Feb 25…Saturday…high of 38°F…indoor OB with Gigi and Pounce wearing a short lease and an e-collar. On a sit, the sequence is a verbal “sit/jerk/sit”. After many repetitions, the verbal “sit” is replaced by using a low level nick with the e-collar for quite some time. The next  phase is “whistle” nick “whistle” for quite some time….Eventually, the “here” command is phased in. This not a rapid process (conditioned responses require teaching and extended practice). I had to review Hillmann’s presentations many times to avoid glossing over each step. He mentioned doing “things” hundreds of times to condition the desired responses. 
Feb 26…Sunday…high in the 40’s…both dogs continued with the basic “sit” command (reinforcing with a short leash}….”sit/jerk/s/it”. I was glad to observe both Pounce and Gigi did this very well from the beginning. We have acquired some of the skills and simply need a more solid grasp of the distractions in field training and hunt test setups. In addition. I may need to run AKC tests and avoid my HRC gun at the line issues.  
Feb. 27…Monday…cold, freezing rain…Pounce and Gigi continued indoors with Hillmann’s sit command (focused review)…almost fell a few times in the driveway (ice). Pounce remained home while Gigi went to the Vet’s. She was a “pain in the donkey” in the office…Dhpp Booster, 3 yr Rabies (canine), Bordetella vaccine
weight – 58 pounds…Interstate traffic was ”flying”…Doctor’s appointment March 7th {for me)…may determine whether I run any hunt tests this summer (or not)
                note: shoulders and knees….not good

“The DHPP vaccine is a combination vaccine that provides protection against canine distemper (D), infectious hepatitis/adenovirus (H) and parvovirus (P), as well as parainfluenza (P). Vaccines for distemper, infectious hepatitis and parvovirous fall under the ‘core’ category, which means that every dog should be given these, regardless of lifestyle or location.”

Feb 28…Tuesday…The weather for the next several days is not particularly good. In hindsight, if I had known that attempting to do a Journal in Word and then transferring two weeks of work, I would not have attempted to do so. The good thing is I now have a final opinion of how to continue. "Go Daddy" wins.


Feb 20…high in the forties…waiting for warmer weather and field training
Feb 21…Tuesday…high of 37°F…still quite a bit of snow on the ground. Income tax is completed (TurboTax), but having some problems filing. I decided to mail it in and work on retrieving one of the two charges for audit protection. To repeat…mailed in the Federal and State tax forms…glad those are completed. The double billing has not been rectified.   
Feb 22…Wednesday…high of 33°F…Pounce’s nails were Dremeled (easier}
Feb 23…Thursday…high of 36°F…Gigi has a Vet appointment the 27th at 2:30 PM
                   note: Bordatella shot & fecal exam
I went back to last year’s journal entries and read each day. A great deal of time and energy was spent preparing Pounce to maybe do a few hunt tests. My hearing has become an issue. I had trouble even walking to the line. In addition, the shoulder issues made shooting the gun at the line embarrassing.

I could avoid the gun issue if we ran AKC, but that would mean two day (week end) hunt tests instead of one. After much thought this winter, it is obvious that next spring and summer will not be any better. We will train three or four days a week because Gigi and Pounce like to. However, I am fairly certain testing is not going to happen. My soon to be 83 year old body needs more than a new pair of shoes. The hearing aids are not exactly working because I have not tried hard enough. Last summer, I remained optimistic….reality is a b…..
          note: Dremeled Gigi’s nails again and they are now in maintenance length.
                    The easiest way to do them is to have someone hold her on a sit with
                     a leash while I do one or two paws per day
Feb 24…Friday…high of 25°F…train Gigi and Pounce indoors around the pool room deck (warm and comfortable in the upper 70’s)

February 1,2,3...Wednesday/Thursday/Friday...bitter cold (single digits)...snow not melting...plus one sliding door is almost frozen in place. Pounce and Gigi continue to work on indoor OB. We are waiting for spring and contemplating running more hunt tests. Then again I may retire (from testing). On another note, I now have two turkey permits for the Illinois season (may even get a third). Last spring  was NOT very rewarding. They knew where not to be. Nothing will look any different than last year. The goose blind will become my turkey hide with being out of the wind and rain a significant improvement. I will be warm and comfortable.
February 4...Saturday...high of 36°F...On another note, Gigi has made it almost impossible to trim her nails.

