Jan. 8, 2007  7:25pm

Dear John and all;

Well, all the dogs had a good day today. I brought Jazz home from the kennel -as she was the best dog of the day. right now she is playing with my 3 yr old.

Some observations from the 1st day of training.

All the dogs really like birds and had a good day overall. We started the day out, on the bird field and school chain. Due to the requirements of obedience with these dogs. I heeled the dogs to and from the Kmule using a short lead and pinch collar -I did this for all the loading and unloading and all of them are doing well with this. We did use some birds getting them excited about it - they got to watch 6 other dogs with several bird contacts before I was satisfied that they were paying attention and that we would work birds today - I was also observing their reactions to other dogs, birds and shooting.

Aspen was 1st up - we worked all the dogs on 5 bird contacts, and didn't assess the retrieving because I wanted to see the pointing, and how well the nose was on the dogs. Aspen is very puppy like in application, and carries her nose close to the ground, which will serve her well in tracking and finding wounded birds. Using the lead I was able to bring her head up a bit and she pointed the first bird for a few seconds - but I felt if left to her own devices the bird would have been pointed at less than 3 ft. Once the bird was flushed she chased well and I was pretty satisfied with that - we worked her on 4 birds besides the first one, and her response was good but inexperienced and the trick with her will be finding a training method that will encourage her to keep her head more. I do have a few tricks for that.

Jazz - was up next - again with 5 bird contacts, but Jazz showed much better intensity and style on points, and was standing farther off her birds. She chased well on the flush and I think it will just be a matter of launching birds and killing them for her when she points. She was much better than either Tango or Aspen in this department.

Tango - rounded out the morning - With 5 bird contacts, he did keep his nose lower to the ground than I would have liked to see but he pointed off his birds better - but showed some tendency to flag - which will be his weakness I think - I have a few tricks to work that out - he showed good prey drive and chased well for flushed birds - all the dogs did well with gun fire and overall - I rated them 

1. Jazz, 2. Tango, 3. Aspen

After lunch I took them out to a pond with wing clipped pigeons. All the dogs did a nice job - they are much better in the retrieving department than I expected. They all retrieved 5 birds in the water from 20 - 60 yds. Several times they each had to chase the bird making it's way across the water.

Aspen was up again first - and showed strong swimming and marking, and perseverance, she made the swims strongly and planed out very well in the water, she retrieved all the birds to close proximity of me - or in my hand in a couple cases - one bird by the time she was able to catch it was close to 80 yds. out. I was very happy with Aspen.

Next we - did the same thing with Jazz - and she showed very well - and delivered all but three of the birds to hand. She did a nice job but was a bit slower in the water than Aspen and her birds were not as challenging. She did well. Her marking and perseverance were good -

Last we put Tango through his paces - he did very well retrieving bringing the birds to shore and dropping them - he did have a problem with the 1st bird and dropped it near a snag on the shore away from me and the bird got up in a muskrat hole and was lost - his retrieves were somehow more difficult than Jazz's but not much.   I rated them for water work 

1. Aspen 2. Jazz ( just slightly behind) and 3. Tango

For an overall rating of the three dogs over both bird work and retrieving concepts.

1. Jazz -(clearly a more balanced dog)
2. Tango ( but I am only giving him a slight edge over Aspen)
3. Aspen (clearly more inexperienced than either of the others but once she gets more experience) she may be as good or better than Jazz.

Things change as the training goes along but I have overall a favorable impression of all three dogs.

Sincerely;

Keith Hickam

January 15, 2007 12:21 PM

Dear John and all; 

We are finished with the 1st week of training and all the dogs are progressing.  The retrieving skills are well developed - the pointing is going slow but moving forward.   

Jazz still is the strongest of the 4 dogs but Aspen, Tango and Gusti, are making some progress - I am a bit concerned about the lack of intensity of point from Tango, but he is pointing better, with less flagging than the beginning of training.  Aspen is now holding her points longer but still wants to jump every bird - more CC work with launchers in store for her this week.

Gusti is slowly adjusting to kennel life and she is getting more confidence in working.  I am pleased with her training attitude and although I only worked her on Friday (Sat and Sunday I was at a field trial) I was pleased with her. 

We will be using launchers for longer water retrieves and I will progress with working in cover with them as the week progresses.  That's all for now.

