Kooly's Timeline June, 2005

June 1  (evening)  ran four doubles with the R-R-Trainer and finished with three singles at BT's, then
             drove to the Square Pond and ran two remote line water doubles
                               note: Kooly ran hard on the land marks & did well with the memory bird, his
                                        water entry is powerful and full speed
June 2 day off
June 3 trained with a group, ran two doubles at the Cherry Valley ponds and not a very good, 
            broke on the memory bird. re-heeled for go bird & got a "no-go" on the memory bird which
            eventually ended up with a "messy" mark (big hunt, "off on the land back in" mess), repeated
            to seek reasons, then did another double (different area) & got a slinky entry on the memory
            bird (soft pup got off the truck today)
                               note: best thing for Kooly was I did not get upset
            (evening) ran four water doubles (no remote sits) with two Dokkens and Kooly showed signs
            of a "no-go", hit the water hard every time, did change the inflection of his name (longer and
            louder) plus using the heeling stick focused his attention a bit more, finished with with several
            hand thrown orange bumper doubles and triples, different dog tonight
            Interceptor
June  4 trained early with group at Stoughton - ran two water doubles, the first was one of those
             set-ups that looked very doable, but it didn't take long for a few distractions to mess it up,
             simplified on the second and he ran it with drive, shot one long R-R-T for a good swim
             drove to Hook Lake and ran one double and four singles with the Retrieve-R-Trainer - the
             AKC Senior test next weekend in all probability will be run on this water, there are huge
             lily pads that flap up and down in the wind and can make for tough swimming, with Kooly's
             past as a pup this was to get through them ahead of time, spent some time running three
             hand thrown Dokkens out into some decoys, he and I paddled around in a small marsh           
             boat afterwards picking up decoys and checking out the lily pads
                                   note: time well spent
              Frontline Plus
 June  5 day off
 June  6-10 dropped off at Brian's for the week (What a huge favor!)          
 June 11 Brian ran Kooly in AKC Senior Hunter at Madison Retriever Club Hunt Test (while I'm home
              taking care of Taffey's seven pups)   
              Got a call at 3:45 pm that I'll need to go up to Hook Lake, WI (maybe tomorrow) to pick-up
              Kooly's first hunt test ribbon - AKC Senior Hunter!  38 dogs called back out of 63 for the
              second series & they may not finish today.  Kooly lined his first ever hunt test water blind
              (and according to Brian it was not an easy one).  What a weekend!
 June 12 aired early & took a walk around the "block" (3/4 mile) relaxed, loose leash and calm...you
              could say extremely laid back (just another hyper, out of control field trial dog )       

Kooly's first hunt test ribbon - AKC Senior Hunter pass

      June 13 hot, sunny day  two bumper push/pull drill at Legend Lake's boat ramp
                       note: exercise & fun maintenance practice (exit, hold, deliver & shake)
      June 14 ran six singles & one double with the Retrieve-R-Trainer, then ran three cold
                   blinds in mowed alfalfa (130, 160, 180 yards with ducks)
                       note: use place board at the line & use foam bumpers for distance
                       note: marked well with a lot of enthusiasm, did really well on the first two
                                blinds (one & two whistled) and kept fading with the wind on the last
      June 15 easy day - continue with step # 3 of the "fun" Definitive Casting Drills at new area
                       note: still having a problem with backing off on Kooly's training....as my
                                read is grinding and pushing all the time is not the best approach =
                                "relax it is not a race" (need to focus on that more) 
                       note: Kooly ran Step #3 once on May 31st (two weeks ago), today he ran the
                                same drill in a new area and did it perfectly, sharp sit and hard, true cast 
                                right to the identified pile - nice session! and ready for step #4  
                       note: used remote wingers at the gunner/stickman station   
      June 16  decided it would be smarter to not train today - 43rd wedding anniversary
      June 17 (late morning) trained with Brian - ran four gunner stations, two singles and a blind
                   up the middle followed by two different singles with another blind up the middle
                       note: Kooly saw bumpers & marked accordingly, had to give a kiss to the gunner
                                on one (Brian's son), hooked another, hunted awhile then went right over &
                                picked it up (3/4 speed), sent him to the wrong orange flag on blind one, but
                                eventually hacked his way to it, attrition and indirect pressure was needed to
                                convince him that an "angle back" is not an "over", probably some
                                carry-over from the Definitive Casting Drill which is right now in the
                                "over mode"
                       note: on the positive side Kooly was not "bummed out", not a great day, but
                                informative                                       
      June 18 picked-up a dozen pigeons from Joe (mostly "homers", at $2 apiece a good buy)
                   ran the Definitive Casting Drill #4 (long angle back on the same side as the mark)
                       note: continues to be responsive to casting away from marks and the identified
                                blind was 40+ yards away, Kooly will have no problems with the "poison
                                bird" concept        
      June 19 ran ABC 4 stickmen field with remote line single marks past a crate of live pigeons
                   at the short station in a cut alfalfa field, use shackled, clipped winged pigeon & .22
                   blank pistol, afterwards ran the longest pattern blind from yesterday back through
                   the old falls of today's set-up (marks were run in the opposite direction of Friday's)
                       note: Kooly flared the short station on the long mark, otherwise all went well &
                                ran a flower pot from the last station for a total of five marks  
                       note: Kooly handled the pigeon with a nice, soft mouth & delivery was very good
                       note: need to work on literal casting drills (want angle backs & getting overs which
                                turn into "ping-pongs"  
      June 20 ran five short cold blinds at the near alfalfa field using clipped winged pigeons,
                   followed by some swimming marks off the Legend Lake's landing (easy day)
                       note: first three marks were 125-145 yards & the last two were 145 & 175 yards
                                Kooly took excellent initial lines and handled better on the angle backs,
                                the last blind was lined and at about 150 yards the white pigeon flapped
                                his wings for a perfect "pop-up" blind that really jazzed Kooly up
                       note: it was already in the eighties, but Kooly handled the heat very well, the lake
                                helped (note: In the picture, the entry is down a rock free boat ramp.)
      

