Intermediate Dog Training

[Rhargn Etn]

TS: Fourteenth Candlemark, 12th Brightening, Immanis, Winter, Era XIII (pf)


The brightening sky was a fresh baby blue, with wisps of dull grey and azure warping together, creating a rather beautiful skyscape. The polished sun light seeped down in to Nexus Prime, raising the low morale of the city folk as winter continued its assault. The sea breeze brought with it a raw, salty aroma that kept everyone in check however, reminding them what season it actually was.

Rhargn was in a good mood this brightening, he bounced down the streets with Sam by his side, moving at a canter. The pup had had the instructions of Claude driven into him, causing his resistence to said commands to be ground down. He knew what was required from him when his pack leader asked, yet he was still only a puppy and so had a child like rebellious streak in him which Rhargn admired.

As they approached Claude's humble abode, the ruffian turned to Sam and smiled playfully. "Are you ready to see your friend Dexter, aye? Are ya?" He asked in an excited voice, causing the pup to start dancing around slightly. With this, the ruffian reeled in Sam and removed the lead from his collar, allowing the dog freedom to move about. He knew he could control the dog through tongue the majority of the time, but he wasn't willing to let him walk off lead in the center of Nexus Prime.

'Knock, knock, knock'

[Palacrisis D Jones]

Claude opened the door and ushered his new friends in .Dexter bounced around Sam and the always heated teapot bubbled on the stove.

Having got the dogs calmed down and the two men seated at the weathered kitchen table Claude announced that he was ready to take Sam's training a bit further.

Right Rhargn lets see what else we can teach young Sam but first as you and he have got the basics tell me in what direction do you want the dog to go , in other words what are your plans for Sam?

[Rhargn Etn]

Rhargn grinned at Claude as he opened the door. His huge paw like hand was offered in greeting as the two entered for some of Banger's infamous tea. It was such a homely place where he lived, a place the ruffian loved to come too. "Well, I'm looking for him to be a guard dog. However, as we're going to be doing this buisness together and he is my first dog, I want to learn how to train other dogs from him. So yeah, for him to attack on command and such, but also I want to learn how to train all other dogs as well. Do you understand?"

[Palacrisis D Jones]

Claude stroked his stubbly chin as he listened to what Rhargn wanted and needed it was a tall order but not impossible …..

hmmm, well as I see it we have to teach Sam a bit more first and I am afraid that only time will tell if he is a natural pack leader that other dogs can learn from, so you two would seem to have a great deal of hard work in front of you so let us start at the beginning. You have to make a decision and quickly about Sam dogs, due to their natural social structure which is territorial protective of companions, even companion animals will exhibit some form of alert behaviors toward intruders. However true guard dogs are dedicated animals in the sense that they are not simultaneously intended to be companion animals.Guard dogs are defined as canines who either by training, or by instinct, protect either property, persons or objects. A well-trained guard dog protects person, property or objects on command and "turns-off" on command as well. Properly trained animals, will guard on command and then when commanded to "out" will approach and accept in a friendly manner those that may have attempted to gain entry, cause harm or steal protected items.

He stroked the chin again deep in thought and then snapped his fingers

Very well lets see what he is made of , tonight we let Sam roam free in the yard and a pal of mine will try to climb over the wall and gain entry let us see how he reacts if he attacks our intruder then we can say that he is a natural guard dog but should that happen you cannot treat him as a pet anymore do you understand me ?

[Rhargn Etn]

Reality became real. What Claude was saying was like a cold dagger punctured through the heart of the ruffian. What he wanted more then anything, was for Sam to be his everything. A companion first and foremost, a guard on command and also a dog that others could learn from. Surely, it was possible for all three to be achieved, wasn't it?

"Ii, I understand Claude. When I've been walking with him, people have come up and played and he hasn't blink an aggressive eye lid. Saying that though, he is only a few months old I'm guessing." Rhargn presumed that Sam would go up to lick the 'intruder', yet the pup had never been in this position as such. He'd always been with Rhargn when others had approached and so most probably saw them as safe and acceptable. All that the titan could hope for, was that whatever the out come, he'd be able to teach Sam to be 'perfect' dog.

[Palacrisis D Jones]

Thus it was that Sam got a nasty shock , as it got dark rather than settleing down to a nice bowl of stew and a doze in front of the fire he was put out into a cold dark yard. He whined and scratched the door , he barked and yelped but to no avail he was a trainee guard dog and the luxuries of domesticity were denied him got rhis darkening anyway .

