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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 17, 2019 13:39:34 GMT -6
That last trick had been rather complicated. Aces and Jack had had to remember and utilize a lot of different commands to figure it out, not to mention the level of trust they had to have in their owner. It had taken a lot out of them, if their gentle snoozing in the shade of the tree was to be believed. Fiera decided it was time for a much simpler trick. They had earned something more laid back and simple. It also meant that they got to play with their favorite toy! As part of her routine for the contest, she wanted Aces and Jack to carry around some flags for the entertainment of the audience. Thankfully, she had been training them with a flag this whole time, and as it turned out, they loved them! With any luck, it wouldn’t be hard for her to teach at all.
Fiera 1 AJ Lv. 19.1/Lo. 14.1 Get Item (Flag) 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 17, 2019 13:55:30 GMT -6
She was using a different type of flag for this training, however. The flag she used before to train Aces and Jack was a cheap, tiny thing. The stick was just a metal wire, and the banner was just cheap plastic. It was the kind you'd use to mark where an electrical wire was in the grass, and in fact that may have been where Fiera got it from, though she'd never tell anyone that. The point was, it was cheap, reusable, and easily replaced if they managed to break it while training. The flags she had THIS time however, were a lot more... contest quality. They were made of fine wood with long, fabric banners on the end of them, letting them flow delicately in the air when you moved your arm. She got them out with a flourish, and her love plush immediately jumped to their feet, eager to start.
Fiera 2 AJ Lv. 19.2/Lo 14.2 Get Item (Flag) 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 17, 2019 14:09:23 GMT -6
It would appear that this flag- longer and more fluttery than ever before- was even more tantalizing, and the love plush was jumping at it before she could even begin training. She got out a second one from the bag- one for each of them- and they just about lost their mind, jumping all over the place with excitement. Fiera waited until one of them calmed down slightly before she started. The first thing she needed to do was get them to grip the handle instead of the banner, as tempting as it was. When Jack finally slowed down enough to look at her, she offered the flag. The feline went to grab the banner, but Fiera bunched it up in her hand. "No." She said firmly, and as Jack tilted their head in confusion, she offered the stick end instead. "Get the flag, Jack! Get the flag!" She urged.
Fiera 3 AJ Lv. 19.3/Lo 14.3 Get Item (Flag) 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 17, 2019 15:02:58 GMT -6
Jack hesitantly put the stick of the flag in their mouth, waving it around and trying to catch the banner. Fiera would accept that for now- at least they were holding it. Then, she repeated the process with Aces. Once they were both holding their flags, Fiera showered them with praise. "Good job! Get the flag!" Was repeated many times, until they were overjoyed to be holding the flags. Once she was sure that was hammered home enough, she took the flags from them (after a few minutes of chasing them around first). Now she just had to get them to go over and grab the flags- and then come back with them. She told them to stay, and walked several feet away, planting the flags in the ground. When she walked back over, she gestured to the flags. "Get the flags, guys! Get the flags!" She said, and her love plush went racing off.
Fiera 4 AJ Lv. 19.4/Lo 14.4 Get Item (Flag) 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 17, 2019 15:06:31 GMT -6
When they arrived at the flags, they immediately went for the sticks, much to Fiera's joy. Now she just had to get them to come back on command. "Get the flags! Come!" She said. They looked over at her, and at the second command came prancing back. She was sure to reward their loyalty with plenty of pets, if just to make up for the fact that she had to take their beloved flags away every time she wanted to try the trick again. A few go rounds later, (and retries when they grabbed the wrong end of the stick), and they were getting the flags AND returning to Fiera with them, all on command with the words "get the flag!". Fiera watched as they pranced around after their final attempt, banners flying behind them. With this trick in the bag, she knew that they were well and truly getting somewhere.
