|
July 1st - (morning)
Gunny established his second pattern blind (longer) at the Industrial
DTA (part
of a KRD later) and did it with eight bumpers after identifying the pile =
good job
drove to BT's hay field - Daisy & Kooly ran six
cold blinds with pheasants
(left click
on thumbnail)
#s 4, 5 & 6 pheasant cold blinds |
Brian drove in with a truck load of dogs, so Gunny &
Daisy ran four mallard singles with
real gunners.....plus holding blind, Kooly did
four cold honors and was put up for the day,
went to the swim-by pond = Gunny did two
mini-swim-bys (left & right).....then did two full
swim-bys (left & right) = good job
(evening) Gunny & Taffey
each did a session of walking baseball
note: Gunny did white bumpers......just "overs"
and "backs".....didn't miss a cast
and is really good with this drill
note: Taffey did orange bumpers......missed
several straight backs.....takes an
angle and this is a definite maintenance "thing" with her
Interceptor
(all) - ordered 6 month supply of Interceptor for 4 dogs & new Preventic
collars for Kooly
July 2nd - (morning) trained at the Rockton
Sport Complex - five "inline" singles 50- 250 yards (range
finder) real BB using 3" Avery Flagged Flashers in short grass
Taffey & Kooly lines were like lasers on
every mark and fast
Daisy flared around the corner of an ag-lime
baseball diamond, but was fine on the rest
Gunny carried every mark, ran over to the BB
after the retrieve on the first three....did
a great job of "getting out there"
note: 74º, 14 mph wind out of the south, sunny & 65% humidity, dogs back to
the
cool house in about 1½ hours
(evening)
Gunny - ran wagon wheel (8 bumpers), ran both
pattern blinds with birds &
did two "swim-bys" (right & left) & finished with a couple little "cheaty"
bumpers on the
edge of the pond = got in the water when stopped on the cheats
note: not very good at treading water
note: had some issues with the Industrial pattern blind (mower working in
the
ditch.....not sure what) came back later and he did it well.....knowing it
was a pheasant probably made the difference
note: not too thrilled with the wagon wheel.....the routine was sloppy
because
1) he knows what to do and 2) he tries to leave on "dead bird" and not
wait for "back" = more "reps" and probably first thing in the morning
when he is fresher might be better
note: did a brief review of FTP
July 3rd - (late morning) trained at the
Rockton Sport Complex - ran an X-Box marking drill (1 more
mark than a Y-drill), Greg threw orange bumpers for the three older dogs and
2" flagged
Avery Flashers for Gunny
Taffey
did her usual "paying the penalty" for not focusing and had a huge, long
hunt on
the second check down mark, it takes awhile for her "run & hunt" mode to
succumb to
figuring out where a mark actually is (when we
haven't done this drill for awhile)
note: this drill sure goes a lot faster when I don't have to do it with
wingers (alone)
Kooly pinned all four marks like a laser & fast
Daisy did almost as well as Kooly (which is a big improvement)
Gunny did a decent job on all four marks except he went over for an
extended visit
with the BB on the first two
dropped the older dogs off at the house.....Gunny
ran two "swim-bys" and worked both
square corners of the pond with the concept of "not-cheating" (did well for
the first time)
Gunny's Swim-By (Link)
(evening) Gunny
- did an "intro" to the Zig-Zag lining drill using seven 3" Avery Flashers,
he needs work in locking on targets when lining, he seems to know where to
go, but the
"look" is not there yet except when marking, saw a hint of it when he
realized real birds
were at the end of his recently introduced pattern blinds
note: he is very good about lining up and leaving straight, he does not lock
intently on the visible bumper, but he gets the right one every time,
repetition on leaving straight, picking up the right bumper, coming
back to the correct heeling position and delivering on command is
becoming a solid habit........Gunny is maturing
and beginning to take
new things in stride quickly
note: the drill went very well with Gunny
understanding the team effort, he
understands how to work, specifically it was kept up beat and fun, yet
precision was expected.......this is the way it is all the time and he is
getting the message
note: Gunny seems to have a much better balance
about training at this stage
than Taffey, Daisy or Kooly did......which is looking good
note: putting off any upland until the end of August = want good long,
straight
lines with no hunting on his marking & cold blinds first
note: no hunt tests for him until next year
July 4th - (late morning) "roaded"
Taffey, Daisy, Kooly & Gunny (together) with
the ATV an easy
three in miles in and around a recently cut
hay field, 73º, slight breeze, humidity 50%
and partly sunny, used a weed eater to trim a
training mound and clear access to the
Johnny House (need to move it)
note: Gunny likes to run out front like Daisy
note: Daisy has accepted Gunny into the group.....mostly because he never
did
back down from any of her "tests"
note: they are "sawing logs" pretty good in the living room four hours later
July 5th - (morning)
Taffey, Daisy & Kooly ran the old 450 yard pattern blind (pheasants)
at BT's &
each did a 175 yard cold blind (pheasants) off the northwest mound (trimmed
yesterday)
(left click
on thumbnails)