Keith Hickam

January 20, 2007 5:49 PM

Well, we have completed 2 wks of training on Aspen, Tango, and Jazz.  Gusti is in her first week.  During this week - I have found that my observations of the first week of training was pretty much on.

Aspen shows strong retrieving instinct and loves to do that, she is weak on pointing instinct which is pretty normal considering her love of retrieving - we did many 60-100 yd water retrieves this week and Aspen was very good - she does like water cheating and on one occasion - I had to get my Llewellin out to retrieve one training dummy on an opposite shore that Aspen left there.  I believe that she will need a minimum force hold to ensure reliable delivery to hand each time.  We are working birds, we are using launchers and only shooting birds for her that she points - I have also used the beeper on the launcher to get her to staunch up a bit.  As the training continues along I will put more emphasis with her on pointing, less on retrieving since retrieving is her forte.

Gusti - Wow, pretty impressive.  She is a relatively staunch pointer with some good intensity and enjoys retrieving equally well, she is well behaved and is taking to her lessons on heeling and such very well.  As with Aspen she had opportunity to retrieve some medium range marks of 60-100 yds and did very well, she also water cheats at every opportunity and will probably require a force fetch/hold to ensure reliable delivery to hand. She retrieves well but when given the opportunity will run away from me, instead of retrieving to me when we are killing birds for her - However, when I ignore her and walk away she comes up and I have been using the opportunity to have her carry the bird at heel for a period of time before I have her release the bird.

Tango - Well, what can I say - he is a stubborn boy.  He chewed off two collars and is much less compliant with heeling and other obedience work.  His pointing is getting better with less flagging and when he staunches up we are killing for him and his retrieving is getting better - he still drops the birds and with the others will probably require Force fetch/hold for reliable delivery to hand for the tests.  His retrieving is very good and like his siblings he had opportunity to retrieve some medium range marks and did well - he shows less tendency to water cheat than his siblings and overall is a solid young dog.

Jazz - Well she is a solid dog in both retrieving and pointing - shows tendency to water cheat and will need Force fetch for certain.  She is doing some longer marks than her siblings and she is holding her points much longer than the others - until today she has been the star of the litter - but Gusti is fast approaching Jazz in all departments and is much better mannered than Jazz in obedience work.

Overall this was a good week for all the dogs - each showing flashes of brilliance and getting better with all concepts.

Keith

January 30, 2007 8:15 AM

We are now into about the 3rd week of training and things are progressing.  The dogs are being kept busy by a busy training schedule - we are working on bird work on a daily basis - water retrieves about 2 or 3 times a week - and the dogs are in the process of Force hold.

Jazz - Jazz is holding her birds to the flush with great style and intensity and she is standing until I move in front of her and that is very good progress  - her water work remains very solid and she is the sweetheart of the bunch - she is retrieving shot birds practically to hand with little or no encouragement.  She is progressing on the bench with Force Hold along with the rest of the dogs - perhaps a bit slower than some but faster than others - mostly because when I go to take the object/bumper out of her mouth  - and scratch her ears she responds by licking me.  She like all the dogs are now pointing quail and I am still letting them chase after the flush - about 2 days a week I kill for them and that is really helping the staunchness and style on point.  I will be setting up a heeling course for  the dogs in the near future - and will start the "whoa" breaking phase the beginning of next week with Jazz.  On the school chain she is very animated and happy.

Aspen - She is now pointing and standing to flush - although she does still flag on point, I am approaching her and styling her up on every point and  this seems to be helping on both her style and staunchness - I think that by continuing this method Aspen will progress much faster than she has to this point on her birds.  She continues to be the strongest in the water retrieving department and I am very happy with her in that respect.  She is progressing very well on the Force Hold - with very little mistakes and is  able to walk the length of the table (8 ft) without spitting out the objects  she is holding/retrieving. I believe, that Aspen will be able to start to "whoa" breaking phase and heeling/tracking phase with her brother and sisters.  She is less "hormonally" challenged than many females I have worked with in the past during their heat cycle and under normal circumstances training females in heat is very problematic and usually results in losing much training time - which up to this point has not happened with Aspen.

