Welcome to my blog, What Andy Thinks About! I will post here from time to time, whenever I have something to think about…
Consider this a stream of consciousness. It’s not going to be up the highest standards of academia, nor indeed necessarily always be particularly well researched. But I do hope you find something here to think about yourself, and if you have thoughts on any of these topics you’d like to share with me, or a topic you’d like me to think about, please do reach out on socials or email!
When I first got my dog, Oakley, I had visions of my usual relaxing, carefree countryside photography hikes with the addition of a well-behaved, reliable dog along for the adventure.
How wrong I was!
Ok, I admit it, like many first-time dog owners I was completely naive. The reality of dog training and all the unpredictability and nuance that comes with it quickly came crashing down on me, and an adjustment of my expectations were in order.
Oakley was already a year old when he came to me, with next to no basic training and very little experience of the outside world. He is also a challenging mix of two working breeds, beagle and springer spaniel. I had (and still have) my work cut out. Now at 4 years old, he has come a long way. But there is one thing that we come up against time and time again – other owners’ inability to effectively manage their dogs, especially in the countryside.
In our first year together, we had an unfortunate run-in with an off-lead dog who bit Oakley, and his response to other dogs has since been largely unfavourable. Training to counter reactivity in dogs is actually very straightforward in theory, and he’s much better with these efforts. But in practice the real world is unpredictable, I can’t always prevent the unexpected and every negative encounter with another dog can set us back weeks, if not months, of hard work in training. And this is where my gripe with many other owners comes in.
If your dog doesn’t have bulletproof recall, it shouldn’t be off the lead. If your dog cannot resist the impulse to run up to every dog it sees, it shouldn’t be off lead. End of. None of this “My dog is friendly” nonsense because guess what, in the dog world, running up to an unfamiliar dog is considered bad social etiquette. Your dog is not being friendly, it’s being badly behaved and is poorly trained.
There is something about wide open landscapes that compels many dog owners to abandon all sense of caution and responsibility, and let their invariably inadequately-trained dog off the lead to go and do whatever it pleases. I partly blame television and film for perpetuating this romantic idea of dogs running free, whilst omitting all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to train these dogs. Now I can’t stress this enough, if there’s one place you should be extra cautious with your dog, it’s in the countryside. It’s full of every exciting distraction imaginable, and no small amount of dangers. On the exciting side, there’s unlimited scents, squirrels, birds, deer, farm animals, to name a few, and on the danger side there are factors such as fast flowing rivers, steep drops, adders, poisonous plants, chemicals sprayed on crops and farmers with guns. Yes, if a farmer sees your dog worrying their livestock, they are legally allowed to shoot it. And it does happen.
Unfortunately, I also have to include other dogs in this list of potential dangers. Just last week I was on a camping trip in the Peak District, where we visited Stanage Edge on a fairly quiet weekday. We were enjoying a peaceful sunny walk along the ridge when out of the blue we saw two panicked sheep running toward us, followed a moment later by an off-lead, unmuzzled XL Bully giving chase. The owners of the dog appeared another few moments later, trying to no avail to call their out of control dog back.
It should be noted here that XL Bullies are a banned breed in England and Wales, and can only be kept with a Certificate of Exemption, a condition of which is the dog must be kept on lead and muzzled in public places. I’m of the opinion that this breed is not inherently dangerous and they’ve just gained a bad reputation through irresponsible breeders and owners (like these ones), so I’m not totally convinced on this ban and more in favour of licensure for dog ownership across the board. But nonetheless, this is the law now, and the owners will have known this. Anyway, back to Stanage Edge.
So I’ve seen this big out of control dog coming toward us, and I know there’s a good chance given his reactivity Oakley could antagonise the situation and possibly attract the attention of this XL Bully, in a foolish effort to warn it away. Not a scenario he would fare well in. But Oakley is under control on lead as always (he has his standard 6ft lead, and a 30ft long line for freedom when there’s space for it). He also had his muzzle on (we have a Baskerville muzzle that gives him plenty of space to pant, bark and drink through. More on the muzzle in a bit). I know from experience that our best shot of de-escalating the situation is to create as much space between us and the other dog as possible (Oakley’s not interested in the sheep, we trained that out of him in the early days!). So I hurried Oakley, who is none the wiser about the other dog at this point, to our only escape route out to the moor on our left, since there was a steep cliff on the right, and I hoped the Bully would be too fixated on the sheep to notice us.
