Aug 29 with hunting season closing in and working Pounce on close-up marks from a dog hide or blind decided she needs to do some stretch singles as sort of a precursor to the Derby plans for next year.....therefore, this week will include some "stretch" singles, drove to the Winnebago County DTA in the afternoon (unseasonably cool and cloudy) and ran 3 "stand alone/send back" singles with 3" flagged black & white DT bumpers along a slightly angled line to the southwest providing three singles of 225, 230 and 235 yards.....Pounce was fast to the correct side of the gun on each mark..........had a bit of problem with "send backs" because the north boundary of the training area had small white signs......Pounce kept getting "sucked" to them instead of driving east to the real "white place" line.........had an extra bumper for the singles, but did not need it. Pounce has always had great distance vision plus a white coat gunner and primer pistol made it seem almost too simple for her......She definitely has an excellent eye for the AOF, arrives there quickly and seems to have a keen photographic memory.
Aug 30 trip to duck camp to test out the "adjustments" made on my Four Rivers marsh boat "The MIgrator".....was "side tracked"......however, did find some time to train....revisited the water handling drill (see Aug 26 journal entry) removed white buckets with only a white stake and asked for more precise lines...........moved west on the shoreline to provide more of an angle to the east pile.....without the diversion/fun bumper drill is becoming more like work.......time to move on
note: Pounce did a few water retrieves alternation with Daisy working on honoring and
finished the afternoon with a visit to the land 3-peat blinds at the Roscoe Retention Pond DTA, Pounce ran them at the full distance (didn't walk out) and handled extremely well....quick sits (no loopy swings) and good casts....on both sides of the line....this is tough cover and she's visible only because I'm handling up on a rise....actually, a very cool challenge for a young dog in in early transition because there is not much to any get bearings on in the cover......just "go where sent"
note: It's good to finish a day of training with a smile and mental "fist pump".....YES!
Aug 31 - day off - clean garage and organized hunting equipment plus it is just going to be way too warm to do the Early Goose season opener
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Aug 27 took most of the day off from training to work on a trolling motor bracket/mount for the Four Rivers Migrator (marsh boat)...finished with some daylight left and decided a repeat
of last night's water handling drill would prove effective.........noticeable improvement, asked for longer looks while treading water (got them) and Pounce was more at ease......also "spiced
things up a bit" on the last three retrieves by throwing her first diversion bumpers.......noticed an immediate increase in swimming speed to get back faster to deliver and retrieve the diversion plus her entries on the diversion were more animated........she showed absolutely no inclination to switch as the shorter spelling for water diversion bumper must be "fun"
Aug 28 thawed three mallards overnight for a training session at the Winnebago County Dog Training area (mowed recently)....marks with ducks will keep Pounce's training in balance with her transition work - decided to run singles in the "stand alone/send back" mode and Pounce's excitement level was revealed by the way see "fogged" her returns to the line
note: several deliveries of ducks provided the repetition for consistent sit & "quietly"
relinquish "reps" - this is going really well
note: Pounce's marking was sharp, worked both sides of the "gun" correctly each time and
"knows" where the AOF is
note: three blinds were set up mostly to work on three skills 1) initial line, 2) sit quickly on
whistle and take the correct angle back casts - showing great improvement
note: the last few days or so, Pounced has begun to show she understands that "WE" are
running the blinds
note: this may be a coincidence (or not), but just switched from a small pea whistle to a Dallesasse HT pea-less and do believe it seems to say "SIT" much better
the mallard situation is working quite well using newspaper wrapping, a bag of ice in a cooler and then back home to the "bird deep freeze"
Aug 26 trained mid-morning at Roscoe Riverside Park DTA - Pounce did a full run on the "Star Drill",
her energy was high to the finish and pretty much "nailed it" again......don't think we have to revisit as much as cold blinds will begin to dominate the next phase in transition.....just before dusk a water handling drill was run on Thorson Pond providing a "picture" similar to the star drill - using only two points Pounce was presented with a clear picture picture of how to handle in water (relax, pay attention, "sit" & take casts)
