July 31st-Aug 1st Gunny passed 2 AKC Junior hunt tests (3rd & 4th passes) to earn his JH title                              note: first the good - 1) he was excellent from the van to the line.....walked calmly, loose
                                      leash, sat in the holding blinds and just looked around....very pleased, 2) marking
                                      was excellent, 3) handled all his retrieves well (zero drops) and gave the ducks up
                                      when asked
                                      the not so good - water (on Saturday) he paraded amongst the judges before delivery,
                                      but not on land, Sunday was worse on water (first series).........for the land series,
                                      decided to crouch down, use the here "trill" when he got close and behaved in a
                                      more animated manner to cause him to focus on me......it worked.....no  parade, but
                                      this is probably an issue created by mostly training alone........need to work on
                                      deliveries with others at the line
                              note: Daisy was test dog for the land series on Sunday....she was well behaved going to
                                       line, focused, marked and delivered the mallards responsively.......good to see, the
                                       long lay-off has indeed changed her expectations.....at least for one test day      
                                                                          
                                                                              Saturday's AKC Junior Test - Gunny's 3rd pass
                                                                               (left click on thumbnails)

                                                         Sunday's AKC Junior Test - Gunny's 4/4 title pass
                                                                                (left click on thumbnails)

                   Aug 2nd trained at the Square Pond grassy area.....setups were HRC routines, holding blinds
                                 were used to hide remote wingers, used mallards, duck calling, popper gun with
                                 primer loads, bucket and gun stand
                                 first Daisy then Gunny did an HRC walkup (popper gun & remoter winger, after the
                                 retrieve....off bucket ran a mark (memory for next setup...."schooling" a double)
                                 second Daisy then Gunny did an HRC Seasoned land test simulation, double with
                                a diversion on the memory bird, after which "shot the blind" (and ran)
                                       note: both were solid and steady on the walkup - waited awhile before retrieve
                                       note: both were steady on the Seasoned setup, waited until I put the gun in the
                                                stand before picking up the first mark, diversion & before running the blind
                                       note: Taffey & Kooly had the day off....got hot quickly....humidity has been nasty
                                       note: Interceptor for all four dogs. Frontline Plus on Taffey, Daisy & Gunny
                   Aug 3rd day off for all.....including me......too much other "stuff" to do  
                   Aug 4th early morning - getting warm, humid and had to "dodge" rain showers, trained at BT's
                                hay field and the mosquitoes were in absolutely full force, setup long gradient blinds
                                with the wind pushing them down a rise in the terrain plus an angled breeze that
                                "pushed" the same way.........heavy dew and cloudy made it just tolerable
                                       note: four cold blinds with mallards.....150- 225 yards
                                       note: Daisy was the best, three or less whistles on each and lined one....very fast
                                                and precise casts 
                                                Gunny did a great job on this setup...especially since he has had the least
                                                amount of training on cold blinds.......carried his lines well, sat straight & took
                                                excellent casts....5 casts or less with one lined...initial lines much improved
                                                Taffey & Kooly run blinds with different styles (she's much faster), but they
                                                "fade" and "fall" into scallops too often - four or five casts on each blind,
                                                except they each lined one.......they are definitely ready for hunting season
                                       note: really pleased with today's work....especially the "young ones"  
                   Aug 5th van at the mechanics - steering column universal frozen.........................not good!!!
                                morning  trained in the front yard............Gunny & Daisy did a two dog steady/honor
                                session.....remote wingers, duck call, Dokkens, HRC bucket, Avery Ultra Low Dog Hide
                                and a capgun......the session was video taped, next time the dog in the hide will be the
                                running dog with the bucket dog doing the honor, both did well & I need to make some
                                adjustments - needed heeling stick (in the van) and use fewer verbal "sits"
                                        note: Kooly & Taffey had the day off
                                          You Tube Video    Gunny & Daisy - Steady/Honor (Link)                                       
                   Aug 6th - van not repaired - too warm = day off for all 
                   Aug 7th early morning - trained at the County DTA - land & water.......HRC setups with mallards,
                                four remote wingers, two holding blinds, popper gun with primer loads, bucket & g-stand
                                land first - walkup & a double with a diversion and cold blind for Daisy & Gunny
                                       note: Daisy did the walkup first.....perfect, the diversion was thrown on the way back
                                                from the "go bird", but not picked up until she retrieved the memory and ran
                                                the cold blind...did a good job and was focused...her "ditz factor" has really
                                                shrunk a lot....challenged her today   
                                       note: Gunny was wonderful.....solid on the walkup, focused on the marks with
                                                diversion thrown on his return with the memory, the blind was just OK, his
                                                sits and responsiveness were fine, but the angle backs were mediocre...if
                                                anything a short, 40 yard blind doesn't let him roll enough 
                                       note: Taffey ran the walkup & then saw the "in your face" diversion as the "wipe out"
                                                third bird in a triple plus a cold blind.......she was up to it.....very nice
                                                Kooly was to run the same setup as Taffey, but he vocalized on each of the
                                                marks when they went down, picked him up and Taffey came out to "pick"
                                                the ducks, not going to specifically waste any time with this today....nothing
                                                new for Kooly, he remains.....just a good "hunting dog"....too bad as he has
                                                a lot of talent
                                                                              (left click on thumbnails)