Fiera 5 AJ Lv. 20.0/Lo 15.0 Get Item (Flag) 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 17, 2019 21:13:48 GMT -6
Fiera was down to her last trick. The grueling pace she had set in training had paid off- the sun might have been starting to set, but they were finally wrapping up! This next trick was a toughie, but she was sure Jack and Aces could pull it off. She needed them to spin the flags they had been given. It was very difficult for even a person to do, but this was an agility contest- dexterity was part of that, so if there was even a small possibility, she’d pull it off for the sake of the performance. The best method she could think of was to first get them to balance the flags on their noses- a task in and of itself. Then, once they had gotten the flag situated, to use one of their paws to rotate it, before stopping and holding the stick again. Was it hard? Yes. Was it worth it? Also yes.
Fiera 6 AJ Lv. 20.1/Lo. 15.1 Spin Item 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 17, 2019 21:14:12 GMT -6
She supposed there was no time like the present to get started. Aces and Jack were still playing with the banner style flags she had given them last time, so the humanish didn’t have to get anything out. All she had to do was get them to balance a stick on their nose, and then spin it around without it falling off. ...Easy. She approached her love plush, and they both got up and came toward her, wagging their tails and purring as loudly as possible. She couldn’t help but smile- they were such sweet creatures. She then proceeded to sit down in front of them, beckoning them closer so she could begin. It was best to start them off balancing the stick herself, and then getting them to do it themselves later. Aces was closest, so she went to them first, gently taking their stick, despite their whiny protesting.
Fiera 7 AJ Lv. 20.2/Lo. 15.2 Spin Item 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 17, 2019 21:14:46 GMT -6
“Aces. Stay.” She said, for the third time. She kept trying to get it right, but every time Aces moved a bit. She wished she had taught Aces how to sit, but it was too late by now. Finally, she got the flag to stay on Aces’ nose. “Stay...stay…” She urged quietly, holding her hands out. Then, after a few moments, she relaxed. “Good job, Aces! Good spin!” She decided it would be best to establish the command word early, and then elaborate what it meant over time. She took Aces’ whole head in her hands and ruffled their ears. They seemed to enjoy it regardless. Jack was watching carefully, and when she finally moved on to them, they seemed to understand at least a little bit what she was trying to do, not protesting when she took their flag. She set it on their nose gently, but once again it kept falling off.
Fiera 8 AJ LV. 20.3/Lo. 15.3 Spin Item 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 17, 2019 21:15:14 GMT -6
Eventually, she was able to get it to stay on Jack’s nose as well. “Good spin!” Fiera said, gesturing at Jack. “Now stay.” She let them sit like that for a moment, carefully balancing their flags. Eventually, she released them. “Good job, guys!” She said cheerily. They both relaxed, letting their flags drop to the ground. She tried that a couple more times, and each time it took less and less effort to get it to stay balanced. She repeated the word ‘spin’ every time. Finally, she decided to try getting them to do it themselves. She started out with the flags on the ground, letting them figure it out themselves. “Ok Aces, Jack… spin!” She said eagerly. This was a long shot, but hopefully it would work. They looked at the flags on the ground awkwardly. Aces was the first to move, nosing their snout under the flag, pushing it along the ground a little.
Fiera 9 AJ Lv. 20.4/Lo, 15.4 Spin Item 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 17, 2019 21:15:43 GMT -6
It took a couple tries with Fiera encouraging them, but soon Aces got their flag balanced on their nose. Jack trailed just after them, soon getting their flag on as well. It was sloppily done, and the flag fell off a second later, but it was a relieving start. Fiera kept them going on that, making sure they got it up and balanced each time, and only rewarding them for that. The trick had moved on to its next phase- she wasn’t going to help them anymore, just guide them with her rewards (otherwise known as her very good petting hands). Each time they got it a little bit faster and got it to stay on a little bit longer. The effort it took them to get the flag off the ground became less and less, and it became more and more easy to get it to stay on their snouts.