note: this session went well and Pounce's "animation" to the end was a huge plus
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Aug 23 repeated the initial KRD (see August 16th journal entry)....increased blinds 2 & 3 by 25 yards and did a 1st time poison bird presentation.......two whistle sits and cast "off" the mark and she figured it out........longer second and third blinds....no issues
note: Kooly & Daisy ran five walking singles when picking up the Pounce's KRD "stuff"
drove to the Roscoe Retention pond land area to run two blinds in the heavy cover (the same area
where things did not go very well).....made some adjustments 1) less distance, 2)"followed" her out,
3) quick whistles, 4) all with low level collar "stim", 4) wore white and 5) only ran two blinds
note: huge difference.....sat on every whistle with a couple not knowing until a walk found
her on sit "waiting for me to appear" (very cool), spent equal time on both sides of the
line taking angle back casts........three casts on the first and four-five (not sure) on the
second....but right to the bumper.......with NO WILD HUNTING casts on her own
drove to Thorson Pond and did four, short cheating singles - Pounce was straight out and back
note: the come to heel, sit, deliver....then "shake" afterwards routine is now an expectation
make note of this time frame - 1) having some issues - mostly blowing off sit whistle collar "stims" which had been effective in the 20-24 range, 2) noticed e-collar scale which normally goes from 0-100 was reading a minimum of 27-100 (not 0-100) and occasionally flashing, 3) called technical support with warranty info and received new transmitter in 24 hrs..........ran Pounce today in the cover setup which seemed more than challenging because she totally blew off any sits efforts including the use of the previous collar, yet today was sharp on whistle sits even when she could not see me......no issues...other physical adjustments were made, but the e-collar "change" sticks out like a sore thumb
possibly 27 could have become the new 0 point?
Aug 24 day off - trainer on sick leave
Aug 25 mid morning low 70's & cool breeze off the river.....Pounce flew through a set of five "Ya-Ha" singles 100 - 200 yards (25 yds added each time with "send back/stand alones" (see Aug 11 journal entry)........late afternoon, a close-up primer shotgun and dog hide hunting simulation - two mallard winger singles on land, followed by two mallard water singles and finished with two water cold blinds at the Thorson Pond DTA - this went extremely well, very steady and patient, handling ducks super, came right to heel on command from the dog hide and waited quietly during the five minute pause between the two water marks - high energy and drive....when asked.....definitely a Hillmann product
note: with early Illinois Goose and Teal season's nearing plus the soon following Iowa Regular Season Early Split, training will concentrated on hunting skills - short, cold blinds in challenging cover working with real ducks, additional shotgun conditioning, running out of a dog hide, a
review of boat "rules", introducing the "Migrator" Marsh boat and concentrating on the three
critical factors required of a hunting retriever - focus, control and responsiveness....
It all starts.......now = 50% of the training will continue with transition plus the other 50% dealing
with duck camp behavior and Mississippi River backwater hunting skills.
Aug 22 no training in the morning - other "stuff" to do....afternoon - cheating singles at Thorson Pond and a 100 yard walkout "blind" with the Dokken Goose
note: after the training session in the big pond at "duck camp" a decision was made to
"adjust" tactics a bit on Pounce's cheating penchant - wanting to beach is over riding
the need to stay in the water, so it became necessary to take that decision out of her
mind by teaching "No, that's not right."...staying in the water is a GOOD thing", instead
of listening to your instincts.....do the expectation because of re-enforcement based
on verbal "good" - she wants to please and is responsive......use that advantage
the 5 singles went as planned and actions in the water said. "OK, I'm cool with this."
note: going back to the line has not been a problem on this pond, but it was on the Duck
Camp Pond........perceptions evidently vary
Pounce then "hammered" the 100 yard Dokken Goose retrieve as grass flew on the "Back!" command. She swooped out, snatched it up and carried it back high and fast. Exciting stuff!
