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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 24, 2020 11:02:00 GMT -6
Orpheus wasn’t old enough to be wearing saddles and flight gear yet, but Fiera didn’t see any reason she couldn’t start getting him used to it now. The earlier you got a riding pet used to their equipment she found, the quicker it took for them to take to it and the more controllable they’d be as an adult. As it stood, Fiera had only just gotten the crested alurook used to her touching him, so she might as well keep bothering him with more stuff and keep it going. Unfortunately, he was still… a little small for most riding gear, to say the least. Still, she had a couple of ‘replacements’ that would work for him. Specifically, she had some belts that she didn’t like anymore (and definitely didn’t spend a ton of money on just to wear once! That would be silly.) and some fabric messily sewn together in a child’s rendition of a saddle.
Fiera 1 Orpheus 13.1/13.1 Tack Up 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 24, 2020 11:02:16 GMT -6
She had a matching “bridle” as well, or at least what came closest to it for a creature like Orpheus. Crested alurook were quite different to say, equillion in anatomy after all. While the equipment was poorly made and sloppy, it was about the same as the real deal that Orpheus would wear when he was older, conveying the same tightness and texture. Now she just had to get it on him and get him used to it, which was easier said than done with this cantankerous little chick. She figured first things first, she’d have to get him used to the appearance and presence of the equipment. “Hey Orpheus, look at this!” She said, dropping it on the ground in front of him. He shrieked with surprise slightly, leaping away and fluffing up. After the initial surprise faded though, he crept forward toward the mess of straps and fabric, curious.
Fiera 2 Orpheus 13.2/13.2 Tack Up 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 24, 2020 11:02:32 GMT -6
“That’s it Orpheus! Good boy!” Fiera said, and tossed him a treat. She let it land on top of the belts on purpose, both to reward him for interacting with the ‘saddle’ and to try and coax him into touching it. He leaned forward on his (surprisingly long) neck to grab it to Fiera’s disappointment, but he did end up brushing it with one foot. For that, Fiera tossed him yet another treat and gave him even greater praise. He ate this one with even greater gusto, stepping onto the belts fully and looking at them with more curiosity than suspicion. Fiera figured this would be a good point to try and get the equipment on his body. She crouched down carefully so as to not scare him, and lifted up the bridle before gently laying it on his head. She didn’t tighten the straps or tie anything on just yet though.
Fiera 3 Orpheus 13.3/13.3 Tack Up 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 24, 2020 11:02:53 GMT -6
He chirped quietly, clearly wondering why Fiera had put all of this weird stuff on him, but Fiera was quick to encourage his good behavior and lack of distress, offering him another scrap of meat. He lunged toward it hungrily, the belt buckles on his head clattering loudly as he snatched it from Fiera’s hand. She giggled slightly, finding his antics cute but didn’t let herself get distracted. She let him sit there for a bit like that, with all of the straps on just loosely. Then she leaned forward again and began doing up the straps, pulling them shut but not too snug just yet. Thankfully she had already trained him to be tolerant of her touches, so he didn’t put up too much of a fuss as Fiera buckled the belts making up his makeshift saddle and bridle. Once he was all dressed up, Fiera fed him another chunk of meat and gave him quiet praise.
Fiera 4 Orpheus 13.4/13.4 Tack Up 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 24, 2020 11:03:11 GMT -6
She let him sit there a while like that too, with the belts and buckles tied on only loosely. He seemed to be getting more and more used to it by the minute, no longer fidgeting uncomfortably under their weight. With that in mind, Fiera leaned in to tighten the straps properly, to the level of firmness they’d need to be in a real saddle (so that Fiera wouldn’t get dumped off when he got big enough to carry her). He seemed a little uncomfortable at that, but praise and food seemed to wash away his fears. Soon enough he was walking around and flapping his wings as normal, albeit with a little saddle and headgear on, making him look like quite the fancy lad. Fiera couldn’t help but smile- he might look a little silly right now, but when he got older he would be able to wear his own saddle and fly with the best of the best.
