m_findlow

Title: Training in progress
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 734 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for m_findlow's prompt "Any, any, old dog, new tricks" at fic_promptly
Summary: Ianto's newest recruit is proving a challenge to train

'Sit,' Ianto said.

Bark!

'Buddy, sit.'

Bark!

'Make sure your commands are clear and firm,' called the puppy school instructor.

'Sit or I'll send you through the bloody rift! Is that clear enough?'

Bark! Bark!

Why? Why did Jack do this to him? This was his bloody dog, so why the hell was Ianto the one dragging it to puppy school?

'Emergency called from the PM, I can't ignore her,' Jack had told him. Codswallop! He managed to snake out of them all the time. It was just a convenient excuse. Perhaps Jack had known that puppy school wasn't working out so well, their newest family member apparently totally untrainable. But if so, why send Ianto along to uncover the truth?

He stood there, hands on hips and stared hard at the black Labrador, wagging his tail and rolling on top of Ianto's feet, indicating that he wanted a belly rub.

'You're just like Jack, you know that? Stubborn and obstinate and misbehaved. And then you roll over and give everyone that cute little look and just expect us to forgive you. Worse, you actually expect a reward for being bad!'

It was thoroughly embarrassing being the only person in the class with a dog that couldn't follow basic commands. The rest were graduating to walking off the leash, crawling through cute little doggy tunnels and leaping over hurdles. Not their dog, though. Let him off that leash for even one second and he'd be halfway to Swansea.

Bark! Buddy was back on his feet, having given up on the belly rub, poking his nose between Ianto's legs to get his attention.

'Sit!' Instead he leapt up, nearly toppling Ianto onto the grass.

'What the hell has Jack been teaching you at these lessons?' he asked. 'Are you even going, or is this all some elaborate plan to skive off work?'

At some point in between chastisements, Ianto noticed that the instructor had given up on the pair of them, focusing on the other owners in the group whose dogs were actually doing as they were told.

'Make sure you give positive reinforcement,' she called out. 'They need to know they'll be rewarded for good behaviour.'

'Is that your problem?' Ianto asked. 'Too much positive reinforcement for doing the wrong thing?'

He knew what Jack was like. Give him the doggy treats and the packet would be empty within a day. Why bother behaving when someone would spoil you silly? He'd learnt that lesson the hard way. He couldn't resist spoiling Jack either. They were as bad as each other.

Buddy finally sat, although without the command and looked up at him, big brown eyes and tongue hanging out just enough to not look completely smug. It was kind of adorable and made Ianto want to grab him and give him one of those big playful hugs, tugging his ears and scratching his neck. He was Jack's dog, but he was breaking down all of Ianto's defences one by one.

Ianto cocked his head at him. 'Stay,' he said, slowly leaning down to unclip the leash. 'Stay,' he repeated. Buddy fidgeted on his haunches, trying hard to comply. Ianto could tell how much it was killing him not to stand up. 'Good boy, stay.'

A loud whistle trilled out from the instructor, signalling the end of their session, and Buddy went to leap into action, forgetting all about the command. This was his favourite part, because now he got to run around and play with all the other dogs whilst their owners lounged on park benches, rewarding themselves with coffee and bottles of water.

'Oh, no, not you pal,' Ianto said, grabbing his collar tight and clipping the leash back in place before he could make a break for it. 'You and me have a date elsewhere. You're not going home until you've learned to sit, stay, walk, roll over and fetch my slippers without eating them. That'll make you one step better trained than Jack.'

Buddy resisted the tug on the leash, digging his heels in, but Ianto was the stronger of the two on this occasion.

'You think you've got it made, turning up to puppy school with Jack and just having a lark, but now you're going to Ianto school which isn't going to be nearly as much fun. I managed to house train Jack. Now you're getting the same treatment.'