Tango - Boy, what a stubborn dog!  Tango is now standing to flush on his birds with little or no flagging on point, I am approaching his training similar to Aspen's I approach them and style them up on every bird.  I am less inclined to let him chase flyaways because he is hard to catch - and since I have not even started collar conditioning on the dogs - his response to "Here" is not the best in the world - so I have tried to only let him break on shot birds - because he is much more inclined to come back to me with a bird in his mouth.  On the days we are not killing - this causes problems and my shoulder is paying for it.  I have never seen a dog that would repeatedly break and chase hard - knowing he was going to get stopped by  a check cord  - it will be interesting to see which one of us gives in first - my shoulder or Tango.  On the plus side - you can't ask for a harder charging dog that loves to get his mouth on birds.  He is progressing on the force hold well and is able to walk the length of the table (8 ft) with the object in his mouth.  His water retrieving is very good - in fact, he chased a wounded duck ( some hunter shot on my pond) for about 200 yds. before the duck dove on him and he lost sight of it - he did swim around for a while searching before coming back - it was about 10 minutes or so.  Tango will begin the "whoa" breaking phase of training the beginning of next week, and he is heeling better - sometimes a little reluctantly and I should start the heeling/tracking phase with him sometime next week.  On the school chain he is the most vocal and animated when other dogs are working.

Gusti - Now in about her 2nd week of training - has caught up to her siblings in all respects and surpassed them in some respects.  She is a very staunch dog on point and I love her style and intensity, she is holding her birds to flush and that is very nice.  She has got a great nose, finding 3 quail this morning in addition to the planned bird contacts ( I have a few liberated birds that still frequent our training field) which she held (without me on the end of the check cord) until I almost got to her - then the flush and chase was on - it was very entertaining to watch.  Gusti retrieves well but is not cooperative - she will get a bird and if I can't meet her on the shore she will run off and eat the birds - she did this with two birds on Saturday - this is frustrating at the moment but once the force hold and in her case definitely FF will alleviate this problem - she has great drive and is very animated in the fields.  She is progressing on the Force Hold and will walk the bench (8 ft) twice with the object/bumper in  her mouth - she is a sweet dog - and like Aspen not being affected by being "hormonally challenged," as many females are - although, I do attribute the bird eating behavior to be possibly caused by that - but I could be wrong, and only time will tell.  I anticipate starting her "whoa" breaking towards the end of next week.  Her heeling is very good, and will probably start the heeling/tracking phase with her siblings. 

Last week was a very good week for training and the dogs are progressing well.

Keith

A Bite of Humor!

 By Trooper, the Llewellin

Which Munsterlander is Which?

Dear John and all;

As we enter the 2nd month of training for these great young dogs, I found myself extremely happy - they have met or exceeded my training goals for the
1st month of training.  All of them have improved greatly - especially in the pointing department - they are a wonderful, bunch of dogs very consistent in their learning and enthusiasm to learn.

Aspen - Well, she has risen to challenges and is improving on a daily basis, she needs more birds - especially quail for more pointing instinct to develop - however, we are moving into "whoa" and other concepts so occasionally I will go back and work her in that area.  Her enthusiasm for the work is really quite amazing. As we started "whoa" breaking at the beginning of the week.  Aspen showed remarkable compliance and was by far the best of the bunch in picking up the concept of "whoa"  she was great on the post.  In the force hold/force fetch portion of the training she continues to improve and I am very pleased with Aspen this week.  She is beginning to put it together and that is very refreshing.  She has a very sensitive nature and I must be very mindful of that in training techniques and compliance.

Tango - Well, he won  -  my shoulder gave out before he did :).  He is progressing very well - holding points to the flush and retrieving shot birds with enthusiasm and cooperation.   He has met all the goals of the first month of training and has proven to be a very compliant student - once you get through his unique attitude towards training.  He is progressing on force hold to the point that 9 times out of 10 he delivers bumpers to hand - with just a reminder to "hold." Birds are still considered his property so we must continue to be diligent in enforcing/re-enforcing "hold" and as we get more into it "fetch"  On the "whoa" post his initial reaction to it was the classic, "crocodile death roll",  for about 3 repetitions until he figured out I was serious about this "whoa" training and thereafter he was more subdued and compliant and ended the session very well - "whoa-ing" with slack in the line.  I look for a few times he will test me - but see no problems with "whoa" from Tango.

Jazz - Well, she is retrieving shot birds to hand, pointing with enthusiasm and style and holding until flush - she is a good water retriever but sometimes a bit reluctant to do multiple long marks and we are still working with her on that.  She is less inclined to "water cheat" on marks and overall the improvement on her water retrieves was very good.  As we moved to "whoa" training Jazz was the most vocal about protesting the limits on her freedom - and like Tango once she figured I was serious about "whoa" became more compliant and ended the "whoa" session on a great note.  She is doing very well on the "hold" and although we may revisit it later - excels in that department.

