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Sparks
Oct 16, 2019 20:17:46 GMT -6
Post by Morgan on Oct 16, 2019 20:17:46 GMT -6
Morgan was finally convinced that Nico had it down. Still, though, they continued to repeat it even after Nico hauled himself out of the water, and Morgan gave him a treat for it. He would definitely survive the waters now, if he fell into them. He wasn't the best swimmer ever, nothing touching that of a lotine's ability of course, but Morgan was still proud to see him doggy-peddling with the rest of them. Morgan continued, giving the command, and then of course Nico would jump into the water, and swim around. Morgan would call him to the bank, and then give him praise, a treat, and lots of petting. As soon as he was done with his treat, Morgan would give the command again, Nico would jump in the water and swim again, and then after being called to the bank, Nico would be treated. As soon as they were done, Morgan had to take him home due to an emergency at the house.
Apparently Waar's food courier had come an hour earlier this week!
[10] - [End of 'Swim'] - [The pair go home.]
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Sparks
Oct 28, 2019 11:52:48 GMT -6
Post by Morgan on Oct 28, 2019 11:52:48 GMT -6
Morgan had done it; within the next few days, a small houluh pup would be sent to them. It came to Morgan at a high price, perhaps higher than they should have paid, but Nico would now have a friend to play with. That was something that had bothered Morgan for a long time, and now... Well, they hadn't told Nico yet. They loved him, but they didn't want to let him know. Surprise and all, right? That was the idea. Morgan took Nico on a walk early one morning before the sun rose up. They'd had difficulty sleeping the night before, and it was time to get Nico up and going! As they began to walk past the park, Morgan decided to take him out for a training session, since they had a couple of empty hours to spend. Morgan took him to the little wrought iron bench they'd started on a few months ago.
[1]
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Sparks
Oct 28, 2019 12:05:48 GMT -6
Post by Morgan on Oct 28, 2019 12:05:48 GMT -6
Morgan wanted to do a few of the easier feats today, since it was just going to be a nice morning. Nothing as strenuous as their typical training had gotten. They had been, after all, dealing with battle training. Not necessary 'battle' really, maybe. Morgan had mostly been working on making sure that Nico could protect himself. However, they were going to work on a few 'fun' tricks today! Morgan unclips Nico from his lead, and called for him to hop up onto the bench. "Good boyo, Nico! We're gonna do some new stuff today." Morgan said, tousling his ears. Morgan hoped that all houluh were as easy to train as Nico! The houluh wagged his tail, and patiently panted as he waited. He was always excited for training! "Let's see, how about your leaping!" The first two training bits should be easier for him. He had learned to do a lot of different leaps, already!
[2] - [Start 'Leap Into Arms']
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Sparks
Oct 31, 2019 21:19:16 GMT -6
Post by Morgan on Oct 31, 2019 21:19:16 GMT -6
Morgan had already chose a specific command word that sounded very similar, but distinct, from the command used for regular leaps. Morgan wanted to do that on purpose, mostly because of the fact that Nico was super good at figuring out how to do things based on context clues. He always seemed to try the thing that was the closest to the current command, and that was super important. Morgan backed up away from the cast iron park bench, and then slightly bent down. Then, they gave the command with their arms outstretched. Nico was not a dumb creature, at least because he was very close to Morgan, and houluh seem to be naturally good at learning different commands. He was still anxious, he stood up and then stepped around carefully in one spot. Morgan gave the command again, and then emphasized their arms. Finally, Nico leaped forward, pushing off of the cast iron park bench.
[3]
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Sparks
Oct 31, 2019 21:29:53 GMT -6
Post by Morgan on Oct 31, 2019 21:29:53 GMT -6
The stroke of genius had actually been a combination of things, as always. Morgan was always proud of Nico's ability to triangulate what was asked of him. Nico had figured it out through a combination of the command being similar to leap, Morgan's arms being held out and emphasized and shook, and of course the emotional input through the emotional link. Morgan didn't know much about the emotional link, and they especially hadn't noticed that their mental link through the ribbon of telepathy, which was always silent from what Morgan could tell, was sending Nico a lot more information that allowed him to figure things like this out. Morgan wouldn't probably know, but Nico understood a lot more than he 'spoke'. In fact, he was quiet on purpose!
