right click on icon for larger photo
April 12 Tuesday - Today was a project day. About three years ago during Pounce's work on blinds, a new training tool was made to compensate for training in familiar grounds. The premise was how can it be made to make the area look different? The following link is to a page dealing with the process. Gigi and Pounce's blinds will be easier for me to run. However, those "faux" terrain projects from a few years ago ended up as part the goose blind. The leftover bags of raffia were used to make four new pieces of terrain. Also, they may be used as markers for running blinds.
April 3 Sunday - high 74°F - early afternoon....Gigi practiced the whistle sit drill at Kelley Myer field DTA.
Then Pounce and Gigi ran a three point, mini-lining/handling drill at the Riverside Park DTA.
April 11 Monday - repeated yesterday's session in a different area of the Rockton road DTA. With west winds at 25 mph, the highway in back of us is elevated and blocked the wind. The primary focus today was "from van to the line". This session was run as a triple with Pounce and singles again for Gigi. In addition, going to the line was planned to be a "no mallard" situation. On the first mark (with a dog at the line), the winger beep and duck call were heard and then it was back to the van on a "no bird" practice. When going through the steps, it was obviously a good idea.
note: I experimented with an easy, slip lead idea for working with a Junior dog at the line.
Control was effective and the release was smooth.
April 30 Friday - mid-afternoon - Gigi worked on a four Dokken Helter Skelter drill in the yard. Later toward evening, we trained in Thorson Pond DTA - the setup was three water blinds. Pounce was very good on her three blinds. Gigi was up next and was into a full blown "I know running the bank is faster" mode. Therefore, the decision was to do a quick review of swim-by in the same place we did it before. "Not gonna do it" your way was the focus. Simplified to the two bumper method of Hillmann's and that was a lost cause. So....we did "swim-by on land"....."like pulling teeth" and we finally hacked our way through the process. I recalled that Pounce was not an "easy do" either. Therefore, a review of the "down the middle first" approach with Pounce will be revisited with Gigi.
right click on icon for larger photo
April 27 Tuesday...high of 83°F..Several years ago, I read that folding, winger arms can fail, so I had purchased two for the possibility. I found them and it took at least two hours of taking it off and trying again and again. Then I glanced at the plastic bag the two braces came in. Duh...there was a right and a left. A right will not fit on the left....no matter how many times I tried. By the time my slot
for training opened up, it was too warm to drive somewhere and setup. Therefore, Gigi did a solid session of short retrieves using four mallards working on a less anxious mouth. This was done mostly in a shady section of the front yard. Then it was back into the cool house.
April 28 Wednesday - cooler...high 67°F,,,,trained in the yard this morning working on control skills around a holding blind. Gigi ran a split Dokken lining and handling drill working on focus, control and retrieving with a quiet mouth. Keeping the session close enhanced her responsiveness and many consistent reps were accomplished. The bonus was seeing a better sense of purpose in her behavior. The "birdiness" factor (of the five factor approach) has consistently out of balance. Therefore, this yardwork setup was designed to restore balance. Distance is reduced and the three holding blinds barrier makes the training space half as much.
right click on icon for larger photo
right click on icon for larger photo
right click on icon for larger photo
April 26 Monday Went training and it was the second time using the UTV at the Four Lakes DTA. I had set up the first winger and was working on the second. Having used my Gunners Up wingers for several years, it has been a well conditioned task until today. I forgot to put a pin in the hole that keeps the arms up. Also, I had just the day before replaced the rubber tubing. The difference in power was noticeable on the first setup. The second (with the missing pin) snapped down rather hard and just missed striking me. Lucky there! So I did a very, very crude repair with a hammer.
Gigi went first (all was good..three fast, accurate marks and her longest cold blind). The use of all mallards had her excited. Everything was setup again. Pounce was next. I thought for a moment senility had surfaced. The first winger did not fire. So Gigi and I did a UTV survey of the wingers. To make this shorter.....apparently my transmitter decided to quite working. I know when "enough is enough". It was getting dark and mosquitos were out for blood.
