How to Train Your Muskie (Righteous x Streams of Silver)

[Anhelisk]

Streams of Silver smiled. That was one good sign– her old training wasn't forgotten, just ignored in favour of a life of indolence. "Well, now she wants to play– because you tried to reward her, and she didn't have it. Try telling her to go fetch a stick, now," she instructed him.

"If she wants to play, she has to do her part."  

[Scaramouche Fandango]

Oh no. Ohhhh no. He had never once gotten Truly to actually retrieve a stick. She'd chase them and chew them, but giving them back? No way. Not even when he gave up and tried to do something else. She was super possessive of sticks. "I don't think this is gonna work," he warned, before picking up a stick and setting off a cacophony of yips and leaps. He flung it and she was off like a shot- and then the dance began.

She'd come close, then tease away, growling around the stick as he asked for it- she'd dance near his feet, then dart away, flopping to the ground for a chew, only to spring away again as he approached, trying to get the stick back from her. She had no intention of giving it up. At first, he chased her- but then he stopped, remembering what had worked to get her to follow. He turned away from her and trotted towards his grandmother, trying very, very hard not to look back in her direction.  

[Anhelisk]

"The idea is to get her to bring it to you, first," Streams of Silver said gently, watching the muskie as she uselessly protected her new toy, before turning to her grandson. "It puts the proverbial stick in her jaws– she's got to relinquish it if she wants you to throw it. We'll try to teach her 'go find a stick', so you have some way to reward her– but for now, you can play a short tug-of-war as a reward. She'll enjoy that just as much, and she only needs a few moments' enjoyment as a reward– she can go back to being miffed afterwards, and keep on feeling miffed until she does what you want."

She kept walking, letting him follow her. "She's clearly interested in your attention, and in holding your interest. You'll need to learn to discipline yourself, so she gets positive attention only when she's doing good– but she's stuck with you this long and hasn't run off to join a pack of dogs, so I'm confident she won't grow bored of you and decide to abandon you. She just needs discipline– her lifestyle currently has you relieving her boredom whenever she cares to stir up trouble, and you are very right that that's far too high-maintenance behaviour to trust taking her on a pilgrimage with."  

[Scaramouche Fandango]

That stuck in his craw a little bit- that he needed to discipline himself. He had always prided himself on his personal restraint- but perhaps that was only as it regarded him. That seemed like where he'd made the mistake- by not holding her to any standards, he'd let her run rampant and set them herself. He wedged that in the back of his mind as he dropped to wrestle with Truly a little bit, then hopped to his hooves and once again paced after his grandmother. He got the stick away from her and was carrying it in his own mouth. Truly was leaping at it, but he managed to keep it away from her and ignore her demanding whines. "So what next?" he said, slightly muffled by the stick in his mouth. "Do I throw this thing again and ignore her?"  

[Anhelisk]

"Throw it, wrestle with her, and then let her keep it," the doe suggested, wanting to see what would happen. To explain her thought process, she added a little more to elaborate. "She needs to learn the difference between wrestle and fetch. Wrestle, you let her win. Fetch, you stop throwing."  

[Scaramouche Fandango]

"Hm!" he said, nodding, then flung the stick again. He didn't yell "Fetch!"- he didn't want to reinforce the association. Sure as the rains, she darted after it and returned it. This time, he dove for her, flopping to the ground and rolling with her as he had when she was a pup. After a few moments, he let her get the stick away from him. He then picked up another one and waved it to get her attention. He had a plan! He tossed the stick, and shouted. "Fetch it, girl! Go get the stick!" Then, when she returned with it...

He ignored her. It was hard, but he did it, hoping he was doing the right thing. She circled him, stick in her mouth. He waited for her to drop it or get bored and wander off. Hopefully she'd drop it first.  

[Anhelisk]

Streams of Silver nodded, staying quiet, and watching the trees move and wave in the distance. When the muskie was in her field of vision, she carefully watched, but tried to avoid moving her head– she was to focus on her lesson, not the small, shining doe that her master seemed so interested in. Streams of Silver endeavoured to be simply part of the scenery for this– especially now that Righteous seemed to be making headway with Truly's training.  

[Scaramouche Fandango]

Moments felt eternal as he struggled to ignore the sad noises coming out of his muskwolf's. He knew what she was doing- dancing and prancing with the stick and generally being too adorable to resist. He truly did love Truly; she was his friend and companion and really, this whole scenario was his fault. Time crept on- moments turned to minutes- and eventually her noises became less frantic and more resigned. He stared resolutely at the distant trees, when suddenly the whines stopped. This was unexpected, to say the least. He looked down to where the muskwolf had sullenly laid down...

and saw, in front of his hooves, the stick.

Well damn. What did he do now? He wanted to reward her, but he didn't have treats... and she liked fetching, right? Or at least chasing. So with a flurry of praise and affection, he threw the stick again. "Go fetch! Bring me the stick! Bring it back!"  

[Anhelisk]

Streams of Silver smiled, moving to lay herself down. She'd let them keep at it for a while– this was a good development, and they both deserved the chance to enjoy themselves, now that they had this new, shining layer of trust to appreciate.

Later, she'd get him working on the harder things. But for now? This... this was a start.