Date of Birth - June 5, 2007
Aug
23 appointment for his second series of puppy shots & worming (Thursday at
2:00 pm)
note: day off from "The Walk" - Gunny has
discovered "Keep Away" way
too early and he is way too fast
to do anything about it - so I plan
things out very carefully, like
in coming out of the water or doing
more in the hallway at home, he is
too possessive to "buy in" to a
trade (bumper for bumper) and just
too young to be hindered by
dragging around a check
cord.......no rush......lots of other things to
do.......the Johnny House should
be up and ready to release quail in
a couple of weeks
note: 12 weeks old
Aug 27 (early
morning) long walk at the Square Pond, three short hand thrown marks with a
2" Avery white bumper, collar and Flexi-lead on (rest of the
time running free),
Aug 29 too many errands to run - dog's day off = Gunny is spending more time
with the older
dogs & right now is growling and mauling his red
Kong
note: still pretty "yappy" but showing
signs of getting the hints (especially
the one where spends the night
in the van)
note: keep away is still an issue which
requires some tricky finesse, he is one
smart little pup
Sept 6 excerpt
note:
beginning to rethink my concerns about putting a check cord on a young
pup, it is not an absolute as
Gunny's penchant for "keep away" awakened
long before Taffey, Kooly or
Daisy's. Gunny's response to the Seamless
"Here" Puppy
concept has not
been a totally seamless event.
Sept 9 (evening)
went to the Square Pond and messed around with a long walk, found a plastic
water bottle with a little water left in it, Gunny thought it
was cool to carry around and he
ended up making four swimming retrieves, gave in to his penchant
for keep away and put
a 20' light poly rope on him (He hardly pays any attention to
it.) He is now settled into the
routine around the house and doing quite well. The bark collar
is now being phased out
since new habits (being quiet) have taken over
Sept 12 (afternoon) ran around after the ATV was run up on the trailer at
BT's, dropped the three
older dogs off at the house and Gunny went for a romp at the
Square Pond, have to keep
a twenty foot light poly rope on him because..........he is
just plain mischievous, threw a
couple of Avery ATB teal on land which
he picked up, then one
in the water........the frogs
and floating moss were more interesting, so I decided to take
some pictures, took
off the poly rope (big mistake) and got a few good ones (I
think), but getting him back in
the van afterwards.............was FUN!
I
am almost certain formal OB can't come too soon.
Waiting will be the
ultimate test. 
Sept 22 (evening)
Gunny retrieved three remote winger singles using the Avery 2" Flasher with
flags
note: about 40 yards long, used a white stickman & he is
starting to "look out"
note: the long, light poly check cord is working out
quite well
note: Gunny is so much more laid back than Daisy at this
age....it is kind of pleasant
Oct 2 (dusk)
three hand thrown marks in the short cut alfalfa field (wearing light poly
check cord)
note: almost 4
months old (in three days)
Oct 4 (dusk) a walk in the hay field and 4 hand thrown singles
(wearing a light poly check cord)
note: Gunny is doing a much better job of coming to me
with the bumper & he is not
asked to give it to me right away, a little
stroking & a quiet, easy sit is beginning
to shape up, his "heeling in the vicinity" is
also starting to get "tighter", he is
becoming more aware (no commands) with the
leash and flat collar restricting
his movement
note: the need for a bark collar is decreasing
Oct 6 (mid-morning) another very warm day = a short walk at the Square Pond
grassy area,
finished with 2 (only) remote winger singles with a stickman
note: Gunny is sitting now and after "locating" the
stickman stares at it on the "watch"
cue = retrieves are "on the money" with solid
holds in the middle of the bumper,
his return to me is more focused and has learned
this is a "neat game"
note: after "his" session, Gunny scampers back into the
van to enter his "box" on the
"kennel up" command just like the "big dogs" 
note:
Gunny was 4 months old Oct 5th
Oct 8 (noon) Gunny has been wearing a bark collar about a month.
Therefore, he's comfortable
wearing a collar the same size and weight as the
e-collar. He has, also, experienced
some corrections for barking. They have been much
more "noticed" than anything
he will "feel" with a "CC to here" session. Today,
I checked out his response to low
level stimulus with the G3 TriTronics Upland
e-collar. This is done to determine his
"sensitivity level". At level one there was
nothing noticeable. At 1.5, he seemed to
appear to look around and perk up....like “What's
with that?" At level 2 continuous he
appeared to feel coming to me on "here" was
something he needed to do. There was
no flinching, noise or discomfort. He just felt
the urgency of relieving "something".
After four well timed "here's", the lesson was
over. He did not hesitate to move off
running afterwards, and his "reaction" to the "CC
to here" could not have gone any
better. Gunny was not upset or apprehensive in the
least.
note:
That’s all I do....at this time. I don’t do the
”full raise the level up and back
down with resistance” like in Evan’s program……sshhhhh…don’t tell him.
note: This one confident, cool pup.
note: This is the fourth pup I've done
"CC to here" early. There have been no
problems with any of
them........I think there are several reasons. First of
all, the pups experienced "The
Walk" and were very comfortable with the
daily routines. Secondly, each
pup went through the "Seamless Here
Puppy" process. They knew
"here" was a good thing. Another reason is,
I have been fortunate enough to
kind of be able to sense why a pup "does
what he does" and being a
natural "con man" has helped to channel good
behaviors and avoid issues.
Another reason, at least for the last three,
has been the early,
pre-application of a bark collar. Lastly, knowing how
to use an e-collar correctly
was already in place.
note: this routine will be repeated daily
in the midst of normal sessions, for
quite some time it will not be
part of any retrieving of bumpers
(especially since there are no
real issues there, except for coming). He
will start teething soon and working
through that will not be done with
any
e-collar "corrections". Gunny still has
at least two more months
before any formal OB lessons and even more
time before any formal
e-collar conditioning. Until formal OB
begins....sit and heel will be
"imprinted" passively.
Fast Forward two plus years.........
This is Gunny on Saturday, October 10, 2009 after
the 2nd
Iowa opening day (split season). Three
mallards and three GWT were his very first ducks retrieved on a hunt. The last was a
difficult to
mark cripple, 120 degrees back off to the left and falling from high over the
hide into very large
of tall, dense marsh grass. I could hardly walk in it.
Gunny marked it, fired (when
asked), trailed it and brought back to hand a lively drake mallard.
It was an extended search which had me
worried......until he walked right up to me with "his
prize". I still smile inside every time the mental images of
his retrieve "pop up".
note: What made the retrieve even more difficult was
evidently the grass had scratched the
surface of his left eye so badly that the next morning we went on a 4 hour
round trip to
my vet to have it treated.
