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Post by Emery on Oct 13, 2023 22:01:51 GMT -6
Emery looked down at Orpheus. He was making fantastic progress. He had entered this place not knowing anything, and now... well, he still wasn't perfect, but it was a start. It felt like the pair of them had an accord of sorts now, an agreement. Emery had introduced him to how training worked, and he had accepted the challenge in return for the prizes she was offering him. And now, she had a better idea of how he thought and operated, and she could manipulate that to her own purposes in the future. For all she knew a more genuine accord would form between them in the future, but for the time being a simple transactional relationship would suit them just fine. She provided food, he provided obedience- there didn't need to be much more to it than that. She looked behind her, wondering if she should sit back down on the stump again, teach him something else.
Emery 6 Orpheus 7.1/3.6
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Post by Emery on Oct 15, 2023 9:33:49 GMT -6
And yet, the day had dragged on long, and she could see the sun starting to sink down towards the horizon once more. She was a bit frustrated- how had so much time passed? Sure Orpheus had learned a lot, but it hadn't felt like much at the time. The day had just slipped away from her. Ordinarily someone might be able to get a bit more done in the time they had left, but it took Emery longer than most to get places, so she had to give herself a bit more wiggle room. Orpheus seemed a bit tired as well, though it took someone who knew him better than most to notice it. Instead of investigating bugs creeping through the leaf litter or batting at leaves, he had taken to lying down flat on his side, twitching the tip of his tail slightly. It was the tell tale sign of a bored estharne.
Emery 7 Orpheus 7.2/3.7
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Post by Emery on Oct 15, 2023 11:15:49 GMT -6
Well, if he was bored than it was for the best if they left. It was clear that she had reached the limits of his patience, and they wouldn't be getting much done that day anyway if they stayed. With some effort, Emery stood up, bracing herself on the surviving branch of the stump for support. A bit of stretching and shaking the stiffness out of her bones later, and Emery was ready to go. She took a moment to untie the leash. The vibrations up the length of it finally got Orpheus's attention as he realized that something was happening. Once she untied the old leash from the branch she walked back over to her estharne, unclipping the long leash from his collar and slipping his shorter leash meant for walking with him back on instead. She had no bags to carry around with her, so they were ready to go.
Emery 8 Orpheus 7.3/3.8
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Post by Emery on Oct 15, 2023 11:20:49 GMT -6
Orpheus stretched languidly, taking his sweet time in getting up, but finally stood next to Emery once she shuffled around on her feet enough to get his attention and hurry him along. They walked together calmly, exiting in the copse of trees into the evening sun. Now that she was out, the difference between the interior of the trees and the outside world was even more pronounced. Concealed in the shade of the trees, she hadn't realized how long the shadows had gotten or the change in the direction of the wind as the air got cooler. Many of the people she had seen out and about had gone home as well. There were still a few stragglers, but Emery was becoming increasingly alone in the park. It was time for them to go home too. She tugged on Orpheus's leash gently to signal what direction they were going to walk in, and headed out.
Emery 9 Orpheus 7.4/3.9
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Post by Emery on Oct 15, 2023 11:26:19 GMT -6
To Emery's relief, the rest of their trip home was unremarkable. Apparently too tired to get up to no good, Orpheus behaved himself well on his way back to the kennel. No one got in their way, and Emery actually got to enjoy herself a bit. She was exhausted herself, but the smooth winds and lovely sounds of the park on her way back helped sooth her. Despite the hiccups, today was a huge success for her- Orpheus had learned a huge number of tricks all things considered, and was pretty well set up for the vai min mur contest. Sure she could arrange to teach him some other things, but this was a fantastic step in the right direction. Heck, she could make a routine out of JUST what he learned if necessary, though she would prefer to enjoy it. Sometimes, you just had to focus on the good things.