Stanage Edge
Thankfully, the loose dog went on by, Oakley was too busy with his nose to the ground in the long grass and we were safe. But sadly, the XL Bully did follow the two sheep off the edge of the cliff, and I’ve no idea if either dog or sheep survived.
This seems like a trivial event to me now looking back, it was over as quickly as it started. But I have to remember how easily this could have gone horribly wrong for us, and may have done so for the other dog. I’m conscious of my breed-bias in the moment and how that played into my fear for our safety, but with only seconds to make a judgement call, you have to rely on a quick assessment of what you can see in front of you, and I saw a big powerful out of control dog with the potential to do a lot of damage.
As for the owners, I have trouble understanding what could have possess them to put their dog in a situation where it was able to behave this way, putting the lives of their dog, the livestock, other hikers, and other dogs in danger. And this is far from just an XL Bully problem, in just a few years I’ve seen many other breeds behaving in ways they shouldn’t be in the countryside. Dogs who otherwise might be top of the class in obedience, might be the sweetest well-mannered canine on the comfort of the sofa, but whose desire to listen to commands are overridden by the many enticing and novel experiences the countryside has to offer. I’ve also seen countless pleas for help finding lost dogs in my local area, who’ve run off on the moors, and I’ve been out on some of those searches myself to help recover them. Some are found, some alive, some not, and some are never found at all.
The incident at Stanage Edge is just one example of how things can go wrong when a dog isn’t kept under control with appropriate management. I took Oakley to a peaceful glen once, he was on his 30ft long line happily exploring, until he decided to jump into the river. What he didn’t consider was the river was fast flowing (I mentioned this earlier in the dangers list), and he found he couldn’t get out again. Luckily for him, I was already prepared for this knowing that he likes a swim, so I just reeled him in on his line and lifted him out, and he didn’t try going in again! I dread to think what would have happened without the safety line. I can think of many more examples, but you get the idea.
So what can we do to keep our dogs safe in the countryside? Well, firstly, all owners must at least follow all the directions required by law, regardless of their own assessment of their dog’s abilities. That includes having them on a lead where signs require it (it’s probably no surprise to you how often those are ignored).
As well as complying with those legal requirements, consider your own dog. Is their recall bulletproof? Do they leave other dogs alone unless invited? Will they leave that suspicious piece of chicken on a walking trail alone? That last one is from a real experience, a whole chicken breast left on a popular trail, who knows what was in it… it might have been harmless but my gut tells me it was planted there…
If the answer to any of those questions is no, you need to have management tools in place until better reliability is built up. Long lines and muzzles are excellent for allowing our dogs freedom in the countryside whilst keeping them safe. Long lines should only be used in the countryside where appropriate though, as a dog on a long line can still disturb wildlife habitats such as those for ground-nesting birds.
Oakley patiently waits for me to take a photograph
Muzzles have this stigma that they’re for bad vicious dogs who’ve bitten, but the truth is they’re used for all kinds of reasons. I use one in the countryside predominantly because Oakley likes to eat things off the floor when he thinks I’m not looking, and that’s a huge risk (take the chicken incident for example). I’ll also use it on trails where, as much as I try to avoid them, we might come in close quarters with other dogs, so I have it on him to prevent any potential escalation of an encounter. I also use people’s bias toward muzzles to my advantage, because it often causes the public to either give us a wide berth or be put off from trying to pet him without consent. It also often causes other dog owners to bring their dog under control while we pass.
On that note all owners, again regardless of their opinions about their own dog, should put their dog on a lead whenever they see a leashed dog coming toward them. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had completely avoidable reactivity setbacks because someone didn’t do this, and their dog subsequently invaded our space.
