[Class] Basic Hunting

Obedience was getting easy.

 

Maybe it was hubris talk, but Rob couldn't help but feel like he and Leeward had caught up. She was becoming increasingly reliable off leash and had learned an impressive collection of tricks, which Rob had demonstrated more than once to the delight of the merchants who set up shop outside their building. All in all, Leeward was a very good girl.

 

"I might take her to a hunting class today," Rob said, walking into the living room with the orange hound close at heel.

 

"Hunting class, huh?" Ollie echoed. He was sprawl across their sofa with his hands tucked behind his head, one foot resting on the carton they had repurposed into a coffee table.

 

"You put your food on that carton," Rob said pointedly, jabbing a finger at Ollie's foot. "Yea. A hunting class."

 

Rob went to their dining table, a rickety wooden thing they had hammered together using pieces of wood they had purchased on the cheap from a boat builder, and stacked up the empty plates laying across the top to transport to the wash bucket. He preferred a tidy living space, and the years he had spent in the naval service had made cleaning up almost second nature. Ollie was less fussed about it all, preferring to enjoy his life, which would have suited Rob just fine, if that hadn't meant that Ollie's mess also became his mess.

 

"Leeward would be good at it, I think," Ollie mused. He tilted his head back to watch as Rob dunked the plates into the wash bucket and scrubbed at them with a piece of soap. "There's class in about half an hour, if I recall correctly. If you leave now, you can make it."

 

"And leave you to do the dishes?" Rob scoffed.

 

"I'll do the dishes. Go on!" To his credit, Ollie did indeed leap to his feet, moving to usher Rob away from the bucket.

 

"These better be done by the time I get back." Rob dunked the dish back into the bucket and rose, grabbing Leeward's leash off its hook. She already knew what was happening, having wised up right around when Ollie had risen, and she followed him like an orange shadow as he opened the door and left the apartment.

 

"You ready?" Rob asked as they walked along the now familiar path to the training guild headquarters. She behaved perfectly, not once threatening to rush into the street the way she used to do. Rob liked to think that the obedience training had taught her how to use her brain and think critically before acting - a much needed skill for a hound with feet as flighty as hers.

 

They rounded the corner and made it up the steps into the training guild headquarters. The hunting class was being held in the back, according to a sign pinned to the door. Rob led Leeward through the building, out the back door, and onto one of the grassy lots that had been fenced off for classes.

 

"Hello, Rob!" the trainer greeted. She was the same one who had taught them advanced obedience. It seemed she had taken quite a shine to both the Tillers, and Rob gave her a nod in greeting as he brought Leeward into a corner of the ring and settled her down to await instruction.

 

"Today is basic hunt training!" the trainer announced. "Our first task tonight will be to familiarize our dogs with retrieving a lure. From there, we can graduate them to retrieving other things."

 

She pointed to a crate set in the middle of the ring, stacked high with different colored objects. "Take one each and work with your dog for the first half of the class. We want to reward them first for touching it, then for putting it in their mouths, then for holding it. We'll slowly get them used to holding things in their mouths."

 

Rob snagged one of the objects - it was long and narrow, made of what seemed to be a tough, worn leather. Holding it in front of Leeward's nose, he let her sniff it curiously, and then lick it. "Good!" he said, giving her a pat. 

 

"Once the dogs are comfortable with holding it in their mouths, we'll add a cue for this behavior," said the trainer as the class continued to practice.

 

In no time, Leeward had figured out what she was meant to do. She grabbed the leather eagerly, tail wagging as Rob gave her a pat and rewarded her with a treat.

 

"You're going to be a great hunting dog," Rob said, feeling pleased. "I knew it."