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Aug 21 Pounce trained for the first time with Daisy in a "tandem" working drill with two remote lines, mallards and primer reports from a shotgun......alternated retrieves, several "no retrieves" where I
picked up the mark......early on Pounce broke on Daisy's retrieve.......excitement was high and "rules of the game" not fully understood....whistle sit, cast back to the line and never a retrieve obtained except when it was actually her turn.........she caught on to the expectations quickly and the last set was a double with a long pause.....Daisy was released to pick up the "go bird" and after she delivered it to hand, Pounce was released (after being very steady and patient) to pick up the memory....which she lined very fast, both walked calmly at heel back to the van "a la" two sided heeling
note: Pounce's OB standards held up very well in this new and very challenging structure,
she's a quick study and I was very pleased with the session
took the older dogs home and Pounce went to Kelly Meyer Park DTA to do an intro to the ABC
marking drill (with minimal factors)..........did this with "stand alone/send backs"
Aug 19 spent the morning getting ready for the trip including loading the van with a scaffold, the
three Kwicklabs had the day off from training, but they all like "hanging out" at camp, ran errands
to finish off what was needed for tomorrow's roof painting, scaffold went up easy and with the platform at the highest level, "on and off" the roof was fairly simple (even for a 75 year old "goat",
it was a cool and wonderful day for August, but very windy conditions made it more "interesting"
Aug 20 too cool to paint early so Pounce ran a micro version of Hillmann's "Star Drill"...three
points instead of five.........she "nailed" it picking up a total of nine retrieves and taking several
different literal casts..........stopped and asked for permission to use a narrow and very long pond
yesterday and went back later this morning before it warmed up....what we have gained in the way
of water skills on Thorson Pond did not translate to this new area.....winds of 25 mph "in her face" did not help.....next trip will be easier (more familiar and less wind)
Aug 19-20 two days at duck camp on the Mississippi River (paint section of roof on the trailer)
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Aug 18 out early, temp around 70 degrees with cloud cover. Pounce's setup was a first time "go" at the two tiered wagon wheel lining drill, did the inner ring alternation heeling sides crisply and then moved to the first time at splitting the middle for the outside ring bumpers.....six out of eight were
"dead on locks" and fast, two were a bit ping/pong not sure, took two steps forward and these were nothing but little blips....especially confident and fast......another "wow, that was way too easy for the first time session" thought
note: Daisy & Kooly ran a set of six singles and provided a nice break to rest before going to the pond
Pounce did a "Day #2" continuation of the "parallel swim" approach in Thorson Pond which went almost too perfectly - the anxiety of shore obsession is seemingly fading.......by avoiding fights and repeating "good stuff".
Drove to the Roscoe Retention Pond DTA to start a set of walk-around 3-peat cold blinds....was a little uneasy with the area and ended up with the "two shoulder hind-sight" act..........place looked outstanding....from afar, walking out, the cover is "kind of high" (thigh +), but running from elevated area the little man on one shoulder states "We can do this." The other bluntly states "Cover too thick. Pup won't hear whistle. Hunt mode will kick in. You will become insignificant." The other is in denial, ignores advice and thinks "Go for it!"
Soon it was clear....cover too high, pup blows off whistles, forgets about "come in drill" work from the other day, wildly hunts and stops to look at me once in awhile to catch a breath. The "in denial" shoulder looking for a quick fix decides "closing the distance and walking out might be a good idea". It was.
Then it got silent as I picked up "stuff" and headed for the van......but not before letting Pounce run over and cool off in the Retention Pond. No more conversations came up as we headed for home. It was quiet as we entered the driveway. Then out of the blue came four words, "I told you so!"