"Daisy"
450 yd pattern
blind |

"off mound"
cold blind |

"behind mound" |

"side view" |
Gunny - ran both of his pattern blinds with pheasants, did two
remote winger/stickmen
doubles with pheasants at the Square Pond "grassy" area
note: a little hunt on the first double and pinned the second double
note: much more excited about the use of birds on pattern blinds
note: wandered off line on the shortest pattern blind & needed a cast.... he
"banana'd" the longer blind.....showed some improvement
(evening) Gunny -
repeated his two pattern blinds (with pheasants)
note: looking out more intently on "dead bird", ran hard
and straight on each
pattern blind.......lined both.........big improvement from this morning
July 6th - (morning) trained at BT's -
fresh hay had been raked so took advantage of the "terrain",
set-up four "check down" singles two for each side of heeling (165, 130, 95
& 60 yards
downwind) used holding blind, remote wingers & stickmen, primer report, 3"
flagged
Avery Flashers on the 2 longest marks, 2" flagged Avery Flashers for the 2
short singles
note: ran Taffey first as the test dog, the plan was to use 2" Flashers for
marks,
with the first one at 165 yards the background "didn't work" according to
Taffey....so I switched to 3" Flashers on the longest two singles
Taffey was right on the money with all four
marks with great lines angling across the
raked hay (no squaring) and the larger Flashers were much easier to see
Kooly moved on the line so he had to run two
anti-RSG blinds before the first 2 singles,
still marked them very quickly (small circle hunts on the first two with
good lines), last
two he stepped on
Daisy ran the anti-RSG blind before any marks
were launched, great lines angling
across the raked hay for the two long marks, over ran the third single after
missing it
by about a foot & then had a long hunt, stepped right on the last one
Gunny ran last, the two long wingers didn't
work, so he ran the two short ones first,
blew way past the 90 yard single by about 100 yards, but was persistent &
finally figured
it out, stepped right on the 60 yard mark with a great line across the raked
hay lines,
after fixing the two long remote wingers......Gunny "flat out" stepped on
both long
marks....going almost straight through and over the long, angled raked hay
lines
note: the 250 yard inline stretching work has paid off because 160 yards
with
terrain seemed "easy" for him
note: it was 82º and humid when we finished, dogs were OK.....I wasn't,
even with the ATV.....it was a long session
(left click
on thumbnails)

"check down singles" |

"wide view" |
July 7th - (noon)
rain this morning Gunny ran his 2
pattern blinds with pheasants & finished
with a short session of walking baseball = too hot and humid to accomplish
much
more than working on non-verbal "overs"
note: 155 yard was lined, 110 yard had him "sucked" to the right
by something he saw = one whistle and cast directly to the pheasant
Taffey, Daisy, Kooly & Gunny were run on a
steadying drill from the shade at the
Square Pond "grassy" area, Daisy was the only one wearing an e-collar and
all
were off leash
note: shot the cap gun, used a duck call and I picked up most of the
bumpers....Daisy didn't get any and Gunny was a very surprisingly
steady and calm, waited until I asked him and the drill went well
note: just too hot to do anything the rest of the day
July 8th - van in for repair in the morning - dogs off for the day
van to a different mechanic in the late afternoon
July 9th - no van this morning - all four dogs are staring at me as if to
ask "OK...What's up?"
July 10th-
Gunny ran his 155 yard pattern blind at the
Industrial DTA & then used 8 bumpers in a
pile establish a 2nd pattern blind at an angle of about 40º to the left =
worked that out
with some casting away from the line to the other pattern
drove to the Square Pond "grassy" area and set up a remote winger for a
diversion on
Gunny's pattern blind and a poison KRD for the three older dogs
Gunny ran his diversion mark first and needed
one cast on the pattern blind = good job
note: the Four Phase Drill will be run soon, after seeing him run
this.......it
should go well....without many issues
(left click on
thumbnails)

Gunny's diversion pattern blind |
Taffey, Kooly & Daisy ran their
easy poison KRD without any issues = nice work
note: this was a straight forward, under control, simple review
note: Kooly was suddenly demonstrating a rather large loop on his whistle
sits, need to address this immediately if it continues
(left click on thumbnail)

"poison KRD" |
Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny did an extended
remote whoa drill with a cap gun firing,
a bumper thrown (which I picked up), time out to take photos & lots of
walking around
note: kind of very boring........which is good!
note: all did a good job with this, it's been a long time since we have done
anything with upland work
note: the next 3-4 four months upland and retriever "stuff" will be done
on a regular basis..........with balance
note: checked on upland bird possibilities, need to move Johnny House,
do upland "stuff" at least three times a week
note: Iowa APLA tests in September & October
(left click on thumbnails)

"Taffey" |

"Kooly" |

"Daisy" |

"Gunny" |
Gunny finished off a busy morning with a
2 pile (four bumpers each) water push/pull
lining drill with a special focus on treading water, developing the
"locking" routine and
exiting water........"heel" to the correct side (right or left), "sit",
deliver the bumper on
"drop" and finish with the "shake" command......he is doing it with
consistency
note: water treading improving & responses to the whistle are getting better
(left click on thumbnails)
"lining drill" |

