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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 26, 2020 10:39:42 GMT -6
The next trick was a little nonstandard for this early on in Bubbles’s training, but Fiera wanted to switch it up a bit. She always trained the basic tricks in the same way in the same order- why not throw an oddball in there? Things got a little boring otherwise.She was sure that Bubbles wouldn’t see anything wrong with it- how would she know how Fiera usually trained? So she would be training Bubbles ‘Accept Darkness’ and ‘Accept Enclosed Spaces’, with the help of… well, a very large box. It wasn’t labelled, but Fiera was pretty sure it was the kind that refrigerators were normally shipped in. As she thought about how she was going to go about this, she unfolded it on the ground and set it up, taping the edges to make sure not a scrap of light shone through. The inside would be pitch black, perfect for teaching this trick.
Fiera 6 Bubbles 5.1/10.1 Accept Darkness 1 Accept Enclosed Spaces 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 26, 2020 10:40:05 GMT -6
Normally Fiera wouldn’t teach a pet to accept an odd situation this early in, but Fiera had already spent some time with Bubbles in her garden earlier this month. As a result, she knew that Bubbles trusted her more than a pet usually would at this stage in training. She might not understand what was going to happen to her, but at least she trusted Fiera enough by now to know that she was going to be ok. Fiera stood back and admired her work- she had one large box, easily enough for her houluh to stand up and walk a few feet in in front of her. Every nook and cranny was covered in tape to make it pitch black inside, and the entrance was easily opened and closed so Fiera could drop treats in. Now all she needed was to get Bubbles inside of it. Easier said than done- she was a wiggly pup.
Fiera 7 Bubbles 5.2/10.2 Accept Darkness 2 Accept Enclosed Spaces 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 26, 2020 10:40:28 GMT -6
Fiera managed it though, scooping Bubbles up off of the ground and into the box. It was easier to do this back when Bubbles was just a tiny pup, but the houluh didn’t protest too much. The most damage Fiera came away with was smeared makeup after Bubbles wouldn’t stop licking her face. She managed to shove Bubbles about a foot into the box, and then tossed a treat further in. Bubbles immediately chased after it, giving a brief bark. Fiera called a ‘good girl!’ after her, and closed the box as quickly as possible before she could rush back out. There was a moment of silence, then a bit of rustling followed by nervous whines. Fiera frowned a bit- Bubbles was getting scared. “Shh, shh, it’s ok!” She said comfortingly, trying her best to sound kind. “I’m still here, Bubbles! You just can’t see me! It’s alright!” She said.
Fiera 8 Bubbles 5.3/10.3 Accept Darkness 3 Accept Enclosed Spaces 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 26, 2020 10:40:52 GMT -6
She heard Bubbles scramble to the front of the box at the sound of her voice, sniffing loudly as she tried to figure out where Fiera was. “That’s right, I’m right here. Good girl, Bubbles.” Fiera said calmly, and quickly peeled back the edge of the box just long enough to slip a couple treats in with her. “Look! If you’re good, you get food!” She said, and she heard Bubbles start eating the treats pretty much right away, crunching loudly. The treats had another function too. Even if Bubbles couldn’t navigate by sight, she could still navigate by smell- a strong sense in a houluh. Having something comforting in there with her would also help her adjust to the small quarters. Sure enough, Bubbles was still pacing around awkwardly in there, but the fearful whining had stopped. She just needed to come to accept the small container, and she would be fine.
Fiera 9 Bubbles 5.4/10.4 Accept Darkness 4 Accept Enclosed Spaces 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 26, 2020 10:41:16 GMT -6
Fiera left her in there like that for a while, and put some treats in there every so often. She’d walk around the box, giving Bubbles comforting praise. Over time, the whines and shuffling noises got quieter and more infrequent. After a certain point, Fiera hadn’t heard anything at all from the juvenile houluh in about ten minutes. She hadn’t even heard her eat the last round of treats. Just to make sure she was okay, Fiera peeled back the edge of the box. Peering in, she found Bubbles… fast asleep. Her chest rose and fell softly, but the sudden burst of light woke her up. She looked up and groaned at Fiera sleepily- how dare she disturb her nap! Fiera leaned back on her heels and had to laugh. If there was anything that would prove to Fiera that Bubbles was no longer afraid of darkness and tight spaces, it was that.