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Aug 17 Pounce and I had a very cool day - it started out with running her very first KRD, the blind past the fall to the left was a walkout blind from a few weeks ago, however, the two blinds behind
and wide of the gunner were first time "things", in the past my other pups built this up over a few days of "prep", Pounce pretty much nailed it first time out of the box
note: stepped on the "walk back" single. lined the first blind, three whistled the second blind
and one whistle the last blind......."eazy-peazy"....the two older dogs ran it for exercise and to give Pounce a breather
Pounce ran "The Disappearing Gunner Marking Drill" - this is something new taking advantage of a big dip in the terrain near a football team practice area.....thought about doing this before, but never set it up for my older dogs.........it proved to be interesting and provided a bunch of very cool pictures of "Miss Dynamic"
note: ran four singles.....kept the camera and Pounce busy (another warm day), last thing
when home was a "go around" in the yard with a big, unwilling Dokken Goose, Pounce went at it
with a vengeance.........last time in water it could "get away"..........this time.......not so much
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Aug 16 - last day of being 74, muscles from "weed work" were complaining this morning, "temps"
in the middle 80's before chance to train, decided on a quick run to Thorson Pond for the first phase of a water "process" with Pounce - use parallel swims in the middle and gradually working toward the shoreline
note: step one was three singles "out and back" in the middle with shoreline "walks" (by me)
encouraging and praising a more water comfort (stay in the middle out and back), body
language, eyes and actions from Pounce indicated "I get this!" and she soon quit
looking at the adjacent shoreline
note: next step - move slightly closer to the parallel shoreline and eventually finish lining a
pile from the small point to the end of the pond (staying in the water) without the
anxiety of "cheating" being demonstrated
Advancing Agenda- probable day(s) off due to weather or trips to "Duck camp"
A a set of walk around, "3-peat" cold blinds at Kelly Meyer Field
a 75 yard Y-Drill with mallards and shotgun primer reports
B train early......water marks with mallards and primer gun at field trial grounds
C run "Ya-Ha" 5 Singles Drill (100-200 yards) (repeat once a week)
parallel swims in middle of Thorson Pond - started Aug 16
D do a walk-out-and-around 3-peat blinds at Roscoe Retention Pond land area
start doing remote wingers, stickmen and mallard ABC marking drill
E begin introducing shotgun up close with dog hide for hunting season
have Brian shoot a few flyers
Fsetup first Key Relationship Drill (KRD) - completed Aug 17 (repeat once a week)
G begin two tiered wagon wheel lining drills (repeat twice a week)
retrieve Dokken goose on landstarted Aug 17
I repeat the Star Drill (once a week)
Aug 14 day off.....other things to do and quickly headed into the 90's
Aug 15 trained early, upper 60's and mostly in the shade of sunrise.....headed for the 90's. Pounce "worked" Hillmann's "Star Drill", mostly in the northeast quadrant, (see Aug 3rd & 9th journal entries)
note: did two double changes in direction (both were literal) plus several single changes
and three piles were lined, Pounce was sitting quickly, patiently focused while
waiting for the next cast and was precise.....excellent zip throughout the drill and
I could see her body kind of give a happy "shimmy" on the move when a verbal
"good" was given......very cool session had me smiling (finished for the day)
note: the Hillmann's goal - "She loves the game!"
note: "weed whacked" southwest corner of Thorson Pond - evening...in the shade,
but the "temps" middle 80's - in two plus hours it was finished - me too
"Come-In Drill" - Dennis Voigt's 25 Essential Retriever Training Drills for Handling
Aug 13 up early with the temperature in the low sixties at sunrise - trained at Roscoe Riverside Park DTA - introduced the "Come-In-Drill" working near the lower end of "Momentum Hill" = better view of bumpers in the grass, basic purpose was to increase responsiveness and elevate handling skills
(given the lack thereof when working with mallards on yesterday's cold blinds)...did not know what to expect since this drill is something very new - she immediately grasped the expectations and was quite simple to control, the "come in" cues (verbal and visual) have been done (a lot), good eye contact and zero "jumping the gun" on any casts.......took the time to let here settle after each whistle sit, did not rush and that cool Hillmann sit standard continues to be solid.......first time (for this drill) was fun! and she zipped through the entire setup finishing with three lined bumpers (full speed)
note: training a young dog that has "learned how to learn" always seems easier and more fun
note: the two older dogs came out to run six stand alone, send back singles in tandem which
gave Pounce a good "breather", plenty of shade, still in the sixties with an Endless Breeze
Fan on....she was more than ready for the marking session
Pounce ran two stand alone/send back Y-Drills with very wide, long throws (angle back, flat other side and angle in tosses) - 75 & 100 yard stations)....home at 7:30 am
Aug 12 trained at Kelley Meyer Field DTA in area A - ran two sets of three mallard cold blinds
note: this was more of a "see where we are at" session
#1 - lock not very good
#2 - flew off the line
#3 - she can see the 3X4" orange surveyor rectangles - like "beacons"
#4 - black electric fence poles have to be in the shade and tucked in, then I can't see them
#5 - the mallards elevated her "hunt mode" (big time)
#6 - whistle sits not consistent
note: bottom line = handling standards were not there "when the ducks came out"
positives - line manners, delivery and handling of ducks were all very good