Emery 10 Orpheus 8.0/4.0
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Post by Emery on Mar 1, 2024 10:56:56 GMT -6
Emery had a rather simple trick to teach Moxie today, but it was necessary. A fighting tournament was coming up, and she had to do whatever it took to get him ready for it. As it stood he currently had a lot of physical force behind him, and quite a bit of loyalty towards Emery by this point, but he wasn't particularly... obedient. He had a tendency to run off on his own at his earliest convenience and leave her stranded, only returning once he felt guilty enough about leaving her behind. And he'd do it for anything- a squirrel, a leaf blowing along the sidewalk, a particularly small child- thank goodness he was wearing his muzzle for that one- it made it incredibly frustrating to take him anywhere. And unfortunately, she was going to NEED to take him to places to give him more advanced training, such as at the gym. Emery 1 Moxie 16.1/16.1 Follow 1
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Post by Emery on Mar 1, 2024 11:20:36 GMT -6
If she wanted to teach him to improve his physical condition, or to... you know, listen to her at all, she was going to have to teach him more manners. So the first thing she wanted to teach him was to follow her. Luckily that wasn't difficult for her- he was very easily plied with food, and all she had to do after that was get the command necessary through his thick skull so he would actually get to HAVE the food. She stood in the center of a field with an insulated pouch on her hip. It was filled with chunks of meat to throw to him when he completed a trick successfully, and she pulled one out to hold in her hand. As if on cue, Moxie started drooling, the acid dripping to the ground with a sizzle. He took a few steps forward, his jaws parting slightly to take in its scent. Emery 2 Moxie 16.2/16.2 Follow 2
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Post by Emery on Mar 1, 2024 11:25:27 GMT -6
She knew he wouldn't attack her- she had raised him after all, and he was far too attached to her to actually hurt her. But he DID want to stare at it and sniff at it. Slowly but surely, Emery started backing away. "Follow." She said, encouraging his tottering steps to come closer. He did, and luckily for her he wasn't clever enough to realize the meat was getting further away- all she had to do was back off with it, wait a moment, and he would come doggedly closer. After several feet of this, she finally threw him the meat. "Good follow, Moxie." She said, and he grabbed it in midair with a loud 'snap' from his jaws. It didn't take long for him to swallow it, and Emery got out another piece of meat for them to try again. This time though, she grabbed one that was slightly smaller.
Emery 3 Moxie 16.2/16.2 Follow 3
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Post by Emery on Mar 1, 2024 11:50:16 GMT -6
Hopefully she could wean him off the meat entirely and he would follow her with just the command. Emery continued backing away from Moxie, meat in hand, leading him around the field. Eventually she stopped looking at him, instead walking in front and trusting he would follow along behind. Every time she glanced over her shoulder, her trust was rewarded- her kito would be just steps behind, albeit with his gaze trained on her hand. Every couple dozen feet or so she would toss him the meat, praise him, get another smaller chunk out, and repeat the command again. After several rounds of this, he glanced up at her whenever she gave the command- apparently he was starting to listen to what she was saying as well, instead of just following after her blindly. She did several rounds of this, her hip pouch getting lighter and lighter with each try.
Emery 4 Moxie 16.4/16.4 Follow 4
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Post by Emery on Mar 1, 2024 11:56:23 GMT -6
After nearly an hour of effort, Emery finally slowed to a stop and fed Moxie the last scrap of meat out of her hand. He licked it thoroughly to get even the last morsels of juice, and Emery tried not to cringe at how gross it was. Moxie seemed pleased however, and sat back on his heels to savor it. "Moxie." She stated plainly to get his attention. "Follow me." She said, giving the command, hoping he would follow without having to be lured with a piece of flesh. He chirped curiously a couple times... before stepping after her, tentatively, as if he wasn't sure if he was doing it right. "Good job, Moxie." Emery said in a tone she hoped was encouraging. "Continue to follow." She said, and turned around to keep walking. She heard the grass rustling behind her as Moxie kept walking, picking up the pace to keep up. Good- that was another trick down.