If everyone did their due diligence and took responsible dog ownership seriously, the countryside would be a much safer place for all our dogs. Sure, we can’t protect them from everything, but we can dramatically reduce the chances of something going wrong.
Be wary of the false sense of security that says “My dog has never run off before”, because that’s what everyone says until the day their dog runs off.
Be wary of thinking “My dog is friendly”, because not every dog they encounter is going to be, and it only takes one for the worst to happen.
But most of all, be wary that it’s our job as the responsible human to keep our dogs safe in the world, so they can enjoy it with all their innocence, joy and curiosity!
I still love our countryside hikes. They’re not always quite as relaxing as they used to be now I have an inquisitive dog to look out for, but that’s dog ownership, that’s the responsibility I took on. Seeing him enjoying himself and exploring the world after a tough first year of life makes all the hard work worth it though, and now and then he even pauses long enough to let me do some photography…
If you’re interested in learning more about dog training and effective management, I highly recommend the content from Zak George, Kikopup and Victoria Stillwell as a good starting point.
Ah the days when turning 7 seemed like a big deal!
I have only days left as a 20-something year old, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to pause and think about the significance of turning 30.
Society, to its detriment, has made a big deal about ageing, which is odd because it’s one of those things we have no control over. It happens to all of us, it’s happening to you and me right now, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it (yet…), so why waste what precious little time and resources we have on worrying about it?
30 is significant because it feels like closing the chapter on youth. 30 is when you really become that grown up you imagined as a child, when 30-something year olds seemed ancient. 30 is when we’re told we should really have our sh*t together.
Twenties are chaotic. You spend your twenties figuring out who you are, where you want to be, and all the instabilities that come with it. You’re fighting to get on the career ladder and forge your place in the world. You’re making friends, forming relationships, and making umpteen mistakes along the way.
I’ve done that bit now, and I wouldn’t want to do it again! Reaching 30 shouldn’t be approached with dread, it should be worn like a badge of honour these days. I’m going into my thirties with a successful business, a partner I love to pieces, a core group of friends who really matter and a future to look forward to. I’m not naïve enough to expect there won’t be challenges, but by this point in life I feel better equipped to handle them. I’m not dreading 30, I’m excited for the next chapter!
The only real limits of age come with what your physical body can handle. I already ache more after long hikes than I did in my early twenties, I can’t put away a kebab and chips with no consequences like I used to (thanks to a magical metabolism), I’m a terrible lightweight when it comes to drinking and I don’t even want to think about my last hangover…
So if there’s anything you should worry about when turning 30, it’s your health. If you aren’t doing it already, eat well, exercise properly and look after yourself! If there’s an ounce of truth to “You’re as young as you feel”, then that seems like the obvious way to do it. I guess I’m about to find out the long way round. Deep breath, here goes…
The discussion around AI has got me thinking about the value of originality.
Firstly, originality doesn’t have to mean something that has never been done before, because that can be a tall order these days. Originality can just mean offering a new perspective.Generative AI doesn’t truly offer a new perspective, it just mashes together other peoples’ work and calls it a day, and I think that’s why AI art feels so empty and soulless to me, it’s that lack of human intention. Not to mention the obvious breaches of copyright, I’m looking forward to the results of the lawsuits on that one. For what it’s worth, my opinion is the fact they’re even having this conversation about whether it’s a breach of copyright or not means it probably is. But anyway, that’s a different topic for the legal experts. Back to originality…
I notice the same lack of originality in the social media world of photography by actual real photographers, not just AI. Many photographers try to imitate the work of others, chasing what’s trendy and popular, but always somehow fall short, and as a result they (and we) are robbed of seeing what the artist can truly do for themselves. I want to see a flavour of how they look at the world, where they live, what they like. Some might argue “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, but people often forget the second half of that Oscar Wilde quote… “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can give to greatness”.