                   Aug 8th work at Madison Retriever Club's field trial  (Sunday) = day off for dogsAug 9th
                   morning trained at the Square right after the rain, good breeze and cloudy, just beat the sun & heat
                   Daisy & Gunny ran four cold blinds angles across the pond with mallards,moved line so that Daisy's
                   blinds would be longer with more difficult angle entries
                                     note: 2 blinds were up and out with exits about 15-25 yards, one was right at the
                                              shoreline, one was buried in the heavy cover out up on the shoreline (none were
                                              predictable in relationship to the exit, both did well, Gunny was called back to the
                                              line for "dancing sideways" on an angle entry....took a good initial line afterwards,
                                              most all HRC Seasoned hunt test water blinds will be easier
                                     note: Gunny's "turn & tread" in the water is really good now, solid focus...he "gets it"
                                afterwards, Kooly was subjected to an honoring Taffey, she picked up almost every
                                "fun Dokken" as Kooly continues to NOT see the connection between his "noise" and
                                her making all the retrieves                                       
                   Aug 10th morning - trained at Rock Cut State Park DTA in the tall grass...Gunny & Daisy did two
                                  HRC doubles with about a 120° "swing" of the popper gun (primer loads).....one left to
                                  right and the second right to left (they came out and went through two holding blinds
                                  each time...cloudy, in the upper 70's with very high humidity and hordes of mosquitoes
                                      note: the focus was on being steady at the line and marking off the gun
                                                Daisy & Gunny have thrived on the many reps of the Seasoned test routine
                                  next - drove to the square pond and set up an HRC double with a walkup, diversion
                                  and a cold blind Daisy had the diversion thrown on the go mallard and picked that up
                                  after retrieving the memory, shot the blind as per the usually HRC Seasoned routine
                                  Gunny ran his routine slightly different with the diversion coming on the memory bird 
                                          note: Daisy was almost flawless on the walkup, diversion and marks......her blind
                                                   got a bit "zig-zagy" at the end.......slowed down & didn't feed into her speed,
                                                   her weakness in the past was an inability to come off the first mark......this
                                                   is no longer a problem......yippee!  
                                          note: Gunny is like a breath of fresh air........he sits, looks and waits to be sent in
                                                   kind of a regal manner, need to make sure and line him up solidly with a
                                                   good focus on the first water mark as he still has a tendency to flare entries
                                                   to the right on his first water entry......otherwise he was excellent........his
                                                   blind was actually better than Daisy's  
                                   afterwards - Taffey & Kooly did about 7-8 "two dog leap frog" walking singles out
                                   and back in a long, wide erosion strip in the corn field.....much needed exercise
                                          note: finished at about 11:00 am....the sun was out and becoming "really hot"
                   Aug 11th early morning - Daisy & Gunny ran 3 cold blinds at the Square Pond, used mallards
                                  and long entries into the water (increasing angle entries)......Daisy did well on all
                                  three, Gunny was called back for one poor line on the most challenging angle entry
                                  and took the correct line/angle after the recall.........good sessions for both 
                                          note: Taffey & Kooly had the day off
                                          note: morning thunder storms did not materialize
                                          note: plumber at 9:30 am                                          
                   Aug 12th passed on training today....too warm.........forecast high of 92°    
                                  Dr.'s at 9:30 am......."penalty" for not using sun screen regularly = nitrogen & biopsy
                                  buy dog food late afternoon                                 
                  Aug 13th morning trained at the County DTA - group of 2 doing the Long Wait Drill (mallards),
                                 four remote wingers on the peninsula, popper gun, two lines and two holding blinds
                                 with two dogs in each session
                                 Gunny & Gina trained together first, the Gunz Up CD was playing, duck calling, dry
                                 shots......each dog had to move from the "watching" position to beside the handler
                                 before being sent, Gunny honored on two retrieves, we picked up the first mark as
                                 both dogs stayed at the line, four mallards on the peninsula and one 3" Avery Flasher
                                 was thrown right in front of the dogs (splash breaker)
                                 Daisy & Kate were the second set of dogs to train together....each session was about
                                 30 minutes long....the following You Tube link is an 8 minute section of the drill
                                                                  Daisy & Kate - The Long Wait Drill  (Link)
                                            note: Gunny & Daisy worked out of the Avery Ultra Low dog hide
                                            note: excellent review of the expectations for my dogs with the ante "upped"
                                                     by having a different dog plus second trainer involved
                                            note: Gina & Kate did really well for doing this drill the first time.....they were
                                                     excited at first, but waiting gave them time to adjust, each calmed down
                                                     and did well.....excellent sessions for all
                                            note: Taffey & Kooly had a bunch of fun water bumpers as we picked up "stuff"
                                                                               (left click on thumbnails)