April 19 - Monday - cool 47°F & breezy...trained first in the Riverside Park DTA...Gigi and Pounce ran two sets of long blinds (with mallards for excitement). After the blinds, the next setup was a mallard double with remote wingers for only Gigi in the Rockton Road DTA. Gigi was "right on" both mallards. She is by far the best marking young Lab that I have ever had. The cold wind ended this session (getting too cold...for me) without running the double for Pounce.
Around 1 pm, Pounce and Gigi did a brief yard session with a mallard in the yard.....review. At 2:45 pm, we drove up into Wisconsin for a large group training session run by Pro Corey Zandonai. This is a regular event sponsored by the Madison Retriever Club (last Wednesday- each month). There were three remote wingers and three blinds giving each handler a "dealer's" choice. The water mark on the left had several retrievers running the bank (to and back). This was a training session (not a test). Therefore, we moved to the right and made it very clear that going and coming was obvious for
Gigi (not running around on the bank). The second set of winger mallards, Gigi ran as a double. The only issue Gigi had was in the blind. She was "antsy" and then lost it for a bit when Corey Zandonai (the pro) came to the line to run us. Gigi went south for training TWO Winters ago for two months with Corey. When Corey got close, she suddenly remember him and was jumping up and down with excitement. She soon settled down (kind of) and ran the single and then the double. Decided not to run any blinds with Gigi (it is not a test). Pounce's turn was soon after. She ran a triple with the "go" on the left and the middle being the memory (if I remember correctly ). Pounce did well.
right click on icon for larger photo
April 8 Friday - trained in the afternoon...in the upper 50's with a good southwest breeze, cloudy all of which made today's two sessions easier...both dogs covered a lot of ground. Both ran the whistle sit drill are Kelly Meyer Field DTA......fast and physically demanding. A short drive to the Roscoe Riverside Park DTA gave both a breather before running the same "split casting drill" we did on April 6th. The two wide piles from that 1st session were brought closer together making the angles tighter. Practice is easier when it is exciting. Dokkens are more exciting than bumpers.
note: My UTV is back in the trailer, full of gas and running smoothly. Without it setups like
the following would not be possible (at my age).
April 1 Thursday - high of 37°F wind chill 28°F...train outdoors? no way...in two days it will be 60/70's
Pounce and Gigi did some on leash OB work in the heated pool room.
April 2 Friday...warmer & windy...Gigi - "lining drill" at Kelly Meyer Field DTA....Pounce and Gigi did marking session at the Rockton Road DTA with mallard......eight "stand alone/send back" singles
April 3 Saturday - high 68°F UTV out of trailer...install the remote winger platform, Pounce & Gigi trained at the Kelly Meyer Field DTA....not a lot of time available....Pounce ran the old 195 yard point blind for exercise....decided to focus more on Gigi's loopy sit in a manner which would produce a conditioned response without any pressure. This drill will be repeated every day for at least a week. While we were running the drill and towards the end, she picked up what appeared to be a pine cone
and before I could stop her she wolfed it down. Called vet and am following their directions. As far as the drill went she had no (that is zero) loopy sits on the whistle. Running to the back pile and taking over casts on the whistle sit alternating each several times was very effective. Two weeks of daily practice is on the agenda.....followed by maintenance.
right click on icon for larger photo
April 20 - Tuesday- cool/breezy again...46°F - after training seven days in a row...no training today
note: If it were warmer...probably would have trained (less that two weeks until May).
note: brought inside the three Gunners Up "Son-Of-A-Gun" Wingers and installed new
rubber tubing (after a spray/treatment with silicon based UV protectant)
April 21 Wednesday high of 46°F...wind chill in the 30's...a quick exercise session in the front yard seems like a good idea....low of 29°F and a chance of snow
note: tonight - enter Gigi in May 16th AKC hunt test...entries open at 8:00 PM
April 22 Thursday 59° spent the day trying to figure out why I-Phone won't hold a charge. On top of that the living room TV when south. The new TV was almost impossible to setup with Spectrum TV. After that extended period of confusion, the head phones for listening to the sound went out. The dogs slept all day and did not complain.