It’s good news for those who are inherently creative, they are continuously innovating and levelling up, a process that often involves a cycle of failures until they strike gold. Originality is lost by those who place higher value on chasing fast results for fear of failure, instead of a willingness to test out ideas for themselves. It is in failure that original ideas are born. The finished work you see is not what makes a creator successful, it’s everything that’s happening behind the scenes. Their work is driven by their unique perspective and innovation, and that’s not something that can be copied. As a result, those who rely on imitation will always find themselves 10 steps behind.
Let’s talk about the subtext of originality in creativity and why we celebrate it, and contrast what being unoriginal says about the entity behind the content. It takes guts and confidence to be original and put yourself out there as a creator, requiring total conviction in an idea and an acceptance that despite how much you might believe in it, it might not go as well as you hoped. An imitator then, by contrast, lacks the confidence in their own work or talents, and that insecurity puts any creativity they do have in a cage. Imitating those who they perceive as more successful than themselves might, for example, get them that popular Instagram account they crave, but they will always have that gnawing feeling of being a fraud. Something to keep in mind next time you see an account posting a photograph blatantly created with AI.
People who go out of their way to copy another’s art, photography, content, products, whatever it may be, are basically just a walking talking AI engine regurgitating what’s already out there. So with AI inadvertently pushing up the value of originality they will need to up their game or risk falling behind. Creators, on the other hand, naturally possess the secret weapon they need to succeed.
Finally, if you as an original creator find your ideas being copied, take it as a compliment! That means the copycat “creator” thinks you’re doing something right.
Remember, true innovation leads to genuine success.
There’s obviously more to this than meets the eye. Of course I, and everyone else, likes getting paid – that’s why we do what we do! But in the freelance world this frequently comes up as an area they find tricky to navigate. So we are diving into all things payment here after the topic was requested on my Instagram.
First up – rates. These are going to vary a lot depending on your field, but what’s common across the board are freelancers being very guarded about sharing their rates with other freelancers. I think this is a huge disservice to the freelance community who often struggle with setting fair rates for their work. We should be presenting a united front to the people who hire us, and we can’t do that if we don’t know what everyone else is charging. That’s why my rates are publicly available on my website. If people want to undercut me, that’s their prerogative, in the long-run they’re only hurting themselves. And it also doesn’t always work. So, set your rates and wear them with pride!
However, this can lead us into the weeds when it comes to the different tiers of clients. Consider this: when you walk into a car dealership the sales person will work to sell you a car that’s within your budget range*. If you tell them you can’t afford that flashy sports car, they know they’re not going to sell you that flashy sports car. But they still want to make a sale that day, so instead of showing you the door, they’ll show you other more realistic options. This is true for so many industries, so why should we expect every type of client to meet us at our rate.
This doesn’t always mean charging less for smaller budgets, it can just be reigning in the scope of the work and being smart about using the budget they have to make the most impact, as was the case with Neadra.
The creative industry is rife with low/no budget clients too, the ads of which are often unduly subject to ridicule in the Facebook comments section as a knee-jerk reaction to the low pay (however there’s a big difference between a low budget student project and an established company paying below minimum wage). But there may still be space for such low/no budget projects in your freelance business. Projects like these could provide valuable training material to hone your skills, it might also be a subject you’re incredibly passionate about, and it might give you more variety in your portfolio to help you land bigger clients in future. After all, they’re probably making the project for similar reasons, everyone has to start somewhere! So instead of focusing on them being low/no budget, consider them a growth project. Evaluate what they’re asking for, does it align with your business goals, and can you perhaps deliver it around your other higher-paying projects. If yes, then it’s worth a discussion.
Note that clients will not always tell you their budget, so you need to get good at assessing prospective clients, figuring out what their budget level is, and whether or not they’re just trying to low-ball you.
