Misteri

Yoness is GORGEOUS! You've got to love those ninja pee-ers, my girl was one of those when she was little. I'd watch her like a hawk but she wouldn't give me any signs that she needed to go, she'd just go! That reminds me, I need to stock up on pee cleaner and paper towels before my new puppy comes home.

Sounds like you are very prepared Jules! :)

LisaCC - thanks! Turquoise will look great on an Aussie. I've gone with a foresty green for my puppy :)

Misteri are you getting a Ptolomy baby? Yes, I feel quite honoured to be getting one of her pups :)

Jules - no not yet, the puppies are in Perth, so definitely not a drivable distance for me! How slowly does time go by when you are counting down the days!

With two weeks to go, I've decided it's time to jump in and join this thread :) I'll be bringing home our Toller puppy in a fortnight's time, and I'm already bursting with excitement. Not sure yet if it will be a boy or a girl, we don't have a preference and would be stoked with any of the gorgeous puppies in this litter :D

Great photos everyone! I have been struggling a little for inspiration but I've only missed two days so far Today's photo is my friend's new ESS puppy Lily. She's an adorable bundle of energy! Week four theme is Aperture adjustments, because I couldn't find anything in common with my first two shots for the week. 026 / 365 by misteri82, on Flickr

Clicking Mad - nice shot! I had to look at it twice before I worked out what was going on! I'm continuing wih my torchlight theme for the week, but it's a struggle. I really loved my first shot of the agapanthus but the following days haven't been working out for me. This one is my favourite of the lot. 011 / 365 by misteri82, on Flickr

Day 9 - torchlight on our fruit bowl, which is made from recycled bicycle chains. I'm a bit undecided about this shot. 009 / 365 by misteri82, on Flickr

Very excited about my week 2 theme - torchlight :) 008 / 365 by misteri82, on Flickr

The feathers are cool, kind of surreal! I wasn't happy with my days 5 and 6, but here is my day 7 photo of sugar paste flowers (no I didn't make them). 007 / 365 by misteri82, on Flickr

JayJay is just beautiful! And kja, that looks really refreshing. My photo for today is ice cubes, my first go at using the flash off the camera. 004 / 365 by misteri82, on Flickr

Well I love the idea of a no pressure 365 day project! I'm going to try again this year and hopefully I can make it past day 50 where I failed last year. I'm going to try and do a theme each week... This week is flash photography, because I bought a Speedlite (320EX) while on holiday in Singapore over Christmas. 001 / 365 by misteri82, on Flickr 002 / 365 by misteri82, on Flickr 003 / 365 by misteri82, on Flickr

Way too busy at work today to trawl through 80+ pages, but I will get to it sometime :) I don't know very much about retrieving trials, but I know some people I can bug for more info. I looked at the ACT Gundogs site, but there isn't a trial on for ages. I currently have a JRTx that I am training for CCD and Rally Novice (we are so close, yet so far away), but I have no experience with retrieving other than a formal obedience retrieve. I am hoping to get a Toller puppy next year to eventually compete with in a variety of doggie sports. I love The Focussed Puppy too, I will definitely be re-reading it soon. I will check out Positive Gundogs, thanks! :)

Hi retrieving people! Christmas is coming and so I'm after recommendations for a book on retrieving that I can not-so-subtly ask for. If it has puppy-oriented info in it would be fantastic. Anyone know of any good books for a retrieving novice? :)

Thanks guys, I will give those suggestions a go :)

Hi everyone, My dog and I are preparing to trial at CCD level, and everything is coming along nicely except for anything that requires her to be off leash. For the off leash heeling lead out for the recall exercise, we get maybe one or two steps before she's off and away. I have tried luring her forward but she quickly loses interest and would rather smell the grass/fence or tease the other leashed dogs. Once I get her into the sit-stay she is very steady and comes perfectly when called. It's just getting her through that short bit of heeling at the beginning that's the hard part! For the stay exercises, she is really steady with me about 5m away and the leash dropped to the ground beside her. We've only tried it once off leash - she got up and so I put her back on leash before she could distract the other dogs. At home I have been working on proofing the stay command with the leash coming on and off, and it's going well, so I will be trying this at school soon. Other than the dog park and at our local oval when there's no one else around, she hasn't spent that much time off leash. So when she's off, it's this huge novelty and she just wants to zoom around and play. How can I teach her that it's still time to work even though the leash is off? Should I go back to teaching heel off leash like she's a beginner?

Great photos from the last two weeks everyone! I haven't gone through my holiday photos yet, so I'm just skipping ahead to March 1st. I've decided to do the alphabet thing for March : ) Day 61 - 01/03/12 - A is for architecture. I took a bunch of photos of Sydney Harbour as we were getting ready to disembark from the Pacific Pearl, but silly me forgot to switch my lens to the fast 50mm lens. By the time I remembered, we had already passed under the bridge, so I have a lot of rather blurry and underexposed shots of the Opera House... doh! Day 061 - 01/03/12 by misteri82, on Flickr Day 62 - 02/03/12 - B is for Baxter the Myer Christmas bear. Day 062 - 02/03/12K by misteri82, on Flickr Day 63 - 03/03/12 - C is for casserole dish... I have a cold so not really feeling very creative today. Day 063 - 03/03/12 by misteri82, on Flickr Day 64 - 04/03/12 - D is for downpour... apparently it's been raining for a week straight and the little creek near us is overflowing! Day 064 - 04/03/12 by misteri82, on Flickr

Day 44 - found this possum in a tree by the dog park... he didn't seem to care about the people and dogs walking underneath his tree :) Day 044 - 13/02/12 by misteri82, on Flickr Day 45 - I usually don't make the right call about the weather, but this time I did... so glad I didn't go out after all! Day 045 - 14/02/12 by misteri82, on Flickr Day 46 - I went to the hairdresser and got a cut and colour. Usually they blow dry my hair straight, but today I got curls for something different! Day 046 - 15/02/12 by misteri82, on Flickr No posts from me for awhile, tomorrow I'm departing for a two week cruise around the South Pacific! I look forward to checking out everyone's photos when I return :)

I taught my girl how to shake hands by holding a treat into my right hand, then offering the hand to my dog. She would lick at it for awhile then eventually get frustrated and paw my hand, which I'd then mark and release the treat. You can also get other paw behaviours along with the shake, like hi-5 and wave! :)

Grats on the new camera! I'm a Canon person, I don't think I even tried the Nikons. Someone recommended a model for me and it was a Canon, so I went with the next model above it. I take my camera to work with me, otherwise 99.9% of my photos would be of stuff I have at home. It's nice to be able to throw in the occasional shot from somewhere else! Most days it doesn't leave my desk though.

Apparently it's a "corydoras julii", I was too lazy to get up and ask my OH when I was posting it :p Nice guinea pigs. I really failed at taking shots of my sister's pigs last time I tried... I shall have to try again sometime!

What a cutie!

Those clothing bins are ALWAYS full! Day 42 - all dressed up and ready to go to dinner. Chloe was a bit miffed at being put outside, and she kept running into the house through her doggie door and ruining my photo! Day 042 - 11/02/12 by misteri82, on Flickr Day 43 - a spotted catfish (I think) in our little fish tank Day 043 - 12/02/12 by misteri82, on Flickr

Great photos all! Sorry I never get the time to comment on everyone's (work Internet really dislikes Flickr), but I love checking in every day/week to see them all : ) Week 6 - birthday cake! Week 06 by misteri82, on Flickr "A classical French cake named after the Opera Garnier of Paris. Created by combining layers of thin almond biscuit with alternate layers of coffee butter cream and chocolate ganache. A delicious combination of coffee and chocolate."