me and they are in the middle of chaos; everything is a mess. Our job in working together is to harness the chaos and transition them to a state of order. Sometimes they need a better system for managing breeding dogs, sometimes they’re struggling with managing puppy pens, sometimes they’re doing it all, but they have zero free time and are burnt out, while others contact me when they are on the phone too much working with clients. Sometimes things are going well with the dogs, but they don’t have any money from the program, or worse, they are going in the hole.
For these breeders, I offer options and discussion over what works, or opportunities that the breeder may not know exist, and then we make a path to bring it all into order. Most of the time, when a breeder is calling me from chaos, they are feeling the pinch in money or in time. It’s very helpful to have awareness when you see your breeding program is eating too much money or time, slipping you into that chaos state.
On an interesting side note, many breeders come to me thinking they need to expand their program to make the numbers work. But I’d say, 90% of the time, when they are coming to me in that frame of mind, the answer is actually to reduce their program and increase their margins.
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Just the same, sometimes breeders come to me when they are in the middle of order; things are smooth, easy, but it’s time to grow. They now have the foundation that is needed to expand. Sometimes this looks like things being profitable, sales being fairly smooth, but they are considering adding a few dogs to the program or they want to increase their price, or they want to streamline so that their systems are even more efficient. Sometimes they’re looking to save money, increase margin, or simply get a better system before they expand—I do wish more breeders would think of this.
It’s also fair to note that I do many calls about Giardia management with my MOOM—Magic Oregano Oil Mix—that is a popular blog article on my website. It is a simple method for managing Giardia that so many breeders struggle with. When you have chaos that emerges out of the order, or worse, that continues to emerge from the chaos, like an unexpected parasite, a pregnancy loss, or a puppy who doesn’t make it, you have to bring that chaos back to order. It’s the only way to grow and be better.
I remember being so overwhelmed when I was in a giant dog breeding Facebook group when I first got started. People would bring up their problem and there were so many breeders who would chime in with this very specific medical knowledge on these bizarre things. I was so intimidated, but then, later, it occurred to me that these people didn’t randomly learn about these problems; they learned about them because they had been through them, and they came out the other side creating order out of the chaos, and now they were willing to share that solution. It made me realize that it’s not so much that something bad happens to us as breeders that dictates if you’re a good or bad breeder, but how you handle it. That grit that you develop and use to bring chaos to order, that’s what makes you a better breeder.
This is why that woman’s license plate and window sticker got under my skin. It wasn’t so much that she was acknowledging being in chaos—we all go through them—but rather that she had decided that instead of working to grow and evolve with the chaos, she was accepting the chaos as a state of being, an identity. She has embraced the identity so much she has the license plate.
Remember, chaos is our opportunity to grow and evolve, it’s the very thing that challenges us to be better. But we don’t get better simply by being in chaos, we get better through the process of moving that chaos into order: stabilizing the system, then being ready to either step into new chaos to grow more, or being able to steady ourselves through the unknown that can pop up out of nowhere.
When you are choosing to maneuver between order and chaos, then order, in a sense, is our emergency fund, and chaos represents opportunity, which we rarely understand fully until we step into it. We step into the unknown, knowing that if it fails, we have an emergency fund to carry us.
One thing I find with many breeders is that they often step into new chaos from chaos, instead of moving things to order first. For example, if you are at max capacity with dog management and you’re producing 8 litters a year, it’s going well, the pups are finding good homes, then don’t think doubling your program will be easier. You have to first bring more order in, get better systems for management, for marketing, for customer management before you expand larger.
Chaos has to have purpose. There has to be a payoff. What is the thing you’re gaining from stepping into the chaos? For example, maybe you’re working like crazy juggling your breeding program because you still have your full-time job. That’s a lot, BUT it has a purpose. It is getting you to a place where you no longer need the job, and you’ll be able to make a smooth transition on your exit if that’s your plan. If you’re simply trying to keep both, then what you’ve done is create a system where you’re maxed out, and when that spontaneous chaos comes in, it can tank the system.
So if your breeding program feels chaotic right now, don’t automatically assume that means you’re failing. Sometimes chaos simply means you’re in a growth season. Sometimes it means life ambushed you and now your job is to steady the ship. The question isn’t whether chaos exists, the question is whether it has a purpose, and whether you are actively moving it back into order.
Chaos is not a badge of honor, and it should never become your identity. It is a phase, a teacher, a challenge, and often an opportunity. The best breeders are not the ones who never experience chaos. They’re the ones who know how to turn chaos into clarity, better systems, better decisions, and ultimately a breeding program they actually love.
So take a look at your program this week and ask yourself: where do I need more order… and where am I finally ready to step into purposeful chaos?
Thank you for joining me for another episode of the Honest Dog Breeder Podcast, with me, your host, Julie Swan. I know you have limited time in your schedule and I am so grateful you’ve made the time to take me along on your journey. Cheers to you and purposeful chaos!