"Gunny" |

"working" |
July 11th - trained after the
morning thunder shower at the Industrial DTA - set-up a tight, cold
KRD for the older dogs with the middle (and last blind) "under the arc"
Taffey ran it straight up = mark, right blind,
left blind and middle blind (under the arc)
Kooly ran it as a poison bird = right blind,
poison bird mark, left blind and last
blind.....middle under the arc, Wow! he was sharp
note: on the few whistles he did = got in some corrections for the loopy
"thing"
that just cropped up yesterday
Daisy ran the poison bird mode like Kooly,
except she was so hyped she started "dart"
auto-casting on the first blind and it took until the third blind to get it
under control
moved the winger over and pointed it away from the line of Gunny's long
pattern blind
Gunny ran the diversion mark, picked up the 160
yard pattern blind (pheasant), move up
to remove the winger/stickmen station from the picture and ran the other
pattern blind
(the one established yesterday) = good job....with the exception of a few
ignored whistles
note: need to set up some drills to review sit on the whistle - this is
mostly
because he is so excited about the pheasants at the end of his patterns,
"birdiness" is getting too high and creating an out of balance issue
with responsiveness and control - go with it for awhile & let the drive
deepen
note: steadiness on marks continues to improve, the "herky-jerky" is
disappearing, verbal "sit" with tapping stick corrections appears to
be the most effective = using drills with other dogs, tennis shoes,
e-collar, short tab and stick in varying amounts keeps him thinking
about it
note: routine leading to the hand down on blinds before "back" is improving
(near dusk) Gunny
ran his two pattern blinds at the Industrial DTA (pheasants), he lined the
longest one "on fire", the shorter one was established out to about 75 yards
and it needed
further developing, however, had an idea that since he knew the last 75
yards adding on
the other 60 yards might prove useful to work on his whistle sits and
handling, it has been
kind of "hacky" to get him out to the 75 yard "more to go" position and
there is no question
the other pattern blind is producing suction.........but that's all good,
when he gets out
there far enough the light goes on and Gunny runs straight to it, the second
time we did
this he showed some definite improvement and more confidence in paying
attention to me,
the effect is not unlike a pop-up blind........this will accomplish a lot
note: whistle sits were much better tonight, mostly because he wasn't real
sure about where the blind was......at first he was looking for
something to see......then it turned into "show me the way"
July 12th - (morning)
2" of rain last night - trained in two "grassy" areas
Gunny did a quick two bumper push/pull lining
drill at the Square Pond DTA
Gunny ran his two pattern blinds at the
Industrial DTA with pheasants, the plan was to use
the second blind for some whistle sit work and casting
note: he lined both of them (155 & 140 yards)

went back to the Square Pond "grassy" area and set up the Hide Steady Chain
Gang Drill,
every step of the drill was followed plus adding a cap gun and duck cal
(with a goose call)
(left click on thumbnails)

"the chain gang" |

"Gunny" & "Taffey" |

"Gunny" yawn |

"Daisy" waiting |

"Kooly" steady |

"Daisy" steady |
|
Taffey went first and did a solid job
with no issues
note: Kooly got some corrections for noise on
the "gang", today was better
because he didn't bark once
Gunny went second & did not use the
"hide" = he was very steady with long times between
the thrown Dokkens with calling to heel from his steady position & over five
seconds with a
hand held down for the last cue before releasing
note: Kooly got more corrections for noise on
the "gang", upped the "ante"
Kooly went next and was went back to the
"chain gang" without picking anything up, he
would not stop the occasional whining, after Daisy ran her turn......Kooly
came back out
and went through the entire process a second time =
very good this time
with several
re-heels and backward heeling "tests"
Daisy went last and did a great job of
controlling her excitement = excellent on the
releases to retrieve with ZERO busy feet
drove to the Rockton Sport Complex and Gunny
ran two cold blinds (60 yards - pheasants)
note: the first blind started with a poor initial line, but he really
"fired" when
I said "back", let him roll for a bit then "hacked" him to the 1st pheasant,
he lined the second one
.....very fast off the line
note: these were his first two pure cold blinds
note: Gunny needs a full week of lining drills (alternate Wagon Wheels with
Zig-Zags) plus three days of walking baseball
note: no more cold blinds for awhile = way ahead of the game = don't push
(evening) Gunny ran a session of eight bumper
Wagon Wheel (left and right side) with
focus of locking on the correct line and using push/pull, no and good cues
to accomplish
it, after awhile it started to click and he was very good about telling me
how much fun he
is having = very good session, afterwards he did 3 very solid, steady
"poorman" singles
note: I like him!
analysis for Gunny - lining drills, pattern
blinds and a lot of marking drills (land & water)
work slowly, work on precise routines at the line including clean "drops"
2 weeks - start the Four Phase Drills
work on de-cheating drills in the water, corners of cover, side hills,
angel entries and exits
note: two-three week themes with similar marks toward the end
note: need to closely monitor his pattern blind phase, he is so sharp
on pattern blinds in such a short time = I don't want him to get
to deeply into the habit of needing to know where he is going
note: He has already shown his memory is exceptional so I don't
want to make it a crutch on blinds.
note: Make sure to not ask him for great initial lines on his early
cold blind work. Right now he wants to go...so let him.
note: start BB blinds
July 13th - (morning)
most of the day off for the trainer
(evening)
Gunny - did 7 bumper Zig-Zag drill twice (left & right side)
- Square Pond DTA
note: same focus and he is getting better at all the expectations
Taffey, Kooly & Daisy - three dog, off lead honoring, remote drop
drill
note: they have this down without any problems, the reason for doing it was
to exercise control at a distance & reinforce
the command up close,
the expectation is 1) I take a hold of the bird/bumper, 2) the dog drops
it so that it physically falls out of their mouth and 3) their head
and/or mouth do not follow the bird/bumper
note: they are getting very good at honoring another
dog's work
Gunny
ran his two pattern blinds at the Industrial DTA - lined the first and one
whistled
the second - he fires off the line on "back", the first whistle sit is not
real quick
July 14th -
(morning) train at BT's (checked Sunday night
to see how dry the road in was - It's good.)
setup "four down the shore" with remote wingers, stickmen, primer reports,
3" flagged
Avery Flashers......gunner at each winger for the two pups (duck call and
help if needed),
after running six dogs on the marks.....the four older dogs ran four cold
blinds across the
lines to the marks using mallards
(left click on thumbnails)

