Do You Have Tippet Clients?
What is the difference between a tippet and a leader?
The leader is the primary material connected to the end of the line, and this material will be pretty heavy. The tippet is the lightweight clear section attached to the end of the fly and the end of the leader. Usually, people keep the leader and change the tippet according to the type of fish and situation.
If you have read my musings in the past, you will know that my husband and I have two Australian Shepards. I have written that the one on the left, Sharkie, is a gentle beauty, and the one on the right, Tippet, is…well.. enthusiastic.
And anxious.
And busy.
And doesn’t listen.
Jeff and I travel quite a bit. May to mid-October, it is for work for us both. Mid-October until April, it is leisure travel. We used to road trip often with the doggos, but no longer do. Our kids now have full lives and dogs of their own; they can’t stay with them anymore. So we have started using a service called Trusted House Sitters. It has been a fantastic experience for us and for any of our friends who have used it as well.
When we signed up, we had to create an in-app guide for the house and dogs. Of course, I also created one in a slide deck so I could add deeper details and links to resources. We send a PDF version to our sitters and then have a printed copy here at the cabin (I know, printed… but it is super simple for people to leaf through rather than access on a device).
Writing up the details about our cabin, property, neighbourhood, and Sharkie was easy. Tippet, on the other hand, was a full-blown dissertation. Out of 30 pages detailing everything from contact info, internet & smart home, furnace, schedules, septic & well, garbage & recycling to firepits & outdoor spaces - 5 were dedicated to Tippet. Every other subject area, including Sharkie, was a single page.
~17 % of our sitter guide is dedicated to Tippet. She has a lot of details and quirks to manage.
Here are a few notes from the guide:
If Tippet shows her teeth and snorts in what seems like snarling, don’t panic - that is actually how she smiles
Tippet may not eat for the first few days when we are gone, and this is fine
Please make sure our little foodie, Sharkie, does not eat Tippy’s meal, though she will want to!
She may over-react when you come back after being away from the cabin
Let her out immediately and greet her outside, or she can be overwhelming with her anxiety about your return
Tippy does not like thunder, fireworks, sails on lake vessels and such
She is anxious and will pace & pant but is fine inside
If you are outside, she calms down if you tie her with one of the long leads
Tippet needs to wear her vibrating collar when not tied up
She loves to chase wildlife; the vibrating collar may twig her to come back, but sometimes not…
You may just have to wait out her return - she does always return - sometimes battle-worn if it was a coyote chase (see note about vet’s contact number)
If you are walking the girls in the neighbourhood with other dogs, put Tippet on a leash to keep her from charging people as a pack dog
She never bites or jumps up, but it is scary to have a dog charging you, and we want folks to love Tippet
Tippet needs to be tied on one of the long leads when outside
In the front yard, she will run off after wildlife (see #5) and try to hitch rides on golf carts and delivery trucks
If you are on the lakeside and it is busy with boats, she will chase the boats down the shoreline (she loves a boat ride!)
The girls don’t sleep on beds - Tippet will try, though…
Keep the bedroom doors closed to keep her off the beds, please
If you take the girls for a car ride, Tippet must have her harness on and be tethered properly to the back seat
She loves to help you navigate, up close and in your face
You get the idea. Tippet is a lot of work!
Sharkie is a true leader dog; she is calm, cool and collected. She is the voice of reason when the other neighbourhood dogs start “packing” and taking off toward people. She doesn't get jealous of other dogs. She is not possessive of balls or toys. She trained Tippet well on routines and most commands (except recall).
I think we all have Tippet clients.
I know I’ve had a few over the years. Some I have let go, some I have kept on. It’s a balance.
Ones that seem snarly (but may turn out to be smilers)
Ones that do not complete their routine tasks
Ones that over-react to everyday occurrences
Ones that have unreasonable anxiety
Ones that need extra guardrails for their own poor choices
Ones that don't listen
Ones that need to be leashed in
Ones that push boundaries
One that wants to “help” you with your work
Clients that require SOPs, notes and workflows that are disproportionately complicated!
You need to decide if Tippet clients are worth keeping.
Do their personalities, size of engagement & scope of work, and your interest in the services they need make up for all the managing and wrangling you need to execute?
“Usually, people keep the leader and change the tippet according to the type of fish and situation.”
We did not do this - we did not change out the Tippet.
She is charming and cuddly and has many wonderful qualities, so we keep her around.
She has an enthusiasm for life and adventure that she wants to share with everyone
She loves trying new things
She is loyal to her pack
She is smart and funny
She does the jobs she was bred for very well
She is exactly like the clients that require extra management but are worth the effort.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again “Letting go of clients is hard”. Really, really hard. I am never going to minimize the hand-wringing of churning out clients - the revenue, the relationships, the panic of it all.
But you should start to identify which clients are Tippet clients and which ones are leader clients. And then weigh the value of keeping them vs changing them out.
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PS: No dog’s egos were harmed in the penning of this article. Although Aussies are very smart, they can’t read. And my family, friends and neighbours have sworn to only tell my dogs the good things I write about them :-}
