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Post by Silver on Mar 2, 2020 5:51:33 GMT -6
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Post by Silver on Mar 2, 2020 5:52:49 GMT -6
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Post by Silver on Mar 2, 2020 5:53:33 GMT -6
Current Pupils Ising Level: 0; 0 Stamina: 2 Strength: 1 Resistance: 0 Dexterity: 4 Mentality: 3 Special Abilities: Fly, Gleam, Physical Immunity Moves: Telekenesis, Rainbow, Moonlight, Flash Learning: Rainbow (7); Moonlight (4); Flash (4) |
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Post by Silver on May 7, 2020 5:33:40 GMT -6
Silver was beyond excited to get started with Victor, the Houluh puppy they had picked up from the adoption center. From the second their eyes met, Silver was absolutely smitten with the little guy. Instead of dragging him to the park, they decided to head out to their private training grounds this time. It seemed appropriate given the large number of things Houluh were expected to know for their shows. That was a whole thing they weren't sure they were ready for yet. For now they could get started with a few basic tricks that they had taught a million times by now. Doing it with a creature as eager to please and even tempered as a Houluh should be a super fun! They had Victor wrapped up in their arms to shield him from the world until they arrived at the Academy. He had fallen asleep early in the trip which made him easy to transport. It was so much easier to carry a sleeping puppy than one who was wiggling all over the place. Quin was watching him carefully from the top of Silver's head. He wasn't sure what he was watching for, but he would be ready for it when it happened. [103.6, 0.2, 6.6] |
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Post by Silver on May 7, 2020 5:43:32 GMT -6
"Here we go," Silver said softly. They kneeled down in the grass and tipped Victor out of their arms and onto his feet. He woke up as he rolled into the grass, which they had been expecting. He wobbled on his feet for a moment and looked around confused. Weren't they just somewhere else? That thought didn't stick around for long, and he was soon hopping around in the grass trying to eat every slightly taller than average stalk of it. He yipped playfully and tumbled backwards over his own tail.
That was it! Quintessence looked like he wanted to fly down and straighten Victor back up, but he chose not to at the last second. The Houluh was on his feet again in no time and was hopping around before Quintessence got a chance to help him. Silver clicked their tongue and wiggled their fingers near the grass, hoping that either would catch Victor's attention. When he didn't seem interested, Silver clicked louder and said, "Hey Victor."
Quin tilted his head, thinking he was being called but not understanding why he would be called if he was already where he was supposed to be! He chirped to let Silver know where he was, just in case they were confused and didn't realize that he was there or something.
[103.7, 0.4, 6.8]
[Come - 1]
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Post by Silver on May 7, 2020 5:56:01 GMT -6
"Ah, Quin," Silver said with a laugh. "Sorry buddy, but we're training Victor today. You're just going to have to get used to it," they said. They idly reached up to pat him, but most of their attention was on the puppy. Quintessence was going to have learn how to deal with training that wasn't focused on him and what the difference was between when he was being called and when another creature was. Silver had no doubt that he would eventually figure it out, but it might be a little strange until then.
"Hey Victor, what'cha doing? Viiiictor," Silver said. Victor was wandering around in the grass smelling everything he could get his nose on. This dirt smelled different from that dirt, and wow did a creature of some kind come through here? Was that a poo!? He was very excited about everything, so much so that he was wandering pretty far from Silver. They got up, picked him up, turned him around, and put him back down. The last thing they wanted to do was lose track of him. "I know you can do it, you just have to focus, okay? Come here, Victor, come here!" Victor looked up at Silver when they were talking, but didn't make any changes to his behavior otherwise.
[103.8, 0.6, 7]
[Come - 2]
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Post by Silver on May 7, 2020 6:20:49 GMT -6
"Don't make me bribe you," they said. They were really hoping to get a couple of things done before they had to pull out the bag of treats, but it was possible that they would have to give in early. Victor didn't seem too interested in anything but grass at the moment. It was awfully cute, but not terribly productive.
"You win this time," Silver muttered to themselves. They reached into their bag and sorted around until they found the treats they were looking for. Quintessence tried to sneak a peek into their bag but he couldn't see anything from the angle he was looking at. There was never a day that they didn't have at least a few Vulticus treats on them, and they were fairly certain that a Houluh would enjoy them just the same. They held out a treat at arm's length and clicked their tongue again. "Do you want a treat, Victor? Viiiictor," they said. They repeated his name as often as possible so that he would get used to coming over when he heard it.
