diff --git a/proxy/client.go b/proxy/client.go
index c6e03e787..587b45466 100644
--- a/proxy/client.go
+++ b/proxy/client.go
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ func DefaultClientCreator(config cfg.Config) ClientCreator {
 	switch addr {
 	case "dummy":
 		return NewLocalClientCreator(dummy.NewDummyApplication())
+	case "persistent_dummy":
+		return NewLocalClientCreator(dummy.NewPersistentDummyApplication(config.GetString("db_dir")))
 	case "nilapp":
 		return NewLocalClientCreator(nilapp.NewNilApplication())
 	default:
diff --git a/test/p2p/fast_sync/test.sh b/test/p2p/fast_sync/test.sh
index b4ac90f99..8820d199c 100644
--- a/test/p2p/fast_sync/test.sh
+++ b/test/p2p/fast_sync/test.sh
@@ -4,12 +4,13 @@ set -eu
 DOCKER_IMAGE=$1
 NETWORK_NAME=$2
 N=$3
+PROXY_APP=$4
 
 cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/tendermint/tendermint
 
 # run it on each of them
 for i in `seq 1 $N`; do
-	bash test/p2p/fast_sync/test_peer.sh $DOCKER_IMAGE $NETWORK_NAME $i $N
+	bash test/p2p/fast_sync/test_peer.sh $DOCKER_IMAGE $NETWORK_NAME $i $N $PROXY_APP
 done
 
 
diff --git a/test/p2p/fast_sync/test_peer.sh b/test/p2p/fast_sync/test_peer.sh
index 135c5ddcd..a065ea5c7 100644
--- a/test/p2p/fast_sync/test_peer.sh
+++ b/test/p2p/fast_sync/test_peer.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ DOCKER_IMAGE=$1
 NETWORK_NAME=$2
 ID=$3
 N=$4
+PROXY_APP=$5
 
 ###############################################################
 # this runs on each peer:
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ SEEDS="$(test/p2p/ip.sh 1):46656"
 for j in `seq 2 $N`; do
 	SEEDS="$SEEDS,$(test/p2p/ip.sh $j):46656"
 done
-bash test/p2p/peer.sh $DOCKER_IMAGE $NETWORK_NAME $ID $SEEDS
+bash test/p2p/peer.sh $DOCKER_IMAGE $NETWORK_NAME $ID $PROXY_APP $SEEDS
 
 # wait for peer to sync and check the app hash
 bash test/p2p/client.sh $DOCKER_IMAGE $NETWORK_NAME fs_$ID "test/p2p/fast_sync/check_peer.sh $ID"
diff --git a/test/p2p/kill_all/test.sh b/test/p2p/kill_all/test.sh
index e8157d7be..ab8e29c53 100644
--- a/test/p2p/kill_all/test.sh
+++ b/test/p2p/kill_all/test.sh
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@ cd "$GOPATH/src/github.com/tendermint/tendermint"
 ###############################################################
 
 for i in $(seq 1 "$NUM_OF_CRASHES"); do
+  echo ""
+  echo "Restarting all peers! Take $i ..."
+
   # restart all peers
   for i in $(seq 1 "$NUM_OF_PEERS"); do
     docker stop "local_testnet_$i"
diff --git a/test/p2p/local_testnet_start.sh b/test/p2p/local_testnet_start.sh
index 50297d62d..4dd2ab05d 100644
--- a/test/p2p/local_testnet_start.sh
+++ b/test/p2p/local_testnet_start.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ set -eu
 DOCKER_IMAGE=$1
 NETWORK_NAME=$2
 N=$3
+APP_PROXY=$4
 
 cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/tendermint/tendermint
 
@@ -17,5 +18,5 @@ done
 echo "Seeds: $seeds"
 
 for i in `seq 1 $N`; do
-	bash test/p2p/peer.sh $DOCKER_IMAGE $NETWORK_NAME $i $seeds
+	bash test/p2p/peer.sh $DOCKER_IMAGE $NETWORK_NAME $i $APP_PROXY $seeds
 done
diff --git a/test/p2p/peer.sh b/test/p2p/peer.sh
index 32e696e76..76314f586 100644
--- a/test/p2p/peer.sh
+++ b/test/p2p/peer.sh
@@ -4,9 +4,10 @@ set -eu
 DOCKER_IMAGE=$1
 NETWORK_NAME=$2
 ID=$3
+APP_PROXY=$4
 
 set +u
-SEEDS=$4
+SEEDS=$5
 set -u
 if [[ "$SEEDS" != "" ]]; then
 	SEEDS=" --seeds $SEEDS "
@@ -15,10 +16,9 @@ fi
 echo "starting tendermint peer ID=$ID"
 # start tendermint container on the network
 docker run -d \
-	--net=$NETWORK_NAME \
-	--ip=$(test/p2p/ip.sh $ID) \
-	--name local_testnet_$ID \
-	--entrypoint tendermint \
-  -v $GOPATH/src/github.com/tendermint/tendermint/test/p2p/:/go/src/github.com/tendermint/tendermint/test/p2p \
-	-e TMROOT=/go/src/github.com/tendermint/tendermint/test/p2p/data/mach$ID/core \
-	$DOCKER_IMAGE node $SEEDS --proxy_app=dummy
+  --net=$NETWORK_NAME \
+  --ip=$(test/p2p/ip.sh $ID) \
+  --name local_testnet_$ID \
+  --entrypoint tendermint \
+  -e TMROOT=/go/src/github.com/tendermint/tendermint/test/p2p/data/mach$ID/core \
+  $DOCKER_IMAGE node $SEEDS --proxy_app=$APP_PROXY
diff --git a/test/p2p/test.sh b/test/p2p/test.sh
index 2a45e7f8c..0f29aa199 100644
--- a/test/p2p/test.sh
+++ b/test/p2p/test.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ set -eu
 DOCKER_IMAGE=$1
 NETWORK_NAME=local_testnet
 N=4
+PROXY_APP=persistent_dummy
 
 cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/tendermint/tendermint
 
@@ -13,7 +14,8 @@ bash test/p2p/local_testnet_stop.sh $NETWORK_NAME $N
 set -e
 
 # start the testnet on a local network
-bash test/p2p/local_testnet_start.sh $DOCKER_IMAGE $NETWORK_NAME $N
+# NOTE we re-use the same network for all tests
+bash test/p2p/local_testnet_start.sh $DOCKER_IMAGE $NETWORK_NAME $N $PROXY_APP
 
 # test basic connectivity and consensus
 # start client container and check the num peers and height for all nodes
@@ -25,7 +27,7 @@ bash test/p2p/client.sh $DOCKER_IMAGE $NETWORK_NAME ab "test/p2p/atomic_broadcas
 
 # test fast sync (from current state of network):
 # for each node, kill it and readd via fast sync
-bash test/p2p/fast_sync/test.sh $DOCKER_IMAGE $NETWORK_NAME $N
+bash test/p2p/fast_sync/test.sh $DOCKER_IMAGE $NETWORK_NAME $N $PROXY_APP
 
 # test killing all peers
 bash test/p2p/kill_all/test.sh $DOCKER_IMAGE $NETWORK_NAME $N 3