The two men steeled themselves to sit out the racket and after half a candlemark sam settled a bit padding the length of the yard and back again .It was close to midnight when a scratch on the wall was enough for Sam to pick his ears up. behind it stood “Smudger”. A bit of a rough, occasional remover of unwanted propertry and general jack the lad arrived. He wore several padded jackets and his sleeves were wrapped in rags he shinned up to the top of the wall and began to slipover it .

Quiet maybe but Sam had hearing likes a bats radar and he stiffened as the shadowy figure slipped onto the cobbles of the yard

OOC ~ Sams your dog so what does he do and how ?

[Rhargn Etn]

It was hard for the ruffian to sit and listen to his dog beg to be with him. He really didn't enjoy the fact that this was his first time hearing the dog basically cry. However, as things were, it needed to happen and so Rhargn tried his hardest to ignore the sound and enjoy the fresh stew that was welcomed heartily. As the two chowed down, the titan smiled at Claude.

"I feel so bad for the little guy, but I guess he has to do what he has to do." The ruffian sighed, trying to keep his hazel gaze away from Sam, who seemed to pace up and down the yard. "So, what's your favourite breed, Claude?"

The grains of sand trickled by and then the sound from the back came. Sam immediately perked his ears up and stared at where the sound originated. His eyes were wide as he began to bark repeatedly at the ebony figure, he didn't seem too friendly. However, as the patter of feet landing on stone sound, the pup darted forward, his squeaky deep yap alerting Rhargn and Claude that everything was happening. Sam hurtled forward to the intruder, barking more and more till he finally reached the man and jumped at him. His paws landed on the blokes chest as the pup tried desperately to lick his face.

[Palacrisis D Jones]

The question was fair and Claude began as he swallowed some more stew well Rhargn I have known many dogs over many eras I can say that on balance I would always prefer ……..

The noise from the yard changed and the pups noises changed into a croaky bark , not the full blooded noise of an adult dog but the embryonic sound of a adolescent. He pulled his chair back and made for the kitchen window where they would be both able to see Sam in action and from that grubby vista they would see sam in full licking mode the dark figure of the intruder pinned by a large pup determined to lick the skin off his face.

Claude chuckled his methods may be unorthodox but young Sam does not lack courage

Once the kitchen door was opened and Rhargn could call Sam to him the intruder walked in .”Smudger” was chuckling and addressed the room with that dogs got a fine big slobber on him damn near drowned me

Claude sat them all down again and explained what would happen next Ok Smudger here is going to help us out we are going to teach Sam some tracking skills which lead him to the protection stage , with a bit of luck you won’t have to make the decision to push him away as a pet

The Next Brightening

The field was snowy but free of icy ponds tufts of late winter grass poked up from the snow and noobody had placed a single footprint on the ground . Smudger was to be the trail layer and he had several pieces of cloth in his hand.

Ok lets blinfold Sam for a moment or two but make sure he gets to sniff the scent on the clothes

Smudger trudged off across the field and dropped three cloths into the snow and then made his way to the far side , the test was ready all Rhargn had to do was make sure Sam had the scent and let him loose.

right said Claude when he finds the first cloth , tell him to stay and sit beside it , collect the cloth and then set him after the next one

Claude folded his arms and watched

[Rhargn Etn]

Rhargn was interested in what Claude had to say about his favourite breed of dog, for as his tutor, he'd surely have a great knowledge of each. Unfortunately, just as the winner was about to be revealed, the sound of disturbance ran into the kitchen, causing the two to scurry to check out what was going on. The ruffian chuckled as he gazed at Sam desperately trying to drown the new comer. As Banger's opened the door, Rhargn moved slightly outside. "Sam, come." He called enthusastically, causing the pup to shift its head towards his master, his tail wagging excessively, and hurtling away from the 'intruder'. As Smudge made his way indoors, the titan offered a hand in thanks, for helping out with the training regime. He then listened to Claude once more and smiled at the fact that the Dragonhound could possible stay a pet as well as a guard dog.

Next Brightening

The trio arrived once more at the dreaded field, the one which Rhargn had almost frozen to death in. The activity for this brightening was interesting, though the mountain man didn't really understand the logic of it, in ways of teaching Sam to be a guard. However, he wasn't the teacher and whatever he was told to do, he was going to do with no question asked. Upon being instructed, Rhargn rapped a cloth about Sam's eyes and held him close, hoping to calm him down. "Sam, good boy." He said in a hushed tone, so that the pup wouldn't become frightened. Next, with Smudge's scent rubbed all over the cloths, Rhargn proceed to smear them on Sam's nose so that he would keep a good record of the smell, before it was time to proceed.