Gusti - By far the most intense bird dog of the bunch - her points are just great - and I am very pleased with that from her.  She has had limited retrieving - because she will "water cheat" and she thinks this retrieving is a game to play keep away with the trainer - in addition to her continued insistence on eating every bird she can get her mouth on - she has been limited to flyaways - with no shot birds at all - Collar conditioning on "Here" is in store for her above that which her littermates will receive.  On the force fetch bench she shows amazing compliance and it is interesting that when she is in a controlled environment she shows great obedience but
given any freedom and all bets are off.  On the "whoa" post she was vocal but less so than Jazz - and like on the bench - when in a controlled situation - she is very compliant but when given any freedom - she has a mind of her own -  she will require more intense obedience, and e-collar work than her siblings I think.  But, once her boundaries are well established - she should be excellent in demeanor and manners.

That's it for now -

Keith - Posting from Under the Live Oaks

Hello all,

I am writing a small piece on what I think about each of the puppies.  All of them have a personality I love in dogs.  They are loving and sweet.  They are all great with the kids.  And though my cat, Magic, protests they seem to get along with her.  My biggest concerns when having any new puppy/dog to my home is the they get along with my kids and my cat.  

Gusti has the best behavior when she comes to the house.  She does get quite frisky with Trooper our Llewellin puppy but when you tell her to lay down she goes right away to a spot and lays down and relaxes.  She is great with my kids and that is a plus in any dog.

Aspen has not really been in my home for too long a period as she came into heat right away and Keith returned her to the farm to segregate her from the males.  But in the short time that she was in my home she was very affectionate and got along with all of my kids. Heather, my 3 year old, loves to touch all of the dogs and get them to go where she wants them and she tolerated my daughter quite well.  As soon as she comes completely out of her heat, she and Gusti will be able to come home to play with the kids and Trooper.

Jazz has been the dog that has had the most time here at the house.  She is a very sweet puppy and quite energetic.  She loves to play and will follow Trooper where ever he goes.  In fact one evening I went to my room and found Keith asleep with Jazz, Trooper and Tanner all sleeping on the bed.  Alas there was no room for me.  So I had to kick them out of the bed so I could sleep.

And Finally Tango.  Tango is, unfortunately, the one that comes home the least as we do not want a confrontation between him and Tanner.  But this last weekend he was able to come to the house and spend some time.  Boy, he is a big boy but he settled down quite nicely after realizing that he was in a home again.  He loved the attention from my kids and was a all around nice puppy.

I find that all of your sweethearts are indeed sweet and have a lot of potential.  Keith has even commented that he would someday like to get a Small Munsterlander for our family.  And Because of their personalities and being quite cute, I would indeed welcome the addition of one of these fine Dogs.

Well, Goodnight all,

Teresa Hickam

A Day in the life of an S.M.P. in Waco . 

by Ray Johnston

Keith shows up at 8 am.  One at a time its out of the kennel and along the track into the woods for some healing practice.  There are a lot of birds out of there, so concentration is a challenge.  I took Gusti out before Keith got things together and I could tell that she was very much into her training – an intent focus on the birds!  She gave me a bit of attention too coming when I called and taking a scratch behind the ears when offered. 

After each Dog takes its heal walk its on to the bench for some fetch and hold.  All of the dogs are doing great.  Its interesting to watch Keith work with them.  Each dog has different skills and learning needs.  Keith adjusts to those and seems to connect with each dog. 

After bench training its into the Mule – two dogs per kennel, and off to the field.  Our SMPs are joined by a few others for whoa training.  They are chained near the tree line.  Each dog is taken out and told to whoa while Keith wanders far a field.  There is a pigeon staked near the chain line and Keith will plant a quail for each dog.  They all find the quail and most of them point.  The chain gang grows quiet when that happens, all dogs honoring the point.  Keith is quick to step on their leads during this exercise as many of them would just as soon flush or eat the bird if given the chance.  The bird is flushed and Keith fires a starting pistol.  Then its on to the pigeon – some more whoa and a bit of pointing.  One of Keith's Llewellins  decides to follow the flushed quail over hill and dale.  The chain gang goes wild!  And, Keith goes with the mule to fetch the dog.

