July 1 (morning) trained at Stoughton FT grounds with Diane B., Tim & Anne W. - four singles
                 and two blinds = stickmen, with gunners at three stations and wingers on the far left,
                 cold blinds were run after the singles (each dog came back)
                                 note: Daisy again was looking at the gunner (twice) after the mark went down,
                                          marked 1 & 4 well, handled back to the line on #2 and had a big hunt on
                                          #3, blinds were pretty good as far as whistles (she was in her hunt mode)
                                 note: Kooly was very good at the line, "heeling backward" routine has him
                                          making sure of where I'm at, one little whine on the first single then very
                                          good on the next three, on the honor he barked (I shot the popper gun) &
                                          he went right to the truck
                                          Kooly ran the long left blind as a poison bird, the black & white bumper
                                          was sitting up high in the water only 15 yards off the line to the blind, he
                                          could see it, but clearly understood it would be his later = good dog!
                                          took good casts and kept pretty much on line even for the short time he
                                          was out of sight on the water re-entry, then he line the second blind   
                                                                     (left click on thumbnails)  

      July 2  (late morning) trained at BT's hay field - Brian was there with is truck running young dogs,
                 ran a double with Daisy - go bird OK, no clue on memory, ran a lousy line and then picked it
                 up (too much distraction from the gunners....again = same problem), Kooly tried to run as
                 double - but the re-heeling routine was "too busy" for now = lots of noise and he was "amped",
                 Brian hasn't run him for a long time and tried the "choker tab" = comment "He has really
                 changed. The choker tab could make him melt before." I said, "He's not that way now."
                 Ran as singles lots of re-heeling, sticking back to the truck = I was not as calm as I wanted to
                 be. Finally, we got a little a little quiet heeling and he picked up the two singles. Lesson?
                 Don't feed his anxiety with my own and don't feel like I have to prove what I'm doing will
                 work right now.......in front of anyone watching. Just stick to the plan!
                 (late evening) decided to go back to the hay field (different area) and set up two remote
                 winger doubles, prime report, no stickmen & ran a 142 yard cold blind up the middle = nice
                 cool evening with cloud cover & a breeze
                            note: Daisy ran each double and stepped on everything, turned around and two
                                     whistled the blind - sure made up for the lousy morning
                            note: Kooly re-heeled on his own when I backed up with no noise and under control,
                                     he's got the routine down, stepped on each mark (ran them as singles, then
                                     turned around and lined the blind = good dog!               
                                                                   (left click on thumbnails)  

    July 3  (morning) trained back at BT's hay field, good breeze out of the south - ran four singles in
                sub-sets of two = both short long pinched with the second having more wind influence than
                the first, ran two cold blinds afterwards (each to the left of the two subsets)
                               note: Daisy stepped on the two downwind singles and faded bit with the two
                                        crosswind, the almost downwind blind she did a nice four whistle and the
                                        crosswind she kept fading with each cast = too many (about 8-9)
                               note: Kooly was not barking this morning but did whine some, went back to the
                                        holding blind on the first couple and then he started to settle down, using
                                        the duck call helped to get him going (so the heeling corrections were
                                        effective), on the last single he got a "freebie" = no step back or re-heeling
                                        and he was quiet, under control, didn't move when I said dog and delayed
                                        the release, Kooly one whistle the shortest blind (perfect, long angle back
                                        cast) and four whistle the longer crosswind blind (slight fade with the wind) 
                               note: in today's training we started using the holding blind for long periods of
                                        time = sitting alone (with me out of sight), sitting with me staying in blind or
                                        walking around or back to the truck or sitting in the chair - Daisy moved once
                                        and got a correction, Kooly never moved = each spent a total of about 20 min.
                                        "working" the holding blind. Geez, that is a long time before running marks! 
                               note: the two right singles were 65 & 132 yds, the two left singles were 85 & 115 yds
                                        right blind 153 yards & left blind 177 yards
                               note: after everything was put away....Daisy and Kooly were "roaded" a fast trip
                                        around the hay field
                                                                       (left click on thumbnails)  