first three cold blinds (125 -145 yds.)

last two cold blinds (145 -175 yds.)

cooling Kooly off after cold blinds in a hot hay field                                                                      (Legend Lake's boat ramp)

      June 21 day off (didn't eat last night, temperature normal - 100.9°F), just an early walk
                         note: picky eating is a good read to back off a bit on training
                         note: took bowl out last night & he ate nothing, tonight he dug right in and
                                  ate it all (and quickly)
      June 22 (early morning) all the hay bales had been moved, thus there was a change in the set-up (no
                    multiples) ran an "up the slot" inverted W marking drill with clipped winged pigeons, cap
                    gun (can't shoot gunner pistol here) with the remote line
                         note: three short marks first and then the two "up the slots" (236 & 180 yds.) & next time
                                  tighter placement of slot and pinched in marks
                         note: took a half hour break (started early, but still warm) and then ran two long blinds
                                  (335 and 215 yards) diagonally through and past the stickmen field from a different
                                  line (four and three whistles)
                   (evening) too hot & humidity high = pass on running a Definitive Casting Drill #4
                         note: sent for Derby premium at West Allis, WI

inverted W marking drill ("up the slots")	poor hay bale placement

gunner/BB crew

                   
      June 23 ran two in-line remote winger doubles with clipped winged pigeons (first - 100
                   & 225 yds., second - 85 & 190 yds.), then moved to Legend Lake for a 150 yard
                   parallel to the dam swimming mark
                          note: home early and it is going to get HOT!

first double	second double
Kooly returning with memory pigeon

      June 24 trained early at Stoughton - ran long, basic W marking drill with clipped winged
                   pigeons, stickmen, remote line with singles, .22 blank gun, then ran an angle back
                   casting drill on the swim-by pond, finished at 9:30 am
                          note: Kooly loves the pigeons for marking. Because they are white. He is using his
                                   eyes more and developing a better hunting pattern  In the past, Kooly has
                                   depended way too much on his nose, but appears to be thinking more now.
                          note: far left pile very visible (by design) Kooly is not lined to this pile until the very
                                   last, the three areas of focus are 1) line in the given direction, 2) continue on
                                   that line until asked to change direction and 3) take the given cast (line-up
                                   and work as a team), Kooly was doing this quite nicely after the first four
                                   bumpers, the visible pile created a lot of suction (at first)
                          note: supposed to be 97° today
 

basic W marking drill

angle back casting drill (3 piles)

      June 25 early morning walk around the "block" (about ¾ of a mile) & an easy graph casting drill
      June 26 day off, walk around the block - too hot!
      June 27 day off, even hotter
      June 28 trained early at Stoughton, ran five check-down in-line singles, stickmen, remote line
                   and clipped winged pigeons with two shots from .22 NEF pistol, then followed that up
                   with three long water/land singles with a second pigeon and shot upon exiting water
                          note: since Kooly in the past has seemed to loose momentum when exiting water
                                   with still a long way to mark, a second shot & pigeon were used each time 
                         note: the drive from the water marking line to the long station left Kooly alone
                                  for quite some time, he is getting very good with this routine   

check down drill (225 - 85 yds - right to left)

long water singles (300 - 185 yds - left to right)

four cold blinds on a hot morning

Kooly likes his biscuits flipped.