60th of Fall, 515 AV
midday
They had found some sort of cow in the grasslands, off by itself. There was no smell of a nearby herd. Maybe the others of its kind had been killed. Maybe this female had been banished for one reason or another.
The reason why didn't matter. What mattered was that the cow was alone.
The coyote wasn't certain he had met a cow that looked and smelled quite like this one before. It took a little bit of experimentation to test its strengths and weaknesses. Spooking it determined it didn't run too fast-- probably weighed down by its bulk on such spindly, wide set legs. Its horns weren't so large as to be intimidating, though he was certain it would be strong and sure-footed and probably have a lot of endurance.
All in all, the coyote thought that this cow might be a good animal to practice on: it was isolated, slow, and relatively safe to poke at. Even better that it was large enough to take a lot of abuse without succumbing.
The perfect training exercise, he thought, for teaching hunting dogs to herd.
---
He'd been wrong, but not about the cow. He'd been wrong about the dogs.
Boy, was his head hurting. This was altogether too much work.
For the nth time, the coyote yapped at his dogs to get into place. Brother obediently trotted back and away from the bleeding, leg-torn cow, coming to stand next to the coyote, tongue lolling out in a grin. Sister didn't move at all; she had given up on the training --too annoyed by the coyote's constant interruptions to continue-- and was lying on the ground a bit aways, soaking up the meager sun. The coyote ignored her and focused on Brother.
He was frustrated. Usually he preferred to be coyote, especially out in the wild... but this form just did not have the capability to explain what he wanted his dogs to do. Coyotes couldn't speak like humans, saying, don't do that, follow that way, ignore your instincts. No. They had to speak with the body and with tone, limited as any canine, and that, in this circumstance, wasn't near enough to explain herding-- a concept too foreign to dogs who just wanted to eat.
Sighing, the coyote rubbed his nose against his leg and tried again. Brother was in position, a little behind and to the side of the cow, far enough away that their target was standing and watching instead of trying to escape.
A step forward meant it was time to chase, and Brother was off. The coyote stayed close as a second fur coat, a little to the inside, blocking Brother from attacking the cow. It was a difficult task, though, and Brother thought it was a game --a challenge-- instead of a teaching moment. The coyote was trying to get the dog to resist attacking and merely pursue, running parallel to the cow. Brother, however, was set on trying to get past the coyote. One mistake and--
--the coyote accidentally caught a paw on uneven terrain, slowing, and the dog shot past him, veering in towards his prey--
--and Brother's teeth nipped at the cow's front leg, peeling off a flap of loose skin, earning a taste of blood. The coyote zipped forward, panting, head pounding, and managed to block the dog again by breaking once more to the inside, coming between him and the cow. He pressed against Brother's side, getting him slowly to steer away. Further, further... and when the cow became tired, the coyote incited a play-fight-- the only sure way to get Brother to stop the chase.
They rolled around and pounced on each other for a few moments, the coyote less enthusiastic than he might have been otherwise as Brother tried to catch a bite of his scruff. He was preoccupied. It was just so hard! His dogs truly did not understand. All they wanted to do was attack; all the coyote wanted them to do was learn.
Maybe he should go back to trying to demonstrate. Only it was difficult when you weren't certain your audience was paying attention. Or when they thought they should be included, and messed everything up.
The coyote let Brother get the upper hand in their fight so it would end, and then he extracted himself and sat to rest for a little while, trying to think of a newer, better way of teaching. At least this was good practice for when he would be trying to teach Pack. Right now the little pup was too small to do any real herding, but within a short while he would hit a growth spurt, and then the coyote might actually have an apt student.