"ready on the levee" |

"four down the shore" |
"first three blinds" |

"last two blinds" |

"almost ready" |

"gunner's view" |
Taffey was test dog on the marks and blinds -
smacked all the marks and ran some
very nice lines to the blinds (concern for height of weeds was removed by
the levee
giving a much needed elevation, once past the little on the first blind the
dogs want
to turn right
Kooly was very straight on all the marks and
had a slight hunt on the last one, his
were not as sharp as usual. the high grass did not allow him to pick a
target to run at
so he did some meandering and on the third blind there were some series of
wrong
casts which resulted in an indirect pressure = good cast afterwards
Daisy nailed the first three singles and did
not see the last one (turned her head at the
wrong time (poor focus), reloaded winger and she was OK on that one, the
first blind
immediately went south when she went through the head high wall of weeds
entering
the water.......she went into total hunt mode with all the high grass,
bounced off terrain
and cover changes - wild........slowed down casting without much effect
except then she
started to pop and when cast go at half speed which for her is still fast,
not much better
on the third blind, got an indirect pressure which did "wake her up" and
then she
began to pout and give little effort, she was in the water on the 4th blind
when I decided
"enough is enough"....turned the transmitter down to 1.5 and gave an
indirect
pressure nick on sit (treading water), now it was clear what her attitude
had become
because she vocalized on the 1.5, so she got a back/continuous/back = that
did it,
she fogged straight for some time, whistle sat her cast back/continuous/back
and she
to the blind.......analysis - wide open long blinds do not provide the cover
to bring on
her hunt mode.......need to get her to run straight in heavier cover without
hunting
Gunny saw every mark, fired off the line and
got to each mark........his lines weren't all
that great because of the "wall of cover" in the water, still ran over to
say HI to the
gunner on the last two marks, got back in the water on the third, but
started to cheat
down the levee on the last one, whistle sat him and "by golly" he took the
cast back
down the steep levee and got back in the water
note: these marks were on the very fringe of his experience, Anne was
watching closely as he "got out there" and from his body language
he was "thinking on the move"
note: this is the first time in the few years I've trained here that there
was
any water let alone this large amount of swimming water
note: arrived at 8:15 am & got back home at 2:30 pm...long day & worth it
(dusk) Gunny ran a
five bumper lining drill with an intro to bumpers through a slot, ran
his two pattern blinds (with pheasants) at the Industrial DTA - fired hard,
ran fast
and lined them both
July 15 (early morning) trained at BT's hay
field - setup five stickmen in an arc 50 yards from the
line and put cold blind orange bumpers "up the slots" at 125 yards with one
wide on the
left - mostly setup to work on Daisy's hunt mode and lining issues from
yesterday
note: rows of raked hay angle on the last four blinds
(left click on thumbnails)

"blinds 1,2,3" |

"blinds
2,3,4,5" |
Taffey ran first - wanted to scallop to the
woods on the first one and had a tendency to
resist taking angle backs on a few other casts - basically pretty good at
the line
Kooly took good initial lines, but not too
crazy about just bumpers - got the job done
Daisy would not look out and lock - mostly
subtle avoidance, so I decided to not mess
with her at the line and just send her.......attitude improved and once out
there she was
better, casts not great but she wasn't dragging around and pouting, did pop
twice, hint of
trying to lock on the last blinds was there, some head down hunting but the
hay field is
short with not a whole lot of exciting scent
note: last two days have been out of character for
Daisy
three possibilities 1) the cold blinds from yesterday with the high walls
of cover intimidated her causing a switch to hunt mode because she
couldn't "run to a horizon", when corrected she pouted and got worse,
and/or 2)"roading" the short distance to the line with the ATV was a lazy,
lousy mistake (free running mode precipitated and aggravated by the
corrections) or 3) she will soon be in heat (not regular....so don't know)
note: took her to the Square Pond DTA and tried to run an eight bumper
(orange) wagon wheel - failed to do that, gave up = no locking, head
down hunting immediately and basically "ditzy", soooooo....placed two
piles of orange bumpers 60 yards out in front of two trees 30º apart
while she watched from a remote sit, this was a simple push/pull drill
with two identified piles...........she got that.........was locking good
and lining without hunting.......pretty simple and
clear cut......going to
lighten up on her for a week or so and see if she comes in heat, 'cause
she's not normally like this
Gunny ran his first cold blind drill with the
bumpers at 125 yards
took all the stickmen down leaving the Avery "orange tipped" motion stakes
out there,
placed five 3" Avery Flashers as cold blinds for Gunny at each of the five
positions the
older dogs ran to, this is his first "fan blind" setup = the routine is to
line him up toward
the middle and "kick him off" = which ever way he goes.....let him roll
until he is near
one of the blinds.......then handle him the rest of the way to that one
note: this works with a pup that fires
with no questions when you ask
note: first go he got some suction from the hay baler and wagons on the far
left.....after he was out about 70 yards, he took five casts to blind #5
(which was good because there would be no gaps in the remaining four)
note: second "back" had him heading directly at cold blind #3 and he lined
it with good momentum........the cover is such that when he gets about
five yards from a bumper......it becomes visible
note: quit after that & picked up the rest (good start)
Gunny
ran four "poorman' water singles in the Square Pond after Daisy's lining
drill
note: remote sit as the bumper is tossed, return to the line and send
note: two singles were "splash" near the far shore and the other two were
thrown beyond the shore cover on the far side = did good!
note: Gunny was steady
July 16th - (morning)
Gunny - ran the two pattern blinds first at the
Industrial DTA (pheasants)
note: he lined both - not sure there is anything more to be gained by
running
them again - maybe establish a 3 with more factors some where else
note: should have been in the field two hours earlier
it was very warm already - drove to BT's hay field, "shot" two Retriev-R-Trainers
for each
of the three older dogs, let them sit together and the dog that moved the
least would
get to retrieve = they all crept some and it was not a
very good idea, moved them all on
top of a "pointy" mound for their second marks and this defined where they
were to "sit"
and remain...................much better....................Taffey,
Kooly & Daisy had two retrieves,
"drove to the levee" for some pond work, shoot a couple of easy R-R-Trainer H2O
marks,
Daisy & Gunny
(first time for him).....Monday the water was deeper with a lot of water
at swimming depth....it has dropped some
note: Daisy flew off the lever and had no
trouble finding the small, foam
bumpers in the tall grass on the other side of the water
note: Gunny was moved to the mound and had no
problem picking up the
very fast foam bumper, he had two marks (went too long on the 2nd
one, almost as if yesterday's longest mark was still in his memory)
really too hot to train, but the time required to do these marks is
brief........and the dogs
were back in the van quickly, the air conditioning was kept running and each
dog had
very little reaction to the heat.......the "launcher" provided mostly
exercise & something
a little different for all (especially Gunny)
July 17th (early morning)
Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny trained at BT's
hay field - setup a remote
winger/stickmen Y Drill
Taffey had a big hunt on the first mark &
stepped on the last two
Kooly stepped on all three
Daisy went into hunt mode when her nose caught
the scent from the short old fall mark
number three and went into a huge, ugly hunt on the first mark, sorted it
out finally and
stepped on the last two
Gunny stepped on the first mark, blew past the
second by about a 100 yards and finally
figured out where it was after a long hunt, stepped on the last mark
(left click on thumbnail)