Emery 5 Moxie 17.0/17.0 Follow 5
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Post by Emery on Mar 1, 2024 12:10:16 GMT -6
The next trick didn't require nearly as much mobility, but was just as important. She needed to teach Moxie to... well... stop doing stuff. She couldn't count how many times he had leapt off the leash after a nearby animal or set something on fire because he was mad at it. It was at best incredibly annoying and at worst had caused massive property damage and the mauling of small animals. It wasn't something that society at large was going to put up with for long, so she had to nip it in the bud before he destroyed something important or seriously hurt someone. At the very least, she couldn't bring him to the training gym if he was unable to leave anything alone on command. After a bit of a break from the exercise of follow, she was sure she could command his attention again... so long as she had enough meat.
Emery 6 Moxie 17.1/17.1 No 1
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Post by Emery on Mar 1, 2024 13:55:10 GMT -6
She walked Moxie to a nearby tree and settled down under it, carefully folding her legs under herself. Moxie sat down as well, though he had no way of knowing for what. Then, she got out another piece of meat from the hip pouch, and he immediately scrambled to get up again, breathing heavily. "Moxie, NO." Emery said, closing her hand around the meat. Moxie gurgled louder and sniffed towards it. Emery knew she had to spook him away, and cranked the volume on her vocalizer up all the way. "Moxie. NO." She said, and the sheer volume made him jump back- especially considering that he had wiggled his way up right next to her speakers, making her end up shouting right in his ear. Her reeled back for a moment, shaking his head to recover. Technically, right now he was sitting, quiet, and not trying to grab the food. Technically, he was doing the right thing.
Emery 7 Moxie 17.2/17.2 No 2
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Post by Emery on Mar 1, 2024 18:08:42 GMT -6
"...Good no, Moxie." She said hesitantly, and gave him the meat. Hopefully that would encourage him to sit down more when she got it out next time. And get out another piece of meat she did, and Moxie immediately began panting excitedly, his whole body wiggling at the sight of it. He leaned forward as she moved it towards the ground, trying to snap it out of her hand. "Moxie, no." She said again firmly, setting it on the ground and covering it with her hand. "Stop that." With the meat hidden he simply laid his head on the ground and chirped loudly and sadly, staring at her with big, wet eyes. Well... it was annoying, but he wasn't grabbing at her anymore and she didn't have to shout at him, so it was admittedly better than last time. "Fine then. Good no, Moxie." She said, and lifted her hand up.
Emery 8 Moxie 17.3/17.3 No 3
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Post by Emery on Mar 1, 2024 18:23:52 GMT -6
Moxie nearly bowled her over with his enthusiasm as he rushed in to grab the meat. She let out a short burst of static through her speakers to express her displeasure, but she supposed she could work on him eating more politely in the future. Once he had finished though, she got out another piece of meat. This time, she set it on the ground, but didn't cover it. Immediately though, she pointed at it. "Moxie, no." She said. He paused for a moment, quivering... and then moved to eat it. "No." She repeated and he jerked back as if slapped. Another few moments passed, with Moxie looking like he was going to keel over and die if he couldn't eat it. Then, he moved to try it again. "No!" She repeated, and so the back and forth went. He wasn't leaving it alone, but he WAS responding to what she was saying.
Emery 9 Moxie 17.4/17.4 No 4
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Post by Emery on Mar 1, 2024 18:31:03 GMT -6
She repeated that a few times before finally relenting, praising her pet and letting him take his prize. She sighed and sat back a bit. He was getting better, but with Moxie this trick was like pulling teeth. "Let's give this one more go." She said, pulling out another piece of meat. She set it down again, just like the last one, and just as instantly as before, Moxie moved to eat it. "Moxie, no." She said firmly, not even pointing at the meat this time. His teeth snapped shut, but on air, and he leaned back with an irritated huff. He looked towards the sky, and then to either side as if desperately trying to distract himself from what he wanted so badly. "...Very well then. Good job, Moxie." Emery said, finally satisfied with his progress. She was only barely able to blink before Moxie grabbed his prize, but at least he had finally performed how she wanted him to. Now they could finally go home.
Emery 10 Moxie 18.0/18.0 No 5
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