||Username||
AprilShowers
||Dog number||
Two is the one that really caught my eye.
||Dog name||
If I were to own this perfect canine, I would call him Mio. It's original, short-and-sweet, and it has an almost powerful feel--to me, this represents Mio himself! Mio is also the name I call my grandfather, an affectionate version of 'Nonno' (Italian for Grandpa). This means it also has a special meaning for me. :3
||Stats||
Mio is the dog in Kennel Number Two. He is male, with gorgeous sky-blue and gold markings. He is a bit short for his age, but appears to be in perfect health. However, due to his dramatic coloring his owner did not see it fit to use him as the sled-dog he was bred to be; he is now in a shelter and his moral is greatly decreased. Mio is three years old, birth date April 21. ||Side note from April: April 21 is my birthday too! Just another reason why I absolutely adore this boy. ||
||Personality||
Mio is over-confident and energetic. He's ambitious and courageous and doesn't let anything stop him. He takes criticism hard and is a bit too sensitive in general. However, Mi is also never-endingly sweet and thoughtful. An immature and slightly goofy exterior hides the sweet, smart, bright dog Mio really is.
If Mio were a kid he'd be the one at the front of the class who brings the teacher a Christmas present even when he's really getting too old to. He'd be the one who helps the shy girl speak up and the clumsy boy clean up the mess he's made for the millionth time. Mio may not be one of the popular kids, but nobody teases him. He just exudes positive energy, and nobody can really bring themselves to mess with that. Besides, even if they did make fun of him nothing would change. Mio will always be over-eager for life in general, no matter what circumstances try to bring him down.

||If you do not want your dog anymore, will you return it here?||
I honestly can't imagine myself giving up such a beautiful, bright creature. But if for any reason I truly had to, he'd be all yours, Kiley. :3

||The Beginning of Mio||
Raul Kinsley had a dream. He was going to be the youngest ever person to win the Iditarod, and he already had a good start on getting there--he was the proud new owner of eight sled-dogs! His husky, Mona, had just had a litter of seven puppies, and if all of them could race like Raul hoped he would have almost a complete team. His mother wouldn't let him see the pups yet, and he was dying to be allowed into the living room to take a look. He had no idea what she was keeping from him; but he absolutely had to find out!
Mona and the puppies were in the living room, forbidden for Raul to enter. He had been patient for the past four hours of the longest ever Saturday morning, and he wasn't going to take it anymore. Raul was sneaking in.
On the floor he saw the sweetest sight that could have possibly met him. Mona was there, licking a sweet gray husky's face and making a happy whining noise; Raul rushed to her side. One by one, he picked the pups from the litter, inspecting them for any physical defects that would hurt a sled-team. They were all perfect--all until the very last one.
It was blue. It had green eyes and yellow markings and it was BLUE. Raul just couldn't believe it. There was no way a runt looking like that would be allowed to race...it was hideous! This creature didn't even deserve to be looked at. Raul flung it aside. That wasn't his dog. He owned champions, and that THING was not one of them. It was going to the shelter in the morning. Why did his life have to be so disappointing?
Mio lay on the floor, panting from being flung by the big blurry person-creature. The thing didn't seem to like him much, Mio noted. Neither did Mona. What was wrong? Mio was no less intelligent than any of the other pups...why didn't they love him? Mi just didn't understand, and his heart hurt from trying. All he wanted was for someone to pet him--that wasn't too much to ask, he thought.
Raul disagreed. He didn't know that little thing on the floor any better than he knew an alien, and he probably hated it just as much too. In fact, Raul only knew one thing about Mio: and that was that he was going to start his life as an orphan.

Part Two: The Shelter

Mio hated bars. They loomed over him like steel storm-clouds, a constant reminder of who he was and how little he was wanted. There was a nice blonde attendant with a tennis ball who liked to play with him, yes, and there were lots of delicious meat-treats, but one fact remained. No matter which way he looked, there were bars. All he wanted was to feel the grass again, to feel the sunshine and the light and run and be free. Mio was a superhero, in his mind at the very least, and superheroes always needed a chance to stretch their wings.
It rained very little in the Alaskan shelter, but what did that matter? He could't see the sun anyway. Mio remembered Mona, and the one day, back when he was still her baby boy, where all the pups went out and rolled around on the lawn. They were there for maybe three hours, but Mi had made the daydream go on for at least six. It was all he had left now. Thoughts and remembrances...what a sad nourishment for a broken soul! Mio couldn't have felt more alone.
Rosa Langly walked into the shelter after a never-ending car ride with her three younger brothers. They lived in Washington, a bit too far from Alaska as far as she was concerned. Not that Rosa didn't love the grandmother she had come to visit--she did. She just wished Gramgram could come down to Hartington every now and then instead of the other way around.
Gramgram, long since retired, had recently taken up work in the local animal shelter. She enjoyed it quite a bit, and had felt an inherent need to share that enjoyment with her favorite grandchildren. Rosa thought that was nice, and she did love dogs...but mostly she just wanted a shower. No girl was supposed to spend seven straight hours smelling of french-frie oil.
That all changed when Rosa looked into kennel number 147. Inside was the single most beautiful, intricate canine she had ever seen--big, soulful eyes and sweet-smelling soft blue fur. Her eyes strayed to the tag on the door. "Mio," she whispered, extending a hand to touch the husky's head. "Your name is Mio."
Mio looked up at the freckled girl with the sweet voice. He liked her right away, and leaned up to lick her face. Maybe she would play with him! He hoped so...slowly, right before his eyes, the bars of his cage opened. The Rosa girl was picking him up! Mio gave a wriggle of delight and kissed her nose some more. He watched a gleeful grin spread across the human's face, and then she was running across the concrete floor. Something about Mom? Mona was "Mom" to Mio, but the tired brunette waiting for them was anything but Mona.
Mrs. Langly looked down at Rosa and Mio, identical beams on their faces. She knew without words what her eldest child was asking for, and it seemed like a perfectly illogical choice to make. Then again, she hadn't seen her daughter look this happy since the family's old german shepherd had died. Maybe a pet was just what they needed--all of them.
Rosa looked up at her mother, giving her most pleading smile. "Please, Mom? I love him so, so much! His name is Mio...don't you love the name Mio? Isn't he adorable? Please, Mommy, please!"
Mommy. When was the last time Mrs. Langly had heard that term from her stubborn 13-year-old? That one word fixed any doubts that the lady had had about adding a puppy to their family. If it made Rosa this happy, the dog could stay.
Mio looked from the Mom-lady to the Rosa-girl, heard their soft-sweet words. He may not have understood English, but he knew what they were saying well enough. Mio had found a home.
||Art||
A quick reference sheet (lines by Taliska). :3



And a headshot (lines by Keyoto)