Initially, Sam seemed a little bamboozled as he jumped up to lick his masters face. He didn't really seem to understand what was required off him. However, with Rhargn understanding commands had to go with the required action, he moved the pups head to see the snow tracks, causing Sam to lower his head and sniff. It seemed like a combination of sight and scent as he slowly ambled off following the trail. "Sam, find it." The ruffian said authoratively.

Eventually, the Dragonhound came upon the first cloth, whether from luck or skill. He took it up in his mouth and began to run back towards Rhargn, before he was ordered to stop. It seemed like the pup was thinking it a game of 'fetch'. With this, Rhargn headed over to the Dragonhound, ordering him to drop the cloth, at which he did. Next, the ruffian once more put the dog on the right track, following the same sequence as before.

"Sam, find it."

[Viskyia Crow]

ooc: taking over peer modding at rhargn's request

The next cloth was hidden in plain sight further down the snowy tracks, and a third was hidden even further, while Smudger himself sat down comfortably behind a tree further afield, out of the dog’s plain sight. As Claude watched, Sam performed well, fetching each of the three cloths, but not sitting and squatting before each once it was discovered.

Claude had seen this before. He always liked to do this test before he decided how best to proceed with the dog’s training. Each canine had a different personality and each handled a situation completely different than another. Some dogs would automatically point at a find, others would sit down and horde their prize gratefully. Others, like Sam, would prefer to share their discovery with their master. It was obvious as the dog next found Smudger, what direction the training would go.

Before noon, Claude called a halt to the little exercise before they all froze, and invited Rhargn and Sam back to his place for hot mulled wine and a bit of warming up time. Smudger declined, having to work later in the afternoon. Claude commented on the way back to his place and carried the conversation on while they heated and spiced good wine and sat down to warm up.

“What I noticed about Sam in that exercise is that he doesn’t have any control of holding still and ‘indicating’ something. In order to make him a well rounded guard dog, to not attack dracons, attack criminals on command, and have him able to accept new commands from this point onward, we have to teach him a bit of patience. He has to learn he gets rewarded for holding still. And since you will keep him close, it’s always good for him to be able to find missing or hidden items or people on command. I mean, how many times are you going to be called in for crowd control during a major event where weapons are banned? Why wouldn’t you want your dog trained to sniff out the metallic flavor of steel or the oil used to maintain a blade, that sort of thing and let you know who’s still carrying weapons? That’s an EXPENSIVE service, and one your dogs need to be trained too.”

Claude sipped his hot wine and looked thoughtful. “Sam showed me today that we need to move into a new direction with his training and get his mind wrapped around a few new concepts.” He set his wine aside, and moved over to a stack of heavy crates that sealed nicely with heavy latches. He opened them, showed Rhargn that they were empty, then filled each one with an item. The last one, he left empty, pulled his dagger and handed it to the man. “Make him sniff that one good.” After Rhargn had done this, he concealed the dagger in the box, mixed the boxes up, and laid them out all in a row.

“Lead him down the row of boxes and ask him to find the one he sniffed. Use ‘find it’”.

[Rhargn Etn]

Rhargn smiled in a pleased manner as his pup went about his duty in a succesful way. To the ruffian, the fact that Sam brought him everything he found was something worth praising. However, for the point of this training scheme, and the way Claude appeared, it seemed that his tutor's wanting for the dog to stay once found, was very strong.

Finally, the little session came to a conclusion and the titan welcomed the pup to him with a simple 'come' command, at which the dog hurtled forward, nearly knocking Rhargn over upon contact. The mountain man chuckled heartily as he batted the Dragonhound away in a playful manner, welcoming the next onslaugher in this happy scuffle.

Upon reaching Claude's and with drinks handed out, Rhargn checked back to make sure Sampson was resting by the fire with Dexter, as he heard Claude's words grace his ears. However, these spoken oppertunities were something the titan wasn't interested in momentarily; if he'd have wanted a tracker, he'd have purchased a Silrosian Tracker. No, Sam was bought to be a guard dog, bought to attack and such on command, but Claude was the trainer, and for the ruffian to have this basic knowledge in teachning 'scent skills', was something he could use in times ahead.

Rhargn watched carefully as his mentor showed the basic idea of the next exercise, before taking the dagger from him. "Sam, come." He commanded, causing the pup to stir from his slumber, and slowly meander his way towards his pack leader. Given a minute or two to wake up, the ruffian then drifted the dagger below Sam's nose so that he got a good smell of it, before doing as told.

"Sam, find it."

