The progression of KwickLabs' retriever training process has followed a long, winding road. It has been an interesting journey beginning back in the 19th century. The first book/program purchased was eventually followed by several more. In an approximate order, those would be authors Robert Milner, Dobb's Dogs, OakHIll Kennels - John and Amy Dahl, Mike Gould, Northern Flight - Butch Goodwin, Gun Club Labradors – Julie Knutson, Rush Creek Press – Evan Graham, Mike Lardy, Danny Farmer, Dennis Voight and Bill Hillmann.
During this "journey" one area that seemed to be "significant" was the progression to running cold blinds - transition. In essence, there is a common theme which supported the precept that running blinds tends to depend more on the relationship between the handler and dog rather than a process. Over the years, I have found there are several ways to "get there from here".
For the last few years, Pounce and I have been working Hillmann's approach. One of the later phases in his transition is the use of point blinds. After setting up the very first one, it was quite evident she was ready. Once line #1 was "established" (refer to photo in page banner), the next four were run in a "cold" setup. note: Search the July link below for more details.
tentatively next spring
July 2017
- Pounce's 3rd Point Blind (plus the above 375 yd initial line for another)
related concept
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July 2017
Gallagher's FT DTA
day one - establishing first "point blind"
August 2017 - in 2018 more blinds will be run from positions encompassing the field boundary
Pounce returning on the initial, cold line from a huge mound - 183 yards
May 2017
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Walsh Pond Point Blinds
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Pounce's long range plan involves using the point blind process to "bridge the gap" between AKC master and field trial distances. In addition, It was evident (early on) that she has very good "long vision" and an excellent memory. Her penchant to be "cheaty" was reduced quite a bit in the last year. Up until recently, running field trials was not in the picture. Next summer will prove to be interesting if the impact of playing with long "point binds" pans out.
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