After the last dog, its back to the kennel.  The dogs are fed and a select few – our four and a couple of Keith's are loaded for a trip to the pond.  We humans grab some barbecue on the way!  The pond today is a quarry as the marshy one is off limits due to the current planting program.  The quarry is deep and cold.  Keith fires a dummy out beyond 50 yards and Gusti takes off.  Keith is set to demonstrate water cheating for me, but the dogs seem to be learning something:  they all come straight back!  Each dog fetches a dummy about 3 times.  Some of them decide it’s a bit cold and quit early.

After the pond we find a brushy area near the river.  Keith sets pigeons in a remote control trap.  Then each dog is brought out.  They find the pigeon and go through whoa training in the field scenario.  After holding for a short time, Keith releases the bird, shoots it and the dogs are off.  A couple retrieve ok., but none of them want to give up the bird.  Gusti, of course, wants to eat it and seems to have taught Aspen the joys of bone crunching as both dogs have a chew.  Keith says that won’t last long.

Keith is great with the dogs.  He uses the collar judiciously and is kind and friendly to each dog.  They are pretty lean, but after watching them go through their paces I can see why.  Gusti is eating about twice what she did at home as I am sure the other dogs are as well.  Jazzy and Gusti duke it out a bit, vying for alpha female I suspect, but none of the four are overly shy or overly aggressive.

They are all becoming pretty obsessed with hunting.  Keith thinks they are right where they should be and is good at explaining what he does and why.  It sounds like he has his work cut out for him in the next 6 weeks, but he seems up for it and optimistic.  It  was nice to meet Keith and Teresa and to see the pup again.  I will look forward to having her back and to some great times in the future.   

February 19, 2007  7:59 PM

Progress this week has been outstanding, each dog showing flashes of brilliance on many occasions - we continued "whoa" training and the dogs made super progress - we started introducing dogs to steadiness training and by the end of the week all were standing steady to wing and shot on tethered pigeons and "whoa" on command.  We started this week by introducing steady to wing, shot and fall, laying some simple tracking concepts, and working on their line and heeling manners.

Tango  - Is making progress by leaps and bounds, we have been working with steady to wing and shot on tethered birds, and he was outstanding standing steady to wing and shot on multiple bird contacts, and I was very pleased (we were in our 2nd week of "whoa" training, and he was advanced to the 4th week of training by the middle of last week).  He still is a bit stubborn on "heeling" wanting to get in front of me - but we have been able to make 100 yd heeling drills from the truck to the training area with slack in his lead line.  Today, we went to the gravel pits for duck search, tracking and steady to wing, shot and fall training - he was impressive.

On the steadiness training, he pointed his planted pigeon, stood through the flush, shot and kill until sent.  He needed some reminder via force hold to retrieve but I was simply ecstatic about his progress.  After putting all the dogs through, the steadiness training, I heeled him to a pond, including heeling up and down terrain to get to the pond.  At the line "whoa" I fired a blank and threw a bird, Tango remained steady 9 out of 10 times until sent and retrieved to hand 9 out of 10 times.  I then "heeled" him back the 100 yds to the truck.  After completing this session with all the dogs, I did a 100 yd duck drag/tracking exercise with Tango, he got off line a few times but I was able to get him back on the track and he retrieved the duck to hand (after a little reminder on force hold/fetch) and I though it was a great training day for Tango.

Jazz - Was only a bit behind Tango on steadiness to wing and shot on tethered pigeons but was super on "Whoa"  she is doing much better on her heeling exercises and I am very pleased with her.  Jazz was still having trouble standing to wing and shot on tethered birds until late in the week but was advanced enough to continue with her steadiness and line manner training along with Tango.  Today, on her bird, she pointed, held through the flush, and shot - (sorry, guys I missed her bird and she was unable to demonstrate steadiness to kill, maybe next time).  After the steady to wing and shot session, it was a trip to the pond to work on Heeling and line manners as well as retrieving.  Jazz "heeled" with little/no correction from the truck to the pond (100 yds.) including up and down terrain.  We then worked on line manners "Whoaing" her at the line, firing a blank and throwing a dead bird - Jazz did not break, until sent, she retrieved her bird to hand 10 of 10 times and was able to "heel" back to the truck with no correction.  After the water session, we laid a track/duck drag for Jazz and she absolutely lined the track, retrieving the duck to hand.  Just a great and impressive effort from Jazz.

