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Post by Sevyrn on Sept 13, 2020 15:53:56 GMT -6
Time to go again! After dropping Sweetie's paw from her hold, Sevyrn gave the pup a moment to relax before she called for the houlou's attention once again. With a treat in one hand she asked Sweetie to 'shake', following up with a gentle touch to the top of her paw. Again, and then a third time - both repeating the request verbally as she did so. When that failed to work Sevyrn then gently lifted the pup's paw from the ground in her own, and gave her a moment to get comfortable. When Sweetie pulled her paw away and put it back down before ever getting comfortable, Sevyrn tried again. Once the houlou was finally willing to keep her paw up and in Sevyrn's palm, she was offered the treat that laid in her owner's free hand. Time for a few more tries at this... it would take time. Luckily Sweetie was a pretty quick learner.
46 Shake - 2
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Post by Sevyrn on Sept 13, 2020 15:58:45 GMT -6
Nothing was done amazing immediately, and Sweetie was no exception to the "no one is perfect" rule. With time she did slowly get the hang of the task at hand, though. After a few more tries she wasn't pulling away when Sevyrn handled her paw, a few more tries after that and she was starting to lift it up on her own... She wasn't quite doing it immediately upon first request, and it was still with the promise of reward, but it was something. Improvement came with time - it wasn't like she had become a master at her arts in a day or even a year. All that they needed was a little bit of determination.
They needed to get a handle on the pup responding on the first try before they were going to be able to start taking treats out of the equation, so that was Sevyrn's next step.
47 Shake - 3
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Post by Sevyrn on Sept 13, 2020 16:02:02 GMT -6
Just a bit more time and then they were there! Sevyrn showered the little cream and white pup with affection, pleased to see that she was coming to add yet another trick to her roster. Once this was done, they were only going to have to work on a few more things before they were ready for her debutante show and, with that, Sevyrn's entrance in to the art of show dogs. She couldn't lie, she was starting to get incredibly excited for that part - yeah, the training part wasn't the funnest thing in the world, but it was going to open up a whole new avenue of options for her and Sweetie as well to explore.
After a few tries in which Sevyrn got a response the first time around, she started working without treats. At first the houlou was, as usual, reluctant after realizing that she wasn't getting a snack. With more time they were back on track, and Sevyrn was feeling comfortable.
"Sweetie, shake," she said to the pup in her final test, and the houlou's paw immediately met the palm that she held out. What a good little pup.
48 Sweetie - 11 SHake - 4
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Post by Sevyrn on Sept 16, 2020 6:33:39 GMT -6
"Alright - awesome." Sevyrn was incredibly happy with Sweetie's progress - they already seemed to have another thing under wraps! She needed... three? four? more tricks or moves to show off before she would be allowed to present the pup, however. It was time for another short breather, give the houlou a chance to get her energy out and take a break before she got overwhelmed, but it wouldn't be long before they were back at it. If things kept going this well they would be done by the end of the day, and Sevyrn would be able to bring Sweetie down to the houlou hall and register for her showing tomorrow or the day after, depending on Sev's motivation after a long day with the pup. There was little in the world that felt better than a plan going exactly the way it was supposed to go!
... There would definitely be a decent break before she came back with Spot, though.
49
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Post by Sevyrn on Sept 16, 2020 9:01:02 GMT -6
Alright... Sweetie seemed to have spent the majority of her pent up energy, so it was time to get back to work. What next, what next? Sevyrn had been trying to think up a list of remaining tasks while the pup played around for a bit. Law down... maybe growl on command? Cute, rather than intimidating. Sev really was going to beed to go check out what the other breeders got up to with their pups, and the types of shows that were cycled through - that would give her a better idea of what kinds of things to teach her own houlou.
"Alright - next round," Sevyrn said to the pup, who ran over to her at the sound of her voice. This was going to be interesting, she didn't know how well Sweetie was going to react to being handled so much. "Lay down - good girl. Now roll over." The words meant nothing, so Sev gently encouraged the pup to roll on to her side.
