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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 14, 2023 10:51:30 GMT -6
The next trick would require a bit more effort on his part, and unfortunately a bit of cardio on hers. Fiera didn't just want him to follow her normally- she wanted him to be able to put on a fancier walk for the audience. After all, most contest crowds weren't wowed by just a creature walking around, they wanted to see them perform, which admittedly made her job a bit harder. For that then, she brought him to a rockier field in the public park. Actually, she wasn't sure if it was entirely finished. There were some tufts of grass, but the field was covered in large stones that were way too easy to trip over. Sure enough, she watched Victor bash his paw into one of them, grimacing slightly as he lifted it higher up to properly step over it. Good- that was exactly what she was hoping he would do.
Fiera 6
Victor 88.1/90.1
Fancy Walk 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 14, 2023 10:56:12 GMT -6
"Ready Victor? Follow me!" Fiera said, wasting no time. Victor glanced up, his ears flattening back. He could hardly walk over this, but... Fiera was starting to jog away from him, moving at a decent clip. Begrudgingly, he started trotting after her. "Fancy walk Victor, fancy walk!" She said, trying to set the command word as he got the hang of it. Ideally, he would learn to trot and high step over the rocks, which on a flat surface would look quite fancy indeed. It was an unnatural gait, but one that would be impressive to any judges that were watching. For now though, Victor was... really just tripping over the rocks. He was doing his best to keep up, but he kept clacking his nails across the stones. After a few minutes, Fiera stopped jogging and approached him. "Good job, Victor! Good fancy walk!" She said, trying to keep his spirits up.
Fiera 7
Victor 88.2/90.2
Fancy Walk 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 14, 2023 11:01:11 GMT -6
She gave him a scrap of meat for his troubles, which he graciously accepted. She sat with him for a while as the pain in his feet faded before standing up again, brushing herself off. "Ready to try again?" She said, and was met with a sneeze on his behalf. "I'll take that as a yes!" She said, and began jogging again. Her lungs were going to be killing her by the end of this. "Follow me, Victor! Fancy walk!" She said, and she watched as he heaved himself up off the ground to follow her. Fiera had to keep an eye on her feet too of course, but it was a lot easier to coordinate two legs than four. Victor seemed to be doing a bit better this time, having figured out he needed to high step while trotting to avoid hitting the rocks, though he made the occasional mistake.
Fiera 8
Victor 88.3/90.3
Fancy Walk 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 14, 2023 11:03:32 GMT -6
Still, as she kept leading him around the field his coordination improved until he was trotting around like a show pony, albeit to avoid bashing his feet on rocks. Fiera was starting to get exhausted too, and she took increasingly frequent breaks to make sure he was fed and praised for his hard work. Reinforcement was the key to tricks sticking, after all. She even started slowing down as her stamina ran out, but so long as she kept giving the command "fancy walk", Victor kept trotting after her with that odd looking gait. That was a very good sign for her purposes, though she'd need to wait and see if he'd do it on other surfaces too... he might decide it was easier to just walk as soon as he was on flat ground again. Once she finished the final circle around the field, she led her rakai sarane back over the leaning fence to the grassier area.
Fiera 9
Victor 88.4/90.4
Fancy Walk 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 14, 2023 11:06:05 GMT -6
This area was a lot flatter and softer, the ground covered by grass and any offensive rocks buried under soil or fallen leaves. It would work well for this final test. Fiera began backing away from Victor, watching his technique as she gave the command. "Victor, follow." He started walking after her, one foot in front of the other as usual. "Ok, now- fancy walk!" She said, changing the command. He paused for a moment, as if thinking... or remembering. Then to her delight, he started picking his feet up more, breaking out into a high stepping trot. Fiera laughed and clapped her hands as he followed after her like this, singing his praises as he trotted along. "Excellent job Victor!" She exclaimed as they finally came to a stop, ruffling his mane. She offered him a good handful of treats for his effort- it was an unnatural walk to be sure, but it would impress.
