u/MochaMushroomDog

Aside from not particularly enjoying the season, the crime story itself was quite compelling, but the rest (if you know you know) was just poorly done.

One thing that I find strange is Hess and Le’s relationship…am I missing something? Naia and Hess dated for 6 months and then he left, why would Le be so attached to him? What teenage girl is so attached to her mom’s boyfriend of half a year. I would be very suspicious of a grown ass man moving in with a teenage girl he has almost no relation to. It’s giving that unrealistic “are you my dad now” cliche, but it just comes off creepy. Anyone else feel like this was either very forced or poorly written?

I’m currently training my dog (14 month old mutt) with the hopes of having off leash freedom. I live in a city but I’m 5 minutes away from big fields and a wooded hiking path that’s considered an off leash area for dogs, it’s quite nice. Right now I’ve got her on a long line so we can practice recall, also because I’m not at a point where I’m confident she’ll ignore dogs when off leash. So far she can heel past dogs passing us, but if she sees dogs playing in the distance that’s still a bit tough for her.

A problem I encounter though is that often people let their dogs run up at us, which really interferes with my training. I understand that it’s considered an off leash area, but there is a mix of leashed and unleashed dogs there every day, and I thought it was just good manners to not let dogs do that. Once my dog is off leash ideally I’d be able to recall her to heel past dogs, or at least be able to ask before letting her say hi.

I find this awkward because dogs will run up to my leashed dog, who suddenly feels insecure but is super playful and then she’s running like a tornado around me. And the owners just kind of let it happen, or they recall but their dog blows it off pretty much until they collect their dog.

I try not to make a big thing out of it, mostly because I want my dog to see me as calm and collected.

How do you guys

1. Deal with these kinds of owners?

2. Train your dog to stay calm in a situation like this. Ideally it would be nice If my dog could just sniff and say hi, or at least have me put her in a down/sit but she’s like a firecracker when a dog runs up on us

Hello everyone! Longtime lurker on Reddit, finally decided to join so I could ask a few questions myself.

I have taught my dog to sniff out dried porcini mushrooms, with the hope that maybe one day we can go search for fresh ones in the forest (they grow in the forests near where I live). My family and friends already do this in our free time so it’s not like I actually need my dog to find them, but I thought it would be a fun activity and a great outlet for her. I am 100% an amateur, and this is not something I take super seriously, just a silly hobby for my dog and I. Here’s what we’ve been doing followed by my questions:

So far she can find them almost anywhere around the house, and she will lay down to indicate she found them. At home I was feeding her with the dried mushrooms near by to get her really into the odor. I made various boxes, some empty and some with kibble and one with the mushrooms, and only rewarded her for indicating the one with the mushrooms.

The next step I’ve taken is to hide some around my courtyard, she will also almost always find them and lay down to indicate.

If she ever cannot find them I always take a step back and make it easier to keep her from getting frustrated.

The next step I’ve taken, when out on a walk while she’s distracted. I will toss a few on the ground in the grass and call her over and give the search cue (in her case it’s “mushroom!”). I have kept this very easy and obvious, she still uses her nose but obviously once she sees it on the ground she knows she’s got it, which I think is somewhat realistic considering the mushrooms will be visible.

So what would be my next step? And another big question is how do I switch from the odor of the dried ones to the fresh ones? I cannot practice with fresh ones as they are seasonal, so I need to wait till end of summer/beginning of fall to get some. Will I need to start over completely with the scent of the fresh ones? Also how did you guys build the stamina and drive to search for a long period of time with your dog? I can imagine after a few minutes my dog will get distracted as she loves to sniff in general.

I imagine the first few times I will take my dog to a known mushroom spot, so I can kind of “set up” a natural search. So she’s not running around getting frustrated and I can step in to direct her if needed.

Anyone else have succeed teaching their dog to search out things in the woods?

Appreciate any advice you all have to offer!