50 Roll Over - 1
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Post by Sevyrn on Sept 16, 2020 10:27:55 GMT -6
The resistance was understandable, but as soon as Sweetie was on her back she got a treat for being such a good girl about it - getting the pup on to her back was the hardest part, after that she just had to roll the other way. After Sweetie had munched down the delicious snack that she'd been offered, Sev started back at it - gentle pushes on to her back while asking her to roll over, and once she reluctantly fell on to her side and then her back, Sevyrn encouraged her to flop the rest of the way over. Now that she was on her back Sweetie seemed to want some belly rubs, though - she pushed Sev's hand down to her belly with her own foot. With a laugh Sev rubbed the pup's belly for a few seconds, before going back to what she was doing. Now it was treat time!
51 Roll Over - 2
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Post by Sevyrn on Sept 16, 2020 10:38:08 GMT -6
Over and over again Sev worked with the pup - this was a trick that didn't come naturally to her and Sweetie seemed to be having a bit of a hard time getting a grasp of what was going on and why. With time she became increasingly frustrated with being gently pushed over until the point that she started growling at Sevyrn, who considered that as a warning that it was time to stop for just a little while. That was okay - breaks weren't a bad thing, and they could always get back to it after a quick play session.
Sweetie was much less reluctant afterwards - it seemed that she had retained some of what she was being taught, she just didn't want to do it. The pup needed some encouragement in the form of treats and a much gentler little push, but she was rolling over within a couple requests now. What a good pup.
52 Roll Over - 3
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Post by Sevyrn on Sept 16, 2020 10:55:15 GMT -6
Knowing that the houlou's patience had already been pushed by this once, Sevyrn worked slowly with her from there on, stopping between attempts to share a little bit of love. The pup loved the rounds of loving and it made the pup so much more willing to cooperate. It seemed that she had gotten in to a bit of a rush as she'd realized how close that her goal had gotten to reality without thinking of the other living being involved, who most likely didn't want to be doing any of this.
From here on things got easier - after a little while the pup didn't need any more encouragement, and would start rolling as soon as Sevyrn reached her hand towards the houlou if she didn't move quick enough. What a good little girl! They weren't quite done, but they were getting very, very close. Sev just wanted to see if Sweetie would roll over starting from a standing position.
53 Sweetie - 12 Roll Over - 4
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Post by Sevyrn on Sept 16, 2020 11:00:39 GMT -6
Sev put off that part until after the houlou was responding near-perfectly while laying down. If she was lucky, the foundation would be set and Sweetie wouldn't need to be encouraged to lay down before following the command. Unfortunately Sevyrn wasn't the luckiest of the bunch, and she pup did need a bit of work that way - she went at it the same way as she had earlier, taking moments to rest between rounds before working with the pup. After a while everything was going pretty well - the pup seemed to understand that 'roll over' meant the same thing whether she was laying down or not, and upon being called she would lay down and roll on to her back, then over the other way. It was rather adorable, especially the pleased little 'tongue poking out of her mouth' expression that she had as she was upside down.
Proud with another job well done, Sevyrn showered the pup in some loving.
54 Roll Over - 5
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Post by Sevyrn on Sept 16, 2020 11:13:33 GMT -6
At this point Sevyrn was really running out of ideas... Everything that she could think of was something that she had never trained before, and though she was generally good at training her creatures she lacked the confidence to want to venture deeper in to things. Like really... what if she couldn't actually teach something right and ended up screwing it up? Maybe it was just time to hang out for a bit? She found herself wishing that she had more experience, but the only way to gain more confidence in her capabilities was to get the practice in - every time she would do better and better than the last time.
They could take a little bit of a break while Sevyrn grabbed a snack. With one hand she munched down on a granola bar while she used the other hand to throw Sweetie's ball for her to fetch a few times.