Victor smelled the treat and snuffled around until he found it. He snorted into the grass before finally settling on the treat in Silver's hand. "Good boy, Victor!" Silver cheered, petting his head and shoulders when he took the treat. "You're learning so fast already!"
[103.9, 0.8, 7.2]
[Come - 3]
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Post by Silver on May 7, 2020 6:38:28 GMT -6
Victor was excited to get so much praise. He hopped around on his toes and snorted excitedly. He even let out a little yappy bark. Silver beamed while watching him. It had been so long since they had a puppy around. They really missed it, and they hoped they could capture the feeling for a little bit longer. Quintessence didn't really know why the pup was so happy and squeaky, but he also chirped playfully adding his voice to the excitement.
It didn't take long for Victor to wander off again and Silver was ready to give the trick a test. "Come here Victor. Viiictor." They clicked their tongue loudly a couple of times. Victor turned to look at them again and took a hesitant step forward. It wasn't clear whether or not he did it on purpose, but Silver cheered anyway. "Good boy! Good boy Victor. Viiiictor! You got this."
They raised their hands up in the air and waved them around. Victor thought that was interesting, so he ran over to see what was going on. His little tail was waving all over the place and he ran in circles around them a couple of times. He sniffed their side which tickled them and caused them to drop their arms down very rapidly. "Haha maybe don't do that," they said in a cheery tone.
[104, 1, 7.4]
[Come - 4]
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Post by Silver on May 9, 2020 5:56:07 GMT -6
Silver waited longer between each test and gave treats more sparingly as Victor started to pick up on the command. They would wait until he inevitably wandered away, then click their tongue and call his name. When he wandered back, they would pat his head and clap excitedly, sometimes even passing him a treat or two. Soon enough Victor started to realize that the tongue clicks meant treats or at the very least some good petting, so he promptly forgot what he was doing each time and hopped back to be praised.
"You're a good learner," Silver said. They had trained a wide variety of creatures, and there was something about the eagerness to please that a puppy displayed that they could appreciate. It was a lot different than training a more skittish or standoffish creature.
Quintessence was confident that the tongue clicking was for him the first few times, but he eventually learned to ignore it. Maybe the tongue clicking only meant him when they were alone or something. Either way he floated down into the grass and started to doze off. Only when Victor almost stepped on him did he even look up to see what they were up to again. It was pretty boring watching him run back and forth like that, so it didn't keep his attention for long.
[104.1, 1.2, 7.6]
[Come - 5]
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Post by Silver on May 9, 2020 6:04:28 GMT -6
"Well I think you've got that one down," Silver said. It made them feel productive that they had already finished one thing on their list. "Now for the opposite," they said. It seemed logical to teach 'come here' and 'stay there' at the same time, even if they were opposite concepts. It would be good moving forward, too, to have Victor already familiar with where to go on command.
"Viiictor," Silver called in that tone they used to train him to come over. "Now pay attention, Victor," Silver said. Victor was looking over when his name was spoke, but he was already eyeing a flower he found in the grass earlier and forgot to eat.
"Victor," they said sharply. His attention snapped away from the flower. "Stay. Stay here. Stay." They spoke very firmly and clearly so that Victor could hear the command well. They also pointed to the ground in front of their feet. The point wasn't entirely necessary, but they included it as a force of habit.
Quintessence watched carefully. What were they learning now? He didn't know that one. Well, he might have tried to learn once, but it was basically impossible to get him to stay still so Silver probably gave up on it. He always came back eventually, anyway.
[104.2, 1.4, 7.8]
[Stay - 1]
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Post by Silver on May 9, 2020 6:09:45 GMT -6
Silver stood up all the way so that they could walk away and test the command, but Victor was already getting up and wandering around again. It was as if Silver getting up gave him the excuse he wanted to wander around again. They shook their head. This part was never easy when they were so young and distractable.
"No, Victor, stay," Silver said sharply. They had not yet done drills on what 'no' meant but the harsh way they said it should be clear enough on its own. Creatures like Houluh were generally quite attentive to changes in tone. Quintessence was also very attentive to the change in tone, and he looked up at Silver. They didn't seem angry, even if the way they said that was more forceful than usual. He didn't think it was a good enough reason to get up yet, so he didn't.
Victor looked worried. Why were they so mad all of a sudden? Did he do something wrong? He pulled his tail in and looked up with his biggest puppy eyes. Everything about his posture said 'please don't be mad at me' and Silver fell for it completely. They instantly softened and wagged their own tail. "Oh buddy, don't be like that," they said. They scrubbed his ears and kissed his forehead. "I'm not really mad, okay? Don't be afraid!"
