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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 15, 2019 8:35:39 GMT -6
Teaching Aces and Jack follow had been the lead up to a more demanding trick, and one that was a lot more suitable for the agility competition they were going to join soon. She had watched a couple videos of agility competitions before, and they always had their pets racing around, yes, which Aces and Jack could definitely do, but these sorts of competitions also involved fancy footwork and acts of dexterity as well. The most basic example of that, to Fiera, seemed to be the ability to weave one's way around a series of poles. It was a factor of almost every contest she had watched. They weren't allowed to trip, hit the poles, or falter in their pace, instead moving in a sinuous wave. There were more advanced tricks to be sure, such as leaping over obstacles, climbing walls, and manipulating objects, but this would be a good place to start.
Fiera 6 AJ Lv. 10.1/5.1 Weave 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 15, 2019 8:57:06 GMT -6
For the purposes of training, she had brought several wooden stakes with her, about two feet long each. They were simple and rough, the kind you'd get at any garden store, but they'd do the trick. She hammered each of them down, a couple feet apart in a clearing a short distance from the tree, without much grass in it. Jack and Aces sniffed at them curiously, wandering around on their own time. She took that opportunity to get the flag back out from her bag. They loved this thing, the way it looked and moved despite how cheap it was, and it would help in guiding them through the poles correctly. She wandered over to the pair of them, and they were immediately excited to see their favorite toy. She chuckled a bit and waved it over their heads, watching as they leapt up to try and hit it.
Fiera 7 AJ Lv. 10.2/5.2 Weave 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 15, 2019 11:00:26 GMT -6
Fiera let them play for a moment, but soon it was back to work. She lifted the flag up, catching their attention before moving her arm in a wide arc. "Follow." She commanded, and they happily trotted after the flag, ears and tails perked. Then, she wiggling it deftly between the posts. "Weave." She said as she zig zagged it back and forth. The two at first tried to run after it directly, skipping the posts entirely. She sighed- guess she would have to start a little slower. She moved the flag slowly, making sure they were practically on top of it, and then slowly drew it between the posts. "Weave." She repeated as they walked between them, following the flag. It was slow, sloppy, and not at all like the videos. Still, she supposed she had to start somewhere, and getting them to complete the desired action, no matter how rough, was a good start.
Fiera 8 AJ Lv. 10.3/5.3 Weave 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 15, 2019 11:09:32 GMT -6
She tried that method a couple more times, slowly guiding them back and forth with the flag while repeating the command. The love plushes seemed to take to it well, happily following the little red flag. After she was sure they were able to complete the basic action, Fiera decided to tighten it up a bit. She picked up the pace, moving the flag faster and faster. By this point, they were used to going in and out of the posts, so when she wiggled it through at a rapid pace, they followed- a bit wobbly at times, and clipping a couple of posts, but otherwise a perfect weave! Fiera was quick to praise them. "Good job, good weave!" She said, and gave them a quick cuddle as a 'treat'. They were more than happy to accept it, and the praise only seemed to heighten their excitement for the training.
Fiera 9 AJ Lv. 10.4/5.4 Weave 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 15, 2019 11:17:02 GMT -6
After they had gotten their 'treat', Fiera repeated the action a few more times. Soon, they were whizzing through the posts almost faster than Fiera could move the flag. Eventually, she decided to give them the final test- completing a weave without the help of the flag. Once they finished their last round, she whipped it away and tucked it behind her back before they could follow after it. Aces tilted his head curiously, but Fiera only pointed back at the poles before walking over to them, with her pet following hesitantly. She bit her lip. Moment of truth. "Weave!" She ordered. The two looked at each other... but moved toward the poles, picking up speed. Fiera held her breath. Then, they launched themselves at the poles, going in and out, one after the other, back and forth. Fiera could have whooped with joy as they finished, and they picked up on it- immediately mobbing her the minute they were done.
