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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2021 10:21:44 GMT -6
Twinkle was full of energy now that she had made him hold still for so long though, so Fiera decided to him something that required a bit more energy. It was all well and good for a pet to be able to do things on stage, but it meant little if you couldn't get them on there. An ideal aspect of a performance was keeping your houluh by your side to show its obedience, and so far it seemed like Twinkle wanted to go anywhere BUT Fiera's side. So that would be the next trick- getting him to follow her. They could work on him staying close by her side later, but for now just getting him to trot along behind her. Thankfully, so long as she had food, that was easy enough. "Twinkle!" She called, just trying to get his attention for now. He looked up at her, tilting his head.
Fiera 6 Twinkle 9.1/20.1 Follow 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2021 10:33:56 GMT -6
When she held up a treat for him however, THEN he started speeding along, excited to get something to eat. As he rushed forward however, she kept pace. Instead of just letting him catch up and grab the treat, she kept walking ahead of him, keeping pace. "Follow, Twinkle!" She said, glancing over one shoulder. He rushed forward to try and grab the food but she kept it just out of grasp by holding it above his head. "Come on, follow!" She said, but eventually he stopped, sitting and looking at her as if to say "Well, what the heck." She sighed, and tossed him the treat. "Okay then, good follow Twinkle." She chuckled. It was a good enough first try. If she kept working at it, she was sure they would get it eventually. She just needed him to be more consistent when trying to keep up with her.
Fiera 7 Twinkle 9.2/20.2 Follow 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2021 11:31:42 GMT -6
Once he was done eating however, she got back to trying again. Considering this houluh’s short attention span, she knew she needed to keep it going or else he’d lose track. “Twinkle, follow!” She said, holding up another treat. Then she started walking forward again, pacing her way around the perimeter of the clearing. She walked slower this time now that Twinkle hopefully knew he wasn’t going to get the treat right away, to make it easier for him to keep up. He yapped and followed along eagerly. He was following a lot more easily now, with much less starting and stopping. She was a bit disappointed in his behavior though. Instead of following along nicely, he kept leaping up and trying to grab the treat early. She put up with it for a little bit, repeating “follow” to drive home the command, but eventually she got sick of it.
Fiera 8 Twinkle 9.3/20.3 Follow 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2021 11:38:25 GMT -6
"Twinkle, NO." She said loudly, and he yelped at her sudden firmness. He licked his lips guiltily and backed off, following behind her a lot more quietly than before. After about a minute of that though, she decided to call this try of the trick a success. She slowed and then stopped before turning back to her houluh. "Good job, Twinkle. Good boy." She said, more sweetly and calmly than before. She crouched down in front of the pup and offered him the treat again. He wagged his tail and came up to her, happily taking it out of her hand, smacking loudly. She straightened up. This was going well. Now he knew that he had to follow her consistently AND calmly. Now, she hadn't been able to get him to do all of that at the same time yet, but she figured it was only a matter of course that he'd figure it out.
Fiera 9 Twinkle 9.4/20.4 Follow 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2021 11:45:53 GMT -6
With that in mind, she decided to give it one more good old college try. She didn't even get a treat out this time, wanting to see if he'd follow without it. "Okay, ready Twinkle? Follow!" She said, and began to walk. Sure enough, she heard the gentle rustling of puppy feet over the leaf litter behind her. A quick glance back confirmed that he was indeed following her, looking up at her sweetly while they walked. She did that for at least another minute before stopping. "Perfect!" She said out loud before giving Twinkle another pat on the head for good measure. And it really was. If he behaved like that at his debutante, they would hand over his registration with no trouble at all. And he would follow her... right to the top. But of course, she still had to teach him some other things first- this was just scratching the surface.
Fiera 10 Twinkle 10.0/22.0 Follow 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2021 11:56:19 GMT -6
Perhaps another obedience trick would be a good thing to teach him, just for good measure. The judges didn't want ALL flashy movements and big surprises; knowing that a houluh was able to follow simple commands was a good thing too. So he knew how to follow, how to stay... how about something to make him look nice while staying? She glanced over at him. She could teach him to sit, easy peasy. Who knew, maybe teaching him to sit would make HIM enjoy sitting more too. He was certainly proving to be one of her more chaotic houluh, and having a bit more control over him would go a long way. She wasn't sure she could ever get him to stop chewing on things or eating random bits of plants, but she could at least get him to sit in one spot while he did so if she played her cards right.
Fiera 1 Twinkle 10.1/22.1 Sit 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2021 12:20:17 GMT -6
First things first, she walked up to Twinkle and gave the command word he would need to follow. "Twinkle, sit." She said, placing a hand on his haunches. He just looked at her blankly, but she soon began to turn up the heat on him, applying pressure to his haunches. He seemed confused by that though, attempting to move away until Fiera placed a hand on his chest too, keeping him in one spot as she kept pressing down on his hips. "Twinkle, SIT." She emphasized again, shoving down a little bit more roughly. Normally her houluh just collapsed, the discomfort making them want to alleviate it by sitting, but Twinkle just wasn't following the crowd here. That extra shove did it though, and he finally flopped to the ground, albeit with that same confused look on his face. Fiera sighed with relief. "Good job, Twinkle, good sit." She said, and rustled around in her pocket.
Fiera 2 Twinkle 10.2/22.2 Sit 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2021 12:57:57 GMT -6
Finally she found what she was looking for- another treat for her houluh. "Good job Twinkle, here you go." She said, holding it up. In his excitement for getting a treat, Twinkle sprang back up to his feet, rushing forward to claim it. Fiera chuckled- in doing so, he had reset himself perfectly for the trick. He chewed loudly as Fiera flexed her knuckles and got ready to go again. Hopefully this time he had some of an idea of what he needed to do and he wouldn't just sit there and stare at her blankly for a second time. She pressed her hand down gently on Twinkle's haunches again. "Okay Twinkle, sit!" She said, giving the command again. The houluh whined slightly but this time she could feel his legs trembling and sure enough he slowly sunk to the ground. There was a lot of resistance there, but at least he heard her.