Gusti - Like her siblings was standing steady to wing and shot on tethered birds by the end of last week.  Her heeling is coming along and needs little correction to maintain slack in the lead line when on "heel"  Her steadiness on "whoa" is great and she advanced along with her siblings today to steady to wing shot and fall training.  She pointed her bird today, stood through the flush, and kill and because of her hard mouth, stayed steady while I went and picked up her bird.  Simply outstanding!  She heeled over the 100 yds. up and down terrain to the pond without correction, and she was great on her line manners.  She remained steady while I fired a blank and threw a dead bird for her to retrieve, 9 of 10 times, with only a little break - when I sent her to retrieve her bird she rolled it in her mouth some, but when commanded to hold - delivered to hand with a minimum of munching 8 of 10 times.  When we moved to the duck drag/tracking phase of training today, she absolutely lined the drag (60 to 75 yds) picked up her bird and delivered the dead duck to hand.  I was very pleased with her today.

Aspen - She was standing steady to wing and shot on tethered birds by the middle of last week, and her heeling is coming along nicely - she is a soft, sweet dog and I am overall pleased with her work this week.  Aspen pointed her bird today with nice style, stood steady to flush and shot, turning within her radius to mark the fall of the bird, as it flew over her head and I killed it for her - her retrieve to hand was good - she did need to be reminded to "hold" twice as she was retrieving.  It was great to see her doing so well, as she has struggled more than her siblings at concepts.  She heeled over 100 yds. to the pond, with little correction - she needs to develop more confidence in herself and what she is doing - she is very cautious at times.  Her line manners were outstanding today, standing steady while I fired the blank and threw a bird in the pond, 10 of 10 times.  Her retrieves were enthusiastic and quick, delivering her bird to hand 8 of 10 times.  She heeled back to the truck with little correction and I was overall extremely happy with her water work today.  When we did the duck drag/track for her she used her nose well but expanded her search more than I would like and I had to call her to get her on track, but she found the bird and retrieved to hand, after a minor correction of Fetch/Hold.

Today was outstanding for all the dogs and capped a pretty intensive week of  training, in which the dogs advanced well beyond what I envisioned in the schedule.  Today, we introduced three concepts to them - steady at the line on water work,  duck drag/track, and steady to wing shot and kill.  To put it bluntly, they exceeded my wildest expectations. 

These are very nice dogs, their work is coming together, and they are making me look like I know what I am doing - good dogs make trainers look like geniuses - and these dogs are making me look like Einstein!  Very nice week.

Regards;

Keith

Views of a Trainer’s wife

Teresa Hickam

As a Dog Trainers wife, I occasionally have to help with the dogs.  Feeding, watering and taking pictures are what I do.  Though I do a lot more of the financial side and maintaining the website. Rarely do they come home to me.  The exception to that rule is these Munsterlanders.

2 months ago Keith got his first Munsterlanders in for training.  It was indeed a daunting test of Keith’s training ability.  No, it wasn’t the Pointing dog training that was daunting; it wasn’t the water training either.  He has done both types of training in the past.  It was the fact that he had to combine the training and add in the dragging training as well.  This was new waters for my husband, but I knew that he was up to the task.

In the first month he trained as he always had.  Training them on pigeons and quail, in the morning, then going to the water and doing the water retrieving, in the afternoon.  The Munsterlanders challenged him in a way that he hasn’t been challenged in a long time.  Aspen, Gusti, Tango and Jazz were quick to understand quite a few of the concepts that Keith put in front of them.

Even now, 2 months later, they show a lot of progress towards being what their owners want, a complete versatile hunting dog.  What was different was the manner that Keith came about the care of these lovely dogs.

He brought them home.  One by one, they were introduced to the family.  Yes, even the cat.  And though I think that my kids have favorites amongst the Munsterlander, I will never tell whom though, LOL, they grew to accept and have fun with each and every one of them.

Aspen even spent several nights sleeping in the kid’s room on their bed, for heavens sake!  And they played with them outside quite a bit. 

I am not really sure what Aspen, Jazzy, Tango and Gusti thought about my kids but I do know that they allowed my 2 and 3-year-old children to drag them around the house.  They ate outside and allowed my cat, Magic, to come up and eat with them.  They played with both my older son and daughter and were patient when they were always calling them.

