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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 17, 2020 18:51:48 GMT -6
Alright... three more things, and then Sevyrn would hope that the HAA would be happy with work so far. Jupiter was a quick little thing who had already picked up on her name, come and stay - what else was there to do? Follow, no? She was so small that it seemed wrong to start any of the agility training yet, but there was surely something that would be easy enough to work with even so small.
Getting the pup to follow along would likely be easy enough, she hadn't had any problems yet with any of her other houlou. Get the pup to come to her, start moving, goad her to follow along - with a treat if need be.
Sevyrn grabbed the pup's attention while she was off a little ways, and called the young thing over to her. "Follow me," she then said as she started to move. The treat in her hand had the pup happy to follow along.
136 Follow - 1
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 17, 2020 19:00:56 GMT -6
The young one did seem oddly confused by what was going on, as she wasn't used to being summoned by someone that was moving away. Sevyrn noticed Jupiter's attention wavering, and tossed the young one the treat in her hand. She paused as she did so, waiting for the houlou pup to be ready to go again, and then it was time go to.
As soon as Sevyrn had called Jupiter to come over to her, the pup ran and just after asking the young one to follow behind her, Jupiter had popped a squat in front of her.
"No, Jupiter. I need you to follow me," Sevyrn pulled her attention with a snack and proceeded to walk again. The snack was enough to keep the pup interested enough to follow, so Sevyrn simply repeated herself as need be.
Any time that Jupiter lost her focus, Sevyrn corrected her with a firm no that she didn't seem to understand just yet, and then started from the top.
137 Follow - 2 No - 1
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 17, 2020 19:07:23 GMT -6
Jupiter got better and better after following along when told to, though right now Sevyrn was still working with heavy repetition and plenty of treats. She was going to keep that up until she wasn't having to correct the pup's attention so frequently, for however long that last. Jupiter was slowly learning that 'no' meant that she was doing something that she shouldn't be and was taking less time to correct herself, but it was still a highly flawed procedure.
At least she would look back to Sevyrn with a cocked head, right?
"Alright little thing, follow me," Sevyrn ssid once more, stepping away from the pup. This time she turned around and walked without watching Jupiter, though she was still repeating the command as she moved. She had at least weaned down the treats a little bit and hadn't struggled too much with that, though soon she was going to have to stop repeating herself as well.
138 Follow - 3 No - 2
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 17, 2020 19:19:18 GMT -6
The thing about Jupiter was that she had seemed to grasp the concept enough that Sevyrn wasn't working on teaching her 'no' any more - and that was great! It meant the little pup was catching on amazingly, and Sevyrn was proud of the sweet little thing for her progress.
When Jupiter had still been following her by the time that she reached the edge of their little area, Sevyrn figured that it was time to consider her pretty decently trained. The work wasn't done yet, though - she couldn't keep repeating herself ad infinitum every time that she wanted Jupiter to follow along behind her.
That meant that the next thing for Sevyrn to do was to just see how Jupe handled a single command - she called for the pup's attention and asked for Jupiter to follow her. At that point she simply walked off, and she could hear the crunch of leaves as the pup ambled after her.
"You did a really good job," Sevyrn said to Jupiter at the end of it all, crouched down to give her a good pet.
139 Follow - 4
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 17, 2020 19:30:54 GMT -6
With one more command down and seeming to be decently done, Sevyrn decided to give the pup a bit more down time. It was a good chance to work on teaching her to understand the meaning of no, as well. She was too young to realize that a lot of things would be considered bad behaviors as an adult - for example, trying to leap up on her chest. Once Jupiter was fully grown, she would likely be able to knock Sevyrn over with ease, she was rather tall for a human woman but was built like a leaf. A bad wind could probably knock her over, let alone sixty pounds of full grown excited dog.
There were other behaviors that she could work to quell, as well - barking (rather pitifully, in an adorable way) at strangers walking by, trying to chew on her bag... Everything got a very firm no, and Sevyrn had to repeat herself less and less with time.
