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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 15, 2019 17:37:56 GMT -6
Banzai clearly wanted it, but to Fiera’s relief, the repetition of the phrase seemed to have gotten through to him- he merely watched it or swam around in a circle with nervous energy. Fiera smiled and palmed the scrap of plastic before tossing him another couple shakes of bug pellets. He happily accepted the reward, no likely convinced that he deserved it for such a wonderful performance of patience. She tried that a couple times- showing the scrap and getting him excited, telling him ‘no’, and then rewarding him with food when he obeyed. The more times she tried guiding him, the more flair he responded with, standing dead still with increasing levels of dramatics, until he was freezing dead still the moment she pronounced the command. She smiled- it didn’t matter how dramatically he obeyed the command ‘no’. So long as he wasn’t eating pieces of plastic, she’d be happy.
Fiera 5 Banzai 2.0/9.0 No 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 15, 2019 17:38:13 GMT -6
With no out of the way, it was time to select another trick to try. Banzai seemed invigorated by the last one more than anything. She supposed it was natural- tat-lung were very intelligent creatures. Anything that stimulated them intellectually was likely to be quite fun for them- things that would be difficult for other pets to learn likely made a pleasant challenge for these creatures. Not to mention Banzai was a very young tat-lung, so he likely found these simplistic tricks more fun than older tat-lung would. Currently, he was using that energy to zip across the pool as quickly as possible, making sharp turns that nearly flipped him out of the water and onto the beach each time. Once, he even had to gently flop his way back into the water after coming to a stop on the shore, getting back in just as Fiera came over to help him.
Fiera 6 Banzai 2.1/91 Come 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 15, 2019 17:38:32 GMT -6
Perhaps, Fiera thought, she could use that energy to her advantage. She stood on one end of the shore, timing each lap as he made his way around, back and forth across the shallow tide pool. It didn’t take him too long- he was deceptively fast for his size. Once he made the turn at the far end to come back however, she started undoing the lid on the jar of treats she carried with her, and watched carefully. Quickly enough to look like a yellow and navy blue blur, Banzai zipped his way back toward where Fiera was, though not on purpose. His owner was ready and waiting for him however, and brought up the jar as he approached her. When he was right in front of her, she tipped it over, delivering some treats right in front of his approaching face. “Good job, Banzai! Good come!” She said.
Fiera 7 Banzai 2.2/9.2 Come 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 15, 2019 17:38:50 GMT -6
He completely missed it at first, turning around and swimming back to the other end… until what just happened hit him and he was confused. He spun out halfway, turning end over end as he tried to turn around, his back half flipping entirely out of the water in his efforts to stop. Then, he swam back, slower this time, and started nibbling on the treats that he had knocked to the bottom of the pool. Fiera watched him for a moment as he ate, finding it pretty darn cute, before she got up and stretched. Then, the humanish meandered her way to the other side of the pool while noticing that Banzai kept glancing after her. He was no doubt curious about what it was she was doing. When she arrived, she put a couple more treats into the water. “Banzai, come!” She called, trying to wave him over.
Fiera 8 Banzai 2.3/9.3 Come 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 15, 2019 17:39:06 GMT -6
Banzai followed her call, more curious about why she was making noises than anything, and likely wondering what it had to do with what he was doing earlier. When he got close enough to see the treats on the surface of the water though, he sped up, now excited about the prospect of coming over to Fiera. No doubt, the gears in his little mind were starting to turn. She clapped and praised him some more for coming once he arrived and started eating. It didn’t hurt to feed his ego as well as his stomach a little more if it got him to do what she wanted. Once he was stuck into his food though, she got over and ran to the other side of the tide pool again, kicking up sand as she went. This time though, he seemed to be ready for her, turning around before she even reached the other side.