"Y Drill" |
Gunny ran a 90º wide concept double in the
south east corner of the hay field, used
remote wingers, stickmen and 2" flagged Avery Flashers
note: wanted to go on the "memory bird", settled him down to swing and look
at the "go bird"........he was fine after that (marked both)
(left click on thumbnails)

"go bumper" |

"memory" |
note:
dropped the three older dogs off at the house
Gunny ran his two pattern blinds at the
Industrial DTA (pheasants)
note: lined both of them
(left click on thumbnail)

"two pattern blinds" |
Gunny did a water lining drill - parallel to shore at
the Swim-by Pond DTA
note: ran several bumpers and worked on staying in the water and straight
(left click on thumbnails)
Finished by 9:30 am and it was getting HOT!
Frontline Plus
on Taffey, Daisy & Gunny
with a new
Preventic
collar on Kooly
July 18th - (early morning)
trained at BT's similar to July 15th slot blinds drill except angled,
five cold blinds up the angled slots going from 90 - 150 yards, removed the
stickmen
and Gunny ran the "fan" cold blind drill - no water (Frontline Plus
yesterday)
Taffey went first and scalloped some on the
first two, a little "zig-zaggy" on the rest
Kooly was not into it much, ran fair lines, but
he knew they were bumpers
note: Kooly needs birds
Daisy was scalloping worse than Taffey on all
five blinds
note: the three older dogs worked left to right & Gunny did the opposite
Gunny after removing the stickmen and putting
out big black and white Flashers
headed for the 150 yard blind first, started "ping-ponging" at about 100
yards, so
moved up on him & finally hacked him to blind #1, #2 was better, I stayed
closer to
him, #4 was even better, he one whistled #5 from the line = better on each blind,
the
goal was to get out there & show improvement
note: skipped #3 and I picked it up afterwards
note: Gunny kept trying = he needs birds on his blinds & bumpers on drills
note: 150 yard cold blind too long, casting not good enough and distance
is the issue as far as control, shorten and incrementally extend
(left click on thumbnails)

"five slot blinds" |

"Gunny's fan blinds" |
set up a two wingers with a stickman for Gunny and
Daisy to run a single mark of 125 yards
Gunny stepped on it and remained steady with
stick taps
Daisy had her head down on the way out, over
ran it and then popped......I turned my
back on her and she went back to looking.....soon found it and returned (not like
her),
especially since Gunny stepped on it
(left click on thumbnail)

"125 yard single" |
note: dropped older dogs off at the house & drove Gunny to the Square Pond DTA
set up a new drill called the NoNo Push/Pull Road Drill to work on
Gunny's
"lock"
1st identified the visible 25 yard pile pile from between two stickmen on
what will be
the far side a gravel driveway (referred to as road from now on)
Gunny lined the pile a few times
2nd lined the pile again going between 2 bumpers placed on the near side of
the road,
but from a position where the pile is the target and these two bumpers are
clearly
out of his peripheral focus, after crossing the road......Gunny NoNo's the stickmen
and lined the pile
(Why did the puppy cross
the road?)
3rd Gunny next ran from a line far enough back of the diversion bumpers
so as to need
push/pulled to the center (away from them).......he
split the visible diversion bumpers
this side of the road, crossed the road,
No-No'd the
stickmen & lined the pile which is
not visible from the "third"
line because the road is higher than both "grassy" sides
(not unlike running out of a ditch)
note: Gunny never picks up the two bumpers, he is "pushed" or "pulled" off
of, he
has essentially three things to "click" on, the correct one is straight
ahead &
not immediately visible (but he has a clear mental picture of its existence),
with the tree line in the far background he is locking on a direction
note: Gunny was giving me three distinct "clicks"....which was the primary
goal
note: verbal cues are "no"...."no"...."good" and there are four different
"things"
to be "no'd" off of to one "good thing" which is not
visible.........direction
So.....why did the pup cross the road? Because...he wanted a retrieve.
(left click on thumbnails)