 July 4     day off
 July 5 trained at BT's hay field with pro Brian Moyse and group - ran a marking drill with bird boys,
           gunner stations and ducks, then set-up a short down the tree line "in your face" triple with a
           diversion, finished with a cold blind through the old falls
                     note: Daisy was good on the singles, very "amped" on the triple, the diversion bird was
                              right at her (no issues) and ran a nice blind (stayed out of trouble, but did a couple
                              auto-casts (slowed down and made her sit longer)
                     note: Kooly was "noisey" on the first first single when re-heeling, did not ask him to on
                              the next three and he was very good, on the triple got a little whimper on the
                              third bird down, re-heeled without a really big hassle (some), ran a nice blind,
                              he is slowly getting better, have to accept tiny bits of improvement, his body
                              language and attitude says, "I can't stand re-heeling." When his attitude says,
                              "Let's meet half-way....you don't re-heel, and I won't make any noise." we will be
                              good to go.  
                                                                            (left click on thumbnails)  

  July 6 (morning) trained at the Square Pond - holding blind, remote winger, duck calling, primer
            pistol and many "in your face" singles for Kooly = any noise gets "muzzle/quiet" correction
            and Daisy comes out of the van and picks up the very short "big splash" mark, after re-heeling,
            many "muzzle/quiet" corrections plus seeing Daisy get his marks (15 to be exact) it finally sank
            in, two NO noise efforts got him two retrieves and we quit, drive to Brian's to run a couple of
            land singles, Kooly was put on a remote sit to watch several young dogs run their singles, he
            relaxed, rolled in the grass and quit staring intently at the marks = when he ran his two
            singles there was no motion or noise = good dog.....nice marks, too
                    note: Daisy was really handy at picking for Kooly, her marks and line manners were
                             good at Brian's & bird handling was excellent
                    note: Kooly is turning the corner   
                    note: Key comment of the day. I made reference to the fact that Kooly had (before) never
                             had issues in training.....only at hunt tests. The pro said (paraphrased), "Anyone who
                             says the dog never does it in training is offering a lame excuse. They just didn't try
                             hard enough to produce it." 
  July 7 (morning)  trained with group at Bong Rec. Area in Wisconsin - Tim & Anne W., Dan & Diane C..
            Diane B. = set up three marks on the south half of the Gravel Pond, a group of five magnum
            Pintails made the left mark more "interesting", each dog came out again and ran a cold blind
            on real mallards (not in conjunction with the marks)           
                    note: Daisy ran them as singles - saw some motion from the gunner station on the first
                             mark, but recovered and picked up the mark, next two went well, on the blind it
                             was made as difficult as possible by moving over so the line was just off the point,
                             did not take the angle backs as deeply as I wanted and "zig-zagged" at bit, very
                             responsive and kept very close to the correct line.....good job around the holding
                             blind and running the set-up
                    note: Kooly ran the three marks as a triple - very still at the line, looked at each mark
                             only turning his head, two little whimpers on the go bird got a "quiet" correction,
                             his body wasn't turned right at the go bird and ended up swimming at the memory
                             at first, one whistle and a cast straightened that out and he picked up all the marks
                             without any trouble - very nice! the blind was two whistled with the second whistle
                             only a control one right on top of the ducks, first and only cast was a slight angle
                             back which he carried for at least 80 yards - again.....nice work! (did not run him as
                             close to the point as Daisy)
                    note: with all the trainers around this made it really "good" for both to get use to the
                             "stuff".......to and from the line - very worthwhile morning 
                    note: When we finished the heat index was 90º. It was a good thing we had the Solar
                             Shields over the van. We were mostly in the shade, The dogs were wet, and each
                             had their own three speed Endless Breeze fans.  The high tech sun shields and
                             fans make a huge difference in dog comfort. 
                                                                            (left click on thumbnails)                           

    July 8 (morning) trained at BT's hay field - heat index already in the low 80's, but good shade and
              breeze, holding blind, two remote wingers, Dokkens, primer pistol, duck call, walkup single
              plus a breaking bird (close up) - spent about 15 minutes sitting at the line blowing the duck
              call, shooting occasional primer shots, saying "dog to the line" and "dog" real loud with
              both dogs still in he van,
                       note: first dog out was Daisy, remote sit by herself in back of the van with me out of
                                site, next sat in holding blind without seeing me at the line shooting and
                                blowing the duck call, next walkup single followed by a remote send single
                                breaking mark (lots of shooting and calling)
                       note: repeated same long drawn out routine with Kooly except his second mark was
                                not a remote sit, we heeled backwards out of the holding blind, on the walkup
                                I stepped back and had him re-heel (willing, excited and no noise), on the
                                close breaking mark, backing up got some whines, kept correcting with the
                                "muzzle/quiet", after two corrections (each time backing up) the next two got
                                a very aware and cautious Kooly being quiet - picked up the Dokken - I was
                                pleased with his effort to comply  
               with the wind gusting out of the south west to 20 mph decided  to run the 374 yard pattern
               blind to work on fighting a cross wind
                        note: Daisy was pushed slightly by the wind and whistled her at about 200 yards,
                                 proceeded to get the zig and zag back and forth across the line (not taking back
                                 and giving me angle backs) fourth cast got a straight back cast & lined the rest
                        note: Kooly took a single, slight left, angle back at about 200 yards right to the blind
                        note: heat index was in the upper 80's when we finished & neither dog was stressed
                                                                          (left click on thumbnails)              

