Shedu Fundamental Training

SFT: Lugalli

CORE TRAINING:

Leading/lunging or standing tied: [ 769 words ]
Jayden entered the barn her shedus resided in, inhaling deeply as she braced herself for what was about to happen. The twin shedus she had weren't exactly friendly towards humans, or other shedus for that matter. Jayden's gaze was immediately drawn to the stunning shedu next to the entrance of the barn. Alyzin, full name Alyzin De Luna, was the other shedu that Jayden owned, and she was completely different to the twins. She loved everyone, and had come over to the front of her stable to nuzzle Jayden affectionately. But today Jayden wasn't here to begin her training. Instead she was going to tackle the more friendly of the twins – Lugalli. So far, she had never actually lunged at her handler with intent to harm. Sure, she'd 'mock-lunge', but no harm ever came to Jayden from that, apart from a racing heart-beat. Patting Alyzin on the head, she continued forwards towards the shedu she would be training today.

At 3 years of age Lugalli should be more mature and already used to humans, but she'd had different owners who hadn't even started training her. Jayden was determined to turn this bad-tempered shedu into a loving and loyal companion. Unfortunately, she hadn't really made any progress in the past. But today she was determined to complete at least the first part of training her. Jayden wandered passed Alyzin and the shedu in the stall opposite her – Linziliat. Stopping at the stall besides Linziliat's, the grey-haired human made eye contact with Lugalli. The shedu cocked her head to one side, as if daring Jayden to step closer. Hesitantly, the human steps closer, and opens the gate. The gate is more for aesthetic reasons than anything, as it only just reaches up to Jayden's waist. Any shedu could easily leap over it if they so desired. The sides of each individual stable were rather open, with them just being wooden planks about 75cm high. The openness of the stables is to allow the shedus to see each other and to communicate with other shedus.

Hesitantly, Jayden began approaching the shedu. Lugalli stood up, her lips drawn back slightly in the beginnings of a snarl. Slowly moving her hand out to be reached in front of her, Jayden stopped walking and stood looking at the shedu. Her blue eyes locked with Lugalli's. One blue and one orange, they stared back almost coldly. Although she must have sensed Jayden's desperation, as she blinked at her handler, and relaxed. Taking this as a sign that it was okay to approach the large feline, Jayden stepped closer and rested her outstretched hand on the shedus forehead. Lugalli's tail lashed once, and then stopped moving. A loud exhale near Jayden's left ear startled her and she flinched, spinning her head around to see what had made the noise. She felt Lugalli tense up at the sudden motion, but Jayden was too focused on the shedu currently only a few centimeters away from her face.

Without Jayden realising it Linziliat had slunk closer to her. He huffed at her, and then seemed to realise that his sister was okay with their handler approaching her, and he turned around and wandered a few paces away to flop onto the floor. Jayden turned back to look at Lugalli, who had pushed her head back into Jayden's palm. Slipping the bridle from her shoulder and into her other hand, Jayden slowly moved closer to the shedu. Lugalli tensed as she saw the bridle, but she didn't move away. She allowed Jayden to fit it onto her, and stayed still as she clipped a lead-rope onto the bridle. Holding her breath, Jayden gently tugged the lead in her direction, hoping to get Lugalli to move forwards. Instead the shedu tensed up, directly staring into Jayden's eyes, as if challenging her. Pleading with her eyes, Jayden tugged on the rope again.

After only a few more attempts, Lugalli took one step forwards. Excitement surged through Jayden as she began to head towards the exit of the stable, desperately hoping that Lugalli would follow. The rope stayed relaxed as Lugalli followed Jayden out of the barn, and towards the fence post in the middle of the large field to the left of the barn. Upon arriving at the fence post, Jayden tied the lead-rope up to it, and stood back as she watched Lugalli stand there, looking rather unimpressed at being dragged out of the warm barn. The cold morning air didn't seem to be up to Lugalli's standards. Taking a deep breath, Jayden braced herself for the next part of Lugalli's training.