[Viskyia Crow]

ooc: sorry for the long post, I failed to suffer any uninspiration and malaise.... :P


Claude watched as Rhargn did as he asked, leading the big dog down the line of crates and asking Sam to ‘find it’. When Sam started wiggling excitedly where the hidden dagger was, Claude firmly told Rhargn to tell Sam to ‘sit’. The crate was then checked, verified that it indeed contained the dagger, and the crates were rearranged. They continued this process endlessly until Sam started to get the idea to ‘sit’ at the crate containing the dagger. Claude never let Rhargn take Sam off his leash. Next they practiced with other objects, still in the boxes, and even later that day, advanced the training even further. Rhargn would take Sam out of the room, Claude would hide the item, and Rhargn would bring him back in after asking him to ‘find it’. They quit finally for the day when Sam successfully ‘found it and sat’ three times in a row.

“Practice with him and an object every day. You want him to get good at this ‘game’.” Claude announced, then sent the pair home for the day, with a promise that they would return the next brightening.

THE NEXT BRIGHTENING

Claude sat with Dexter, drinking tea and contemplating his list of notes. He had a few more commands he wanted Rhargn to start working on with Sam. As the pair made their appearance for the morning, Claude gestured for Rhargn to have a seat and decided to lecture him on a few more things. “Now”. He said. “I’d like to see just exactly where you want to go with Sam. You keep saying you want him to be a guard dog, but in my experiences those sorts of creatures are hapless starved abused mentally unstable creatures that roam property for its security. I think what you have in mind is more of a personal protection dog. This is what I see as the sort…"

Claude took a breath and looked thoughtfully at the pair.


“The Personal Protection Dog is usually referred to as being the one that bites. A personal protection dog protects from it's knowledge of training which the dog has received. These dogs are trained to quickly become friendly toward a once threatening man when he becomes friendly. Another example would be when an agitator who has just gotten bitten by a dog during a training lesson while wearing protective underclothing gear, walks over to the same dog in a friendly manner after the lesson is over (with gear still on) and pets the dog without getting bitten. This is why protection dogs are best. The protection dog is put in many scenarios during their training which the dog may encounter when in a real life threatening situation. These scenarios prepare the dogs for anything that could happen. Unlike the attack or guard dogs which aren't likely to be ready for any situation they encounter when threatened because these dogs are surprised since they had no training to prepare them for many real life situations. This will cause the dog to incorrectly protect in order to sufficiently stop a dangerous man. The more experience a dog has, the better they will work, which holds true for other training besides protection training.”

Claude paused to finish off his tea. He watched Rhargn’s reaction and carried on with his dialog.

“Or perhaps you mean…”

He took a deep breath, studied his notes once more, then recited from the words written therein.

“The Hold & Bark Protection Dog is basically the same as a personal protection dog but without a bite. These dogs will hold a person in place by corning them or knocking them down and standing on them while barking in a monotone bark (one bark right after the other). They are trained to never bite in any situation. The use of muzzle agitation training is vital for these dogs so they will learn to not fear touching the bad guy and to knock them down correctly if the situation warrants the dog to do this procedure. During the muzzle agitation training the dogs are trained when to apply the knocking down procedure and when not to. With this type of protection dog there will not be any bite liability to worry about. To be sure the dog does not bite, underclothing protective gear is used in the training.”

He smiled, still watching Rhargn take his all in. He patted Dexter’s head when Dex came up to get some attention, and laid out more information for the big man.

“Once you decide how to proceed, we need to teach a few more commands. Mainly I’d like Sam to have STOP, BACK UP, GROWL, STEADY, STAND, JUMP, HOLD, RELEASE, and BITE.. In addition, I want you to get Sam used to moving on uneven or uncertain ground. And once those commands are learned, we add all sorts of distractions to the scenario and make sure they are inherently learned.”

Claude grinned at this. He enjoyed teaching dogs and their handlers. But he disliked being the lecturer. In this, he tended to push his students to answer their own questions and make their own decisions.

“So, Rhargn.. what command would you like to teach first. And after you’ve decided which one, tell me how best to go about teaching a dog to do it?”

[Rhargn Etn]

Success gradually grew with each achievement the pup performed, allowing Rhargn to shower him with praise in the way of Banger's sausages, and his own excited gestures. At this, ideas began to formulate within the titan's mind, as he thought on the ways in which he could train Sampson alone, using the postive techniques that Claude so successfully used. Shaking his head to empty himself of these thoughts momentarily, Rhargn threw his attention back towards the activity, at which the Dragonhound was gradually getting better at. Things were looking up.

With victory being taken from the session, and Sam knowledgeable on what to do when commanded to 'find it', the troupe finished up. It had been an excellent brightening, and with Claude's instructions, Rhargn nodded in understanding and thanks, before saying farewells and heading back home. At home, the ruffian decided to continue the scent training slightly and went about hiding pieces of cloth with his smell on around the house for Sam to find.