Fiera 5 Orpheus 14.0/14.0 Tack Up 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 24, 2020 11:03:30 GMT -6
There was just one trick left that Fiera wanted to teach today, as she and Orpheus had burnt through the rest of his list. He was a rather grumpy creature, but when it came right down to it he was a faster learner than most gave him credit for. She was trying to get him used to a few tricks that he’d need when she started giving him riding training while he was still small enough that Fiera could manhandle him a bit. The last trick on that particular list was ‘lay down’. To put it simply, once he grew to his adult size it would be… a bit difficult for Fiera to climb on his back. So she really needed to train him now to get him to lower himself enough that Fiera could get up there easily. Thankfully, he was still just small enough that she could probably move him into the right position he needed to be in order for her to “get on board”.
Fiera 6 Orpheus 14.1/14.1 Lay Down 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 24, 2020 11:04:14 GMT -6
She started out gentle. “Hey, Orpheus.” She said sweetly as she rounded the side of the young alurook. He stared at her suspiciously out of the corner of one of his blood red eyes, but at least he didn’t move away. Then, she gently placed her hands on his shoulders and hips (or at least, she did as best she could- it was hard to tell where those parts of him WERE under all those fluffy feathers.) “Orpheus, lay down.” She said, applying some pressure. He hissed irritably and put up a bit of a fight, but inevitably Fiera was heavier than him and had gravity to her advantage, seeing as she was still taller than him. So he ended up crouching lower and lower to the ground until finally his chest hit dirt. Fiera stood up after that, satisfied. “Good job, Orpheus!” She said sweetly, being sure to give him plenty of praise.
Fiera 7 Orpheus 14.2/14.2 Lay Down 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 24, 2020 11:04:33 GMT -6
He didn’t seem to care much for the praise, giving her another death glare, but he did appreciate the chunks of meat she rained down on him, giving him some time to pick them up and eat them. He popped right back up after that, clearly not in any mood to be staying laid down, though that may have just been from regular stubbornness on his part and not any actual discomfort. Now that he was back up though, Fiera could repeat the trick. “Orpheus, lay down!” She said before applying pressure this time, and the alurook hissed at her as if he knew what was coming. He flapped his wings a few times as she pressed on him, but to be fair he DID go down easier that time, laying down on the ground a lot faster than before. “Good job, Orpheus! Good lay down!” She said again after that, tossing him a few more treats.
Fiera 8 Orpheus 14.3/14.3 Lay Down 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 24, 2020 11:04:51 GMT -6
She decided to give it another try after that, waiting until the crested alurook had stood up again before walking back over to him. “Okay Orpheus, lay down!” She said, getting her hands ready. To her surprise, he crouched down… but it seemed a half-effort more than anything, something that he did to quite literally get her off of his back. Still, she needed him to do a little better than that. “Come on Orpheus, lay down!” She emphasized, and placed her hands in the same positions as before, gently pressing him down. He hissed quietly but dropped down the rest of the way, giving her an angry glare to go with it. Still, Fiera was just as happy to praise him, tossing him chunks of meat. He ate them, but pretended not to be happy about it. She smirked as he got back up to eat the rest of them.
Fiera 9 Orpheus 14.4/14.4 Lay Down 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 24, 2020 11:05:07 GMT -6
He looked like he was getting the hang of this, at least. Fiera adecided to give it one more go, this time without even holding up her hands. “Orpheus!” She said, getting the alurook’s attention as his head rotated smoothly to look at her. “Lay down!” She said, pointing at him lazily. He hised at her quietly… but did lay down, folding his legs up under him. It took a little longer than her just shoving him down, but that was fine. This was was a lot eaier anyway, as it gave him the opportunity to get comfortable. Fiera exploded with delight the moment he was down, showering him in praise and meat. He accepted it begrudgingly, but Fiera knew by this point that he was probably in a good mood as well- if just because he had finally figured out how to get Fiera to stop touching him.