Fiera 10 (Level up!) AJ Lv. 21.0/Lo. 16.0 Spin Item 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 17, 2019 21:16:10 GMT -6
Soon, all it took was a quick flick of the nose to get it on and a brief wobble of the head to get it to stay. Fiera made another internal tally on her checklist- they had reached the next step of training. Unfortunately, this was also the hardest part. They had managed to balance it on their noses. They had managed to get it on their noses and then balance it. But now they were expected to get it on, balance it, AND complete the final and most important part of the trick- getting it to spin. Unfortunately, this would also be the most difficult part to communicate to them, Fiera thought. Her best idea was to spin it herself a couple times, and then take their paws herself and try and get them to do it too. Doing that without making the flag fall off though… that would be difficult.
Fiera 1 AJ Lv. 21.1/Lo. 16.1 Spin Item 6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 17, 2019 21:16:45 GMT -6
She didn’t want to confuse them either, but she couldn’t think of any better options. So, she’d spin it herself. First, she made sure that their flags were up and balanced. Then, she picked the one that looked most stable- Jack, in this case. She pointed at the flag. “Spin.” She said carefully. Then, she gently placed her finger against one end of it, and pushed it. “Spin!” She repeated as it spun, and Aces’ tail wagged involuntarily. When it slowed to a stop, she was quick to praise Jack, even though they hadn’t actually done anything. Then, she repeated that a couple more times, until they knew that “spin” meant balancing the flag WHILE it was spinning, instead of just balancing the flag. It took a lot of tries- there were more incidents where it just fell off instead of actually spinning- but it had finally stuck. Another layer had been added to the complexity, but Fiera knew that she couldn’t stop there.
Fiera 2 AJ Lv. 21.2/Lo 16.2 Spin Item 7
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 17, 2019 21:17:52 GMT -6
Fiera let the love plush have a short break after that- she wasn’t sure if their necks got tired, but hers did just looking at them like that. She didn’t pause for long though- she didn’t think she could afford to, with the difficult pattern she was setting up. Soon, Aces and Jack had their flags back up, and Fiera spun them one last time, again giving them the appropriate command, “Spin.” Following that, she gently took Aces’ paw. Aces pulled away slightly, but not enough to knock the flag off or take their paw away. She was lucky that these two were practically designed to come into close contact with humans that would be otherwise uncomfortable- she didn’t think she could afford having to add “let Fiera touch your paws” into this trick. Once she got a comfortable grip on Aces’ paw, she lifted it to the banner flag.
Fiera 3 AJ Lv. 21.3/Lo.16.3 Spin Item 8
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 17, 2019 21:18:20 GMT -6
“Spin.” She said again, and pressed Aces’ paw against the end of the flag. It moved slightly before Aces dropped their paw again, uncomfortable with the grabbing and the moving. Fiera winced slightly. It wasn’t exactly what she wanted, but it was progress. Then, she tried again with Jack. Having had the chance to observe what Fiera was doing, Jack’s attempt went a little more smoothly, with the flag making a full rotation before coming to a stop. Fiera was quick to follow up with pats and praise, and Aces perked up again, wanting to get in on the attention and fun that Jack was getting. Back again to Aces, the love plush was a lot more relaxed as she gripped their paw and swiped it against the flag, letting it spin around on their soft nose. Aces’ tail began wagging again- how interesting they must have found this lesson!
Fiera 4 AJ Lv. 21.4/Lo. 16.4 Spin Item 9
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 17, 2019 21:18:52 GMT -6
A few tries later, and both of them had gone from barely moving the flag without knocking it off, to appearing to be playing games based on how long they could spin their respective flags for. Fiera was pleased as punch to see it, but she knew that she still had to give the final exam, as it were. Still, she did have manners and waited until one of them managed to knock their flag off (a solid three minutes!) before she scooped both flags up again. The humanish laid them out on the ground at their feet, and pointed at them. “Okay Aces, Jack… spin!” She said, and the pair instantly went from quivering with anticipation to a flurry of movement. The flags were scooped off the ground in a clean motion, balanced with a little wobbling of the head and upper body, and paws were lifted, and soon the flags were spinning around on the tips of their noses, like something right out of a storybook. Fiera sighed with relief- the long session of training was finally over. So long as they remembered how to do that until the contest was over, at least.
Fiera 5 AJ Lv. 22.0/Lo 17.0 Spin Item 10
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