[104.3, 1.6, 8]
[Stay - 2]
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Post by Silver on May 9, 2020 6:15:54 GMT -6
"Let's make a deal," Silver said. "If you just do everything perfect all of the time, I'll never have to tell you no ever again!" They laughed lightly at their own joke. It was an absurd request and they knew it. This was all part of the process. They just weren't used to having a baby look at them with those confused, sad eyes. They knew that there was no other way to learn, though, so they decided it was time to continue.
"Victor," Silver said. Knowing that the sound of his name meant to come over, Victor tried to get closer to Silver and ended up sitting on their boots. "Heh, okay. You need to..." they pushed him off so his butt was on the ground. "You need to stay. You got that? Stay, Victor. Stay."
Silver got up and started to walk away. They were looking over their shoulder the whole time and watching carefully for Victor's reaction. Quintessence looked up at them to see where they were going, but didn't move to follow. For a few seconds, Victor stayed in place, but that didn't last very long. He wanted to see what was happening! He hopped up and started to walk over toward Silver. He pretty much instantly bumped into the back of their legs, since he wasn't really watching where he was going.
[104.4, 1.8, 8.2]
[Stay - 3]
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Post by Silver on May 9, 2020 6:41:55 GMT -6
"No Victor," Silver said firmly, but less sharply than before. They still felt a little bad about that. "You need to stay."
They reached down and pushed him back to where he started, except that they pushed a little harder than he expected causing him to roll comically instead of taking a step back. "Oh sorry buddy," Silver said. Puppies were pretty indestructible, though, and it didn't even seem like he even noticed. He was back on his feet hopping around again in no time. Quintessence rolled over onto his back and watched them from the fun new angle.
"Victor, pay attention," they said in their teaching voice. "Stay. Stay here." They gave him a firm but gentle shove so that he was back where he started. Then they took a step backwards. When Victor didn't move to follow them, they praised him, which caused him to get up and run over. Silver repeated the process. Pushing him back, insisting that he stay put, then praising him if he stayed in place for longer than last time. After a handful of repetitions, Victor seemed to be getting the hang of it. As much as he wanted to run over every time, he also realized that he was rewarded for resisting the urge.
[104.5, 2, 8.4]
[Stay - 4]
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Post by Silver on May 9, 2020 7:09:25 GMT -6
Now that he was starting to get the right idea, Silver spent a while testing Victor's new listening skills. He wasn't perfect yet, but they were confident that he was getting the right idea. They could call him to come over some times, and other times they would walk away and instruct him to stay. If he stayed when instructed, he was praised. Eventually, the praise and treats were phased out unless he stayed without hesitating or looking like he was ready to get up and start running.
"There we go, good boy," Silver said. He rubbed Victor's ears and scratched his back. They took a break for a bit and went over to see what Quintessence was doing. He rolled back over and stretched his wings out. "I can see how excited you are," they laughed.
"Alright Victor, show me one more time that you got it, okay?" Silver gently urged Victor to stand next to Quintessence. "Stay Victor, stay." They walked away without looking back, this time trusting that Victor would do the right thing. Once they had gone far enough, they turned around to see what had happened. He was standing there next to Quin, and he looked really excited for whatever was going to happen next.
[104.6, 2.2, 8.6]
[Stay - 5]
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Post by Silver on May 15, 2020 5:54:10 GMT -6
"That's a good boy, good boy Victor," Silver kneeled down in the grass and rubbed his floppy ears and face. Victor was bouncing on his toes, wagging his tail, and rubbing his face into their paws. Silver beamed, feeling both pride for Victor and pride in their own training skills.
"Let's move on, since you're doing so great already," Silver said. "Let's sit, Victor, do you know how to sit?"
Victor, of course, did not yet know how to sit, so he just stuck his tongue out and panted contentedly. "Yea I thought that was too easy." Silver pushed gently on Victor's butt, causing his back half to fall down and forcing him into a sitting position. Victor's waving tail made a swishing sound against the long grass. "There we go! Sit, Victor, sit!" Silver sounded so excited that Victor immediately stood up again for more of that face rubbing and stuff. Silver laughed and couldn't resist giving the puppy a little snuggle before they tried again.
Quintessence thought they might be done, but then they moved right into the next thing. What was the point of teaching him to put his butt on the ground? He didn't really get it, but he continued to watch from the sidelines... upside down, of course.
[104.65, 2.4, 8.8]
[Sit - 1]
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Sept 27, 2023 3:59:32 GMT -6
Sept 27, 2023 3:59:32 GMT -6