Ok, let’s move onto the scenario where you have your client, you’ve done the work, they’re happy and now you’re ready to get paid. What do you do? This is actually a trick question, because for me the process of getting paid starts as I’m onboarding a new client. It’s important to talk money early on, clearly laying out your expectations and making sure both you and the client are aligned. Laying out these particulars in a service agreement is a great way to set a professional tone with your client, giving both parties peace of mind. Alongside this, I also ask clients for a 50% deposit of the project fee before we start. This serves two purposes; one, it gives you cash flow which minimises the feast/famine rollercoaster of being a freelancer, and two, it puts your relationship with the client on equal footing. You are both now equally invested in the project. It’s also unlikely for a client who has already paid 50% to then not pay you the rest, and of course it eliminates the risk of you not getting anything from them at all. Historically I’ve had very little pushback on deposits and as a result, now in my fifth year of freelancing, I’ve never not been paid. One or two have been late, but never not at all.
Be aware there is nuance to charging deposits. You will not be able to get deposits from every type of client, but the ones you can’t you can assess based on their reputation amongst other freelancers (word gets around!). For large projects you might also consider regular payment installments. I also take into consideration the length of a project, my relationship with the client and a client’s history of paying on time when deciding whether or not to request a deposit.
Going back to the future now, at the end of your project, you’re ready to be paid, you’ve sent the invoice with the payment terms you agreed at the start (e.g. Net 30, 60, 90, or any other arrangement). It’s perfectly acceptable to send polite email reminders throughout this period until the invoice is paid. It is not rude to do so. Just remember they are well within their rights to wait until the last day to pay you, so if you are going to send reminders the tone must be friendly. Include the invoice number and the due date, keeping the email short and to the point. The regularity of these reminders is up to you, but I would recommend no more than once a week. For clients who I know will pay at the end of the term, I might send a reminder a week before it’s due. Others I might not remind at all because they have a good track record of paying early. New clients are reminded weekly, with a final reminder on the due date if necessary. You can start to see how everything here is not so cut and dry, you are always considering each individual client with every aspect of your approach along the way.
Now for the big one, the nightmare scenario that haunts every freelancer… the dreaded non-payment. You reach the end of the payment term, sent the final reminder on the due date, and the day after there’s a noticeable hole in your bank account where that payment should be. First of all, keep an open mind at this stage. Email the client and explain the invoice is now overdue, and ask them the reason for the delay. It might be that it’s on the payment run for that week, or the payment has been issued on time but is still being processed from their/into your account. Whatever the reason, ask them to provide a timeframe for when you can expect the payment. Be polite but firm. Yes they have technically broken the payment terms you agreed upon, but when the payment appears to be on the way it’s not worth souring the relationship at this point.
That said, you are well within your rights to reissue an overdue invoice (no matter how late it is) with added late payment fees if these were included in your service agreement, and a revised due date of your choosing. This will often prompt a client to pay the original amount minus the late fees, and it is up to you whether or not you let these late fees go, pursue it immediately, or make a note and include it in the deposit if you work with them again.
Dealing with overdue invoices in this professional, procedural way honestly resolves most issues of non-payment with no further action necessary. Most clients are not greedy gremlins refusing to pay you, they are busy human beings who sometimes make mistakes. I have only had one case where I’ve needed to start pursuing court action for payment after an invoice became a month overdue, despite repeated assurances that payment was coming. It later turned out this particular production company had left a whole roster of unpaid freelancers in their wake, and to top it off its boss was facing serious allegations of bullying and subjecting workers to excessive working hours. This made industry news, and you can read more about it here on Deadline. This was just one bad egg in a basket full of good ones.
Most clients are not greedy gremlins refusing to pay you, they are busy human beings who sometimes make mistakes.
Fortunately, I did get paid in the end without it needing to reach court.
To wrap this up, although the topic of payments might be incredibly anxiety-inducing to you as a freelancer, bear in mind that many clients will also be anxious to see you deliver what you’ve promised – your expert services and a product they’re happy with. Particularly if you are working remotely. This is why it’s so important for both sides that you, as the service provider, lay the foundations for a professional relationship right at the start, so you can both go in with confidence.
*Never ever tell a car salesperson your budget. You’re welcome.