Fiera 10 Bubbles 6.0/12.0 Accept Darkness 5 Accept Enclosed Spaces 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 26, 2020 21:42:58 GMT -6
With those acceptance tricks out of the way, Fiera supposed that she could follow up on the other basic tricks now. Bubbles had one of them down already, what could a few more hurt? Besides, such basics were key to learning further tricks, allowing her to build off of them over time. Fiera would have to decide on which ones to teach, but to be fair that was the easy part usually. The hard part was teaching her. Bubbles had proved… inattentive so far, and that was causing Fiera a few problems. It was hard to teach a houluh that didn’t seem very interested in learning. When she was paying attention, she was as eager as any other member of her species, but that attention waned the second she saw anything else of interest. As a result, Fiera was always competing with their environment for attention, which made it a little difficult to train.
Fiera 1 Bubbles 6.1/12.1 No 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 26, 2020 21:43:12 GMT -6
Bubbles would have to be disciplined a bit as a result. Fiera didn’t like the idea of it as she was such a sweet, happy girl, but the houluh show rings wouldn’t be so forgiving. Disobeying a direct order or trailing off before a command was completed could mean a bad score from the judges or worse, elimination from competing in shows and participating in breedings altogether. Bubbles was such a beautifully colored houluh with a lovely personality other than the attention issues- it would be a shame to see that go to waste just because Fiera felt a bit bad about being firm with her. So that decided it- the next trick that she’d teach Bubbles would be ‘no’, no matter how much both of them disliked it. It should be easy enough of course, Fiera thought. She had taught it to other pets dozens of times already without fail.
Fiera 2 Bubbles 6.2/12.2 No 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 26, 2020 21:43:27 GMT -6
Ready to start, Fiera made the first move. She set a treat on the ground in front of her, between Fiera and her pet. Then she pointed at it and gave the key command. “Bubbles, no.” She said, a serious tone in her voice. Bubbles looked intrigued, lifting her ears curiously as she sniffed along the ground. Once the identity of the treat was confirmed, she lunged forward to grab it… but found herself blocked by Fiera, who had clamped her hand down over it. Bubbles whined and pawed at Fiera’s hand, trying to get at the tasty treat she knew lay just beneath it. When her (admittedly weak) gambit didn’t work though, she huffed and lay down on the ground. Her lack of attention span served her well in this case. Bubbles slowly lost interest in the treat, forgetting it was there entirely within a few minutes, pawing absently at the air.
Fiera 3 Bubbles 6.3/12.3 No 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 26, 2020 21:43:44 GMT -6
Of course, Bubbles leaving it alone was exactly what Fiera wanted, meaning that she had completed the trick. As a result, Fiera lifted her hand away like a fancy chef deliverying a tasty meal. “Good job, Bubbles! Good no!” She said, gesturing to it. Despite her previous disinterest, Bubbles was up in a flash again and fell upon the treat faster than Fiera could even blink. Well, she couldn’t fault her for her enthusiasm. While she was eating though, she got out another treat, setting it to Bubbles’s side. Again, she pointed at it. “Bubbles, no.” She said, just as firmly as before. The houluh licked her chops but paused, looking between Fiera and the treat. It looked like she was going to obey… but she leapt forward again, mouth wide. Fiera sighed and shoved her hand between her and the treat, catching a mouthful of puppy fangs for her troubles.
Fiera 4 Bubbles 6.4/12.4 No 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 26, 2020 21:44:33 GMT -6
She winced at the pain, but relented- Bubbles was nearly there, she just needed to push her a little further. After nearly a minute, Bubbles lost interest again and stood up, wandering somewhere else. Fiera sighed with relief and took her aching hand away from the treat. “Good girl Bubbles, good no!” She said gleefully, and Bubbles’s tail immediately started wagging as she looked back over. Fiera sighed and got out another treat as Bubbles ate that one- perhaps third time would prove to be the charm? She set it down where the houluh could see and pointed at it. “Bubbles, no.” She said carefully, and Bubbles looked at her… and looked… an looked. Fiera sighed with relief this time. She had gotten it! “Good girl, Bubbles.” She said, and the houluh stood up to eat the treat. The discipline had finally set in. That was another trick down- and it would hopefully facilitate learning more.
