Archive: The Kwick "Four" Training Journal - June, 2008
Archives:
Daisy, Taffey & Kooly's Training (Link)
Gunny - Taffey's Dustbucket (Link)
The Kwick
"Four" Training Journal - April, 2008 (Link)
The
Kwick "Four" Training Journal - May, 2008 (Link)
June 1st (early morning)
Gunny ran single T, mixed in a few large
orange bumpers, ran about 8-9
back piles, 4 left "overs" and 1 right "over"
(Daisy picked up the remaining 5 bumpers
out the T field (from the van......which saved me from walking back out
there and took the
edge off of her for the first time "roading" session with Gunny.....coming
up next)
drove to BT's alfalfa field where Taffey, Daisy &
Kooly "roaded" one mile after which
Gunny
came out so that all four dogs could "road" the last
two miles (the levee has a small area of
shallow water for the dogs to cool off each time around the 1 mile loop)
note: 68º, ¼
mile out of each 1 mile loop was in the shade with tall, dew cover grass,
slight breeze and sunny
note: for the first time running with the other three Gunny held his own,
Daisy was
after him quite a bit, but Gunny loved running out front with her and did
not
back down (they will sleep long and hard today, especially Gunny)
Interceptor
(all four)
June 2nd (mid morning) trained at BT's with
Anne W. - setup four wingers with stickmen, primer
reports and used mallards......off a steep levee into heavy cover with not
much breeze,
warm, sunny and high humidity....dogs did fine....I ended up fighting off
heat exhaustion
and finally got home, took a cold shower and went to bed.......whew!
note: Gunny went first and did a really nice
job.......steady improvements every day
note: Taffey was sharp and intense
note: Daisy was run by Anne and was a little
uneasy with the change, did OK
note: Kooly was run by Anne and he was really
sharp
June 3rd (morning) the three older dogs have
the day off, Gunny ran single T and since it
was cool
he picked up 16 bumpers, worked on the left "over" more (four bumpers) and
did a high
percentage of backs, three "stick" forces from the line and four backs from
a whistle sit
at the apex........looking better every day.......stronger & more focused
note: afterwards drove down to the pond & did 4 quick fun retrieves from the
water
note: two more days of single T and the second T will be added
note: just finished in time to beat the big storm that's moving in
(dusk) Gunny ran
his single T - 6 back bumpers, 3 left overs & 2 right overs
note: brief session, cool evening....left over weakness corrected
June 4th day off for all
June 5th (morning)
Taffey, Kooly & Daisy ran the 3 dog remote drop drill at the Square
Pond DTA
Gunny ran his single T with many more back
bumpers to work on a sudden desire to drop
bumpers on the way back......after a few "No"....."fetch/nick/fetch"
corrections this was
"cleaned up" and will probably require reminders for a few days
note: place side pile bumpers for the second T starting tomorrow
after the land "work", took a short trip to the pond......since none of the
nesting geese
were successful this year......finally decided to start using the pond for
training
Taffey & Gunny ran singles
"together"..........the marks were thrown so that Gunny had to
wait for Taffey to get close to hers.....then his was thrown.......got in
some wide diversions
for Gunny and his enthusiasm for water retrieves has skyrocketed.......6-7
for each
note: the focus was on Gunny - first of all....fun, then good water entry,
delivery
to hand......followed by shake
Kooly & Daisy worked together on their "sets"
of water marks......6-7 total for each
note: the main focus for these two was being steady
June 6th day off - rain early, later.....too warm with high humidity
June 7th (morning) warm, high humidity, good
breeze - Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny trained
off a
place board using water marks and the "chain gang" at the Square Pond
note: water definitely increased the excitement level,
Taffey & Kooly were
whining and Daisy was very animated off lead
with terribly busy feet,
Gunny was OK, except he wanted to "parade"
after each retrieve
note: all the dogs were heeled off the place board to a sit before
retrieving
note: Taffey & Kooly were not very responsive
to requests to heel (at first)
note: in spite of elevated excitement......there was zero creeping or
breaking
note: looking for gradual improvement
(left click on
thumbnails)
 "chain gang" |
 "water view" |
 "Taffey" |
June 8th (afternoon) morning - after thunder
storms moved through, a brief cold front with
cloud cover was a relief, Taffey, Kooly & Daisy
ran two long cold blinds
note: Taffey took good initial lines then got a
little "zig-zaggy" with the
several terrain changes pushing her left each time = kept on line
note: Kooly ran them about the same as Taffey
note: Daisy got off the van perfectly (for her,
this was a big improvement)
heeled quietly to the line after airing (a good distance to the line) and
ran both blinds really well
