hill factor drill - left side.....

.....& right side

July 28   ran three "poorman" singles with Kooly, last 225 yards at the grade school,
              loaded up and went to Brian's (can shoot there) and ran a winger double with
              ducks "up the slots" in a W (5) stickmen field with steady at the line as the
              focus, lots of duck calls and shooting before her run, Kooly ran two singles
              with more calls and shooting, Taffey did not like waiting (by design), she then
              had to "wait" her turn through two holding blinds and additional popper shots,
              spent quite a bit of time entering and exiting blinds plus backing up with off
              leash OB as the focus, "sit/stick/sit" at the line before each mark* = she was
              solid (zero movement and no whining)
                             note: *extinguishing old habits & establishing new 
July  29  worked off the bucket at Brian's using a "stocked" Retrieve-R-Trainer with the
              same agenda, Taffey again had to wait her turn with Kooly going first in plain
              view, first two holding blinds, she tapped her feet & was put up in the truck to
              watch Kooly, next time out she crouched = back to the truck , then she did
              two singles and a double with zero movement, lastly did remote honor of two
              singles with Kooly = she is starting to be very aware and careful = good day!
                             note: this might carry over to the upland training 
July  30  day off!
July  31  ran several walking "poorman" marks alternating with Kooly
              evening - ran several water marks at the "Square Pond" just for fun   
  

Taffey knows only one way to get in the water.

Aug  1   spent the day on the truck in the shade as I worked the 3rd & 4th series
             in the Amateur All-Age at Hook Lake, WI = behaved quietly and kept
             Kooly company, got a few water singles after the 3rd & when finished
Aug  2   day off!
Aug  3   mostly a day off with some basic OB review off leash with Kooly  = taking
             turns on remote sits and recall heeling to both sides, nice distraction yet
             good example, nice & solid! Taffey acted like it would be more fun if it
             were just the two of us (jealous)
             Interceptor heart worm pill       
Aug  4   very cool morning, review eight bumper Wagon Wheel casting drill
             Frontline Plus     
Aug  5   trained with FT white coat set-ups, ran cold blind up a partially cut hay
             field = across truck path, raked hay and through a corner of uncut hay,     
             did well until about 25 yards from the blind and she got real "birdy", 
             wild pheasants make running a blind interesting, she sat on the flush
             and took a cast back to the duck, later ran three singles marked the
             first & third long ones super, but overran and hunted big on the short
             2nd check down mark, line manners very good
                       note: watching other dogs train and throwing birds is very useful
Aug  6  ran a few water marks and worked on OB
Aug  7  worked on the same pattern blind with Kooly, ran five ducks out to 100 yds
            with the "camo jump" at 25 yards
            evening - run walking singles with Kooly at the "Sand Ponds"   
Aug  8  trained with Badger State HRC - ran a land triple with a blind up the middle
            (lots of noise and shooting, stick pressure at the line) = she did very well
                      note: handler injury = out for at least a few days
Aug  9  day off (handler R&R)
Aug 10 could hardly walk, but Taffey ran a very tough session of walking baseball
            using 2" orange bumpers, can't get over how hard she runs these drills
                      note: every cast is "full bore" 
Aug 11 day off
Aug 12 trained at Stoughton FT Grounds - ran a land triple off the north hill with
            remote wingers plus two long cold blinds up the slots using all ducks,
            used HRC style with bucket, shotgun poppers & duck call, zero
            tolerance for movement or whining at the line, ran marks super & blinds
            very sharp, moved to big mound for a Retrieve-R-Trainer water single to
            cool off, after waiting for Kooly to run his singles, Taffey went back to the
            three remote wingers to run three different HRC walk-ups = solid heel and
            sit to flush on all three
                        note: excellent training day
Aug 13 trained at Brian's - ran remote winger singles working on line manners,
            first a single, second a poison bird single with blind and last single followed
            by a cold blind (all ducks, primer pistol, duck calling), sticks on the line
            for any violations of the sit standard (motion or noise) & taken off line with
            any lapse in the standard
                        note: heeling to line & sit is getting very solid, now working on just
                                 an occasional small whine or slight motion, she is showing
                                 awareness & caution
Aug 14 ran remote winger tight poison bird blind at the "Square Pond" - easy day
Aug 15 trained at the "Square Pond" - alternated six water & four land singles
            with Kooly, focus on steadiness & sit/delivery standards
Aug 16-17 two days off - too many other things to do
Aug 18 trained at Brian's & shot four live flyers (ducks) for Taffey - line manners
            being the focus, then did some extra delivery OB and an HRC walk-up
                         note: a couple of foot taps on first bird, but was very solid with
                                  zero motion the rest of the session (sharp!)  
Aug 19 day off
Aug 20 trained at Stoughton, remote winger land triple with two long cold blinds 
            "up the slots" using ducks, HRC bucket, popper shotgun, duck calls, two
            holding blinds and emphasis on manners from the truck to the line
Aug  21 Wisill Finished tests - ran land triple with diversion and cold blind,
             Taffey's HRC test wise issue with me running her has not changed,
             very loose at the line, picked-up the triple & two whistled the blind,
             "duh" handler forgot to pick up the diversion bird until told, got that
             and left, scratched her & didn't bother to run water, on Monday the
             rumor was she still had a chance to pass..............not as far as I was
             concerned
                          note: resigned to the fact her test wise issue, at least with
                                   shooting at the line, is not close to being resolved
                          note: run Master at Madison to see if there is a difference for
                                   me running her and no shooting at the line,
                                   if not Taffey, will retire from running tests
Aug 22  day off
Aug 23 - 25 took most  of the week off, Thursday & Friday we are going
             "roading", doing more & training harder is not working
Aug 26  ran flower pot land double with BB and did a cold blind L/W/L across
             the swim-by pond after the retrieving the first mark, memory bird was
             used for poison bird blind = sharp!
Aug 27  roaded five miles on the soft, fine road lime bicycle path in the morning,
             ran a flower pot triple & cold blind with the "go bird" short in line with
             gunner, tough & cheaty land/water/land blind at an angle close enough
             to yesterday's  blind to cause suction, ran blind first & took off the short
             "go bird" very nicely, picked up short middle mark then far right and
             finished with a cheaty land/water/land memory bird (two sided heeling)
                           note: worked very well on the line  = trained sharp
                           note: tomorrow up early and road five miles before
                                    leaving for Saturday's Master test in Madison, WI 
Aug  28 11:00 am - Taffey is now officially retired from hunt tests 
Aug  29-31 three days off
Sept  1  "roaded" two miles in the morning at Macktown
Sept  2  "roaded" two miles in the morning, multiple casting drill in the swim-by pond
Sept  3  ran two basic water doubles
                           note: chukars ready in two weeks & quail available now 
Sept  4-5 two days off  
Sept  6 simple two bumper lining drill (yard)
Sept  7 roaded about five miles at Macktown (first three with Lick & Kooly)
Sept  8-9 two days off, scratch from Blackhawk RC hunt test
Transitionied from training logs to "The Hunting Journal" and
then Taffey's Litter Chronicles which ended July 31, 2005