|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interesting Conversationalist
|
 Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 5:04 pm
Micky crouched in the middle of the BP gym, looking a tad frustrated as she wrestled with a particularly rowdy Yellow Lab. The room was filled with other people, students mostly, with the occasional social worker littering the area to keep tabs on everything. "I said SIT you little squirt," She grunted, one hand pressed insistently on the dog's behind, trying to push it to the ground. The lab, however, seemed to be more interested in rolling onto it's belly and licking her fingers than doing as she said.
The process went like this:
1. Stand puppy up. Result -- Get licked in the face.
2. Give the command. Result -- Puppy grins at you with that cute face of its.
3. Press on puppy's butt. Result -- Puppy rolls over.
Rinse and repeat.
After about ten minutes of this, Micky made a face at the dog, grinning broadly, unable to mad at such a cute face, yet completely, utterly at the end of her rope. "Alright you, this means war," She finally grinned, leaning down to rub its belly vigorously, the puppy kicking one leg in pleasure.
She usually hated community service. And anyone who knew Micky knew that it wasn't as uncommon as you would think, although not for the usual reasons. Being on the student counsel meant being a 'model citizen,' which not only meant you had to have a specific amount of community service hours, but also could not a) drink or b) become involved in any 'scandalous activity' that might harm their image. Which... Micky tended to do. Often. And while the auburn-haired girl was sneaky, she wasn't that sneaky.
Which meant she got caught. And... ended up with the most boring activity they could think of so she could 'redeem herself.'
Not today, Zerg. Today, she had volunteered to help train stay puppies so they could be adopted. So far, it was going great. Frustrating, but who could resist adorable puppies?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 5:40 pm
There was no better way to spend his free time than helping sickeningly adorable puppies find good homes. This was certainly one of the more rewarding activities he could participate in, and one that was sort of... care-free. It was hard not to find puppies home, but a little training was always good. For the most part, a lot of the volunteers were playing with their charges instead of training them, but Yahya couldn't play with. He'd love to play with the Great Pyrenees puppy in front of him, but he had to stay focused. The puppy had already gotten the hang of sitting, and while Yahya didn't want to throw too many new things at it, he was starting to introduce the pup to 'lay down' and 'stay'.
"Good girl!" he crooned in praise and rewarded the pup with a treat. The white mass of fur was probably wagging her tail, but he couldn't be quite sure behind all the fluff. With the puppy on the right track, he supposed she could do with a break... and he could indulge himself a little in play time. Yahya ruffled the puppy's fur, laughing with enjoyment as the ball of fluff jumped up to lick his chin... and before he knew it, the puppy had spotted one of its friends on the other side of the gym, and was making a beeline right for it!
"Hey!" he yelled out in dismay, standing up and sprinting after the pup. Of course, she reached her destination before Yahya did, and tackled the lab puppy in an attempt to play. Yahya wasn't terribly too far behind, so in an attempt to salvage the other puppy's training, he scooped his charge up, holding her high above his head in a clearly triumphant gesture. "GOTCHA!" They were going to have to do more training if she was taking off on him...
"Oh... I'm sorry," he finally got around to apologizing after he tucked the puppy securely against his chest. "I didn't mean to interrupt..." Though, he was sure she had been playing with the pup instead of training, but he didn't want to assume.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interesting Conversationalist
|
Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 6:14 pm
The auburn-haired girl failed to see the mass of fur flying towards them, too busy tickling her own bundle of energy to do so. The lab puppy wiggled like a maniac, barking in that cute, high-pitched way that puppies did and no people could resist. As the white pup came flying towards them, the yellow lab glanced up, lifting his head, brown eyes focusing on the other, tongue lolling out in pleasure, as if welcoming the other into their game. Two seconds later they were wrestling, and Micky jerked back a little in surprise, scratching her head.
"Now where did you...?" She asked no one in particular, looking around curiously. Puppies did not just spontaneously appear. That was silly.
The appearance of a rather cute looking boy answered the question she had only half-finished, and the girl grinned, watching as he snatched up the dog, holding it above his head like she was some sort of quest item in a Zelda game. Micky rolled back onto her haunches, grabbing her own pup's collar as he sat up, trying to follow his friend, bouncing up onto his hind legs and pawing at the other BP student, tongue still hanging out in a friendly, happy-go-lucky manner.