Fiera 9 Banzai 2.4/9.4 Come 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 15, 2019 17:39:27 GMT -6
She clapped her hands, ready to give him a ‘final test’ of sorts. This time, there would be no treats to lure the dynasty tat-lung over. Instead, she tossed it into the sand behind her, near her bag. Good luck getting them over there, Banzai. Currently, he was circling around at the opposite end of the pool, as if pacing with excitement. Fiera cupped her hands around her mouth, hoping he could hear her from underwater at that distance. The second she called ‘Come!’ however, he started swimming, implying that he could hear her just fine. Sure enough, he had soon built up speed, and even added an extra flair, jumping into the air at the last second, splashing her with water as he came back down. She yelped and awkwardly shook herself off, only to look back and see Banzai looking at her expectantly. She sighed and praised him, not wanting to give up his progress over getting wet. Looked like he won this round.
Fiera 10 (Level up!) Banzai 3.0/10.0 Come 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 15, 2019 17:40:04 GMT -6
With no and come out of the way, Fiera only had one basic trick left on the list to teach Banzai. He had been learning at a break neck pace, and even Fiera had been surprised at his progress. For such a simple looking creature, a blue and yellow fish the size of a small koi, he had a very sharp and discerning mind. She supposed that that was because tat-lung were inherently sapient creatures, prone to learning faster than other labs species, but she wasn’t expecting such intelligence at this young an age.She had only gotten him from the Hunter’s Lodge a couple weeks ago after all. It helped that Banzai seemed prone to dramatics and performance. She guessed that he enjoyed others thinking highly of him, and worked hard to grab her attention. If doing tricks was what did that, then it worked out quite well for both of them.
Fiera 1 Banzai 3.1/10.1 Stay 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 15, 2019 17:40:18 GMT -6
The last performance she needed to get Banzai to put on for her then, was ‘stay’. She realized that it might prove a little difficult for him as he lived underwater, where it was harder to hold still as opposed to on land where gravity helped a lot with that. She wasn’t going to take the command too literally though, and would settle for Banzai simply not trying to follow her when she walked away or wander off when she didn’t want him to. No, the bigger question and hurdle to be leaped with this trick was a matter of if his pride and love of performance would win out over his sense of boredom. After all, by tat-lung standards he was just a little kid. She didn’t expect him to have oceans of patience, here. Still, she could start small today and follow up with him as he got older.
Fiera 2 Banzai 3.2/10.2 Stay 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 15, 2019 17:47:10 GMT -6
“Banzai!” She called, and he stopped what he was doing (messing around with some little pebble caught in the sand, rolling it along underwater in his own little made up game) and swam over to Fiera, looking up at her with curious little eyes. The side of her mouth quirked up- even though fish weren’t her most favorite animals, she couldn’t help but find the little guy cute, if just for his expressions and general behavior. To start off with, she put one or two treats in the water. “Stay.” She said, before standing up. Banzai happily ate at first, but as Fiera started walking away, he turned to watch her. After she had gone a few feet, he started drifting in her direction. “No!” She said, holding out a finger again. He recoiled back toward the food, no doubt horrified at the idea that he was doing something wrong.
Fiera 3 Banzai 3.3/10.3 Stay 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 15, 2019 17:48:17 GMT -6
“Stay.” She said again, and continued backing up, watching him carefully. He followed her gaze, but eventually the presence of food won out and he kept on eating while she walked off. Eventually, she had gone far enough up the shore that he probably couldn’t see her anymore from the water, but she could see him- about twenty feet. Sure enough, he stayed put, swimming in tiny circles. She rushed back over before he could get too bored and do something else without her to reiterate the command. He seemed happy to see her back when she returned, splashing a bit of water up into the air in excitement. “Good job, Banzai! Good stay!” She cheered, and was sure to give him even more bug bites for his trouble. He happily scarfed them down, but she couldn’t help but notice that he seemed happier to have her back than have the food.