Fiera 10 (Level up!) AJ Lv. 11.0/Lo. 6.0 Weave 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 15, 2019 11:33:21 GMT -6
Jack and Aces had taken to weaving very well- like it was just another little game that they played. And they played a LOT of games. It was a basic of agility contests, and she was glad that they were taking to it so well. Still, one basic agility trick would not a contest winner make. She knew she had to crank it up a notch, whether or not anyone else would find it necessary. In her research, she had found a couple of other neat tricks. One was almost dance-like in its complexity, and would be tricky to get down. If she could though, it would make for an amazing performance. It involved getting her love plushes to treat her legs as the poles in weaving, having them dance in and out while she was in motion, with each step being another 'pole' that was being placed down. It would be difficult but, she thought, worth it.
Fiera 1 AJ Lv. 11.1/Lo. 6.1 Weave Legs 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 15, 2019 11:46:25 GMT -6
She realized she couldn't easily use the flag for this trick either, like she did with weave. She'd have to somehow pass it through her legs to guide them correctly, and there was no way of doing that without being horrifically slow and awkward- which isn't what she wanted this trick to look like. No, she'd just have to hope that Aces and Jack understood the concept of weaving well enough to guess what they were supposed to be doing. That made her a little nervous, to be honest. Aces and Jack were very loving, to be sure, but intelligent? The idea of that made her cringe, and she hoped for her own sake that she had misjudged them. Still, she approached them with what she hoped was confidence, and waved to get their attention. They looked up at her curiously, ready to go. She sighed- guess it was time to get started.
Fiera 2 AJ Lv. 11.2/Lo 6.2 Weave Legs 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 15, 2019 12:20:46 GMT -6
Fiera put one foot in front of the other. As good a place to start as any- maybe it would help if she started out stationary, and then slowly started moving. "Aces, Jack!" She said, getting the twos' attention. They trotted around her legs, sniffing carefully. She gestured to her odd position and her feet. "Weave!" She said. They tilted their heads and looked at each other, but obeyed slowly, weaving through her legs one after the other. Once they finished (it didn't take very long- she only had two legs after all!), they looked up at her expectantly, as if saying "...Is that what you wanted?" She responded, of course, with praise and pats, causing them to break into a flurry of wagging tails and offered bellies. Her legs proved unusual poles to be sure, but they had the right idea. The big challenge would be getting them to do it while she was in motion.
Fiera 3 AJ Lv. 11.3/Lo. 6.3 Weave Legs 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 15, 2019 13:16:17 GMT -6
Once they had settled down once more, Fiera prepared to try again. She made sure she had steady footing again, then whipped the flag out. Their ears perked up- what was this? Their favorite flag? She held it in front of her legs. "Weave." She commanded, and they did, slowly meandering through her legs from behind, toward the flag. Once Aces exited out the front however, Fiera took a step, essentially placing another pole in front of Aces and moving the flag a little further away. Aces paused for a moment as if confused, and Jack ran into them, creating a pileup of plush. Fiera wasn't about to be discouraged however, and ordered them once more to weave. Aces started again hesitantly, weaving through the additional leg toward the flag. When they did that, Fiera took another step. Aces looked up at her this time, but she only reiterated her order.
Fiera 4 AJ Lv. 11.4/Lo. 6.4 Weave Legs 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 15, 2019 14:33:35 GMT -6
They continued like this, awkwardly step in step, syncing together, with Aces and Jack hurrying to keep up with the flag and her legs, and with Fiera trying VERY hard to not trip over them or step on a tail. Soon, she was able to withdraw the flag, as they were too focused on not falling over or falling behind to bother with it anymore. As they got better at navigating the constantly generating 'poles', Fiera slowly but surely sped up. To their credit, Jack and Aces kept pace, running faster and faster to keep up. Soon, they were hardly bumping into her legs at all anymore, focused entirely on the task at hand. When Fiera was satisfied, she finally stopped and crouched down. "Good job, guys! Good weave!" She cooed, offering her hands for petting. They were more than happy to oblige, pushing their heads into her waiting fingers.