                   Aug 14th late morning trained at the Square Pond DTA...Daisy & Gunny ran two HRC setups,
                                  the first setup = land double with a water walkup & land diversion on the memory bird,
                                  the blind was "shot" and ran up the middle, the second setup = water double with a
                                 diversion on the memory with a long, "cheaty", "shot" blind up the middle 
                                          note: both were solid at the line, Gunny did great on land, but did his little
                                                   dash at the water's edge on the go bird.......need to get him more
                                                   focused on "out there" before sending him
                                          note: Daisy was outstanding on the land & water blinds
                                          note: Gunny was sharp on the land blind, but took a poor initial line on water,
                                                   once cleared of the the poor start......he was very good
                                          note: checked water level and charged the marine battery for the dog fans
                   Aug 15 Kankakee River Valley HRC Seasoned hunt test   Hebron, IN
                                  Gunny & Daisy both earned an HRC Seasoned pass   
                                          note: Taffey & Kooly stayed home
                                          note: long day....morning was absolutely a "bear"......hot, no breeze, very high
                                                   humidity and mosquitoes swarming.....cloud cover, shade & a slight breeze
                                                   made the afternoon more tolerable with the humidity letting up some
                                          note: Daisy's weakest area = heeling off lead (What's new?)
                                          note: Gunny's weakest area = initial lines on cold blinds (What's new?)
                   Aug 16th morning - trained at the Square Pond DTA......set up four remote wingers in two pods
                                  (one covered by two holding blinds and the second shielded by two "ghilly" shrubs)
                                  around the figure eight walkup design were three Dakota looker goose decoys and a
                                  half-dozen of FB mallard decoys, three randomly place stickmen were out at a distance
                                  from an elevated place board and gun stand with a popper gun rounded out the setup
                                  Daisy was first.....heeled on lead for the first 1/4 of the figure eight and off lead the rest
                                  of the way........OB exercises were done all the way around....sits, walking sits with a
                                  "catch up" here, down, circle right and left around the stickmen and backward heeling,
                                  once back at the start a blind was "shot" HRC style.....it was up the middle of the setup,
                                  the third phase of the setup was to do four walkups with the popper gun (again HRC
                                  style)......the the path followed the same as the "kind of" figure eight done in the OB
                                  first part of the drill.......Gunny did the same setup
                                          note: both did well....corrections were varied....verbal, e-collar and heeling stick
                                          note: the setup was designed to deal with the line manner weaknesses observed
                                                   in yesterday's HRC hunt test
                                  Taffet & Kooly ran 7-8 two dog, walking, "leapfrog" singles.............for exercise
                   Aug 17th morning Gunny worked angle entries at the swim-by pond (started short moved long)
                                                                               (left click on thumbnails)