Aug 11 trained early at Roscoe Riverside Park DTA - did this week's "Ha-Ha" Singles and spaced the six marks out equally from 75 to 200 yards (stand alone send back singles, see Aug 4 journal entry)
note: breezed these easily with plenty of energy left
drove to Thorson Pond and did a de-cheating pile drill in the south east corner, identified pile first and
gradually increased the distance of each entry (looking for consistent "reps" and kept at it with some handling)
note: standard = angle entry/exits and stay on line in the water = improving and a lot less
glancing around looking for the nearest spot to get out of the water
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drove to Thorson Pond and continued with water "decheating" work - tuneup bumpers on the south-east corner, several parallel swims and then moved back from the shoreline to take on some hand thrown cheating singles that required more parallel swims (out and back)
note: it has been a few days since the last tuneups and it showed, some "back sliding" that
took some finesse and "reps" to rectify.....in the end we were back on track and will need
to do this a bit more often (like every other day - for awhile)
Aug 10 up early and at the Stoughton Property at 7:25 am - set up four remote lines on the north shore
of the southwest technical pond - ran ten remote line stand alone send back singles with a mallard
note: this was a big step up for Pounce and she was ready, as each mark was thrown....she got
better.....last single was the most difficult and she was "all over it"
note: there was another large group that came in soon after we were setup and I tried to get
picked up and out of the way as soon as possible, left to check out the Gallagher's
Property = full
drove to the Y-Property........ran a bunch of mallard singles, same concept as earlier except they were all "in and out....and in and out" except for the last and longest one......the water was low and all entries were chest high, soft muck which will provide some experience use in preparation for this season's duck hunting in the back waters of the Mississippi River...........then finished with a "stand alone walk back
double".....Pounce was perfectly steady during the double and patiently waited for the "sends"......she nailed the memory with a lot of "zip" - very neat morning
note: still a long way to go on the cheating standard
Aug 7trained at Roscoe Riverside Park DTA and did three stand alone/walk back doubles, the first two were an angle back and a flat throw from one station.....in both situations the marks conflicted as she
knew where each was and if she didn't nail the first, she immediately switched.......and as fast as she is no time to do a fair correction......once should have been enough, but I decided to see if he same thing would happen on the second......and it did........last setup had two stations far apart and she nailed both
marks..........so no more tight doubles for quite awhile
Aug 8 trained again at Riverside Park and forgot today was a Mud Volley Ball Festival, not a lot of traffic
at 7 am and the area to train in was not involved....Pounce ran five sets of two singles (angle back and flat throws) with a stand alone gunner and "send backs".....she reeled these off in quick fashion and was running back to the line as fast as I have ever seen her do to date. She's getting tougher (in shape)
note: after the last mark, she "caught" the reward bumper and zipped around all over the place
on the way back to the van (the "energizer bunny" in a lab coat)
afternoon - cloudy & cool in August??!! - drove five minutes to the Square Pond "grassy area" and did
an eight bumper wagon wheel lining drill = once around on left side heel and repeated on the right side, put her up for a short period and did a wagon wheel casting drill with a place mat, "send back" routine
note: ran these setups (same place) first time July 30th and it went well then, today was just
super - "zippy", very responsive, precise at lining up for the next "go" with a good
eye focus and routine.....perfectly square sit on the "send backs" in the casting drill,
snapped up bumpers right in the middle and flew through each setup with a lot of speed
and accuracy...."automatic drive has arrived"
next up are 1) a revisit to the "Star Drill", 2) marks with mallards. 3) a set of cold land blinds and
4) water tuneup drills
Aug 9 revisited the "Star Drill" for more handling work (refer to first setup in Aug 3 journal entry)
note: started at point three and moved into the field for more options - picked up 12 bumpers
total lining five piles and casting to seven others - good session
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Aug 5-6 two days at "fish/duck" camp - Mississippi River backwaters - both days Pounce spent quite a bit of time just cruising the river. Last fall she visited islands on two different trips, but rode to and from in a puppy crate. This trip was about establishing "rising"and "place" rules plus getting the falling and getting out of the boat at the right times - she found out twice getting out is not always the best thing to do........1st time we in a heavy bed of arrowhead. It was green and looked like land to her.....out she went into 6 inches of water and two feet of soft.....very soft mud an hour later we were fishing above a wing dam and I hooked a "sheepshead" = jumping fish on a line beside the boat was too much and out she went.....fortunately, we were in the slack current area and back in she came.....now she knows, I
think.....boat rides were fun for her until we had to jump the wake from a barge...the pounding of the
waves on the hull spooked her for awhile.....it's one more thing "out of the way" in the learning process
note: the big round stump in the "pot hole" that I never hit last year wasn't gone (as I had
thought"....I found it and drove right on top in a position where motor had very little prop
in the water. The push pole was useless and getting out the boat was not a good choice.