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Post by Sevyrn on Sept 16, 2020 11:22:16 GMT -6
Teaching Sweetie to roll over had made one thing clear - and maybe that was something that they could work on. It might not be show-worthy in its own, but would likely make a lot of things easier in the future when it came to any continued training... and grooming, and surely someone at the hall would want to touch the pup and Sweetie needed to be easy to handle. Hindsight was twenty-twenty, and Sev likely should have done this part a bit earlier on. Better late than never, though - that seemed to be the running motto of her life these days.
Sitting down on the ground Sevyrn called the cream and white pup over to her, and Sweetie came to her looking as happy as ever. She lept up on to Sevyrn's lap and rubbed her face in to the woman's belly. What a silly little pup! Sevyrn started with something that would seem just like play and loving - some gentle pets.
56 Tolerance - 1
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Post by Sevyrn on Sept 16, 2020 16:45:57 GMT -6
It was nice to do something beneficial that was really no more difficult than just playing with the pup - that was why Sevyrn had enjoyed teaching her how to play fetch so much. In fact out of everything today, that was the most fun she had with Sweetie. Her name suited her - she really was a little sweetheart. Knowing that she had a purpose, Sevyrn's touch got just a little rougher - enough to seem less like a pat and more like gentle manipulation. Sweetie didn't seem to mind too much, but she definitely did look at Sevyrn rather curiously. What happened to the gentle loving? Was she going to get a belly rub? Or a treat? The change also made Sweetie feel like this had evolved in to play, and she started to nibble and paw at Sevyrn.
"No," Sev said to the little girl every time that she started to get excited.
57 Tolerance - 2
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Post by Sevyrn on Sept 16, 2020 16:55:07 GMT -6
The no was confusing to Sweetie, who truly did think that they were just playing around. Every time that she got too rambunctious while being touched Sevyrn would have to stop her, and then she would get the houlou to either sit or lay down for a moment. Once she had calmed, it was back to working with her. This was definitely a good call... she couldn't have her pup misbehaving just because she thought someone in the show hall was trying to play with rather than judge her.
Sevyrn played around with her neck, coaxing her head straight and out, rubbing all over her cheeks and snout - it all did seem like a game to her. Why could Sev play with her but she wasn't allowed to play back? Sweetie didn't understand that. It was exactly the thought process that Sevyrn was trying to train out of her. Play time wasn't default.
58 Sweetie - 13 Tolerance - 3
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Post by Sevyrn on Sept 17, 2020 7:33:46 GMT -6
Pay, play, play - that was all that Sweetie wanted to do! Why was Sevyrn trying to play with her and then not letting her play back? Come on, come on - let's go! Grab the ball! Come with me! There was so much to do and enjoy, why would they choose to sit there just being petted instead? Why was Sev playing with her face like that? Sweetie wasn't about to bite her owner, but it was rather strange... all of this was incredibly strange. There was so much to do and so little time, why were they wasting it?
"You're alright, Sweets. We can play in a little bit, but you need to stop right now. I'm trying to do something." Sevyrn didn't let up just because the pup wanted her to - she needed to learn some patience while being handled. Eventually they would get to that point, that much would be true.
59 Tolerance - 4
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Post by Sevyrn on Sept 17, 2020 13:09:44 GMT -6
Sevyrn spent a few more minutes just playing around with the houlou's face - gently pulling at her lips to reveal her teeth and the skin around her face. Any time that the pup seemed to act up about it she stopped it with a firm no, only to go back to what she was doing. With time Sweetie got much less anxious to play - perhaps she was realizing that at least this part didn't mean that Sevyrn wanted to get running about? Time would tell. Sev was most definitely pleased with that little bit of progress, though.
"What a good girl," she said in a soft whisper to the pup, placing a kiss atop her head. Sweetie responded with a somewhat quiet bark and a wagging tail. Okay... now she definitely could not try to pretend that that was not meant to be loving! Sevyrn relented and accepted that it was break time now.
60 Tolerance - 5
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