                                evening Daisy & Gunny ran marks at the County DTA, four remote wingers were setup
                                with mallards, Daisy was first - she ran the two middle marks as in schooling two doubles,
                                Gunny was next out and he ran four singles, Daisy came back out and ran two doubles
                                each of which included the "schooled" memory birds
                                       note: both did well on focusing, sitting still and marking....excellent session
                                Taffey & Kooly did a set of two dog, "leap frog" walking singles (each had 7-8 singles) 
                  Aug 18th late afternoon drove to Bong Recreational Area DTA to show Gunny the drop-off water
                                 entries & the steep stairs down to the pond, heeled Daisy & Gunny down to the pond,
                                 ran several hand-throw Dokkens marks for both, Daisy is always airborne & Gunny
                                 walks/plow in......no issues and the drop-off is significant....Gunny ran two cold blinds
                                 took Daisy & Gunny over to the two fallen trees trunks up on the bluff for a little no-no
                                 review and they retrieved marks run out and back......jumping the trees,  parked by
                                 side of the stick pond and all four dogs Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny ran a diagonal
                                 cold blind from the road over to the hill past the steep stairway on the north side,
                                 with a wide mud shoreline (pond level is down) all four had muddy legs.......so we
                                 ended up at the gravel pond for a cleaning by running another cold blind
                                      note: there was no sense waiting for Gunny to learn about the drop-off in a hunt test
                                      note: continue strict OB.......24/7 with Daisy
                  Aug 19th evening Daisy & Gunny did three HRC walkups at the Square Pond, using three remote
                                 wingers and mallards, each walked at heel for a considerable distance while "working"
                                 the wingers.......the focus was on staying at heel (fast & slow walking), sitting on the
                                 "flush" and remaining steady.....each walkup was shot at with primer loads.....both did
                                 extremely well with this and the exercise seemed to have a very good impact with
                                 the extended walking at heel
                                      note: Taffey & Kooly had the day off
                                      note: morning "weed whacked" the tall grass on the shore of the goose pond
                                      note: morning cut a dozen willows to make poles for temporary blinds
                                      note: continued decoy work
                  Aug 20th morning - ran HRC double, cold blind, walkup and diversion with Daisy & Gunny at the
                                 county DTA, ran four walking singles with Taffey & Kooly while picking up wingers,   
                                 drove to the Square Pond......Daisy & Gunny ran a set of two cold blinds with mallards
                                      note: setting up at the Square Pond it seemed really warm and humid so the van
                                               was closed up with the air conditioning on.......finished at 11:45 am
                                      note: home at noon and the temperature was 88° feeling like 95°.......the cool house
                                               was like.........very cool!   
                                      note: charge marine battery for dog fans & pack van for hunt test
                                                                                  (left click on thumbnails)

