"Kooly"

"Kooly"

Kooly's Road (Link) Kooly's "Euro" Shoot (Link)
("musical montages")

The New Addition (born 11/14/03)
January 3rd, seven weeks old yellow Lab "Kooly" will be picked up in Columbia, Tennessee
   from Allstar Labs. Kooly is by NFC AFC Dewey's Drake of Moon Rivers - the top Open yellow
   Lab of 2002,4, qualified multiple years for the National AM and Open Retriever Field Trials,
   finalist in the 2004 National Amateur and winner of the 2004 National Open. Kooly's dam is
   Maxine's Midnight Pursuit JH (Maxie) by 2XNAFC 2XCNAFC Ebonstar Lean Mac out of
   Greenbriar's Tooter in Pursuit QAA.

   Maxie became a JH in September of 2001 and littermates Landry's Mardi Gras Magic QAA,
   FC AFC CAFC Comstocks Bodacious on the 2001 derby list plus another sister Ridgeview's
   Dixie Chick QAA. FC AFC CAFC Comstocks Bodacious won a sanctioned Open Field Trial
   and ran 8 series in the 2003 & 10 series in the 2004 National Amateur Retriever Field Trials,
   7 series in the 2004 National Open which Drake won and the winner of the 2005 Canadian
   Open Field Trial. Maxie has other littermates with derby points.

Drake & Maxie info (link) Kooly's Tentative Timeline (link)
(plus Kooly info "to date")

"Kooly's Mallard"

There are four reasons for Kooly becoming
a KwickLab. To begin with, Taffey will not
be bred until next fall. This would mean at least two years before training another pup. I'm 63 years old and cannot afford to wait. Experience can be gained only by doing. Secondly, Dewey's Drake is high on my list
to be the sire of Taffey's pups. What better way is there to evaluate this choice? Next, Kooly is not bred to be a PL. This means all training efforts can be focused on retriever skills (without the concerns for any upland pointing). Lastly, Kooly's pedigree displays
a strong genetic propensity to succeed as a field trial dog. Specifically, Kooly and I will become an ambitious "white coat" project.
(But what if he points?)

"Bucket Up"

Dec. 31 Two more days until the trip to pick
up Kooly. Time seems to have slowed
down and we still have to wait another
year (actually a couple of days).

Jan. 3 Kooly leaves Tennessee as a young
KwickLab, the long drive back to northern
Illinois is eased by the familiar scent of
his mother and siblings (placed on a
towel) 50 days old.....today
(1275 miles round trip - went well!)

"Goat Imprinting"

"Heaven Scent"

   Jan. 5 total puppy checkup at the vet's - Kooly passed with flying colors
               52 days and 11.4 pounds, two walks a day and making great strides with the crate
               training, everybody loves him (He's a puppy!), zips up and down the carpeted stairs
               and hops over four by fours, scoots thru brush and wants to be with, has already
               started taunting the older dogs (when confronting them in their crates), Taffey has
               all of a sudden started yipping like a pup again, FIRST two retrieves today!
               narrow hallway with a paint roller, many pups will not start this early
               note: his litter had lots of toys to play with - another socialization bonus!
   Jan. 6   bitter cold, 20° below zero wind chill tomorrow morning - yikes!
               Retrospective:
               The night before we went to pick Kooly up, the breeder and his family visited with us.
               Kooly was brought out of the whelping box and left to roam the living room. Blake
               (the breeder's son) held him for awhile, and later he crawled over my legs as I sat on
               the floor. He played and visited everyone. Then he walked over to a small dog bed
               which had a ball, puppy bumper and another toy. Her curled up and played with the
               dummy, and then chased the ball as it rolled away. He was perfectly content to be
               alone for a bit without his siblings. Then he went back to visiting. What a charmer!
               and what a wonderful example of super socialization. He was seven weeks old and
               acting as if he were weeks older. I felt very fortunate. Taffey was an exceptional pup
               and Kooly appears to be the same.

           For ongoing, detailed progress....click on the Tentative Timeline link above.