Max#1

Thanks so much for posting those alerts Mrs Rusty Bucket! Sounds like there's been some real world wins as well! Not so much here, though I'm sure we're making small steps! But there's some really fun games this week and even if they're not 100% spot on we're still getting lots of laughs!! The find my face was particularly a crack up. One dog LOVED it and she's very affectionate and big on kisses. My boy though wasn't coming near me. When I looked up he was mirroring me exactly with head down and bum up and I laughed so hard - he didn't get it at all!

I did find some success with letting the dog win - I literally let go when they were really pulling! I think I'm the slowest here. I've had a shocking few days at work and have been only doing really random collar grab/IYC. Tonight was the first time I tried crate games. My girl (the one I'm doing this for) was textbook. She's such a little worker bunny and loves getting it right :). My boy was a massive fail when he wrenched the lead out from under my foot to go chase possums. MrsRB thanks for the tips about ball chasing/off lead runs. 18 days may end up being 40 odd at this rate but I'll plod away!

Thanks guys for the tips :)!!

Out of curiosity, what's the benefit of following someone? I'm DaisyM on there, but I'm not sure I'm doing much worth following as yet! I do want to ask a question about IYC. My timid girl is quite good at it. A little too good :/. When she comes to my hand and I close it she backs away and is not interested at all. I really hurt her feelings with that! I wonder whether to treat and go on or not as she'll never approach my hand again in that session.

Coming out of lurkerdom after googling this course and finding this thread, hope that's ok. I couldn't resist signing up tonight when I saw the course was re-opened...! I've got a 'bolter', so really excited at the prospect of improvement! Haven't done crate games, but have done a bit of IYC - but never really took it any further than the trick. Failed at my first attempt at 'Call Once'. I called. Dog just looked at me ... "Wha..?" Lol. Next time I might try BEFORE dinner, starting closer, better treats, one dog at a time. Must remember to start at the beginning! And I appreciate the CGG tips. One dog thought it was great. The other who is a bit softer didn't seem to mind but has since been kind of avoiding me. I've got so much to learn!

Try www.pinnicle.com.au There's some of the AP1 team and some of the sweet little toller!

I have a fairly energetic dog - he could work all day. Without giving him a run, literally a chance to run full speed, even for only 15 minutes, he'd be a nightmare at obedience. In answer to the perspn who asked why wouldn't you want their full energy on you.... Because in this case he has too much to give!! Although as he now approaches 2 yo and has remarkably "settled" in all aspects I start to find we can do without this. Our pup, nearly 9 mths, doesn't need it at all. Though does if offered! She's very laid back generally. For Flyball, we do let them run together before and after training. As its a team sport this might be different then for agility. I want for both dogs that they know the difference between play and work. For some ppl, they rather not, which is okay. For my dogs I have good focus from them once work begins, it's not a problem. Between things, they're crated. I've gone through too many chewed leads with the boy for tethering! ETA also for Flyball I think it's good if the teams know each other. Good socialisation opportunity.

We tried our Ricketts Point - quite good once you find where the actual bit of beach is! Our dogs had a great time - first time at the beach for one, which is always a hoot. And not too many dogs considering it was a nice day - one every 50 m or so. Probably better to go before midday, you might even have the place to yourself. Not a lot of good beach (but there were people there in it, so what do I know!) - but a really nice bit at the city end that even I would swim in. I didn't realize you could go the other way past the yacht club as well. It is broken up to many bits with onlead, totally restricted and offlead bits, if you look at the council webpage. I thought offlead only started from the yacht club, so we didn't go back the other way except on the onlead footpath.

The face Elbie is making when lying with the other dogs - I swear Max has the same 'look'. We call it his 'happy face' - ears back, tail wagging, huge tongue. Usually occurs after a very satisfying run around! Unfortunately I don't have a photo of it!

I also have a picky ball dog - I didn't think there were others as bad as him! If he's playing in the park with one ball, he won't chase another. If he doesn't realise that he's chasing the 'wrong' ball, he spits it out of his mouth that instant - sometimes mid leap - you can almost hear the 'peh'. One lady we would often meet would sometimes bring a ball in a bag. On seeing this lady, he'd spit out our ball, and run to greet her and stick his head in her bag to find her ball. Her ball was always the best. Of course, no one ball has a very long life - though we never leave them lying around at home. He takes it very seriously. Generally speaking he's a stickler for routine. You only have to do something at the same time two days in a row then its 'on' for day three too. He's also tricky to train cause he's always preempting me.

Thanks for the suggestion Fastgals. It could very well be - if they go from very light colouring and darken as they get older. After going through some of the links above it does look like mushrooms can change as they mature.

Yes I do have a good vet, but she's not an expert at funghi species identification (which I don't hold against her). She did treat for worse case scenario, but liver toxicity symptoms can take time to appear. The hard part is not knowing how much to worry!

Thanks for the links! I stopped looking at 'Dr Google' because the internet is truly not your friend when you google 'poisonous mushrooms'! The feature of white underneath (the gills) is a bit of a worry.

Does anyone know - do mushrooms start out white underneath but then change colour as they get 'older'?

We were walking past a GD at obedience. It was being very well behaved. As soon as my dog saw it though, he got a bit upset. It was just standing there, not facing in our direction - it wasn't even looking at him (so can't blame eye contact)! Previously Max has been frightened by a horse - so I thought he might have thought it was another horse? He can be reactive to other dogs, but usually it takes at least eye contact before he 'reacts'.