Gunny ran double T for the first time and
picked up 15 bumpers total - ran both side
piles and the only issue was needing two casts (almost every time) on the "overs"
note: good attitude and effort
June 9th (evening) Gunny
ran the back pile on his swim-by pond - eight bumpers, had a little
issue on wanting to return "around" the pond, but corrected that and the
last six were
straight over and back with good momentum and a great attitude, drove to the
Square
Pond "grassy" a set-up a long "up-the-slots" lining drill using five
stickmen at a 45º angle,
Taffey lined the first three and one whistled
the last
Kooly was not nearly as fast, but did well on
three out of four
Daisy was way quicker than Kooly, did the first
three super & got "zig-zaggy" on the 4th
Gunny ran his first 4 spoke wagon wheel and did
it eagerly, with nearly zero issues
note: wanted to "jump the gun" and go on "dead bird" a few times
June 10th (early morning)
Gunny double T then wingers marks with (ducks)
for all 4 dogs
Gunny ran is double T with 14 bumpers did his "overs"
with quicker responses today
note: ran the last two back bumpers faster than the first two (I think he
knows
when they are all gone......we are finished.
)
(left click on
thumbnail)
Gunny's "double T" (left side) |
Setup three remote winger stickmen singles to take advantage of a a no cheat
situation
for Gunny, by moving the line around and changing the order of each mark
every dog
received the kind of marks specifically geared for their individual needs
(left click on thumbnails)
 "left" |
"middle" |
 "right" |
Taffey ran first because she is the official test dog (making sure
everything is OK) plus
there is a need to keep her sharp and provide
exercise
note: very "amped" at the line and really explosive off the line.....sharp
 Taffey's singles |
Gunny ran from a closer line than Taffey, adjusted so the 1st was
easier to see on the other
side of the stream (first mark in and out water and no available cheat), the
2nd was in the
water of the inlet stream to show not everything will be on the other side
and not quite as
easy to find, the 3rd was a duck in open water......first water ducks
note: did well on the 1st and 3rd, it took him a little time to figure out
the 2nd, still
parades at the line (need to setup some drills to take care of this)
note: wanted to play with the wet ducks before delivery (need to work on
this), but
once he settles down, holds the ducks nicely for delivery, starting to get
the
"shake" sequence correct
 Gunny's singles |
Kooly ran his three singles from a more distant
line which made the middle mark very
"cheaty" (wanted to work on this) the order of the singles was right, left
and middle last,
he cheated the middle mark 9knew he would) and was handled back into the
water
which screwed up that mark, will run this as a blind later this week with
the 3 older dogs
note: need to do more water and land "cheaty" work with him
 Kooly's singles |
Daisy ran the setup from the same line as
Taffey, except the left mark was the memory of
a delayed triple...the right mark was thrown second and she picked it up,
then the third
mark was thrown up the middle and retrieved before the delayed memory on the
left
note: she nailed all the marks, only issue was getting her to "pull" on the
second
mark of the multiple (which was her first multiple in a very long time)
note: good memory, nice lines and excellent focus with confident body
posture
note: Daisy is starting to perform more like Taffey every day (which is way
cool)
 Daisy's delayed triple |
June 11th (early morning)
Gunny ran double T with 14 bumpers - did a good job
(morning) ) later trained at Hook Lake, WI with
pro Brian Moyse
Taffey, Kooly & Daisy ran two water marks with
gunners in boats out on the bog,
they are familiar with the heavy lily pad issue on Hook Lake
note: nice marks, honoring, holding blind and general "from the van and back
OB"
Daisy ran a cold blind up the middle
Gunny ran the shorter marks thrown for the
younger dogs
note: not sure how he was going to handle this since his first duck in water
was
only yesterday, first big lily pads spooked him for just a second and then
he
dug in to get the mark, second was going really well when he was attracted
to something to the right of the line......a quick help from the bird boy
and he
picked up the second duck......this was a very big jump in difficulty in 2
days
(left click on thumbnail)
 "water work" |
the second setup was two marks down the shore to the right.....the second
was difficult
Daisy saw it as a double, but by the time she
came back with the go bird, the 2nd mark
was "mentally gone"......ran it as another single and still had to handle
her on it, none
of the dogs did well on the 2nd mark (tough)
note to self: 1) verbal "overs" drive back!!! 2) make up your mind if
you are going
to correct on a "cheat" or handle........not both
Kooly ran the two marks as singles - 1st pinned
& 2nd "sucked" to shore a tad too early &
