Feb 1st Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny did an OB review & started learning to use the pager tone
             on the Pro-100 e-collar as a remote release
             Interceptor for all four
                         note: Jan 26th Daisy ate part of her rubber crate mat, used hydrogen peroxide
                                  and recovered 184 grams of the possible 204 grams a similar "portion"
                                  massed, no issues since & BM's are normal.....Whew!, the mat has been
                                  in her crate for three years.....can't figure out why she decided to eat it
                                  (long winter ???) 
Feb 2nd still a lot of snow on the ground - worked inside on OB and tone remote release
              Taffey, Gunny & Daisy went to the vet for their annual wellness exams & shot updates
                         note: Gunny & Daisy fecals were negative
                         note: 4" of fresh snow
                         note: just finished the first experimental flocking of a coot decoy
                                  (flocking coots, bluebills, redheads, canvasbacks & goldeneyes)
Feb 3rd  continued OB reviews in pool area & worked on remote tone release expectation
Feb 4th - Feb 17th worked on OB ("off lead") & continued the remote release routine,
              changed to using radio voice commands at the line....Daisy, Gunny and Taffey are
              doing it well, Kooly is coming along slower (still has a penchant for worrying)
Feb 18th trained in the snow, did remote release, "solo" singles using the radio commands,
              each dog was cast back to the line (place board) next to a an electric fence post,
              a radio was attached to the post
              Daisy made the transition to outside without any problems
              Gunny was a bit slower, but he too was soon "getting it right"
              Taffey could not "get it" for several singles, finally changed to much wider angles,
                    after she did one correctly.....the light went on
              Kooly was like a "deer in the headlights, he had no idea what was going on, but
                     he too finally began to "get it" (he was definitely cautious about "leaving"),
                     still has that built in penchant for worrying....."Is this right?"  
                           note: upon further thinking about this....the dogs (except for Daisy) are
                                    having some difficulty realizing that the voice from the radio at the
                                    line is me....more successful "reps" is what they need
                           note: the focus is to have the dog ONLY look at the mark (not swing their
                                    head back to the gunner......looking and listening for a release)
Feb 19th - 21st reviewed the radio remote release routine in the pool area, starting to talk
              to the dog at the line.....sit, good, name (release) all from the radio at the line,
              all four are now listening to the radio and not looking over at me........this has
              created a huge difference in attitude with each dog
                           note: the two youngest Daisy & Gunny are making the transition more
                                    easily, Taffey & Kooly are finally getting it, but still hesitant at times,
                                    older dogs.....new tricks issue ???
                           note: five more inches of snow tonight.....argggghh!!!
                           note: all 12 of the new coot decoys are fully flocked, the 12 new bluebills
                                    decoys are almost finished
Feb 22nd - 26th continued same routines, more snow and still 6" on the ground
                           note: making great progress on decoys
Feb 27th - with temperatures finally jumping into the 30's it was time to clean out the wood
                 duck house on Thorson Pond, the ice will probably go out in about a week, so
                 using the goose sled, the walk to the pond through 6" of snow was easy, didn't
                 test the ice and went over the dam to the other side, two feet out from the shore
                 there was no ice, but it was very solid the rest of the way, the ski pole probe
                 works really well and in no time a  screw drive had the lid off the house
                           note: there were egg fragments and three unhatched eggs....one not fertile
                                    and two that were within a few days (or less) of hatching (feathers &
                                    heads well developed)..................so close     
                           note: As I was about to leave, four geese were spotted up by the little creek
                                    that feeds the pond.....they were staking their early claim to nest.  
                                                                      (left click on thumbnails)

                            
                          Flawless repetition is a tool....excellence is the goal.

                                                        

         
                    April 1st - Interceptor & order Frontline Plus in March