Hi all. Our puppy decided to have a munch on some mushrooms this morning that had sprouted up in the lawn overnight. They were small, white stems (no rings or anything else), white gills underneath and sort of brownish on top. I took her straight to the vet who induced vomiting, and now we're just watching to see how she is. This was all eight hours ago and she seems fine. Does anyone know anything about toxic mushroom species in victoria?

I've got two confirmed tissue rippers here. And I also have one who thinks human toilet time is the best chance for a cuddle! However spray anything in the bathroom, and she'll come running from anywhere in the house to bark at it. Tell her 'off' (so she'll wait for her dinner) and she'll not only do 'off', but leave the room too! I've got another one who is a definite something-in-the-mouth greeter, and he also will only chase *his* ball if *I* throw it. No other will do. He will run across the field, leap in the air, and spit the ball out mid flight if its not his. This is really funny, but not for the person whose ball it is, and therefore has to collect it.

Ah another one here with a dog and a relatively new puppy and have worried a bit about the bonding and training. But Corvus that photo is so beautiful!!! The puppy is an angel - she loves everyone, but she does love Max and copies everything he does. And its adorable. At first I was worried about them bonding too much, but I don't think its really an issue. She seems to be highly food motivated and highly petting motivated (she loves a cuddle), so a game of bitey face is over in a flash if I crinkle a packet of anything! If I take Max out (we've gone a few full days of competitions lately), she is happy with my OH and doesn't fret - so that's good. They train separately at obedience and she doesn't give him a second look as she goes off happily with the OH! I love the tandom training, and find a bit of competition puts Max on his game. Even if I'm offering a nail clipping, having a second dog means it has all of a sudden become a reward!!! My only concern is she's not so anxious to have work to do as Max was, and she's nowhere near as trained as he was at that age (at four months its only just silly tricks, but still). Max was probably born asking his mum if there was anything she needed him to do, and from day one was looking us in the eye almost asking 'okay, what's next?'. She's not even one quarter of that, so actually I'm enjoying having a dog that's a bit more relaxed and carefree!

I also know of an older dog who had a hematoma in its ear. It was on the floppy bit of its ear, not inside. The vet said it would be premanently disfigured if she didn't do surgery - but she opted to wait, and eventually it went away on its own. If it got worse or bigger she would've gone back.

Updated photos of Max and Daisy! And a little video.... Max didn't even think twice the first time we took him to the water. He was in, and off. She, on the other hand, is not so impressed with being wet. Though was very mystified with Max heading off for a swim!

Thinking of you and Mindy!

Kavik - our park isn't a dog park, its a normal park, that sometimes dogs come to. That situation is fine. What I don't do is street walking - dogs barking at fences, having to walk past other dogs closely on footpaths, the random roaming dogs - just too stressful. I literally drive less than 1 km to the park (and my car suffers the consequences, especially in rainy weather ). Good luck ChristineX. Lately I've been putting extra effort into training for calm. And its started to work, I can calm him down from being excited/aroused. At the end of our obedience class he's on his back for a tummy rub despite the other dogs around etc etc. But I don't think I could keep him in a low level of arousal 24/7 - he's not that kind of dog. He sleeps with one eye open.

I have to post a reply to this because yesterday I had the exact same frustration!!! My dog is a bc cross, definitely working temperament as far as I can see - unfortunately we don't have sheep, so off-lead at the park it is. I put it down to something that must've happened while he was younger that makes him feel as though he has to make a preemptive strike at any perceived threats. Like Corvus posted recently in a different thread, unfortunately I think this can be rewarding and reinforcing in itself, as when it works, he'll do it next time. Unfortunately I thought I was 'socializing' him and tried to make sure he met lots of different dogs when he was younger, which of course didn't always go well. I know better now and we do have a 'pack' of friends dogs whom he just loves, and I now make sure we spend our time with them. Max does dog sports and obedience - and only has eyes for me. Like others have said its worse when he's excited, but at the same time if there's a ball he couldn't care less and will focus on that 100%. He's not the dog that races across the park if a new dog appears, he sticks to me like glue. If a dog bigger than him comes racing over to us, staring at him, I know it will be on. All is well if he tells the other dog to back off and it does (his next position is usually then between my legs - fear/resource guarding?). If the other dog turns around and says 'oh really' then there's trouble. Woe betide the other dog if it jumps up on me. Is worse on-lead (another dog that is wearing a halti seems to be even worse), but has happened off-lead, doesn't happen really with my OH, or if someone else is handling him. I empathise! Things that are working for me are going back to obedience, we had let it lapse for awhile. Going every week and seeing the same dogs, and there being no threat, I hope is countering the times he's been rewarded for having to make a preemptive strike. Watching out for eyeballing and breaking that up also works well. Working on me not tensing up is a work in progress.... I haven't tried look at that, but read about it, so will have to give it a go.

ROFL at Hoover. And was he snorty breathing? Max loves to have his nose pressed against something then does snorty breathing. It cracks us all up!

Not only is she cute, but she's the easiest puppy I have ever lived with! For the first week she peed everywhere, but since then she's been a dream to toilet train. She never cries when we put her in her crate. She's been sleeping through the night since day three. She's quiet, non-demanding, loves Max, loves the OH (he's quite taken with her too), responds well to training.... She has been the complete opposite of Max as a puppy! She's only just over 11 weeks now so hasn't started teething yet - so we'll see how it goes then! I hope this doesn't mean she's going to be a terror when she gets older! And she's having a good effect on Max. Last night I was trying to get her familiar with the nail clippers, of course including Max as well. He actually let me cut all of his nails in one go (if she's getting it done, he wants it too!). You could see he was nearly exploding cause he hates it, but if she's having it done..... I made sure to praise him a lot and give him extra treats!