had to handle.........Kooly ran a cold blind
setup farther south of the first setup & he
was "zig-zaggy" too often
note: saved on gas = trip to Stoughton training, stopped at vet's for
Kooly's two
shots with no vet needed for this visit that saved $25, next stopped at
Mounds
to pick up Kooly's food on sale = everything part of the 1 round trip not 3
3 trips would have been 114extra miles = $28 + $15 off food (on sale) +$25
for no vet = +$68
June 12th (morning) Gunny
ran double T work......72º, cloudy, no breeze & 69% humidity......set out 6
back bumpers and two at the "overs", planned to run 6 back and only 1 of
each over as
Gunny has been "going at it hard" recently, first two "goes" were slow with
glances toward
the side piles, not real crisp pickups at the back pile and a body language
of "Geez, I really
don't feel like doing this." Reviewed force to pile on the next four with a
hint of him thinking
about bolting to a side pile or refusing, finished off the six back &
returned the 6 bumpers
to the back pile with Gunny on a remote sit at the line, the grass was
freshly cut and all the
piles were very easy to see, the four serious reviews of FTP from the
first set of six bumpers
brought about a quick change in attitude........he ran the second 6 hard out
and back, put
him up and I picked up the side pile bumpers
note: excellent response to pressure
drove to the swim-by pond and Gunny swam the
"back" pile six times with each "go"
producing a more aggressive water entry (no pressure applied), he was "into"
it
note: On the first bumper he took two steps toward cheating the bank, I gave
him a
verbal "no" and then remembered, "I'm not supposed to do that."
day off for the other three
note: a ton of rain to the north and quite a bit here all afternoon & night
June 13th (morning) Gunny
ran his first walking baseball drill & did an excellent job
note: all casts were set up to be "overs" and "backs" & it was easy for him
because
three handed casting had the same basic mechanics, the difference was in
moving around
moved down to the pond and ran a concept blind = "cheaty", across a point
angle exit
to land after water re-entry, each dog repeated it, extra emphasis on the
return
Taffey was "zig-zaggy" and wanted to cheat the
return
Kooly wanted to take a line to the left all the
way, had to make him wait longer on casts
to get him to change momentum, "cheaty" on return
Daisy's initial line was left, but after that
her handling was excellent, honest return
each dog was placed on the "chain gang" to run the "Hide Steady & Chain Gang
Drill"
Taffey ran first - a little "whiny" at first,
but nothing happened until she quieted down
Gunny was second and is getting the idea of
waiting = good job!
Kooly spent at least 15 minutes working at his
vocalization which finally ceased and he
did his three retrieves without making a "peep" (lots of goose calling and
waiting)
Daisy was animated at first (too much) so she
did a lot waiting on remotes sits before
finally allowed in the hide
note: 3 retrieves per dog, with the older dogs in the hide, Gunny works off
a 6' lead
drove to the swim-by pond and Gunny did four
bumpers to the back pile
note: 1st "go" just walked in, but on the last 3 he was airborne from the
shore
(left click on thumbnails)
 "concept blind" |
 "Taffey steady" |
 "steady mark" |
 "three in waiting" |
 "Gunny" |
June 14th (morning)
Gunny ran walking baseball, "jumbo" push/pull
drill for the older dogs (easy day)
note: Gunny did a very good job with walking
baseball "backs" and "overs" started to
take some "over" casts without the verbal
note: Taffey, Kooly & Daisy each are a little
different about the thought process on the
"push/pull" drill, worked a total of 13 bumpers in two piles at about
30º....one at
25 yards and the other at 50 yards (very visible - 3" Avery Flashers),
Taffey is so
intense she sometimes goes where she wants to and ignores the cue,
Kooly is very
precise and easy to focus, Daisy lies once in
awhile (looks one way & goes another)
(evening) rained out
June 15th (late morning) early- rain and
soggy.....Gunny & Taffey - long walk at the
Sand Ponds
note: the rain has filled the Sand Ponds and created a large number of extra
areas
to run water, using "poorman" tactics Gunny & Taffey had at least 15 marks
note: Gunny's longest mark was a 175 yard swim across the big pond with a
wide
variety of marks including multiple entry singles (exciting session) and
Taffey
gave Gunny a lot to look at
(late afternoon) Daisy &
Kooly - long walk at the Rockton Sport Complex - threw four
"poorman" singles for both, good run, but Kooly broke a nail and it was
bleeding (a lot)
note: Kooly to the vet tomorrow
June 16th (morning) trained with Anne at the
Rockton Sport Complex stretching marks with an
inline drill - five marks from 50 to 250 yards
Gunny carried all the way to the 250 yard mark,
used the "fire drill" technique on the two
longest marks
Daisy did a really nice job and was FAST!