No, I have not seen or been to any of the training sessions but I have seen a content dog that lies at the end of my kid’s bed and doesn’t whine when my kids play with them.  I watch them as the romp around the yard with my 5-month-old puppy, Trooper, and yes, even chase my cat on occasion.  To me this is the ultimate dog!  The dog that has a family and when these dogs return home, they will be missed.

Well, it has been a rough week for me.  Sick and had to attend a trial in MO.  The dogs are making progress - it has been so good that at the end of the 2nd month of training.  I believe most if not all of the dogs would receive qualifying scores at an AKC Senior Hunter test.  We concentrated mostly on field work the last week - running them twice where they could get contacts with wild and liberated bobwhites - all were able to make contact and up until the 24th of Feb - I was shooting birds for the dogs (quail season closed 24th) after that it was all blank gun work or shot pigeons.

Gusti - Steady to wing and shot about 60 percent of the time - she is steady through the fall but often breaks for a retrieve before being released to do so.  She is balking water retrieves - all of them are and that is to be expected - though not desirable.  It is based on confusion about whether they can go or not on the retrieves - this will be alleviated by the end of force fetch training.  Gusti is the most productive pointing quail.  She is spending her evenings for the next week at home.

Jazz - Steady to wing and shot pretty much all the time - very seldom breaks and retrieves to hand most of the time - she would be borderline in a master hunter test but a certainty most of the time in Senior Hunter tests.  Jazz is also balking water retrieves for the same reasons Gusti is - this will be alleviated by the end of force fetch.  Jazz is a very good bird dog.

Tango - Steady to wing and shot 100 percent of the time and would pass Senior Hunter tests - but since his backing is questionable would be difficult in Master Hunter.  Tango is balking water retrieves , but to a lesser extent than his littermates - Again this will be alleviated by force fetching.

Aspen - Steady to wing and shot about 90 percent of the time - would pass Senior Hunter tests but her retrieving would keep her from master qualifications.  She is doing well on water, but balks the retrieves a little.  She is a very nice dog and has spent the last 10 days at home.

All the dogs are doing outstanding, I am very pleased with the progress - given another two months to prepare for the Utility Test - they would stand a very good chance of getting a Prize.  These are very trainable, sweet dogs and I am happy to be training them.  Gusti hogged the bed last night but she deserves it - she has been very tolerant of me and what I have bee putting them through and still maintaining a sweet loveable attitude.

Keith

April 6, 2007  6:26 PM

Sorry, I have been re-miss in my postings.  The dogs are well into force fetch - and we are breaking down the resistance of the dogs.  Today, we had multiple retrieves from all the dogs with no need to use the e-collar.

Tango -  I am happy that he and Mark got to work with me and I was sorry to see the big, guy leave.

Jazz - Well, we have finally broken through the stubbornness and hopefully will continue to move forward - we have been working water for the last 4 days and she is no longer balking when sent to retrieve bumpers and birds.  If this continues we will once again try to start working quail  both wild and liberated birds.

Gusti - Continues to lead the girls in advancing through the program.  Starting early next week we will probably be done with retrieving work and picking up where we left off on bird and field work.  Gusti is coming home with me every night and we are having a fabulous time.

Aspen - Continues to be solid on her retrieving work - and although not flashy on her work - she is solid and consistent.  She is also getting treats every day throughout training.  I believe we will start again with the field work early next week.

That's it for now.

Keith

April 9, 2007  7:31 PM

Well, we finally finished force fetch on the girls - So, we loaded up and went to China Spring to work on quail.  All the girls did a great job with all of the girls standing steady to wing and shot on at least one bird.  These dogs have been a blessing to work with and I am grateful they are here.

Aspen - She pointed 4 birds and had two backs, including 2 finds of quail buried up under cedar trees - We braced her with Rocky her 2nd time out.  Her first contact she had a controlled break but on her 2nd bird she showed  broke dog manners.  When braced with Rocky she was "whoaed" to facilitate backing and stood broke as I worked the bird for Rocky and fired after the flush.  Her last two contacts were dug up finds under cedar trees and she maintained composure on her 2nd find, and turned to mark the flight of the bird on the first find.

Jazz - Ran a good ground race and had 2 broke finds on quail - she did a very nice job with the birds well located including one under a cedar tree.  She pointed with good style and intensity and did a very nice job overall.

Gusti - Had 3 finds - her birds were well located and she stood with broke manners on 2 birds - her first bird she had to be "whoaed" after breaking at the shot and taking a few steps -   All her other finds were well done with very nice manners.  Her style and intensity were nice and she did a very nice job overall.