Unlike any other relationships we form as human beings, sibling, and indeed other familial, relationships cannot be broken and despite being bound for life, these relationships are completely involuntary. It’s really quite odd when you think about it.
I am the oldest of four siblings, and it was one of them who suggested this topic for the blog. At first it might seem like a trap, a dare, but actually it is interesting to think about how the experience of having siblings remains a total mystery to the many people who were lucky enough to never have any.
That was a joke for my sibling who threw this gauntlet down. Gotcha.
My experience as the eldest is unique in that I’m the only one of us to have experienced being an only child for a period of my life (a time I’m sure I would look back on quite fondly if only I could remember it), and also the only one to have never had an older sibling. I’m curious to know what that’s really like from their perspective, but they asked me to think about it, so here it is from my point of view.
For the sake of their privacy, if I need to refer to them from here on in, I’ll refer to them as Siblings A, B and C, in order of oldest to youngest. At the time of writing, A is 26, B is 24 and C is a decade younger than me at 19. C is also disabled, more on that later.
As adults we can say we all get on now, but as you might imagine that certainly wasn’t always the case growing up, especially given that B and I shared a room for most of our childhood right up until I left for university. Being much closer in age I can remember A and B being as thick as thieves and undoubtedly got away with far more than I ever could. And every older sibling knows the dreaded line “You’re the eldest, you should know better”.
It’s an interesting turn of phrase really. As the eldest, in a way you are leading the charge, you are wading through the jungle with a machete cutting the path ahead with no real idea where you’re going because you don’t have anyone to follow. In theory the younger siblings are the ones who ought to know better, having learned from watching you.
That makes sense in theory, but in practice it ignores the individuality of each sibling and their desire to find their own path. Neither A or B have any interest in going to university, neither of them want a career in media, in fact each of us are completely different people. Quite honestly, to steal a line from sibling A, the truth is if we weren’t siblings we probably wouldn’t even be friends.
The truth is if we weren’t siblings we probably wouldn’t even be friends
I mentioned C is disabled, needing lifelong 24/7 care. They have epilepsy, global development delay and hypotonia, symptoms resulting from a rare genetic disorder caused by mutations in both copies of the SLC13A5 gene, a new disorder only discovered in the medical field in 2014. Without delving into how this changed the past and present, because I have to keep this blog fairly short and digestible and that would be a lengthy tangent, sibling C does put a unique challenge on the future of our siblingship. Eventually A, B and I will be responsible for decisions about C. This ties us together moreso than just the traditional familial relationship. Siblings, from the anecdotes I hear, have a habit of drifting apart. Family feuds might create divides, they may move far away in pursuit of their own lives. But no matter what the future holds we will be bound to each other by our responsibilities to C for the rest of our lives (we hope, but nothing is certain with a new rare disorder that is still undergoing research). This is certainly a more influential, tangible bond than simply blood relation.
I’m curious about what the future holds for siblings A and B. I’ll enjoy watching them progress (that is, if they ever manage to leave our parents’ house!). They are finding their way in a very different state of the world, and are a totally different generation with ideas, values and challenges of their own generations like mine (despite not being all that far apart) have never considered or are otherwise playing catch up with.
There’s an odd feeling I have as the eldest that leaves me conscious of not being condescending. Whilst A and B have not specifically expressed it I can imagine younger siblings feel a pressure of being in the shadow of the older. So I’m quite hands off with them. I don’t interfere, I try to avoid unsolicited advice and pretending I know it all (I certainly don’t!). I leave them to find their own way. They know where I am if they need anything. And I think that’s the core of what being a sibling is. I will always be around when they need me, even if we’re not always nearby.
Mirroring the pressure they feel, as the eldest I certainly feel the pressure to be steady and successful. Not to be a role model, but because I know in the distant future it will be my turn for heavy responsibilities to fall on my shoulders. As our parents always have with us, it will be my job to take as much of those burdens off them as possible.
Siblings. You can’t choose them, but you can choose to stick with them.
For more information about the rare SLC13A5 genetic disorder visit https://www.tessresearch.org/, the dedicated research foundation.
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