The houluh had made his leap of faith, and because he was light Morgan had managed to grab him in mid air quite impressively.
[4]
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Sparks
Oct 31, 2019 21:37:02 GMT -6
Post by Morgan on Oct 31, 2019 21:37:02 GMT -6
It was perhaps not the most impressive thing to anyone watching, but it was a start. Morgan would repeat the thing now that Nico understood it at least in a rudimentary way. It was the same as always, the same as it perhaps would continue to be as they worked in the future. Morgan sat him down, gave him lots and lots of pets and some treats and of course a compliment verbally every time the little pupper would perform the correct action. Morgan would always then give him the command, and Nico learned incredibly quickly and would keep leaping. Sooner or later, Morgan began working it through with other commands, so that the poor creature would be able to properly differentiate it from the other leap commands. Eventually, after so much work that Morgan's arms were super tired, Morgan was sure that the repetition and Nico's eagerness would allow him to remember this well into the future.
[5] - [End of Leap into Arms]
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Sparks
Oct 31, 2019 21:42:40 GMT -6
Post by Morgan on Oct 31, 2019 21:42:40 GMT -6
There was a competition coming up. Now that Morgan wasn't so exhausted, they could remember that. They hadn't remembered it entirely this morning, which is why Morgan found it a little funny and chuckled. Yeah, good job Morgan. You need to get your gears in order and train him as much as you can before the competition starts. That was the most important thing. Morgan had been waiting for a competition that had been suitable for him to compete in; he was a very good boy and very loyal. This upcoming one was going to be perfect, they thought. It was an Obedience Competition, and Morgan couldn't image a creature more obedient than the lovely Nico! However, Morgan wanted him to be extra prepared, so they were going to work as hard as they could to get him ready for it! Perhaps he was already ready. Nico was watching Morgan's face happily, his tail wagging.
[6]
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Sparks
Oct 31, 2019 21:49:13 GMT -6
Post by Morgan on Oct 31, 2019 21:49:13 GMT -6
Morgan had a whole list of things to work on the houluh, but they had to pick the ones that would be the quickest to teach. Morgan decided on another leap command, if only because of the proximity in time to the other leap command. He would hopefully learn it rather quickly. Thankfully, Nico was already incredibly clever and very agile, so Morgan figured that it would not at all be different at all and wouldn't take any longer than teaching him to leap into his arms. Morgan quickly comes up with a command for it; something super similar to all of the other leap commands that Morgan had chose in the past, for the same reason as they had before. "Alrighty good boyo, we have something else to work on now." Morgan decided, and then immediately patted the good boyo on his head, tousling his ears. Nico could not have been more pleased.
[7]
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Sparks
Oct 31, 2019 22:05:46 GMT -6
Post by Morgan on Oct 31, 2019 22:05:46 GMT -6
It was time to start. That was the gist of it, anyway. Morgan gave the command, and was pretty sure that judging by his body movements, Nico heard it and could tell that it was similar to leaping commands that they had done before. Morgan wasn't sure how they had figured that one out... However, they had spent a lot of time together recently. "Come on, boyo, my good Nico, let's go." Morgan said, noting his not quite understanding exactly what was going on here. Then, Morgan kind of gestured above their head, and then bent down a little. The combination of things got Nico's head running again, at the very least. Morgan gave the command yet another time, and this time Nico seemed to decide what he was going to try to do. He backed up just a tad, took a quick running start, and then took a flying leap above Morgan's head.
[8] - [Start of 'Leap Over Me']
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Sparks
Oct 31, 2019 22:09:24 GMT -6
Post by Morgan on Oct 31, 2019 22:09:24 GMT -6
Perhaps the start had actually been just a moment before. Morgan noticed pretty quickly that the creature was not going to, in fact, manage that leap. He wasn't well used to it, and he was going to clip Morgan's head. However, Morgan ducked down just a little bit more, and the creature made it, falling to the other end of Morgan's body behind them and landing on the grass a little more stumbly than Morgan knew he would be eventually. That was a great start! "Great job, boyo!" Morgan said, excitedly. They walked over to the creature, and then patted him on his head. "Such a great boyo, you did good!" That was the start that Morgan had been looking for, in all honesty. Now it would be smooth sailing from here! The houluh was given a treat, lots of pets, and some more praise for doing the right thing for the command.