  July 9 (very early morning) train at BT's - seven cold blinds 92 - 215 yards (It was supposed to
               get hot very quickly this morning. It wasn't quite that bad.)
                        note: Daisy went first and work shortest to longest so as to challenge her some, took
                                 good initial lines, want to square the slight hill to the right, took correcting
                                 but did not sustain them (a little "scallopy"), the last one was the 215 yard
                                 cold blind = a slight bug and a "no-go" was greeted with a heel/nick/heel/sit
                                 "back" and she went - pretty much as I was suspecting she might do, thus
                                 the reason for making the last one the longest = good session, just like her
                                 Mom she'll check you out once in awhile
                        note: Kooly worked them longest to shortest - one whistled the 215 yard blind with a
                                 perfect slight angle back at about 90 yards out, lined (like an arrow) the next
                                 one and was pretty much like a machine on the rest (very few whistles)
                                 superb job!

     July 10 (morning) trained at Bond Rec. Area in WI with pro Brian M. - got there early and
                  a "hold the hill" lining drill north of the Gravel Pond with Daisy and Kooly
                       note: Daisy went first and did well, needed handling a couple times on the longest
                                line, it was getting warm and six bumpers were enough
                       note: Kooly fell "off the hill" a bit on the last two and needed to be given a few
                                "overs" to get back on line 
                                                                       (left click on thumbnails)       

                    drove to the Stick Pond (someone had the Gravel Pond already) where three marks
                    were set-up (two bird boys and a kick winger), ran from the bottom of the steps on
                    the south side and came back after the marks to run a cold blind (tough one)
                         note: Daisy ran the left mark and kick-winger as a double, didn't get a good look
                                  at the memory and had to hunt some when she got out there, the second
                                  double had a tougher memory and she didn't lock very well at the line
                                  after picking up the short go bird, but she took a good line and found it,
                                  but popped almost beside the mark when she got there, I turned my back
                                  to her and ignored her, she then picked it up and came right in, the
                                  diversion bird was no problem, took a nice initial line on the tough cold
                                  blind, got hung up in the willows initially by the shoreline and then did a
                                  nice job the rest of the way (probably the busiest cold water blind she has
                                  ever tackled) - this pushed her quite a bit
                         note: Kooly ran the three marks as a triple, middle memory, left mark second and
                                  the short kick-winger last, took him off the short mark by re-heeling to the
                                  left side (not too much trouble), but had a hunt on it (the hot blind to the left
                                  didn't help = had to whistle him off it) finally picked up the mark, then at the
                                  line took him off the short mark (floating off to the right and visible) to go for
                                  the tough middle mark, got that with a little hunt, picked up the short mark
                                  and dealt with the diversion OK, did not take a good initial line on the blind
                                  and brought him back to the line, then he went through the slot in the cover
                                  going toward the left mark, once in the water handled him to the blind, but
                                  he continued to want to go back to the old fall = not a very impressive series
                                  but by far it was the most he has ever been challenged.., he kept trying and
                                  didn't cave in - this was good for him - a chalenge
                                                                       (left click on thumbnails) 