"identify the pile" |

"cross road & no-no" |

"push/pull lining " |
July 19th - (morning)
left just as the rain was moving out, started at the Industrial DTA
Gunny ran his two pattern blinds with hen and
rooster pheasants - lined both
note: huge rooster, and he carried it back nicely
Taffey, Kooly & Daisy ran the same blinds -
pheasants
note: Taffey needed one cast on each, Kooly lined them both and Daisy
is still in a "funk" about something
Gunny & Daisy did the lining drill from
yesterday (at the Square Pond DTA)
note: Gunny was sharp
note: Daisy figured out how to run it easily, but at first the issue of not
"locking" and bugging was obvious, after about 5-6 bumpers the
"no"..."no"...."good" cues started to kick in and she was sharp,
her whole attitude changed, sat up tall with her ears perked
Gunny did some decheating, lining drills at the
Swim-By pond......he needed it
note:
four bumpers for each cheat (right & left), by the time we got to
the last one in each pile, he was going and returning in the water
The Kwick Lining Drill (Link)
July 20th - too muddy at BT's....trained at the Rockton Sport
Complex with Anne & Tim W.
(early morning) setup a remote winger/stickmen
Y-Drill first & all four dogs ran it
Taffey had a long hunt on the first mark and
stepped on the other two
Kooly was like a laser
Daisy was a "ditz" huge, ugly, long hunt on the
first and hunts on 3 & 4
(still think she is coming in heat)
Gunny had a hunt on the first. persevered and
marked the next two really nice
note: did the whole "routine" crate to the line through a holding blind
note: Taffey and Kooly honored from the hide with the next dog
(left click on thumbnails)
the rest of the group arrived and ran the Y Drill, then we setup a W Drill
with the
idea of running the dogs past the two closer stickmen (three marks)
Gunny was the only one that ran this setup -
sucked badly to the gunner on the
first two marks, figured them out and pinned the long third mark, improved
in
one area = did not go to the gunner after picking up the mark
note: he seemed distracted by the Kooly in the honor position (got over it)
(left click on thumbnail)

3 marks -W Drill |
Gunny later ran 5 BB blinds of about 40- 50
yards
note: he went, he stopped and he took casts (the expectation was met)
Kooly ran two cold blinds (short and long)
mainly because birds were being used
note: Taffey and Daisy only ran the Y Drill
|
two cold blinds - pheasants |
July 21st - rain in the morning - good day to five the dogs
time off = lazy day & relax
note: WOW! last day off was July 9th
July 22nd (morning) trained at
the Square Pond ("grassy" area & pond)
Taffey, Kooly, Daisy &
Gunny did the "hide steady / chain gang"
drill
note: Taffey went first and did it easily, very
steady and sharp
Gunny was second and continues to impress with
his calmness
Daisy is really wired tight, but was rock solid
on the steady mode
Kooly was continual correct on the chain gang
for noise, Taffey was
brought out to sit on the far place board and when there was
the slightest "peep" out of Kooly the quiet command was
followed by "Taffey".......she picked up a lot of bumpers as
Kooly was corrected and watched......he is slowly getting it and
there were at leas 30 reps on the Dokken, goose calls and Taffey
mixed in with a few retrieves from a silent Kooly, toward the end
in was in the hide, re-heeled outside, backward healed and
switched sides heel.....any "peep" even leaving the line got
"Taffey"!!!.........he was very good the last five in a row with a
solid responsive to me body language.....his attitude was good
during the entire drill (not bad for a dog that once was soofffffttt!
(left click on thumbnails)

"The Line" |

"The Chain Gang" |
Gunny did a session of walking baseball & moved
to the pond to do a review of FTW
note: big improvement on walking baseball after the first BB blinds session
the other day
note: FTW review went perfect, 1.5 up to 3 and back down had him flying into
the water, maintained a great attitude and fired off the line on "back"
even when there was no bumper in the water (when he hit the water a
bumper came flying out front with a splash as the reward...works great)
Gunny
established a 3rd pattern blind after driving to the Industrial DTA
note: nine bumpers in an identified pile and walked backwards to extend the
line about 130 yards......needed a few casts on the last one.....good pup!
note: very cool morning....for the end of July, this was nice
(evening) Gunny continued to establish the 3rd pattern
blind by running him at two
pheasants then ran the other two pattern blinds with pheasants
note: 1st run on the new pattern blind he "ping-ponged" at 100 yards, moved
up
and got him there, next go much better....then he lined the other 2 blinds
note: very full day for Gunny (much easier day tomorrow)
July 23rd (late morning)
Gunny - ran eight BB blinds with 3" Avery
Flashers in the deep grass at
the Industrial DTA, there seemed to be a lot of scent (saw a rabbit), not
focused at all
and seemed confused.....went badly......after thinking about it with the
scent issue and
the fact that every time come to this DTA we run pheasant pattern
blinds......his mind
was not in doing something else
note: ran the two pattern blinds with pheasants afterwards and he was fine
note: spent some time at the swim-by pond with Anne W. and her Kate pup
doing FTW and a preliminary step on swim-by
Taffey, Kooly & Daisy had the day off
July 24th (morning)
Gunny ran his three pattern blinds at the Industrial DTA - ran the
new one
first with two pheasants there, five whistled it the first time and two
whistled it the
second time, line the other two and drove to BT's hay field and setup a
remote winger,
stickmen Y Drill for all four dogs (110 yards on the longest mark = not very
difficult)
note: the older dogs ran off the mound and Gunny did not (no experience
and it is a very steep drop off )
(left click on thumbnails)

