Aug 11th - The "Kwick Four" Journal (Link)              early morning - started "free roading" at the Square Pond in the mowed erosion              strips of the corn field.....the first brace was Kooly & Daisy - two miles was easy,              put them up and Taffey & Gunny ran together with two miles being about right,              afterwards, setup the Long Wait Drill with each dog picking up four marks & running              two poison birds in a 30 minute session...this was the "intro" to the expectations so              only a duck call was used with bumpers and wingers...."things" will be ratcheted up              (more real) as we get closer to hunting season, the dogs ran off an Avery Ruff Stand              that was left as a simple platform on the ground, I sat in a layout chair nearby and ran              the poison bird blinds from a sitting position, except for Gunny (much younger dog),              all four dogs were nice and steady, under control........had no issues with running the              poison "bumpers" & even Gunny (still working on his definitive casting drills, yet)              was very good               note: The dogs will be going seven miles per session before the trips to South Dakota.                       A one mile square hay field is our other "free roading" area (grassy paths).                       The expectations of the drill are to be steady, quiet, patient and focused.                                                                     Sequence:                         1) five minutes of  sporadic calling was followed by a short toss off to                             the right with no retrieve and more calling plus a five minute "lull"                         2) the poison bird to the left was run and the first mark picked up                         3) a few minutes later another bumper was tossed to the right                         4) later a mark from the left winger was launched with no action taken                         5) about five minutes later, the poison bird "up the middle" was run                             followed by a longer wait with two marks still down in the field                         6) the second winger launched a bumper behind the decoys and                             somewhat in line with the second cold blind (triple on the ground)                         7) after another five minutes, the three marks were picked up "out                             of order"........left, right and then the middle.....no dog had any                             issues with memory                         8) each dog except the last had to sit at the line while I went out                             and reloaded the wingers, then was taken off line at heel to the                             van = around 30 minutes per dog (approximately)                   note: first time handling dogs sitting down & it went well, no real problems                            pushing or pulling them off the poison "bumpers"...........now that the                            expectations have been well defined (and reviewed), the excitement                            will be increased...........dog hide, shooting, real mallards (flyers) and                            eventually water                                   edit: the real duck flyers didn't happen this year, ran out of time &                                          didn't have a source I could afford.......Daisy & Gunny did do                                          some pheasant flyers in the upland before the trip to SD                   note: "roading" before the drill was definitely an advantage....edge taken off                   note: running out of the shade was absolutely necessary                   note: will do a short session out of the boat between checking trotlines (maybe                            this weekend)                   note: all four dogs are "sawing wood pretty good" at 6:30 pm

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