Fiera 5 AJ Lv. 12.0/Lo 7.0 Weave Legs 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 16, 2019 6:41:06 GMT -6
With weaving out of the way, Fiera only had a couple more agility topics to teach. While she had taught them to go forward, now she needed Aces and Jack to go up. Specifically, she was going to teach them leap. It was a simple trick to be sure, but it had a lot of applications in future tricks. A lot of agility required moving around in three dimension space. It wasn't good to just keep them on the ground. Once they were up in the air, they could jump off stuff, onto it, into it- just about anywhere, really. She didn't think this was going to be too hard to teach them either. They were already constantly fit to burst with energy, hopping up in the air wasn't much of an issue for them. If anything, the pair would find it fun to do something so easy on command.
Fiera 6 AJ Lv. 12.1/Lo. 7.1 Leap 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 16, 2019 6:48:54 GMT -6
She looked around for Aces and Jack. Currently, they were in a large field, with a massive tree in the center. She was lucky that there weren't many people out and about today. The love plush certainly didn't need the distraction with how affectionate they were. The morning was cool and breezy, perfect for training. She paced her way around the tree, finally finding them taking a cat (and dog) nap in the crook of a gnarled old root. She couldn't help but smile at the sweet sight and leaned down to stroke them gently. "Aces, Jack, time to wake up. We have work to do." They rolled over and whined quietly, but Fiera didn't relent until they finally got up, looking at her quizzically. She chuckled and stood up again. "Follow!" She said, wiggling a winger at them. They collectively stretched and finally got up, following after her cheerfully.
Fiera 7 AJ Lv. 12.2/Lo. 7.2 Leap 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 16, 2019 12:22:22 GMT -6
She led them to a depression in the ground, where the grass had been flattened down naturally. They were quick to roll around in it, which gave Fiera the opportunity to get their favorite training tool out of the bag. They immediately perked up as she took out a little red flag on a stick. There was something about it that always got their attention. It would definitely help out here. She wiggled it above their heads tantalizingly. They reared up, swatting at it, but it was just out of their reach, as Fiera intended. She made sure to lift it in such a way that they would have to stretch up further and further until... there! Jack finally took the opportunity to jump up and swipe at it. "Leap!" Fiera said as Jack did so, linking the action with the word. When Aces leapt as well a moment later, she repeated herself.
Fiera 7 AJ Lv. 12.3/Lo. 7.3 Leap 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 16, 2019 12:23:17 GMT -6
Each time they leapt up, she let them touch and grab at the flag as a reward. Soon, she started putting her hand in too, giving them brief scritches on the head as they came up. After a few minutes, they were leaping as high as her hip. Fiera wasn't quite satisfied, however, and began moving the flag even higher. She didn't know how high she needed them to jump exactly, but the higher they could go, the more options she'd have. They struggled at first to meet the increased distance, but as usual they regarded the challenge with a naive sense of playfulness. Fiera was, of course, still careful to reiterate the command every time they jumped, and moved the flag invitingly. Soon, they were just barely brushing the flag, which was held at the level of her shoulder now. It was an impressive distance for creatures their size to jump!
Fiera 9 AJ Lv. 12.4/Lo 7.4 Leap 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 16, 2019 12:23:52 GMT -6
Once they were consistently reaching shoulder height in their leaps, Fiera decided to give them the final test. She'd need them to leap for future tricks, but she couldn't guarantee that she'd always have the flag. As a result, she needed to make sure that they could operate without it. After a few final waggles, she put it away, tucking it up her shirt and setting it in her back pocket, where they couldn't see it anymore. She was immediately met with mewls of protest, but resisted the urge to gratify the love plush, no matter how cute they were. She put her hands behind her back too, for good measure. "Ok Jack, Aces... leap!" She said encouragingly. She had repeated it enough times that it should hopefully have stuck... and sure enough, mere moments after she said it, she suddenly found herself at eye level with Jack, and then Aces. A job- or jump- well done!
Fiera 10 AJ Lv.13.0/Lo. 8.0 Leap 5
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