"Y Drill" |

"mound view" |
Taffey ran it first (test dog) and she
stepped on all three marks......switched the first
mark to a white 3" Avery Flasher because of the changing from sunlight to
shade
Kooly pinned each mark
Daisy got hung up a bit in some alfalfa as she
came down off the mound on the first
mark and blew by it about 100 yards........popped & got the "big ignore"...ugly hunt,
stepped on the last two
Gunny missed the first mark by less than a yard
upwind and had a long hunt, the
second was again missed upwind = shorter hunt, stepped on the last mark
note: he was persistent, but has not grasped the AOF concept yet, did not switch
Gunny to the Rockton Sport Complex where they just mowed the grass and set
out
four cold blinds 60 to 125 yards with pheasants = totally different
attitude, corrected
for slow or sloppy sits and he was still trying to drive = took decent casts
and waited,
after he ran those, put out four more cold blinds = this went very well
note: he was definitely into this cold blind session and the difference was
birds
July 25th Gunny
ran his three pattern blinds at the Industrial DTA as a KRD by putting a
remote
winger/stickman in the field, he picked up the mark (pheasant) ran the
blinds right,
left and up the middle (pheasants) = good job (135, 140, 155 yards)
at the Rockton Sport Complex DTA setup a long poison bird blind for the
older dogs
Taffey ran it really well,
Kooly took a poor initial line (then no
issues), Daisy darted
at the last moment and just managed to stop her a few feet from the poison
pheasant,
took the cast and then was fine
Gunny ran a set of "Box Blinds" & left the
stickman/winger in the field as a diversion,
he did a good job, with casts and whistle sits.....carried lines a good
distance, too
note: his improvement on blinds is good
Taffey, Daisy & Kooly did a remote group whoa
drill at the Square Pond DTA
note: finally got a 3 minute "whoa", after a few "sit breaks" by Kooly &
Daisy
July 26th
Gunny ran his KRD at the Industrial DTA =
picked up the mark, two whistled the
first and lined the last two..........excellent job, after driving to BT's
hay field and
Taffey, Kooly & Daisy did a good job on a
close-up, "in your face" poison rooster
blind,
Gunny ran a 160 yard
single (pheasant), drove to the Rockton Sport Complex
and
Gunny did his second
day of a set of "Box Cold Blinds" (pheasants)...sat straight
on the
whistles, looked right
at me and waited, took good casts and did a great
job.........excellent "mo"
& effort
note: KRD = past the old fall, behind the gun & wide of the gun with
variations
in changing the order plus through the fall, under the arc and poison bird
note: Box Blinds are four cold blinds set out in roughly a box shape in
short
cover, the pup is sent after the closets two first using push/pull and the
second farther set of two required casting through old scent = forward
momentum is easy to promote and Gunny seems to be accepting his
role in the teamwork of finding "our" birds
(left click on thumbnails)