                  Aug 21-22 WISILL-Badger State HRC Seasoned hunt tests at Bong Rec Area, WI
                                  Gunny & Daisy passed their HRC Seasoned tests both days and earned HR titles
                                      note: at the end of their first series on water, I was second guessing myself
                                               about violating a rule of not running back to back hunt tests, both were
                                               a bit loose (understatement), but got through the series without any
                                               fatal gaffs, their land series has to be much improved......Daisy had two
                                               delays....broken winger and then a bird boy tripped the memory bird
                                               as she was walking toward the line.........however, she did a really good
                                               job of focusing and proved herself, Gunny turned in another almost flawless
                                               land series.....nearly as good as yesterday's......I knew both had passed    
                                      note: the ride home seemed really short  
           The following set of 8 pictures are of Daisy's land series (WISILL HRC test) & taken by Illinois Bob (RTF)
           Thanks...Bob!  
                                                                                                         (left click on thumbnails)

                                      note: Now......it's time to hunt !
                                                                               (left click on thumbnails)

                  Aug 23-24 trip to the Mississippi - boat rides, scouted & will wait until the water drops a bit more
                                  before building a couple of  small, temporary blinds......soon!!
                                      note: Monday.....boat rides for all four toward evening, water is up two feet higher
                                               than last year, took the cut willows but decided to wait until the weekend for
                                               building any blind frames......shuffled gear
                                      note: Tuesday early...Daisy & Gunny did a set of two dog, "leap frog" walking singles
                                               and then Taffey & Kooly did their set.....good exercise & fun, then drove home  
                  Aug 25th worked on packing hunting gear, sorting out clothes, decoys....etc., day off for dogs
                  Aug 26th vet appointment at 11:15 am
                                Kooly weighs 64 pounds, yearly Well Pet Exam (needs teeth cleaned), Lyme Booster,
                                          Leptovax 4 Booster, Prednisone tablets (use "once in awhile" per skin issues)
                                Daisy weighs 61 pounds, heartworm test
                                Taffey weighs 70 pounds (cut food back some), Rabies Canine 3 year, Heartworm test,
                                           some uncomfortable arthritis in front toes
                                Gunny weighs 67 pounds, Lyme Booster, Leptovax 4 Booster, Heartworm test
                                      note: continue decoy work, organizing gear and finish mowing the lawn....again
                                      note: day off from training for all
                  Aug 27th waited for FEDEX man, left in the afternoon for duck camp
                                      note: took first load of hunting gear & the willows for blind building
                  Aug 28th early morning - built framework for a temporary blind on the Mississippi river
                                 late morning - the dogs had a solid session of two dog, "leap frog" walking singles
                                 Daisy with Gunny & Taffey with Kooly (great exercise for all)
                                 afternoon - fished some.....only small perch were biting and afterwards Gunny ran
                                 about a sixteen short, very "cheaty" singles thrown remotely off the bank (half to the
                                 right and half to the left) with an extreme angle entry......looking for precision and
                                 understanding........it's beginning to "make sense" to him.......zero tolerance
                                       note: worked on getting duck camp totally ready for the teal season September 4th,                ,
                                                repaired leaking pipe in trailer
                                 evening - home                     (left click on thumbnails)

                  Aug 29th morning - scouted for geese = zero.....dogs have the day off                                 
                  Aug 30th morning - scouted for geese = zero, cut 24 willows for blinds at BT's, trained dogs
                                 in pairs at the Square Pond in a steady/honoring hunting "prep" drill
                                      note: Daisy & Gunny were a bit confused about where they belonged at first
                                      note: Taffey & Kooly could not entirely to quit whining
                                      note: the videos again point out that I have not completely corrected my nagging
                                               issue......Duh!     Velcro??????      

                                 #1  Daisy & Gunny You Tube (Link)          #2 Taffey & Kooly You Tube (Link)