Fiera 5 Bubbles 7.0/14.0 No 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 27, 2020 15:18:38 GMT -6
The next trick was bound to be an easy one- though it required a bit of set up first. Bubbles had plowed through her other tricks so far, and was shaping up to be quite the experienced little houluh. The basics were wrapping up fast for her by now. Fiera had high hopes for Bubbles, both in the showing circuit and in breedings. Who wouldn’t love such a beautiful houluh! Still, she was still a long way from strutting her stuff at the debutante show. Those judges were awfully picky, after all. Fiera would just have to keep working on it. And speaking of working on it, despite having learned ‘no’ just a few minutes ago, Bubbles still had endless… well, bubbly energy to spend, and her attention span was still short. Fiera would need to get her to learn how to hold still, no matter how long it took.
Fiera 6 Bubbles 7.1/14.1 Stay 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 27, 2020 15:19:10 GMT -6
So that meant that the next trick to train would have to be ‘stay’. Normally it wasn’t too hard to train. If a pet was sluggish or disloyal, she’d just back away from them and reward them for not moving. If the pet was particularly loyal or clingy, she’d (gently) restrain them before walking away, if just to get the basic idea of ‘stay there’ down. Bubbles was… well, she was loyal like any other houluh, but her idea of sticking with Fiera involved investigating everything else in a thirty foot radius first. So Fiera would have to restrain her, but there was a slight complication with that- they were in the middle of a field, with no tree or fence posts to tie her to. To get this done, Fiera would have to get a little more creative than usual. She started out with putting Bubbles’s leash on her.
Fiera 7 Bubbles 7.2/14.2 Stay 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 27, 2020 15:19:27 GMT -6
Then, she went sorting through the grass for a moment before she found a large rock. Perfect. It was heavy for Fiera, but hopefully for Bubbles it would prove impossible to move. She hefted it up, groaning with effort, and then dropped it directly on the end of Bubbles’s leash. For added security, she pointed at it and said “no”, commanding Bubbles to not touch it. Then she gave the new command. “Bubbles, stay.” She said, pointing at the houluh. Bubbles whined as Fiera backed away into the grass and pulled at the leash, but just as expected she was unable to pull it out, forcing her to stay there. Fiera kept backing away and crouched down, disappearing into the tall grass. She let Bubbles sit there for a moment, and could still hear her whining. When a few seconds had passed, she stood back up and walked over to her.
Fiera 8 Bubbles 7.3/14.3 Stay 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 27, 2020 15:19:41 GMT -6
“Good girl, Bubbles! Good stay!” She said, clapping slightly. Then she tossed Bubbles a treat, letting it land at her paws. The houluh seemed surprised and excited about getting a treat, causing her to forget all about her former anxiety as she ate. When she was finished, she looked up at Fiera with a renewed sense of vigor, her tail wagging madly. “Atta girl, Bubbles. Now stay!” Fiera said, and backed away again into the grass, hiding herself. She couldn’t hear Bubbles whining anymore, which was an excellent improvement. Though she could still hear her shuffle and move a bit. Hopefully with another repetition that would drop off, however. Fiera gave it even longer this time, and heard Bubbles calm down more and more as time went on. She’d have this down in no time if she kept this up! When her legs started cramping under her, Fiera stood up again.
Fiera 9 Bubbles 7.4/14.4 Stay 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 27, 2020 15:19:59 GMT -6
Bubbles acted like she had been away for weeks, pulling at the lead to get over to her. Fiera chuckled. “Good stay, Bubbles!” She said, holding the treat in her hand. She let Bubbles eat out of her hand while petting her with the other. She had made great progress, and was hoping she was ready for the next step now. There was no way to find out without testing it, however. Fiera placed her foot on the rock and shoved as hard as she could, rolling it off of the leash. With a few kicks, Bubbles was free to go where she pleased- though Fiera was betting that she wouldn’t. With that out of the way, she pointed at the pup one more time. “Ready Bubbles? Stay.” She said. Bubbles wagged her tail, but didn’t move as Fiera backed away into the grass. When she was a few feet away, she ducked down so Bubbles couldn’t see her. She waited, longer and longer until she couldn’t bear it anymore and jumped back up. Bubbles yapped at her as she popped back up… and she realized the houluh hadn’t moved at all. Another trick down!
Fiera 10 Bubbles 8.0/16.0 Stay 5
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