April 23 Friday - spent the morning working on the TV...solved that issue....but no head phones. In the late afternoon, Pounce did three walk-ups in a yard drill. Before and after Pounce, Gigi did three (total of six). The "walk-ups" were done with three remote wingers loaded with two mallards and a Dokken. The skill set was three different events mean sit - verbal "sit" means "sit", whistle "sit" means "sit" and "bird in the air" means "sit". Pounce did her three off lead and Gigi did her six using an "easy release" slip lead. Pounce is test ready....good steady, consistent efforts...off lead. Gigi is a work in progress, not relaxed at heel and at times responsiveness wanes.
right click on icon for larger photo
Riverside Park DTA
April 16 Friday warmer...morning, trained Gigi in the yard....As it is with many things, balance depends on the dog in question. My first Hillmann pup was Pounce. Fetch and handling ducks was a breeze. Her focus and control were in balance with the "birdiness" factor. With my next Hillmann pup, the issue of balance was not dealt with as well. Gigi's level of excitement was off the charts and evidently mesmerizing. It should have been moderated so as to maintain better focus and control.....but it wasn't. Shaking a small, squeeky toy to elevated her excitement when she was very young proved to be naive mistake. Being manic is not cool. Gigi's "on/off" switch has a weak spring.......it is proving to be an ongoing issue. This morning we were in the yard "reviewing" walking fetch with three mallards. Re-calibrating the "on/off" switch is proving to be a challenge. Several weeks ago, during the cold winter days, Gigi was taught the "remote drop" skill set. That has proven to be a useful control and balancing skill.
right click on icon for larger photo
right click on icons for larger photos
right click on icon for larger photo
right click on icons for larger photos
April 13 - Tuesday....breezy and temps in 50's....not a lot of time. Pounce and Gigi ran three cold blinds (150+ yards with fresh mallards). They were Gigi's first, long cold blinds this spring and she was ready. Her two or three quick whistle sits were very quick and took the correct casts. Pounce is a bit slower than Gigi and handling is easier with her. They really liked the mallards. Three smaller faux shrubs were used in the setup as blind markers. It was designed to make seeing easy.....once close. The focus was quick off the line, take a good line and then carry it.
right click on icons for larger photos
April 17 Saturday - Gigi repeated yesterday's yard drill in the morning....Pounce and Gigi ran a set
of three inline, mallard singles at the Four Lakes DTA. The water temperature of the small technical
pond was 64°F. Therefore, any daytime temperatures adding up to 120F° would satisfy "The Rule".
April 9 Saturday - rain most of the day....With the last two days of challenging sessions, the timing for a day off was ideal.......rain. The back of the van was vacuumed, four wingers were placed in their sleeves and all the Dogtra electronics were charged. Gigi has been very easy to work with on dispensing the two "meds" twice a day and the once a day ear drops is proceeding without issues. April 10 Sunday - rain....With a radar window in the late afternoon, Pounce and Gigi had a setup in
the Rockton Road DTA......Using three remote wingers behind "camo" blinds, Pounce ran three singles and Pounce did the triple. Three thawed mallards from the freezer made it more interesting,
note: I had recently replaced the wiring harness and solenoid in winger #2 and it worked.
When Gigi noticed we were using mallards rather than Dokkens, things got exciting for awhile. It was a good session for both Gigi and Pounce. There was a holding blind at the line that made the session more useful.
April 4 Monday- high 75°F rain ending early afternoon...Called vet...Gigi's appointment was moved up to Thursday at 9 pm (belly hair loss worse). Today's training had Gigi doing a repeat of the whistle sit drill (very fast and crisp. tight sits). A short drive to the Riverside Park DTA had Pounce doing seven "stand alone/send back" singles. All told, this took about an hour (including drive time).