Fiera 10
Victor 89.0/91.0
Fancy Walk 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 14, 2023 11:19:12 GMT -6
The next trick was an easy one to teach... to houluh. Fiera was admittedly not sure how well other canines would stick to it, especially ones as fearsome as rakai sarane. It wouldn't require much physical effort on her part, but it would need a lot of patience on Victor's. Luckily she already taught him to tolerate her touches, so she would be able to get through this without being bitten... but whether or not he'd obey her was another issue entirely. She needed him to "stack" essentially a fancy, stiff way of posing for the judges in contests, holding his legs at a particular angle to best show off his body shape and conformation. She wasn't entirely sure what the proper conformation WAS on a rakai sarane, but considering that Victor was the very best one she had ever met, she was sure he'd be up to snuff... or else she'd have a word with the judges.
Fiera 1
Victor 89.1/91.1
Stack 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 14, 2023 11:27:41 GMT -6
For now though, she had a tool. It wasn't anything fancy- just a metal frame used for the purpose of teaching this trick. Apparently that was a thing that people sold. Still, it had an adjustable length for different sizes of animal and metal circles where the creature could step on to spread their feet apart at the exact distance and angle needed to maintain the pose. It shouldn't be too hard to lead Victor onto it... in theory. "Ok Victor, come here!" She said, and gently tugged on his leash to lead him towards the platform. As expected... he stepped right in the empty middle of it, ignoring the metal entirely. "Yeah, that's... about right." Fiera said, scratching behind her ear. Then she gently reached down, taking one of Victor's paws in her hand. He snorted at her, confused, but she waved him off. "It's fine! You'll be fine." She continued.
Fiera 2
Victor 89.2/91.2
Stack 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 14, 2023 11:32:06 GMT -6
Slowly but surely she put his feet on the pegs of the frame. He grumbled about it, but Fiera put a finger up. "Victor, stay." she said, trying to make herself sound very serious indeed. She wasn't sure how well it came off considering that she was trying to make him do something ridiculous, but to his credit he did stay put. "Good job, good stack!" She said, giving the command as she finally put his final foot on the platform. She gently adjusted him from there, lifting his tail and chin at the correct angle before putting a finger up in front of him. "And... stack." She said. He paused for a moment, his legs almost trembling, before Fiera finally gave him a treat. "Good stack, Victor!" She said as he pushed his snout into her hand to eat it. She gave him a quick scratch behind the ears before thinking about how best to try again.
Fiera 3
Victor 89.3/91.3
Stack 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 14, 2023 11:49:55 GMT -6
After letting Victor get his bearings, she went back in to try again. "Okay Victor... stack!" She said, trying out the shiny new command word. Victor looked at her, confused... and shuffled his feet around, stepping them apart and lifting his head up to look at her, as if saying "Is this what you want?" It... wasn't. Not quite, but he was getting there. Fiera circled around him, carefully pulling his legs out to the correct angle, lifting his tail and head to best display his flames and antlers. Soon he was looking absolutely perfect, without the need for the metal bars and pegs. "Okay Victor... stay." She said, allowing him to hold the pose for as long as it would theoretically take a judge to get a good look at him. Sure enough he stayed, though he seemed quite relieved when Fiera finally released him from the trick, letting his shoulders and head drop.
Fiera 4
Victor 89.4/91.4
Stack 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 14, 2023 11:53:29 GMT -6
Once again, Fiera gave him a moment to rest, but not too long. He was so close to getting it. He had the comment down, now she just needed him to get the picture on the actual pose he needed to strike. She stood up from where she had crouched to pet him, brushed her hands off on her legs, and clapped her hands together. "Ok Victor- stack!" She said, her voice brimming with enthusiasm. Victor thought for a moment before hopping into shape, pushing his front legs forward a bit, his back legs back, tilting his chin upwards and lifting his tail slightly. It was perfect. She nudged his head slightly, tilting it and examining it like a judge would, and he didn't even blink. "Good stack, Victor!" She said, backing away and laughing. Victor relaxed, letting his tail drop. It was a ridiculous trick, but if it made Fiera happy he could tolerate it.