140 No - 3
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 17, 2020 19:39:08 GMT -6
With time the pup seemed to get better and better, and this was an easy task to work with - it didn't require Jupiter's full attention, and she was simply able to go about her life as she pleased to as long as she stopped doing whatever it was she was doing when Sevyrn said no to her. The pup was happy to be able to play around though she definitely was not used to being told that she wasn't able to do something.... What if she wanted to be chewing on Sevyrn's backpack handle? The pup was too young to have any impulse control or be aware that she was being destructive, so it was Sevyrn's job to teach her how to play nicely and stop when she wasn't.
Eventually Sevyrn was very happy with the way thar Jupiter reacted to being told no - she stopped on the spot and looked towards Sevyrn, even waiting for a cue to run off and do something else. Sev could be happy with that.
141 No - 4
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 17, 2020 19:49:49 GMT -6
Sevyrn took the pup back to the kennel - she had some basic agility equipment set up in the houlou's outdoor pen, and that was going to be helpful for their next trick. Hopefully after that the HAA would be happy, and Sevyrn would be able to lose a little bit of that stress.... it was so much easier to train when she didn't feel a deadline looming over her head.
Once in the houlou play pen, Sevyrn put the pup down by the agility poles, and the pup sniffed at them. Teaching Jupiter to follow her before coming here was an asset, as she would be able to ask the pup to follow her through the poles.
"Alright Jupiter, follow me," Sevyrn said as she started to slowly guide the pup back and forth between the poles. Jupe wasn't quite getting it and would often just meet Sevyrn on the same side she started on. There was a lot of work to be done.
172 Weave - 1
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 17, 2020 19:55:42 GMT -6
Patience, patience - Sevyrn needed an insane amount of it, but this was so much funner than teaching the basics, so Sev had no problem. Jupiter had never needed to do anything so complicated in her short little life before! She seemed to enjoy it, though she didn't seem to understand why Sev was dipping around the bars.
There was a lot of starting and stopping because of that - and Sevyrn moved at a snail's pace, rewarding Jupiter every time that she completed a single weave before moving through the next set of poles in hopes of getting the pup to move towards them.
Slowly... and quite inconsistently... Jupiter started to understand what was going on. All the treats probably had something to do with it, Sev imagined - but that was okay. She was small and this was completely new to her. She would need some time to figure it all out.
143 Weave - 2
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 17, 2020 20:01:17 GMT -6
Eventually Sevyrn stopped asking Jupiter to follow her and instead replaced the command with 'weave', still guiding her in between the poles. The pup was getting better and better at it, though she still needed her master's guidance. There were times when she would skip a pole in excitement, which was something that wouldn't be tolerable in the show ring.
Over and over again Sevyrn weaved between the poles herself as she guided one of her youngest pups, offering her regular praise and (if they successfully completed a set of poles) a little treat as a reward. Sevyrn was rather thankful that Jupiter seemed to be having fun doing this, as she had her heart set on training the pup for agility shows... it would have been disappointing to discover that the pup had no interest in her predetermined destiny. Of course, had that happened then Sevyrn would have chosen another specialty... but did she want to? No.
144 Weave - 3
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 17, 2020 20:10:33 GMT -6
Jupiter was no champion, and she wasn't very agile... but she was getting pretty decent about hopping about back and forth between the poles. She was too small to have the grace an older animal might have, but as she aged Sevyrn would continue to ensure that she was in peak condition - this was the kind of task that would have to be exercised on a regular basis, wouldn't want the houlou to get clumsy.
Eventually Sevyrn stopped guiding the pup through the poles, ready to see if she could do it on her own. She walked along one side of the poles to guide the pup from one side to the other, but that was it. After a few successful tries, Sevyrm simply guided Jupiter to the starting point and asked her to weave.
The pup barked after she reached the other side successfully, and Sevyrn's face beamed in a grin. "Come here!" Sev called to Jupiter, and the pup bounded over in anticipation of the loving she was about to get.