Keith

This week has been uneventful with the dogs making progress in some areas - backsliding in others.

I have been working the dogs on liberated quail in areas that also hold wild quail.  Each dog has 1 to 3 points on quail.

Jazz - She is remaining steady to wing and shot - on most/all contacts with only a little bobble here and there - today she pointed 3 quail and was steady throughout.  I have been running the dogs with my beeper collar activated to condition them to running with a beeper.  She is working well. Today, on water work she had to be reminded that "fetch" means to fetch no matter how far out in the water the bumper is.  She remembered thereafter and did an excellent job.

Aspen - She like Jazz is doing well, her waterwork is the best, and she sometimes needs to be reminded that even when a quail flies back over her head that she needs to remain broke.  Today she had 3 finds and a back of Rocky.  She is wearing a beeper collar to condition her to the sound and she is ranging more.  Although, her water entry is not dynamic she always goes and very little reminders are needed.

Gusti -  Broke steady to wing and shot on all her birds - with no bobbles in two weeks.  She is also getting used to the sound of a beeper collar and seems to be adjusting well.  Her water work is also progressing and we are working hard on more difficult falls in the water and she is adjusting well to it.

It has been a good training week - the dogs are doing well, and we are having a great time.

Keith

I have been busy training the SM's and we are making progress.  Most of this week was spent on water work.  We are getting into harder marks and falls and working on re-sending and persistence once sent.  The dogs are also getting some work on "whoa", backing and Steady to W & S.

Aspen - Is the star of the show when it comes to water and persistence in retrieving - she has been getting the most difficult marks and falls of the dogs.  Yesterday, while working in the wind - using my launcher with the most powerful blanks - several times the wind caught the dummy and carried it into trees and land on a small island in the pond - Aspen never gave up and searched the water and island for nearly 15 minutes before finding the dummy and retrieving it to hand.  Aspen is also taking rudimentary hand signals to help her find the dummies.   She is also doing some beginning advanced retriever work.  Being sent on marks where she has to enter the water, cross a spit of land, re-enter the water, cross another piece of land and re-enter the water to retrieve the dummy and return the same way.  She is doing super.

Jazz - Is becoming more persistent and is not balking water at all - being able to resend her on marks on a regular basis.  She is continuing to improve on perseverance, and often finds difficult marks without any assistance from me.  She like Aspen is starting to do beginning advanced retriever work - on difficult angles and having to cross obstacles on the way to the fall.    Beginning next week I am going to start with multiple marks.  She is continuing to find birds and her backing is coming along nicely.  She is remaining steady to wing and shot and I am pleased with her.

Gusti - Yesterday, while working in the wind - using my launcher with the most powerful blanks - several times the wind caught the dummy and carried it into trees and land on a small island in the pond - Gusti  never gave up and searched the water and island for nearly 15 minutes before finding the dummy and retrieving it to hand.  She is also doing more difficult marks and concepts including retrieving double marks.  Gusti and I had to work a lot in the past couple days on her honoring - she does not like to do it - thinking every bird in the field is hers.  She is however, standing steady to wing and shot on all her birds.

Keith

We are introducing more and more advanced concepts in retrieving - which has been the main focus for the last couple of weeks.  We have introduced some advanced water concepts and are incorporating them in our daily water work.

Aspen - She continues to excel above the other dogs in learning and retaining advanced concepts, and her endurance and persistence on retrieves is well developed.  We are doing doubles on water with the retrieves being 60 to 80 yds and about an angle of 45 degrees from each mark.  Aspen was the one that picked up the concept the fastest and is continuing to lead her sisters in water work.

Jazz - She is becoming more skilled in her marking and her persistence and endurance are getting better.  She is doing double marks like her sister - Aspen but not at the advanced level that her sisters are - she generally needs many re-casts to locate the marks but once found she is able to retain the training on subsequent marks of a similar fall.

Gusti - Is doing multiple doubles like Aspen with much fewer re-casts and re-direction than Jazz.  She is the most attentive on her line manners and seldom breaks even with multiple marks and falls.  Her marks are similar to Aspen and Jazz - being double marks at about 60 to 80 yds on a 45 degree angle from each other - Gusti does want to switch more than Jazz and Aspen - but a firm no - and re-cast straightens her out.

Keith