Finally, opened motor wide and tried to spin off. Finally, the boat came free and
immediately shot forward burying the rig in a huge shallow mud based bed of arrowhead.
Now we were stuck worse than on the stump and the mud here is very deep. Pounce
decided the arrowhead was grass and dry land....surprise! Soooo....finally decided the
only thing to do was try and put the motor in reverse mode. Only did that once several
years ago when i bought the boat. The routine was difficult to dredge up from memory.
Finally, got it ready and had a mental picture of what could be expected. The prop was
buried and tilted in such a fashion that it would lift the "ass end" of the rig. "Bam"...full
power and moving the boat back and forth....we were quickly free!
After the fun, we went to the Iowa backwaters and came in on the back side of Cormorant Island. This morning a huge number of birds were loafing.....mostly pelicans. The boat ride quickly turned into a
photography session. More photos were taken at camp during the sunset.
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drove to Thorson Pond (10 minutes) and setup three simple "in and out" singles to initiate pounce's first "stand alone" send back water singles
Aug 2 day off - fed around 5 pm and sat watching the Cubs sweep the Brewers, about 7:30 pm aired the dogs and put Pounce in her upstairs "quiet" crate, noted a tiny one inch crack in the plastic tray edge. Made a mental note to keep track of that. About 10 pm went to air dogs again and a 4X12 inch rectangle was ripped out and shredded. A quick calculation estimated half that was "gone". Soooooo....off to the kitchen for the peroxide. Wow! two cups of dry dog food takes up a lot more space when it is slimy wet and full of digestive juices. Many tiny pieces of plastic later.....Pounce apparently has been "flushed". To be on the safe side.....no training tomorrow.
Aug 3 changed mind as Pounce is just fine....tiny flecks = no issues trained at Roscoe Riverside Park and did the intro to a good sized 'Star Drill" which teaches advanced handling - that went really well (if I understand it correctly) moved to Thorson Pond and did the "water 3-peat" showing more improvement and did well
Aug 4 Pounce ran a series of six "stand alone/send back" singles in a new area of the Roscoe Riverside Park DTA.....the shortest was at 75 yards and the longest was 175 yards, used a 3" Black & White DT bumper
note: each mark was a slightly angled back throw in short cover alternating sides, after delivery on the
last three singles, Pounce was walked back toward the line at least a couple of stations before
initiating the "place" command (return to line), this gave her a little breather and reduced distance
back to the line making the "place" command easier for her to deal with, any verbal release
beyond 100 yards leaves a lot to chance on being heard, therefore, Pounce is learning to take
an arm cast as the release (a little after shouting "Pounce" because the speed of sound is
considerably less than that of visible light)
note: a totally stable and reliable remote sit is cool & her desire to take "snappy" casts back to the line
make this type of setup an "easy do"
Copyright © kwickLabsii. All rights reserved.
Aug 1 it's Saturday morning (early) - the training "window" closes at 7:30 am, every Saturday (except duck season "openers" is relatives' day for my wife....my job is to stay home and take care of Lylah
note: could get up earlier, but "speed sessions" are fun....leave driveway at 6:34 am, arrive at Thorson Pond five minutes later, setup two stickmen in a short 65-75 yards), "walkback" double, introduced this
"solo" concept yesterday (see July training journal), Pounce "nails" both, working mostly on the
routine and getting in a good number of steady and send "reps" at the line....leave stickmen in the
field and move van 100 yards to set-up the 3-peat blinds we did yesterday (first ones), those went
way better this time (should, too) moved van, picked up stickmen, then Daisy and Kooly (much
older hunting dogs) came eagerly off the van to run four singles in tandem (taking turns and
working at the same time), loaded van up and back in the driveway at 7:28 am
Pounce - 13 months old - Stoughton Field Trial Grounds