Taffey ran two cold blinds 100+ yards on
each one
Kooly to the vet - Rimadyl for 4 days &
Cephalexin until gone, after five days it should
not be a problem (pain) and about one week back to training
note: keep as clean as possible
(evening) 46th anniversary - no training
June 17th (morning) trained with Brian & Linda
at BT's DTA Gunny & Daisy ran four singles with
real gunners, primer pistols and pheasants or chukars,
Taffey & Kooly had the day off
Daisy had a big, ugly hunt on the first, short
one & needed help, the rest were good
Gunny needed lots of help on the first one,
none on the second, some on the third &
did well on the last one
note: Gunny was dropping the birds when he got
in the deeper cover, this needs
to be corrected (not an isolated situation as he was dropping the unfamiliar
bumpers the day before)
note: meds for broken toe nail (day two)
Frontline Plus to
Taffey, Daisy and Gunny
(left click on thumbnails)
 "four singles" |
 "Linda & Brian" |
June 18th - (morning)
Gunny ran a new drill to work on his issue of dropping bumpers/birds
on the
return. it's the "Know More" Drill = 4 piles of retrieving objects at the
corners of a square
with 30 yard diagonals, retrieves are from the corners..........1st pile is 2"
white "knobby"
bumpers with a couple of 3" orange, 2nd pile is five full sized Dokkens and
one mallard
ATB (none of my dogs like to pick the ATB up...slippery when wet and too big
across), 3rd
pile is 3" Avery Flashers and the 4th is a pile of birds, 3 mallards
and 3 pheasants (2 hens
and a big rooster)
Taffey, Kooly & Daisy = day off
note: any cast refusals were met with "back/nick/back", any drops are
corrected
with "fetch/nick/fetch" or further enhanced with an ear pinch
note: zero drops on the 2" white "knobbies", collar corrections on dropping
the
1st 3" orange bumper which he subsequently blinked and went back to the
pile and picked up a 2" white one, picked the rest of the white up, dropped
the orange one he hadn't touched yet......collar corrected and retrieved
this
one, refused to pick up the original orange bumper collar corrected again
note: moved to the Dokken pile and he picked up the five Dokkens with no
drops,
the Avery ATB mallard was a big issue (as planned).......dropped and collar
corrected, after three corrections he refused, resulting in an ear pinch to
pick it up, spit out twice....pinch corrections again, the next time he
dropped
collar correction followed by another pinch...........threw it back out an he
refused at the line, walked off "heel/nick/heel" and once in was in motion,
"back/nick/back" and when he got there refused to pick it up.......ear pinch
fetch and it was now clear he was taking a better grip on the ATB, back to
the line for delivery and repeated two more times with ear pinches...clearly
his force fetch "memory" has "slipped" some, but there
is a definite sense
of urgency on his part when it is clear the ear pinch is on
note: moved to the 3" Avery Flasher pile and six retrieves with zero issues,
his
problems are with unfamiliar bumpers and birds, this drill deals with his
"poor choices"
note: last pile of mallards and pheasant......clearly "amped" after the
first one, but
dropped it halfway back........"fetch/nick/fetch" again with zero
tolerance for
anything but a clean delivery, including lowering the bird to ground as he
pivots to deliver at heel
note: he was not "sloppy" or hesitant when we finished
= message received
and standard reestablished (going to repeat this drill as much as it seems
necessary)
note: attitude good as we finished = total time....less than 15 minutes
June 19th - trainer did "yard work" - mowed
the lawn and did some gardening, dogs' day off
June 20th - (early morning)
Gunny ran his double T - 10 back pile bumpers
with 2 bumpers in each
of the four "over" piles.....the focus was good casts & no drops with the
most sends (ever)
note: did a good job with only two small drops (late....we are about
finished
note: one last thing to do is some casting with the bumper in his mouth
after a quick move down to the pond he got wet and cooled off with three fun
bumpers
Taffey &