  July 11 (morning) trained at Hook Lake with Brian M. (pro) - two singles down the shore and a
              tough cold blind (swimming through decoys after real ducks)

                      note: Daisy swam toward the gunners on both marks - big hunt on the first one & got
                               a collar correction on the second, on the blind she kept "caving" to the shore
                               as it was a tough swim through thick lily pads, but on the way back she swam
                               straight through the heavy "water weeds" - this meant it wasn't the swim or lily
                               pads that was getting to her - she was feeling a lot of pressure on the blind &
                               probably on the marks & assuming it was perceived because she was staked
                               out to watch other dogs run, went to the holding blind once and back to the
                               van pbefore actually running and remained on a remote sit when waiting for
                               other dogs to run - another challenging day.......which she needed
                      note: Kooly was asked to re-heel to the other side for both singles - did a nice
                               job, the cold blind was run with a poison bird, again re-heeled to take off
                               the mark - nice job on the blind - he too was staked out for a long time
                               watching, waiting for an extended time on sit and in the holding blind
                      note: beautiful day, cool breeze off the lake and training at Hook Lake is like
                               being at a picnic - great day for training and the dogs were extended
   July 12 (morning) trained at BT's hay field with Brian again - four ATV singles in a five stickman
                set-up - gunner throwing long marks with mallards & a primer pistol (short to the left &
                long to the right), afterwards - cold blind past the left short station (actually it was the
                6th cold blind out of seven we ran the other day - without gunner stations and old falls)
                      note: Daisy was good at the line and in the holding blind, she marked each single
                               really well and didn't run at the gunner once - hooray for our side! on the blind
                               the strong cross wind pushed her right and she did not want to take casts
                               back into the wind - hacked our way to the duck - good on the honors
                      note: Kooly never barked, but whined some which got some "muzzle/quiet"
                               corrections, also picked on duck up and had it re-thrown, Kooly ran the
                               blind as a poison bird and was OK, nailed the mark with intensity after
                               running the blind
                      note: good session for both - improvements (flyers tomorrow )
                (dusk) trained at the Square Pond - ran the parallel shore pattern blind as a poison bird
                      note: Daisy took five whistles to get off and past the poison Dokken
                      note: Kooly, also, was intent on picking up the poison Dokken - took six whistles to
                               get him past it (repeat in a week & run the shore blind at Hook Lake again)
                                                                  (left click on thumbnails)   

     July 13 (morning) trained at BT's with Brian - flyers and "tighten the final screws" day = walkup
                 shackled duck, double with a flyer followed with a shackled duck diversion and honor,
                 very busy, close and exciting with live ducks and a shot flyer

                       note: Daisy was "amped", steady and picked everything up, a little rough on the birds
                                and corrected for this   She's ready for tomorrow.
                       note: Kooly was good on the walk-up and barked on the flyer = corrected quickly with
                                "muzzle/quiet", the flyer & memory were picked up & ran again, steady, 2 whines
                                got another correction, back-up on heel = quiet & sent, did fine on the diversion &
                                corrected for whine on honor  Still a handful, we'll see where he is tomorrow.
     July 14 AKC hunt test at Bong Recreational Area in Wisconsin - Fox Valley RC
                 Daisy & Kooly run in Senior (Daisy's first & Kooly needs two more passes for a title)

                 Daisy was "amped" at the line in the land series, it was a walk-up and she was solid,
                 yipped leaving for the flyer and pinned the memory bird, lined the blind running right
                 into the blind pole (fogged off the line on "back") the judge said "We don't know if your
                 dog can handle or not." (just joking), Daisy was good on the honor, for the water series
                 we did a dry run of heeling up to the next in line place before going into a blind (not bad),
                 when the real run came up the dogs were going very slowly and there was a re-bird, she
                 go real whiny and I asked the Marshall to let us move back a few dogs, put her back in the
                 van and she was much better, crept a couple of feet on the water flyer and then when the
                 gunners finished shooting for some reason they started walking around VERY VISIBLE as
                 Daisy left for the line, she change directions and headed straight for the gunners, then
                 she corrected herself and picked up the duck, memory no problem and four whistled a
                 very short & simple blind = pass & first AKC Senior Hunter pass (she may run in 2 weeks)

