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Post by Kristofor on Mar 14, 2021 14:03:48 GMT -6
There was no giant string hanging off this rabbit's neck. It was simply too big to be allowed. It made a loud noise that could be considered a roar by rabbit standards, as they were typically quiet creatures. The scattered baby jackalopes scrambled to join back together in a swarm. The giant turned its head towards the warren opening... and grunted something, tapping its enormous foot twice. The smalls all headed inside the warren again. The giant antlered jackalope stared Kristofor down, who had grabbed hold of Dawson in his paralysis of staring with a hiss of 'no', with narrowed suspicious black button eyes. Finally it retreated into the warren, clearly the winner of the standoff but the fox wasn't stupid. It was a warning. Don't chase my children. This wasn't the mother hell bunny he'd found while with Yolko, but something... related maybe. It had a mixture of coloring, vs what he'd found was dusty white. The warren's opening slowly shut, and when he couldn't feel the ground jump when the rabbit moved, they both slumped in relax. Dawson got a treat, and Kristofor just splayed on his belly, feeling like all the fight in his instincts bled out through his toes to the ground. 55
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 14, 2021 15:36:32 GMT -6
Gnawing on his hands wasn't acceptable to get what he wanted, Kristofor decided. The houlou needed to know hand-paws weren't for chewing on, even if it was an escape release if in trouble. If he had reversed the role, going for something easier to reach, like biting a dangling ear would have been smarter and a faster release. Fighting that thing would've been certain death. But telling the animal off with force is a human thing to do. He'd seen it once, hiding in the grasses. Humans got loud and physical towards an animal (especially the males, he had heard and seen) if they were bad. But this was the problem. It wasn't the dog who was bad. It was his behavior. How should he go about dissuading the dog from using him as a chew toy. Chasing small creatures, a prey drive, wouldn't be easy to convince him to not do, but... The small piece of jerky in his palm caught the pup's attention. He sniffed at his fox friend's paw, smelling good food. He started to nibble at the short fur... 'No' the fox told him with a short word. 56
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 14, 2021 16:15:33 GMT -6
He picked up a stick instead, drawing the hound's gaze. He reached for the stick instead, taking it in his mouth. 'Good.' the fox praised him, the small scrapes of puppy teeth he'd be feeling tomorrow. Dawson gnawed on the stick, enjoying the feeling of the hardness against his teeth. Recently his teeth were starting to itch and ache. This felt good. Gnom nom nom... He let the pup keep the stick until he broke it in half from the gnawing and gave him a treat. Redirection for something better to chew on then him. HE'd keep this in mind. The fox sat back on his butt to relax briefly, but Dawson hopped in his lap... ow. OW. Oh of course you put your paws THERE of all places. 'No' the fox tried not to gasp, as he eased the pup off his lower abdomen. Dawson scrambled backwards, smelling the smell that is put off when one gets hurt but there is no blood. The 'smell'. What did he do wrong? 57
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 14, 2021 16:40:13 GMT -6
He nosed the fox's paws with a whine. Fox friend is hurt? Fox friend shook his head no, reaching out to pat and rub the hound's head. His body language told him that fox friend was fine. He took hold of the fox's paw briefly with his mouth, shaking his head back and forth with a bit of a tug. Play? 'No' Kristofor told the hound, soft and firm, The noise and/or tone of his voice made the pup release his paw, and he rewarded the release of his paw with a treat. 'There we go, good boy Dawson.' He pats the houlou's head briefly and finally gets up. His tail aches from sitting like this. Fox tails don't bend like that. He puts another treat in his paw, hides it, and offers his paw again. This time, the gnawing isn't immediate, but he smells it, looks at it, starts to open his mouth- 'no' the fox tells him shortly, and the houlou looks up at him instead. 'Good.' the fox praises him and gives him the hidden treat. 58
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 14, 2021 16:56:10 GMT -6
This time around the fox wanted to test if his signals could be interpreted along with no or not. He got the pup's attention once on his feet, and gave him the signal to stay put. Backed off, and showed him a treat. Dawson saw the treat, and clearly looked to be thinking about getting up. 'No...' the fox told him briefly, and he remained where he was. Tail wagging. He did it right, right? And the signal for come to him, and the pup ran to him. 'Very good.' the fox praised his pup, giving him a treat, and ear scratches. They repeated the gesture twice more to reinforce his staying put even with a distraction. If he got distracted by the treat 'no' to convince him not to do what he had in mind, and it worked. Kristofor sighed and relaxed. He figured they were nearing the end of how much he wanted to be here. 59
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 14, 2021 17:04:14 GMT -6
The fox and the hound retreated away from the suspiciously round patches scattered around the path of the mansion, far, FAR away from the mansion itself. No doubt that crow knew he was here. But he finally found a quiet area. Coaxed the hound to sit, to stay with his signals and fished around in his satchel. Lets see, he had chicken jerky, beef jerky, what was this one? The label was a word he didn't recognize, and sniffed it. Took a small piece and ate it himself. Huh... venison? That was... deer. He would need to recall that one. Pickign off a piece, he signaled for Dawson to join him, and to sit again. The hound took his treat with a wagging tail, chewing the new taste. The way the pup smacked his mouth like that, venison didn't appear ot be a favorite. Chicken and beef then. Did he have pork? The pup leaned forward to smell the bag, but paused when the fox told him not to with a gentle 'no', instead waiting for his treat. Like a good boy. Pork he liked. A lot. 60 -end no? -home for the day