Fiera 5
Victor 90.0/92.0
Stack 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 15, 2023 10:22:59 GMT -6
The last trick Fiera wanted to teach was one that took a bit more energy- it would be a nice way to finish off the day. She simply wanted Victor to learn how to catch something she threw, that was all. Of course, that was easier said than done- it required a fair amount of coordination on the behalf of the creature. Still, Victor had learned far more difficult things in their time together- she was sure he could figure out catching an object when he had already learned how to make illusory copies of himself out of pure magic. "Victor, are you ready for something new?" She said. His reaction was apathetic as usual, but he did perk up a little bit when she held up a scrap of meat. There was no better way to teach him to catch than by making the object he was catching worth his time.
Fiera 6
Victor 90.1/92.1
Catch 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 15, 2023 10:30:18 GMT -6
"Ready, Victor? And- catch!" She said, before tossing the meat up in the air. It spiraled, end over end. Victor watched it carefully... moments before it splatted against his face. He made an undignified "Orp" noise more fitting of a seal than any canine, and stumbled backwards a bit before the scrap flopped onto the ground. Fiera's ear twitched as he picked up the slightly dusty piece of meat and ate it. "Well... I'm sure you'll get the hang of it." She said awkwardly as Victor chewed loudly on his prize. She had plenty more where that came from- she could afford wasting some time making sure he was getting the hang of it. She pulled another chunk from her back pocket. "Ready, Victor?" She said, and the rakai sarane licked his chops in response. "Good enough! Catch!" She said, and tossed the second piece up in the air, Victor's gaze following it.
Fiera 7
Victor 90.2/92.2
Catch 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 15, 2023 10:34:01 GMT -6
This time he did a little better, leaning backwards much more quickly to catch it. He snapped his jaws a few times, not quite getting it on the first few snaps but finally grabbing it before it hit the ground this time. It wasn't a very graceful way of catching it. Victor certainly wasn't going to be impressing anyone in the next contest like that, but it was an improvement. "Good catch, Victor!" Fiera said, happy to praise him for it... and then offered him a second piece of meat. Victor seemed surprised, but this was part of the plan- if he actually caught the meat, he'd get a bigger prize. Hopefully that would motivate him to work a little harder at this. He wasted no time in accepting that treat and then looked at her eagerly for the next step as she pulled out yet another piece of flesh. She held it up...
Fiera 8
Victor 90.3/92.3
Catch 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 16, 2023 11:38:05 GMT -6
And threw it this time, launching it as far across the field as she could manage. "Victor, catch!" She shouted, and the rakai sarane was off like a shot. It was a lot more difficult to catch like this, but she needed Victor to be able to grab a moving object instead of having his owner just toss targets into his mouth. It wouldn't always be a piece of meat she was asking him to catch, after all. She watched as he ran along under the falling object, and leapt up to grab it... only for it to miss and plunk into the grass. He came trotting back after he ate it off the ground, but Fiera gave him no extra treat- he didn't actually catch it. Instead, she gave the command again and threw another one, retrying over and over again until he finally caught it. When he came back to her happily munching on his prize, THEN she gave him a "good catch!" and an extra piece.
Fiera 9
Victor 90.4/92.4
Catch 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 16, 2023 11:44:03 GMT -6
For his final test, Fiera took a minute or two to dig around in the grass. Perhaps she should have done that sooner, but soon she managed to pull up a decently sized stick from between the stalks, likely blown there from some distant tree. She wouldn't always be throwing him food- this would do. "Ready Victor?" She said, waving the stick around to get his attention. "And- catch!" She said, letting the word sink in for the briefest moment before tossing the stick towards the horizon. The rakai sarane didn't waste any time, bounding across the field after it, his flames flickering behind him. At the last second, he leapt up, fangs flaring, and clamped down on the stick before landing gracefully on his paws. He glanced back towards Fiera- who was, of course, cheering. It wasn't a trick that he'd ever need in battle, but if it was enough to impress her, it would impress the judges as well.
Fiera 10
Victor 91.0/93.0
Catch 5
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