April 5 Tuesday - high 79°F trained Gigi (early morning) - repeated the "whistle sit" drill
April 6 Wednesday - high 68°F, cloudy with a wonderful breeze...Gigi practiced the whistle sit drill and
then Pounce and Gigi did a very solid Split-Casting Drill. Pounce has done this before. However, it
was a big step up for Gigi (she had no problems lining and taking casts...quick study). The two piles were fairly wide apart (the distance was rather long for a first time run...126 yards and 129 yards).
note: remote winger platform was re-installed on the UTV (removed during fall hunting season)
right click on icons for larger photos
right click icon for larger photo
April 18 - Sunday..trained at the Four Lakes DTA early afternoon..The wind was out of the west making the winger setup physically too difficult. Therefore, Gigi did eight "stand alone/send back" land singles ranging from 75 to 125 yards. Next up were several "stand alone/send back" singles using the small technical pond. Pounce went first and then Gigi. We used the entire pond throwing a mallard repeatedly. The longest were double entry singles. Their work work was sharp considering we had not done any water for several months (winter). Pounce then finished off the day by running five of the "stand alone/send backs" land singles that Gigi did. However, Gigi's singles were done with a large black/white foam bumper while Pounce got a mallard. Both dogs trained well and slept the rest of the day.
right click on icons for larger photos
April 29 Thursday - trained Gigi and Pounce in the yard early morning...a Dogtra transmitter was used to up the excitement level (and it did). Four Dokkens were scattered in the front yard to do a mini-
Hillmann "Helter-Skelter" lining, casting and retrieving drill....focusing on precise reps (practice) and improving conditioned responses. note: Saturday and Sunday much WARMER = water
Copyright © kwickLabsii. All rights reserved
right click on icon for larger photo
April 24 Saturday - day off......other things to do
April 25 Sunday - high of 64°F....About ten years ago, Winnebago County dug a small technical pond on land that became a public dog training area (DTA) called the Four Lakes DTA. The pond was about 125 yards from the parking area. I made a suggestion that getting to the pond with training equipment made it difficult to use. A few weeks later, they put a gravel road right down to the pond with a small parking area. It became a very useful area to train in. Fast forward several years and this year they cleared out more land to the west. Carrying equipment into that area was not something an eighty year old man can do. So I called to suggest/request a solution. A few days ago I received a special age permit to drive my UTV into that land area to move equipment for training (remote wingers, ducks, bumpers, holding blinds, etc.). Today will be our first.
The setup was three remote winger singles and a blind (four mallards). The session went well. A stiff breeze out of the northeast and a few sprinkles did not have much of an impact. There is no way this could have been physically accomplished without the UTV.
NEW
right click on icon for larger photo
April 15 - Thursday high of 53°F trained at the Rockton Road DTA - three sets of three mallard, cold blinds. In the longest set, I lost sight of Pounce at the end of the first blind (vision issues)
April 7 Thursday - Gigi 9 am visited with Vet to find out about her hair loss issue.....ear and skin
infections - treat Gigi with Chalexin twice a day for three weeks, ear drops once daily and Prednesilone for 10+ days....While waiting for the Vet appointment (we arrived early), there is a huge grassy area adjacent to the parking lot. Gigi ran a "send back/stand alone" single to the far side taking a straight line "back" of 309 yards. Then Pounce ran a set of three, short singles.
right click on icon for larger photo
April 14 - Wed. - breezy, 5:30 pm 39°F - three mallard blinds with an "across the road" concept
(131 yards, 134 yards and 150 yards). This was Gigi's first time on an across the road concept. She went first - two whistled the 1st, lined the 2nd and one whistled the 3rd. Pounce took four on the 1st, two on the 2nd and three on the 3rd. Their initial lines were very good. Pounce has five more years of experience. Gigi was extremely sharp and her work today bodes well for the future.