Daisy did a session of walking baseball with two 2" Avery orange
bumpers
Taffey was sharp and her usual driven self
Daisy was "amped" and usually took off in a
hunt mode (head down), did well until I
tried to give her a verbal straight "left" back..no way, even after several
attrition attempts,
angle back every time........simplified = identified the back position with
two thrown
bumpers and set her up for the straight verbal left "back" cast = perfect,
identified the
angle back position by tossing two bumpers there & set her up for a silent
left "angle
back" = perfect, went to walking baseball mode for those two
positions.....she took the
verbal "backs" and and silent angle backs = perfectly (not sure
why she got hung up
on this today, except we've been doing walking baseball in the same area for
quite
some time.........change areas?
note: will check this again next week
Kooly's toenail is still bleeding some after
airing = remains on the shelf
(late morning) Gunny
did his initial over pile for swim-by,
ran around the pond on the first
one, my meeting him, saying "no" and placing him on a remote sit and then
calling him
to come back across was enough of a correction to remind him of the "right
way", the
light came on and he retrieved four bumpers from the "over" position.
A couple huge
bullfrogs were sitting on top of weed masses and were moving around. Gunny
thought
about getting one a few times, but he is now "de-frogged"
note: yesterday's "stiff" corrections on the "Know More" (dropping) Drill
has had
some effect on his momentum (not bad......., but noticeable)
(late afternoon) trained at Stoughton FT grounds
with Brian L. = water marks across the
new, larger improve swim-by pond........not really one now, stickmen, ATV
gunner, 3"
Avery Flashers and a primer pistol
Taffey went first (to check things out) marked
OK (kind of sloppy really - hunted too much)
Daisy was her usual fast self and did not
mark all that well, running fast and using her
nose is an issue.....still "sucking to the gunner", need more focus to get
tighter marking,
might start salting AOF more and using longer throws
Gunny got there with not a whole lot of
momentum and his hunts were not very well
thought out, needed help on the middle mark...........he was trying, but
clearly lacking in
experience with marks up on shore, in heavy cover after a swim
note: these were tough marks for an inexperienced dog (Taffey had a lot of
issues with her first marks thrown on this pond)......mostly because once
the dog is in the water (and more so as they near the other side).....the
gunner stations disappear from view.......trust in going straight is lacking
note: Gunny is still not responding very well to bird boy "help", need more
shorter cover marking to head off his penchant for big hunts
note: skipped the fourth mark because the concepts and factors would only
create problems not needed (i.e. cheating and bank running)
Kooly was not a happy camper - nail still a
problem (day off)
June 21st & 22nd dogs had both days off - slacker mode!.....but the yard &
garden look better
June 23rd (morning) trained at BT's hay field
and ran two Mama-Papa setups with remote wingers,
real gunner, popper gun, decoys and stickmen, Kooly
has time off (toe still tender)
Taffey ran first as the test dog = everything
worked and the setup looked OK
Daisy was very good at
the line, steady, focused, marked well and delivered calmly
Gunny ran the two
marks as singles without the decoys, for both marks he was really
focused at the line...1st mark flew into the heavy cover (not supposed to),
good line
and he dug it out, 2nd mark...good line hard charge with a hunt at the end
Taffey did not run
the second set
Daisy came out and
did a better job on the second double (nice!)
Gunny did
about the same on the second set, initial line very good, excellent "mo",
marks maybe a bit more than what he is ready for, but he figured them out
note: need to do some marking in shorter cover and get him jumping on
longer, but easier marks (fewer factors)
(left click on thumbnails)
 "mama-papa #1" |
 "mama-papa #2" |
(evening)
Gunny ran a session of walking baseball at the
Square Pond grassy area
&n