                 Kooly was "too amped" had to re-heel him on the flyer, took him off it to get the memory
                 first, didn't like that and barked, pick up each bird & no problems, he lined the blind by
                 slamming into the blind stake just like Daisy and I said to the judges, "It looks like you
                 still don't know if my dogs can handle." Water had him in need of another re-heel & got
                 a pissed off bark again, picked up flyer and when he headed for the island I handled him
                 to the last mark, as he got near the duck it bobbed up out of the water then went under
                 slightly, this spooked him (it was a turtle trying to eat the duck) and he circled it once to
                 see if it was going to "get him", no more problems with that and he one whistled the
                 blind = fourth AKC Senior Hunter Pass (he will not run again for at least a month) 
    July 15  day off = let's sleep in the living room all day
    July 16  Daisy and Kooly "roaded" two miles with the ATV at BT's hay field
    July 17  (late morning) trained at the Rockton Sport Complex - remote wingers and 3' flagged
                 Avery flashers in an ABC Drill - four marks, followed by two cold blind angled across
                 the setup with the stickmen remaining in place
                          note: Daisy went first - sucked toward the gunners slightly and started to break
                                   down on the longest mark, but good "mo", both blinds had good initial lines
                                   and then we went into the "zig-zag" mode = need to work on straight back
                                   casts and establish slight angle backs
                          note: going to increase the number of marking drills for Daisy emphasizing widely
                                   thrown marks
                          note: Kooly was like a laser on the marks and did need many handles on the blinds

      
  
      July 18 (morning) trained at Stoughton with Brian M. (pro) - three water singles and a lot of
                  watching dogs retrieve with stick corrections for any whining
                          note: Kooly was very good at the line (only one little whine - heavy stick correction),
                                   did not re-heel today & ran without the collar, at the line - aware of me
                          note: Daisy marked everything really well, but ended up with a big hunt on the last
                                   duck because she thought it was on land (in the water), very good with the
                                   ducks and at the line  
                  closing Entry Express date for Wisconsin Amateur Hunt Test for only Daisy in Senior
                  enter for Saturday the 28th (don't wait until late in the day)
                                                                     (left click on thumbnails) 

     July 19  (late evening) "roaded" Daiys & Kooly two and a half miles at BT's, drove to the Square
                  pond and ran a angle entry water cold blind
                         note: both dogs were easy with the "roading" and both ran nice blinds  
     July 20 (early morning) trained at BT's with Anne W. - first set-up was four singles - first two short
                 long to the left, second tow pinched with the second landing being the short gunner - ran
                 off a mound, used remote wingers & stickmen plus primer reports with flagged Avery
                 Flashers , there were two hot blinds wide of the singles , second setup two non-conflicting
                 doubles of a mound in north east of the field  
                         note: Kooly ran 1st - first single turned into a poison bird, ran the blind and then did
                                  singles - good job....on the final blind didn't take a great angle back or the next
                                  three = excellent job over all and no noise at the line
                         note: Daisy = marked really well and got a little confused right at the end of the first
                                  blind, second blind fell to the "suction" the path near the woods, did a very
                                  nice jog on the doubles with a solid lock on the memories
     July 21 (mid-morning) trained at BT's - ran a remote winger double from the south mound with
                 a primer report and ducks, then a single off to the left of the double with a blind on the
                 other side.....drove to the Square Pond and set up a double (or two singles) and then a
                 second set from the other end of the pond 
                         note: Daisy ran a nice land double with the short bird the "go bird", used the choker
                                  tab to shift to second mark and correct for any sit infraction (moved feet), second
                                  mark nailed and the cold blind was more difficult than originally thought (cover
                                  too deep and had to wait on whistles until cover was thinner (still not bad), at
                                  the Square Pond she stepped on the first double and on the second her initial
                                  line was a too much toward the winger, but she corrected (nice job all day)
                         note: Kooly was taken off the short go bird on the land (different order than Daisy) and
                                  the scent from the shorter "go bird" was tough for him to overcome, needed a
                                  quick handle to continue toward the long bird, the second mark was easy and
                                  he did a nice job on the blind (outside of the two times I stopped him in cover
                                  which was too tall). all four marks at the square pond were taken as single &
                                  the re-heeling technique to get vocalizations to correct for was used, two minor
                                  whines were all I got and he was laser light effective on all four marks 
                         note: walked Taffey for a mile this evening - start "roading" tomorrow & for the first
                                  week going earlier to training sessions, her weight is excellent (slow & easy)
                                                                        (left click on thumbnails)                       

    July 22 (mid-morning) trained at the Square Pond - all four dogs = Gunny was first and went for
                his first official "Walk" a figure eight around the pond and distant dirt pile, he even got his
                feet wet in the pond, Taffey was "roaded" one mile which is exactly how far it is around the
                corn field (mowed, grassy path the whole way)
                            note: Gunny went for his first van ride in a crate and did "The Walk" (very cool pup)
                            note: Taffey "roaded" a mile (first time out with no problems)
                            note: Daisy worked on getting her straight back casts more "straight back" and we