Fiera 3 Twinkle 10.3/22.3 Sit 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2021 13:03:32 GMT -6
Fiera was quick to praise him again and give him another treat. "Good job Twinkle, good sit!" She cooed, letting him stand up again in his own time. When he was ready to go again, Fiera wasted no time, wanting to get this trick done as quickly as possible. It was a very easy trick after all, and she'd like to be able to quickly move on. "Twinkle, sit!" She said, and to her disappointment, he didn't move. She sighed and reached her hand out again to push him down, but found that she only needed to just barely graze his hips before he sat down once more. "Oh." She said, blinking with a bit of surprise. "You know what, I'll take it. Good sit, Twinkle." She said, offering him a treat. He wagged his tail, happy to be seemingly getting the hang of this, and snatched it out of Fiera's hand.
Fiera 4 Twinkle 10.4/22.4 Sit 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2021 13:15:20 GMT -6
With Twinkle so close to getting this trick right, Fiera was sure that one more try was all it would take to get it down pat. "Ready, Twinkle?" She asked, and the houluh gave a confirmatory yap. "Alrighty then- sit!" She said. There was a moment of hesitation as the single brain cell in Twinkle's brain worked overtime. Just as Fiera was about to give the command again, Twinkle finally leapt into action. He stuck his back legs out ahead of him, bringing his hind end plopping to the ground. He gave another bark, as if to say "Did I do it right?" Fiera laughed, happy that he had succeeded. "Oh, good job Twinkle! Good sit!" She said, patting him on the head. It had taken him longer than it should have, but her attempts to teach him this trick had worked. He now knew how to sit on command.
Fiera 5 Twinkle 11.0/24.0 Sit 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2021 13:51:25 GMT -6
For his next trick, Fiera figured that Twinkle could afford to learn something more physically active. Or perhaps she could consider it an attack. After all, she wanted to teach Twinkle how to bite. This was a rather impressive trick for the judges in the contest hall. If a houluh was strong and healthy, it would be able to put significant bite marks in a tester stick, allowing them to gauge the houluh's health. It also had its place in working houluh, to help them guard whatever their owners put forward for them to defend. Sometimes that was a place, but it could also be a specific item or even animals, such as herd beasts. Fiera didn't have any particular plans for her houluh, but she did want to teach him to bite, if just so he could finally learn the difference between play bites and being serious about it.
Fiera 6 Twinkle 11.1/24.1 Bite 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2021 14:27:31 GMT -6
For this, all she needed was a stick. For that she turned to the woods around them. She rustled around in the leaf litter and sure enough, pressed up against the nearby log, was a stick that was perfect for her purposes. It had already been stripped bare of bark but still felt sturdy and unrotted. It would be the perfect target for Twinkle to try biting through, if she could get him to put his mouth on it. She also, of course, had plenty of treats to reward him with each step of the way. "Ok then... ready Twinkle?" She said, glancing over at the houluh and his wide, curious eyes. He barked once. Then, she placed one hand on either end of the stick and pushed it toward him. "Okay, now bite!" She said, trying to hook it into his mouth. He leaned back, even more confused than before.
Fiera 7 Twinkle 11.2/24.2 Bite 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2021 14:39:07 GMT -6
Soon though, she managed to slip it between his lips, just barely brushing his fangs. "Oh good job Twinkle, good bite!" She said. Then she quickly went through her back pocket, pulling out a treat for him. She tossed it to him and he immediately dropped the stick in favor of eating that instead. It didn't take long for him to finish eating the tiny chunk however, and Fiera was sure she could get him to do better this time. "Alright Twinkle, bite!" She said again, thrusting the branch at him. He looked at her for a moment before putting his mouth on it, just barely nibbling at it before pulling away. It wasn't much- there was only the barest of scratches on the stick- but it was a huge improvement from last time. He had bitten the branch of his own free will instead of Fiera having to shove it in his mouth!
Fiera 8 Twinkle 11.3/24.3 Bite 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2021 15:39:06 GMT -6
Fiera gave him two treats for that, which caused him to leap up on his hind legs with the sheer joy of it all. This was just what she wanted though- she was hoping to impress upon him that the harder he bit down, the bigger the prize he would get for it. As a result, when she took the stick back out he dipped down into a deep play bow, wagging his tail wildly as she got it ready. When it was braced between her hands again, she pushed it outwards towards him. "Twinkle, bite!" She commanded, but she almost didn't need to. He lunged out again and clamped down, briefly biting the stick before pulling back again. It was definitely with a lot more enthusiasm, but the short length of the attack meant that he ultimately didn't do much damage, his sharp teeth leaving light gouges in the wood.
Fiera 9 Twinkle 11.4/24.4 Bite 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 25, 2021 15:43:48 GMT -6
Still, it was a huge improvement from his last attempt, so she threw him three more treats. He went just as crazy for those, gobbling them up in a heartbeat while wiggling all over the ground. That last bite was acceptable, but she was sure he could do even better. When she picked the stick back up, he was ready for it, popping to his feet in an instant. "Bite, Twinkle!" She said, not even bothering to build it up this time. Sure enough he darted forward and bit down on the stick hard. This time, she could definitely hear wood splintering, and when he pulled away she examined it. Just as she thought, the wood was badly battered and broken, and the stick was only just barely holding together. He had performed perfectly. "Good job, Twinkle!" She said, patting him on the head. That was another victory for the pair of them.
Fiera 10 Twinkle 12.0/26.0 Bite 5
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