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'.