"Gunny's KRD"
|

"Gunny's Single" |

"Gunny's Box Blinds"
|

"poison rooster blind"
|
July 27th (mid-morning)
Gunny ran his KRD again, good job....one
whistled the first and third
note: still working on getting a good lock on the direction at the line
drove to the Square Pond "grassy" area and ran all four dogs on the "No-No
Push/Pull
Drill" added the variation of picking up and alternating between short
bumpers and
the long pile......moving up and back made things clearer for each dog
note: each of the four dogs are doing this two-sided
Taffey was very good until I tried to "pull"
her to the short left bumpers.....since she was
no'd off them earlier for some reason that meant...forever.....got it worked
out eventually
Daisy did not start with a solid lock, but it
was noticeably better at the end of the session
Kooly was precise and didn't miss a beat & was
very full of himself about it
note: this is a drill he likes almost as much as walking baseball
Gunny got into the grove early and is learning
fast
note: it got warm fast.....good thing the "air" in the van works
July 28th (early morning)
Gunny ran his KRD at the Industrial DTA & drove
the the Swim-by Pond
to train with Anne W. (Kate and Gina)
Gunny & Daisy ran the right and left
cheating corners drill
note: Daisy did fine.....Gunny was trying to cheat the return every time,
but he got
better with each rep (left corner worse than right)
Taffey, Kooly & Daisy ran a water poison
bird blind (winger)
note: Taffey did fine, Kooly was not easy to pull off & Daisy was the most
difficult
Gunny ran a close to the water honoring
drill with Kate = he was very good & controlled
Kooly ran a close to the water honoring
drill with Gina = he was not very good (vocal)
(4:00 pm vet's) Taffey
= 64.5 lbs, Kooly = 64.5 lbs,
Daisy = 59 lbs, Gunny
= 64 lbs
note: had blood drawn for all 4 dogs and submitted to VDL = EIC genetic
testing,
total cost $298
July 29th (morning) trained at the Square Pond
"grassy" area and did a remote winger/stickman
wide double with pheasants, calls & a cap gun off a bucket HRC style (left
to right - push)
note: warmed up quickly....line was in the shade as was one "gun station"
Gunny went first = first go uncomfortable with
me "sitting" beside him & not very steady,
picked him up and reset the 1st winger (no retrieve), second time picked him up and
reset
both wingers,
third time he was good - understands now........after doing the other
three
dogs, Gunny
came out & ran it again.......he was good, sat high and stayed still
Taffey was next and did OK, the usual BIG lean
note: trouble swinging to the 2nd mark (we've done zero multiples for some
time)
Kooly saw the pheasants, "whined", I picked up
birds & reset wingers three time with no
retrieve, put away after each "attempt" and
on the 4th set he was re-heeled off each bird
down
& corrected for whining
"quite often", long delays on the hand down & taken off one
bird
& "put" on the
other
several times, never lost his intensity & finally was able to avoid
making ANY
noise.......it was a long session
Daisy was "amped" after having to wait for
everyone including Gunny's second outing
note: just like Taffey, she had some trouble swinging to the second mark,
otherwise good, steady and sat still
July 30th (early morning)
Gunny ran his three patterns at the Industrial DTA with mallards
Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny ran a repeat of
yesterday's HRC double with mallards at
the Square Pond DTA in the "grassy area"....short and easy....for a
"steadying" routine
note: Gunny went first and came back out to run
it again after the other three
Gunny ran 2 mallard, remote winger/stickmen,
water singles on the Square Pond
note: dropped the older three dogs off at the house and drove to Rockton
Gunny ran a big Box Blinds setup with four
mallards at the Rockton Sport Complex
note: Gunny is doing well on his land blinds
note: started at 7:00 am & done at 9:00 am......it was 82º when finished
Gunny needs: treading water work, longer marks
on land and real gunners
July 31st (early morning)
Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny ran four "inline" singles with remote
wingers, stickmen and 3" flagged Avery Flashers at the Rockton Sport
Complex at
60, 120, 175 & 225 yards (range finder)
note: Taffey stepped on all four - nice!
note: Kooly missed the second and stepped on
the rest
note: Daisy got the first two and acted like
she didn't see the last two......so it
turned into a "go as sent drill" for the last two (and she did)
note: Gunny did fine on the first three, but
started to fade wide on the fourth,
stopped him and handled him back to the correct line = that went well!
Gunny did work on a water casting drill
plus some more practice on treading water at
the Swim-by Pond (dropped the three older dogs off at the house first)
note: casting nicely at the finish (accurate....comfortable) & treading
water better
note: doing some silent casts with "literals" being introduced
(left click on thumbnails)

"four inlines"
|

"casting drill"
|


July 16th - July 31st
√
= times worked on
b = birds
w = water
Daisy, Kooly & Taffey:
marks√√D√√√b√b√√b√b√√
doubles b√b√
real gunners
HRC styleb√b√
birds√K√√√√
waterD√√
Y
drill√√√
"inlines"√
Retrieve-R-Trainer√
OB√√√√√√√√
cold blinds√ b√Kb√b√b√√
tune-up drillD√
honoring√√K√
holding blind work√
stickmen slot blinds√
poison birdb√b√√
NoNo Push/Pull road drillD√
lining drillDw√
yard whoa√√
"hide steady" drill√
chain gang√w√
|
Gunny:
marks
w√√√√√√b√b√√b√b√√
real gunners√
steadiness focus√√√√√√√√
birds√√√√√√
water√√√√√√
KRDb√b√b√
stretched marksb√√
"inlines"√
HRC styleb√b√
doubles√b√b√
Y
drill√√√
Retrieve-R-Trainer√
OB√√√√√√√√
review
FTW√
decheating drill
w√w√w√
walking baseball√
NoNo Push/Pull road drill√√
BB blinds√
cold blinds√b√b√b√b√b√
Indus'l DTA pattern 2 blindsb√b√
establish new pattern√
Indus'l DTA pattern 3 blindsb√b√b√
run diversions√√√
water casting drill√
water honoring drill√
holding blind work√
yard whoa√
"hide steady" drill√
chain gang√w√
|
July 1st - July 15th
Daisy, Kooly & Taffey:
"inlines"√√
marks
D√√√√√√√√
X-Box dill√
real gunners
D√√
cold blinds D,K√b√D,K√b√√
fan slot blinds√
old pattern blindsb√
cold
honor K√
honoring√T,K√
holding blind workD,K√√√
water√
KRD√√
"road"√
poison bird√√√
OB K,D√√√√
birdsD√√√
walking baseball T√
lining drill D√
4 dog off leash steady drill√
yard whoa√
"hide steady" drill√
chain gang√
|
Gunny:
stretched marks√√√√
"inlines"√√
marks b√√√√√√√√w√w√
X-Box drill√
real gunners√√√
doublesb√
decheating drill√
fan cold blinds√
walking baseball√√
wagon wheel√
split drill√
Zig-Zag drill√
run diversions√√
establish 3rd pattern blind√
run 3rd pattern blindb√b√b√
run 1st pattern blindb√b√b√b√b√b√
run 2nd pattern blindb√b√b√b√b√b√b√
actual swim-by√√√
"back" pile on "swimby"√
"over" piles on "swimby"√
water√√√√√√
cold blinds
(two - easy)√√
water casting drill√
holding blind work√√√
"road"√
"hide steady" drill√
4 dog off leash steady drill√
OB√√√√√√√
birds√√√√√√√
yard whoa√
steadiness focus√√√√√√√
chain gang√
|
|