"That's ok. My puppy wasn't really interested in listening to me anyway," the girl responded easily, grinning, her green eyes glittering mischievously, "Shame on you, you should keep better control of her." It was obvious she was teasing. Especially with the way she had been playing instead of training, Mack had no room to talk.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 6:39 pm
Maybe he had played with the puppy TOO much if she wasn't taking to listening to him. But at least she knew how to sit and stay... when she wanted. She was cute and definitely likable, so he didn't have any reason to worry that she wouldn't get adopted into a nice family. Still... maybe he should have been focused on setting an example for the other volunteers? Curiously he glanced around himself, and saw that it was about half-and-half. Some were actually training the puppies, and others were playing with them. Whatever example he COULD have made would have had just about zero effect.
Yahya smiled to himself, because it meant that he could play with the puppy as a treat for the both of them. "You just have to be a little firm with them, and have the good ol' incentive of doggie treats." Yahya was fortunately rather good with animals, though he wasn't sure if it was a talent or anything. It was certainly something he had learned and improved upon, but really, animals liked him for some reason, at least ones that were tame. Even the possessed rat of that old hag professor liked him. It wasn't the same with wildlife, but at least he knew how to handle them to a degree.
He flushed responsively to the teasing, ducking his head with mock-shame, though it might have been hard to determine that the gesture was only made in similar jest. "You know how hard it is to keep control of these rabid little monsters..." though as he said it, he crooned and held the puppy up to his face, accepting the kisses with a smile.
"I'm Yahya," he introduced, though he was mostly distracted by his charge.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interesting Conversationalist
|
Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:39 pm
"I think I'm not suited for this job. This puppy is manipulating me so easy. Give me a sad face and he gets showered in treats," She laughed, reaching back to scratch the back of her neck sheepishly. She probably was doing more harm than good. But seriously, how could anyone resist such a cute face? As far as she knew, they could melt even the hardest and coldest of hearts and reduce them to puddles of coos and tickles. It was a wonder that dogs ever had any training at all. She would totally hide this puppy under her bed and smuggle scraps into her room in the middle of the night.
Glancing up at the other boy, Micky watched as he introduced himself, trying desperately not to 'awww' as he coddled the ball of white fluff, leaning back on her palms. "Gotcha. 'You make me wanna yaya.' Easy enough to remember. I'm Micky," She teased, winking at him good-naturedly before grabbing the Labrador puppy around the waist, pulling him into her lap just in time to be showered in doggy kisses, "So... Yahya... Maybe you could... er... show me the ins and outs of puppy training? Yours looks pretty well-behaved, despite the sudden tackle."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:52 pm
"I think you're perfectly suited for the job!" He replied almost immediately after she voiced her own doubts. Even if she wasn't exactly training the puppy, she was doing the puppy good just by interacting with him and showing him the kindness of humans. She liked working with the puppy, and as far as he was concerned, if there was a mutual benefit, Micky was doing more than what was her job. Yahya smiled at her reassuringly before he plopped himself down onto the floor facing her. He still wasn't going to let the puppy out of his grip, especially when the pooch seemed to have a knack for running around and playing when he wanted her attention. There was no need to let her get into trouble!
He flushed a little as she put his name into an easy-to-remember context, but the rose tint to his cheeks died away as he smiled good-naturedly once again. Really, he was you average nice guy, and liked being that way. "Nice to meet you, Micky." He figured that wasn't her full name, but the nickname DID suit her, so he would certainly call her that. "Oh, sure, no problem. It's not really that hard - it just takes a bit of patience."
This time he did let his charge go, capturing her attention with a pat on her head. "Sit," he instructed, the word combined with a snap of his fingers. The pup obediently sat, wagging her tail happily, and as always, he dug his hand into his pocket and rewarded her with a treat. "That's the end result... but in the beginning, the key is to reward the action when they do it. You just have to wait until they choose to sit, and as soon as you realize they're going to do it, you give the command and then praise them with a treat. Eventually they'll catch on that you'll give the command when you want them to sit, and if they do that they get a treat."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