145 Jupiter - 8 Weave - 4
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Post by Sevyrn on Feb 7, 2021 6:40:54 GMT -6
To Learn: Jump Up (1), Jump Over (1), Through Hoop (2), Dash (3) She came back when Jupiter was a little bigger - a little stronger on her tiny legs, a little more agile. The pup had enjoyed her time back home, surrounded by not only the two who acted as her older siblings but by three more pups as well - the first children of Sevyrn's original two houlou and a young one born of a fidelity token, an offering given to those dedicated to the houlou as a whole. She was a happy little thing and though she was growing in to adolescence now she still had quite the character- there were habits that needed to be quelled, of course, but also signs of a very happy and very bright matronne in the making. Sevyrn was still incredibly happy to have the young girl as part of her own pack. Jupi scampered about lead-free in a small part of the park, letting out some steam as Sevyrn set up several pieces of equipment she had borrowed. It was time for the hard(er) part of Jup's training. 146
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Post by Sevyrn on Feb 7, 2021 9:57:29 GMT -6
Sevyrn had a few more things that she wanted to work through with Jupiter today - hopefully enough to get her through her debutante show. That wasn't going to be it for her, though - Sev was planning to give everything she had this time around, Jupiter was going to be a show winner, and she had the speed and budding talent to make that dream a reality. For now, though? For now she was just a floppy eared pupnwho didn't trip over her own feet as much as she used to. It was sad to think that one day those moments would be behind them, but Sevyrn would always cherish the times when she could watch that sweet pup run around carefree and playful.
Once all the equipment was set up, Sevyrn got out a travel water bowl and filled it up partially, and after that she grabbed a snack for herself while watching Jupiter play in a thin layer of snow.
147
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Post by Sevyrn on Feb 10, 2021 10:08:05 GMT -6
Jupiter flopped down in to the show and rolled around in it, making something similar to a snow angel (a snow puppy) amongst the white fluff - what a silly, happy go lucky little thing Jupiter still was. Sevyrn almost envied the innocence of animals, especially the young - they didn't know hurt or hardship, didn't know what it was like to have an empty stomach or a broken heart. It was the kind of childlike wonder that Sevyrn had known for a long time, and something that the young woman wished that she could have back. What it would be, to be young and naive and happy again (had she ever really been happy in the first place, though?).
"Jupe!" Sevyrn called, summoning the pup's attention as she started with some warm up exercises, going through the commands that Jupiter had learned during their last outing. As the puppy looked to her, she held a hand up to silently stop Jupiter on the spot.
148
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Post by Sevyrn on Feb 10, 2021 10:16:24 GMT -6
Sevyrn held the pup where she was for a moment before giving her the all clear and summoning her towards her once again. Once Jupiter reached her, the young houlou barked up at the woman. Sevyrn crouched down to give the spotted pup a good pet and scratch before climbing back to her feet. "Good job, Jupiter! Now - follow me," Sevyrn directed as she started to walk a loop around the area that they were in, the young houlou trailing obediently a few feet from her side. As rambunctious and excitable as the houlou could be, once it was time to listen Jupiter tended to do quite well.
Once they finished their little adventure, there was one more thing to check before they got going - Jupiter's weaving skills. They'd been working with that semi-regularly to make sure that she was staying in shape and up to speed, but it was a good starting exersize when they were going to be working on multiple things today.
149
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Post by Sevyrn on Feb 10, 2021 10:21:09 GMT -6
Jupiter did not struggle to make her way through the poles, ever so familiar with the routine after her training and the last few months of practice. Sevyrn was impressed with the pup's improvement, and that was part of why she had decided it was time to add some new skills to the repertoire. What did they want to work on first, though? Sevyrn wanted to work on her running ability, that much was for sure - getting Jupiter to have a solid dash would be a good start. But so would some of the other things that Sevyrn wanted to work on - stuff more agility-based like jumping through and over obstacles, the kind of stuff that one would likely see at an agility trial.
So what did she want to do? As Sevyrn crouched down once more to love on her pup, she thought deeply about where she wanted to begin.
150 Jupiter - 9
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