Next Brightening

Excitement and anxiousness overwhelmed the duo as they hastily sped out of the hovel and off towards Claude's. Rhargn actually ran all the way, which greatly pleased Sam, who decided it'd be a good idea to help his leader by pulling him as harder as possible. "Sam, heel." The ruffian commanded, his feet nearly leaving the floor as they went. However, as they came to the place of training, Sam was quickly let off his leash and allowed to play with Dexter, while the titan took a seat as instructed. Next came the part Rhargn didn't know Banger's had in him.

The passages which came out were a seperation of the two things Rhargn wanted from Sam. His face showed this as at the end of each, as he smiled and nodded vigoursly, presenting the fact that he wanted an almost combined version of both schemes. As Claude finished his speech, Rhargn decided it was his time to chirp up. "Well, I'm looking for both of what you say in a way. I want Sam to respond to different situations in different ways. Say we're confronted by someone who doesn't need to take a bite, then I'd want him to just keep him in place and knock him to the ground maybe. However, if it comes to it that I need Sam to bite and release when ordered, I want that to happened." He took a deep inhale like Faulto had taught before continuing.

"Do you understand what I mean?" He asked, a look of hope hung from his face, before he moved onto the next question. "Eeeer, well as you're the one who knows the score, I guess you should say what we do first. After these commands are learnt though, I'll probably have the general technique used, firmly in my head. Meaning, that I'll be able to tell you what I think, confidently."

Rhargn had his own thoughts on the matter, yet he wasn't willing to spew them and sound ridiculous if he was wrong. What he'd have done was teach them in a certain order, ranging from: growl, stop, steady, back up, stand, jump, hold, release and finally bite. However, he wasn't exactly certain what each command meant, though he had a fair idea. His plans on the actual training would have been to get the designated reaction in anyway possible. For example to growl, prehaps use the Dragonhounds dislike for Dracons to get the pup to growl and then praise when he did so, while saying the command as soon as he performed the desired action. This would surely allow for the technique to be moved onto different races with just the command being used.

In all, the ruffian wasn't the trainer, that was Claude and he'd surely have better ideas.

[Viskyia Crow]

Claude nodded. “Of course I understand. That makes sense too. Now, for how to teach your dog and what order to teach it in is fairly simple. You never teach a dog the more violent acts you wish them to learn until you have absolute control. For instance, a dog must never learn to bite or growl first. Growling is a natural reaction for dogs that are uncertain or slightly scared. We have to play that up to teach them how to growl on command. Thus, what we want first is the commands that will keep the dog in check no matter what the situation."

Claude grinned, lit is pipe, and began to smoke it. Dexter wandered over and laid down at his feet.

"So far, the commands Sam knows are well rounded, but we need to do certain things to make sure we have absolute control over him. First we need to teach STOP and BACK UP. Stop tells your dog to simply stop whatever it is doing and lie down on command no matter how far it is from its handler. A dog that will do that can be taken anywhere. It’s the hardest instinctually for a dog to do. When we teach BACK UP, its for a very important reason. Handlers of large dogs or dogs with a reputation for aggressiveness can make strangers more comfortable by teaching the dog to back up on command. These are two commands that allow for us as Handlers to have more control. We also need to learn to slowly transfer these commands from voice signals to hand signals. You might not always be able to vocally communicate with your dog. Or you might want your dog to act as a subtle ally in a situation where one is needed… send the dog around to attack someone behind without the victum being aware.. that sort of thing.”

Claude took another drag on his pip and continued speaking, Dexter wandering off to go explore something on the other side of the room.

“So.. lets work on Back Up first. Take Sam on the leash, stand ahead of him the length of the leash facing him, and take this in your other hand.” Sam handed him a long length of flexible wood, almost like a riding crop but longer. “Shake your leash and tap his chest gently with the stick saying the command BACK UP repeatedly. Once he takes even one step back or starts to lean back, praise him. Continue this until he gets the idea, and eventually you can remove the stick, then the leash, then send him back with just a flick of your fingers in the backup motion…” Claude demonstrated with Dexter from across the room. He flicked his fingers, and the dog stopped what he was doing and started backing up until the finger flicking stopped. Claude nodded to Sam. “Well, aint got all day. Get started…”

He watched the progress for a while, then asked Rhargn, when the pair needed a break… “How would you teach STOP so that a dog would drop everything and lay down no matter what he was doing?”

[Rhargn Etn]

Rhargn smiled gently at Claude's comment, it was fortunate