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 15, 2021 8:38:21 GMT -6
He found a parchment envelope (just thick paper really) wedged in the top edge of the kennel gate when he woke up the next day. It had his name scrawled on it in fancy script, sealed with a lump of mush that had some sort of image pressed in. A seal? Huh. Kristofor picked the envelope out of the gate to examine it. Among the sounds of animals eating their morning meal, he used a claw to slide under the seal and open the envelope. A few things were inside this thick folded square of paper. A note, a card of sort and a letter. The card had his name on it, sans last title, called 'field hand'. 'Welcome to the New Pethia Training Guild. Lessons, tournaments and such available for avid trainers. If you have interest in a lesson, please call on this address in person or by mail.' he read slowly, tracing the sentences with a finger claw. 'Enclosed you will find your official trainers rank card, and a list of different challenges you can earn points with. Feel free to contact in case of questions.' Had an address for the place. The fox hm'd as he opened the letter with the challenges. How about that. So he'd try something new occasionally. Packing up his satchel for the day, the fox turned to Dawson, and saw him finishing up his meal, licking up scraps before getting some water. He had an idea on what to do today. Yes. 61 -start follow
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 15, 2021 8:45:27 GMT -6
Once he got outside, Dawson ran about in a circle before heading off towards 'the' tree and finishing business. The fox picked up his pace just enough to get ahead of the distracted animal. Today would be a good time to follow him to the mansion grounds. If he could avoid killer jackalopes, that would help... or just not go there. Glutton for punishment, 'spose. He called Dawson's name, and gestured for him to come. The pup practically charged into his shins, yipping excitedly. He ...er... dripped briefly so the fox rewarded his come, and had to decide quickly on what to do here. He had the stay, the come, how to follow. Walking ahead again, he did the same thing, getting the pup to come. And another reward. Dawson liked the game of 'come to fox for food'. Some mornings, he wondered if the animal had become a iteral bottomless pit. 62
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 15, 2021 13:26:21 GMT -6
Don't think like a human for this. How did his aunt teach her cubs to follow her around? No no, too far off. He backed off, and got the pup's attention with his name and a treat, and started to walk away after signalling for a come. He'd seen a lot of hip or leg taps to get to come along. Come along was following, right? Dawson wasnt a blundering puppy anymore, and could catch him if he put his mind to it. WHich didn't take much work if his nose didn't get distracted. A double tap on the leg should work just fine then, right. He got a little further before signalling for him to come again, and then rewarded the pup after letting him See the new signal. Dawson chomped down his treat with relish, he really did like the pork jerky. It had a smoky smell and a bit of a sweeter taste. This time, he did both signals after retreating at enough distance, and showing he had a treat. 63
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 15, 2021 13:33:20 GMT -6
Tap tap on the leg to follow him. It was a simple enough idea, Kristofor told himself. He'd tried the non verbal for anything, but you can't exactly tell a creature not to do something with just a glare; he wasn't that clairvoyant, (though he believed his aunt to be so when her own children were being rambunctious). Thankfully the little game of 'follow me' it turned into kept Dawson entertained enough for the most part to reach the mansion gates and get him to cross the threshold without being picked up. Probably because of food. Once rewarded, Kristofor tried getting the pup to follow him around objects. Once he lost sight of the fox, his attention did wander somewhat, after trying sniff him out once or twice. Thankfully he could pull him back with a call of his name, and the signal to follow him. Maybe he could try and get the pup distracted with sticks or something. Try his attention span. 64
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 15, 2021 13:40:24 GMT -6
The dangerous part in Kristofor's mind involved holding Dawson's ability to follow him for distance. He already knew the idea of following him along, but using the signals instead of just doing it. Had to merge it together, right? With his name and the double tap on his leg, the fox walked away, soon hearing the sound of moving puppy feet to try and catch up with him. He kept up the little game of follow the leader, occasionally dropping a treat to lure his attention/reward him on the way. His end goal involved completing a circuit around the property on the inside. He didn't know if the property extended beyond the edges of the city wall. Did it? 'Good boy' the fox praised the houlou once they'd gotten halfway around the circuit of the mansion property. He'd found a lot of different eggs and seen many miniaturized jackalopes, who all scrambled for safety when they saw the fox and the hound. He signaled to follow him, and make himself the most interesting fox ever, because they didn't want to become giant jackalope food again. Finally back to the apple tree, and it was time to rest. Was there any water nearby? Or wait. 65 -end follow?