[9]
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Sparks
Oct 31, 2019 22:15:00 GMT -6
Post by Morgan on Oct 31, 2019 22:15:00 GMT -6
They had a goodly amount of time this morning, and now that he had done it right the first time, they were going to make the best of their time and repeat this again and again to make sure that the creature was carefully knowledgeable about all of the things that they were working on today for the upcoming contest. Morgan would give the command as per usual, and then the creature would work on his leap. He would leap over Morgan's head, and then land on the other side. Each time, he did better and better. Each time he landed more gently, and jumped higher. He was getting better at judging the distance that Morgan was standing at, even when Morgan moved around. Each time he was given treats, praise, and pets for all of his hard work. After about thirty minutes, Morgan was sure that he knew how to leap over their head to the command.
[10] - [End of 'Leap Over Me']
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Sparks
Oct 31, 2019 22:22:54 GMT -6
Post by Morgan on Oct 31, 2019 22:22:54 GMT -6
Morgan didn't want to waste any time getting to the next few commands, so they quickly began planning on the next one. Nico would have to know how to be at ease, and when to do so. Morgan would have to come up with a great idea on how to get him to do that. They decided on a hand signal instead of a whistled signal. It would need to be something that he, and only he, would notice while being at heel, and then also something perhaps that would make him know that he could come out from hiding? That was something that Morgan had just thought of. Yeah, that was far more important than the previous thought. A small tongue clicking noise would do the trick, they decided. It wasn't something that they commonly did, and it would be a good signal for the two of them. Yes, a tongue click would do.
[11] - [Start on 'At Ease']
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Sparks
Oct 31, 2019 22:30:11 GMT -6
Post by Morgan on Oct 31, 2019 22:30:11 GMT -6
Morgan worked very well with Nico, and in truth it was both of them that allowed that to be as possible as it currently was with them with the training. It was partially Morgan's energy, their drive, and their pride. It rubbed off on the little princelet more so than perhaps anyone could have imagined in the first place. Nico had a large paw in it as well though, his need to understand the world in an orderly fashion- perhaps something that most houluh did to a degree, allowed him to naturally fit into Morgan's more orderly aspects of their life. Morgan's general spontaneity in other ways made him a bit anxious sometimes, but Morgan strove to be a more orderly person as they used to be before the swallowing of the node. His stability in Morgan's life was tantamount for Morgan's emotional safety. Thanks to how well they worked together, Morgan was sure he would get the At Ease command easily.
[12]
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Sparks
Oct 31, 2019 22:36:59 GMT -6
Post by Morgan on Oct 31, 2019 22:36:59 GMT -6
Morgan knew that this would be a breeze. Nico was having a good time, and it was the first time that Morgan sort of noticed, in an off-handed way, that Nico having a good time made them feel a bit better too. What a strange thing to notice while training, perhaps. Morgan brought Nico to heel expertly, Nico alert and ears held slightly aloft at their side. Then, Morgan gave a clicking sound with their tongue, and Nico flinched just a little. He heard Morgan's click, knew that it meant something, and for a moment there he thought that maybe Morgan had wanted to make him feel less alert. However, old habits die a little hard, even with an attentive creature like Nico. The pair had been through a lot together, and Morgan had often worked with him to keep on an alert. However, he noticed as soon as he failed what he was supposed to do by feeling it through the links.
[13]
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Sparks
Nov 2, 2019 16:22:39 GMT -6
Post by Morgan on Nov 2, 2019 16:22:39 GMT -6
Nico always got a little mopey after he seemed to realize that he didn't do it right, and Morgan was quick to give him a gentle pat and then a tousle of his ears. "You're doing okay, buddy, don't get sad." Morgan could hardly even hear themself say that, it was so odd to hear something so positive out of their own mouth. However, it seemed to be just what the houluh needed. "Such a good, yup, let's try again." Morgan patted him, and then stood up again. They began working on it again, with Morgan calling Nico to heel. Now, Nico seemed to know what he was supposed to do. Morgan gave the signal that they had decided on, the low clicking of the tongue, and immediately Nico stepped out of heel and found somewhere to lay down. Morgan was super pleased; Nico had done well!
[14]
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