Therefore, I searched for a better way. Beginning today, one nail was "Dremaled". This is much easier...one down (shorter) and fifteen to go.
February 5...Sunday...high of 35°F...Gigi's second day of nail trimming has her "two shorter" with fourteen left. Today's brief session was slightly easier than the first....which is encouraging.  
February 6...Monday..high of 43°F...Gigi's third nail was easy. However, I resisted the temptation to finish off her left paw. The Dremel sound does not seem to bother her anymore. Avoiding treats was a good choice.  It is better for us if she does this with me rather than being bribed by treats.   
February 7,8...Tuesday/Wednesday...coasting toward March...The snow is melting at a good pace. Today was not a good one.
Computer issues kept persistently pecking away. There seems to be a large influx of ideas dealing with how to take advantage of those that cannot keep up with the technology. Several layers of protection provides opportunity. It would take hours to describe the maze. KISS has become an every
moment struggle. I have come to the conclusion that keeping a detailed journal takes too much time. Then again keeping track will help maintain some focus. One part of the equation is work on diversions. Gigi and Pounce are going back to square one with Hillmann's Land Training Fundamentals. In some ways we got out into "left field" way too soon.  Part 1 is Land and begins with "Getting Ready to Start"....again and 2,
3" and 4 are all done in a small area about ten feet in diameter. It should be noted that working up close
enhances focus, control and responsiveness. It will be proper practice working on "Nose & Toes", "Collar Conditioning" (heeling/sit)) and the "Three bumper Fetch Drill". One might call this "yard work" even if
we are working in the warm pool area. 
                           note: We completed Dremeling both of Gigi's front paws. It is still not easy.
                           note: Today Gigi began reviewing/working on nose 'n toes plus sit and heel.
February 9...Thursday...high of 34°F with some snow...Continue Dremel "work'" with Gigi and Pounce.
Both will train indoors doing reviewing "Nose & Toes" and "Collar Conditioning" (heeling/sit). This will be the early focus on training until the weather makes training more reasonable. 
February 10...Friday...no snow...dogs will do another day just like yesterday...I spent most the last three days "cleaning up" computer issues. Changing "stuff" was a real "Pain in the Donkey".
February 11-13...Saturday-Monday....Gigi's nails have been trimmed.

However, my main concerns are complications with the Internet. They (issues with security and cost) are providing a strong incentive to discontinue my KwickLabdsii.com WEB. The word nuisance seems to be fairly accurate. I can simply do a personal journal with a WORD program. My WEBs (kwickLabs.com and kwicklabsii.com) are permanently available on the WayBack Machine. The transition will be rather difficult by going "cold turkey". This means no entries for fifteen days..."times up". The following is a continuation of KwickLabs' jornal composed in a WORD program. The format is somewhat like Kwicklabsii.com with GoDaddy. Recently, my main concerns were complications with the Internet. They (issues with security and cost) were providing a strong incentive to discontinue my KwickLabsii.com WEB. The word nuisance seems to be fairly accurate. I could simply do a personal journal with a WORD program (like this).

My WEBs (KwickLabs.com and Kwicklabsii.com) are permanently available on the WayBack Machine. The transition was rather difficult by going "cold turkey". It meant no WEB entries for fifteen days. In addition, the two retriever training forums were not be “surfed” (Refuge and RTF).  

Feb 14…Tuesday…45°F (cloudy)…happy Valentine’s Day…Gigi and Pounce will continue with working a review of Hillmann’s Land Fundamentals (15 steps). The last few days were spent using a Dremel on Gigi’s nails. At first, the plan was to do one nail a day. This proceeded with a gradual increase in the number of nails per day. It was not easy, but progress was made. We are in the process of beginning a review of 1-3.

Kwick Airing Yard (at night with spotlights) 

Feb 15…Wednesday…weather (mild for February)…worked on credit card disputes (successfully)
Feb 16…Thursday…snow…a lot – forecast is for 7+ inches  note: The YouTube videos of Hillman’s (1-10) can easily be found by doing an Internet search.
          for example, type in Hillman Nose and Toes
Feb 17…Friday…buried in snow…driveway cleared (son & snow blower)
Feb 18/19…Saturday/Sunday…snow melting rapidly…finished income tax and
ready to mail…I am “soooo sick” of TurboTax, editing, typing and passwords.
The recently purchased OontZ Angle 3 bluetooth speaker makes a great addition to my computer. It is small and can be easily repositioned . The sound is solid. I will be able to take my GunzUp hunt test sounds/“music” from my I-Phone right to the line in our training alone sessions. (inexpensive/Amazon)

However, my main concerns are complications with the Internet. They (issues with security and cost) are providing a strong incentive to discontinue my KwickLabsii.com WEB. The word nuisance seems to be fairly accurate. I can simply do a personal journal with a WORD program (like this).

My WEBs (KwickLabs.com and Kwicklabsii.com) are permanently available on the WayBack Machine. The transition will be rather difficult by going "cold turkey". This means no WEB entries for fifteen days. In addition, the two retriever training forums will not be “surfed” (Refuge and RTF).  

I'm beginning to learn that 95% OB  
  is not enough...and  85% is much   
  worse.....but 75% is pretty good."    
           KwickLabs  Sept., 2006

Copyright ©kwickLabsii.com All rights reserved