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 15, 2021 16:23:41 GMT -6
On the far side of the property, the pair found a large flat rock. It looked like something out of the woods entirely. Big and flat and reminding him of a giant skipping river stone. It was beautiful. Typical of him to find something interesting like a giant rock. Dawson didn't notice the rock until the fox scooped him up and placed him on the rock. Arrm? The rock stood just tall enough that the fox had to climb up on it himself with an extra step up. Dawson watches him circle the rock twice and then lay down himself. He'd watched his fox friend get ready for nest time. He did a similar thing he'd watched fox friend's other creatures do. The fluffy thing liked fox friend's soft fur or a big yellow thing that she went in, and the cat thing with the big eyes got a big colorful thing to itself. But they did the spinny spinny lay down thingy. 66 -start lay down
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 15, 2021 16:47:01 GMT -6
The fox relaxed quietly on the rock, letting the acquired warmth seep into his body. It felt so good... nothing like the cold metal and concrete den that humans provided. You just can't get the same with the wild. Er, its not even the wild. But the outside. Sun warmed rocks. Lights just couldn't cut it either. He pats the rock, trying to coax the houlou into joining him on laying out on the rock. He sniffed the patting paw, ears practically dragging on the warm surface of stone. Another pat, and finally the houlou laid down beside him. 'Good' the fox praised, the patting paw reaching to scratch Dawson's ears. The houlou leaned into the scratch, one of his hind legs kicking a bit. Oooh, right htere right there. Such a nice feeling. They both laid on the rock for a little while, absorbing stone heat and sun heat, just resting. The previous day had been pretty trying. 67
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 15, 2021 17:01:11 GMT -6
The morning moved into afternoon as the pair rested, opening their eyes to just past high noon and being quite a bit warmer from normal. A big yawn, a generous stretch, Kristofor shook out his slightly flattened fur and hopped off the rock to stand up straight again with another stretch. Giving the pup a little poke from his resting area, Dawson yawned widely and shook his head, throwing an ear over his head again. He got up, and Kristofor motioned for him to sit. The hound sat, but instead of getting a treat, the paw with a treat (that he could smell) went down instead. True to nature, his head and nose followed until the hound was laying down again, or crouching. It was close enough, and the fox rewarded him with a treat. He let him get up, and did the same gesture again. Because the rock had height on them, it wasn't nearly a drop as normal. 68
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 15, 2021 17:47:13 GMT -6
It worked though. Kind of like standing on those boxes or metal stools that animals stood on into be reached by their handlers. He didn't have any toys to distract with, but a stick would have to do. Something that could endure puppy teeth and not split immediately. Because its a stick, not a twig. Twigs break easily. Dawson followed the fox's paw downwards until he was crouched again. 'very good' the fox praised him, offering a treat. Once the jerky piece was gone, he found a stick being waved over his head. Ooh ,stick! He wanted to play with the stick. Getting up, he hopped very slightly to try and catch the stick before it pulled up over his head and forced him into sitting, almost like a meerkat. The stick went down slowly, and he snapped at it. 'No' the fox told him, and continued to put the stick downwards. Finally he reached crouching again, got praised and the stick. It was good. He made short work of chewing on the stick. Made itchy gums feel good. 69
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