Fiera 4 Banzai 3.4/10.4 Stay 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 15, 2019 17:48:37 GMT -6
She gave him another try- this time without the initial treats, as it didn’t seem to have helped him much that first time. “Stay, Banzai.” She said firmly, hopefully with a commanding enough tone in her voice, before she started backing up. Now that he knew what was going on though, it stressed him out more, and she had to come back a few times to make sure he wasn’t going to swim off. Soon though, she was able to back up further and further for a longer amount of time, needing to come back less and less to reassure him. After several tries (and plenty of treats as a reward, of course), they were able to work back up to the distance of twenty feet (out of Banzai’s sight), for about a minute and a half before he started getting impatient. Fiera came back after that, and even sat half in the pool with him, just playing with him with her fingers. He was just a baby, after all- that minute and a half must have been a lot of effort for him.
Fiera 5 Banzai 4.0/11.0 Stay 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 27, 2019 10:37:19 GMT -6
Training her aquatic pets was something that was quite difficult for Fiera. The loch was disappointingly far from her apartment, requiring several hours of walking to reach, and if her pet couldn’t survive on land or was too big, she’d have to arrange for them to be transported from her kennels. As a result, any training at the lake was a significant investment for her, both in time and money. If only she could train them at home, but alas. Thankfully, nothing she had dragged along with her so far had needed that extra transportation. Her tilvander didn’t want to walk, but she could be carried all the way down there (exhausting Fiera, but at least they got there), and Banzai had been small enough that she could just tote a small travel tank down to the lakeside. Again, it wasn’t particularly pleasant for him, but at least it was possible.
Fiera 6 Rosaleen 0.1/0.1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 27, 2019 10:37:36 GMT -6
This time was different, however. She had decided to bring her lasobiel, Rosaleen, down to the lakeside for a bit of obedience and contest training. The beast could definitely do with the opportunity to stretch her flippers, and she would be an excellent option for the upcoming ‘show of awe’ contest. Fiera had few pets bigger and more impressive than her lasobiel, with her impressive control over the waves. It would be an amazing sight for the crowd! Or at least, she had that control in theory. In practice, the creature was just as sloppy, uneducated, and uncoordinated as she had been as a floppy pup. Hence the requirement for training today. Unfortunately, her massive awe inspiring size that was to be a boon for her in the contest was proving to be a hindrance in actually getting her to the training area. Can’t train unless you have your pet with you!
Fiera 7 Rosaleen 0.2/0.2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 27, 2019 10:37:53 GMT -6
Eventually, Fiera had exhausted all of her more creative ideas for getting Rosaleen from her kennels to the lake. As a result, she had to go for the more conventional- and thus expensive- options. She settled on a transportation tanker- the best choice of most citizens of the lab. So now she was here at the lakeside, waiting for the company to actually deliver her lasobiel. She herself had taken a cab- if she was going to spend her money on transporting her lasobiel, so might as well spend the money of transporting herself as well. They had dropped her off at the docks, leaving the humanish to make the rest of her way on foot. That was fine by her, of course- she knew the area well enough by now to find the dropoff point. She walked there herself, her feet covered in the thick (and bright pink, of course) galoshes that she knew she’d need.
Fiera 8 Rosaleen 0.3/0.3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 27, 2019 10:38:11 GMT -6
Sure enough, the path was exactly as muddy as she was expecting. The sandy beaches of the close side of the lake were too shallow to fit a lasobiel. Rosaleen would no doubt beach herself if Fiera tried to train her there, leading to injury or worse. Because of that, Fiera had arranged for her to be delivered to a more remote point of the lake. The scouting alone had taken more time than the training likely would, but at least she had gotten good exercise? That was what she had told herself, at least. In reality, the trip just made her muddy and miserable- hence the galoshes now. With any luck, Rosaleen would be there waiting for her when she arrived- along with the deliverymen and her bill. She picked up the pace- she didn’t want to have to pay extra for a late arrival fee, or leave Rosaleen with strangers for too long.
Fiera 9 Rosaleen 0.4/0.4
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