Training your Fluffy 1: Intro

Training Your Fluffy: A Guide

[DISCLAIMER: The following methods are meant to be used on domesticated fluffies only. If you are trying to raise a feral fluffy, it is recommended to consult a fluffy specialist. Smarty friends in particular are virtually untrainable.]

>Fluffy ponies are a popular pet for their soft fluff, playful disposition, and adorable baby talk.
>However, there must come a time when a responsible owner needs to establish discipline and set boundaries for his or her fluffy.
>This is especially important when house training a new and/or young fluffy, and when teaching it where it can and cannot go, and rules it has to follow.

>It is important to keep in mind that a fluffy, by design, has a very limited cognitive capacity. Simply put, it's not that smart.
>As a general rule, fluffies require one of three elements to keep a memory in long term storage:
>Extreme joy
>Severe trauma
>Repetition
>Extreme joy is the opposite of discipline.
>Severe trauma is not recommended, as it is more likely to result in lasting psychological disorder at best, and permanent damage or death to the fluffy at worst.
>Thus repetition is the key to training your fluffy pony.

>Training a fluffy takes diligence, patience, and consistency.
>There are numerous methods of fluffy discipline floating around, but not all of them are as effective as others, and some don't work at all.
>The purpose of this guide will be to collect discipline methods and explain their effectiveness or lack thereof.
>Scientific testing, as well as anecdotal evidence, was utilized to make this guide.

>The important thing to remember when training a fluffy is that the biggest part of a fluffy's upbringing is you, the owner.
>To a domesticated fluffy, its owner is the God of their domain.
>The vast majority of fluffies will do their best to please their owner, as befits their mental programming. A fluffy strongly equates its own happiness with the happiness that it brings to its owner.
>If a fluffy fails to respond effectively to any of the recommended disciplinary methods, understand that it is not doing so out of spite.
>Due to variations in intelligence, personality, and genetics, different fluffy ponies will respond to different methods of discipline. Some require only stern words to keep in line, whereas others require a more...firm hand.
>It is recommended that, if a fluffy is not responding to discipline, you should change methods and try something new.
>Ideally, you should alternate between direct physical punishment and more indirect methods.
>You are the most important element to a fluffy's learning environment. Short of a completely hopeless cause, a good owner should be able to train even the most dense or headstrong of fluffies.
>Fluffy ponies have severely limited short term memories. Before disciplining your fluffy, tell it exactly what it did wrong, and what it should have done instead. If a fluffy does not know or understand why it is being punished, there is not point in punishing them.
>If applicable during the punishment, you should ask the fluffy why it is being punished. If they don't remember, remind them. Do this often, with five minutes being the maximum length of time between asking/reminding. This keeps the reason fresh in the fluffy's mind, and they better associate the unwanted action with the punishment.
>At the end of the punishment, ask the fluffy again why it was punished, and what it will do the next time that situation happens. From start to finish, the fluffy should be precisely aware of why it is being punished.
>Most importantly, make sure you tell the fluffy what it should do next time. No fluffy wants to be punished, and it will hopefully do its best to remember the incident.
>It is likely you will have to repeat this system at least once before it really sticks in the fluffy pony's mind. Fortunately, after your method has worked the first time, and the fluffy has permanently internalized the association with misbehavior and punishment, subsequent training will require fewer and fewer acts of discipline.

THE METHODS
>Each method is broken down into a description of the disciplinary method, a commentary on the results of testing or anecdotes, and an ultimate conclusion as to whether the method is valid or not.

To be continued