Fiera 10 Orpheus 15.0/15.0 Lay Down 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 20, 2020 11:27:18 GMT -6
The sun was bright in the sky, and Fiera was finally pulling into station under the boughs of some leafy trees in the public park. One of her houluh pups, Sundown, was walking behind her, sniffing at just about everything in range. She couldn’t help but chuckle at his antics- he was a sweet pup to be sure, but “well trained” was not one of his descriptors, as the young houluh seemed to want to eat, chew, or bury just about everything he came across. He was quite clever too, which while good for contests hadn’t proven great for Fiera’s kennels, as he was frequently able to escape and run rampant through them, destroying anything he saw. Needless to say, he needed training sooner rather than later to try and bring him into line and put his energy into more… constructive efforts. He had yanked at the leash the whole walk here, but now they had arrived. Fiera 1 Sundown 3.1/8.1 Name 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 20, 2020 11:27:33 GMT -6
Fiera figured starting with his name was as good as anything else, and cleared her throat to get ready for it. “Sundown!” She said cheerfully, calling to the silky furred houluh. He didn’t respond however, seemingly too enthralled by a fern, which he was now half sniffing, half chewing on. Fiera sighed- it was too much to expect him to look up on the first try, huh. With that in mind, Fiera held up a treat. They were pretty regular houluh treats- meat flavored, probably consisting of butcherhouse scraps, unpalatable to Fiera but drove her canid pets mad with desire. With that in hand, the humanish tried her little trick again. “Sundown, over here!” She said again, waggling it in his direction. As the wind blew his way, Fiera saw the houluh start sniffing the air and turning her way. “That’s it Sundown! You want it?” Fiera said eagerly to her pet.
Fiera 2 Sundown 3.2/8.2 Name 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 20, 2020 11:27:51 GMT -6
Sundown yapped happily and trotted over her now that he knew she had something delicious and tasty. Fiera chuckled and tossed it down to him. “Good boy, Sundown!” She said cheerily, trying to use his name in a positive context as much as possible. He looked up at her and barked again while chewing on the treat, clearly a lot more interested in what she was trying to do now. Still, the humanish let him slowly lose interest- he wouldn’t learn his name if he was constantly looking at her after all. When he had gone back to sniffing at the ground, Fiera piped up again. “Sundown! Hi baby!” She said sweetly, her hands on her knees. The houluh glanced around a bit before turning to her again, tilting his head. Was this right? He seemed to ask. “Good boy, Sundown!” Fiera replied, confirming his suspicions and tossing him another treat.
Fiera 3 Sundown 3.3/8.3 Name 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 20, 2020 11:28:05 GMT -6
From there, Fiera started babbling for a bit, talking about whatever came to mind. Sundown stood at attention for a while, thinking that it was paying attention to Fiera that got him a treat. That wasn’t the case however, as Fiera actually just wanted to respond to certain words of interest- specifically, his name in this case. It was the perfect “basic” trick as it taught him the basics of learning tricks in general. Being a puppy, Sundown quickly lost interest in Fiera’s ranting (which she was VERY good at) and went back to examining (and chewing on) the surrounding area. When that was the case though, Fiera quickly slipped his name into her ramblings to see if he reacted. At first, he did nothing and Fiera felt a bit of disappointment… but then it turned out that it was a delayed reaction and he just needed to think about it for a bit.
Fiera 4 Sundown 3.4/8.4 Name 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 20, 2020 11:28:22 GMT -6
He yipped happily and turned to Fiera, trotting over to her. Fiera smiled and threw him two more treats before giving his ears a good rub. “Oh, good boy Sundown! That was a tough one!” She cried, and Sundown was so excited by that point that he could run laps around the humanish. She tried it again, talking endlessly as Sundown did other things, but when she tried the same thing again- slipping his name in- he reacted even faster, running over to Fiera for praise and pets. Fiera chuckled as she gave him a good rubdown. She could definitely scratch this trick off of the list- he had picked it up far faster than she had thought he would! If things kept up like this, he would be an expert in all tricks by the time the sun slipped from the sky. Still, she would start him out simple.
Fiera 5 Sundown 4.0/10.0 Name 5
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