[olivionary]

Baltic Winters Sled Dog Association: Rescue Round Up

This little fella is one of the most recent dogs that we have gotten in. He is very shy of both people and other dogs, but we are sure with some time, this boy will eventually come out of his shell. He was picked up from a hoarding case along with several other dogs that you will be seeing.

owner;; Phina Wolf
full name;; The Fires of Pompeii
call name;; Pompeii
age;; 3 years old
gender;; Male
colour;; Red Brindle Pinto
genotype;; KbrKbr/aa/bb/DD/ee/gg/Iir/SoSi/tt
have all the tasks been completed?;; Incomplete

No posting until Phina Wolf has posted their claim! You have until 8th April 2016.

[Phina Wolf]

I am claiming my Baltic Husky!
full name;; The Fires Of Pompeii
call name;; Pompeii
tasks;;

Task 1 - Welcoming your new dog home -Complete
I examined my work critically. They said that My new boy needed to be kept away from other dogs for a while, so I was keeping him in the living room for now. I had set up a large pen in the corner with an igloo dog house inside so he had some privacy. There was a cost dog bed inside, as well as food and water. I hoped the new dog would be comfortable. His name was..Pheonix? No, Pompeii, Fires of Pompeii. What an interesting name, a name that indicated carnage and destruction. Well, there would be no carnage OR destruction coming to this dog while he was in my care. I jumped when I heard a knock and rushed to my door, practically flinging it open.

There stood a member of the rescue team, a leash in their hands. I followed the leash to the dog it was attacked to and sucked in my breath. “Oh you poor baby.” I said softly. There were no scars upon him, but other signs of abuseive neglect were evident. He was a scrawny as a string bean and cowered as far away from me and the rescue worker as possible.

The rescue worker offered me the leash. “He’ll be hard work.” They cautioned, “If you don’t think you can do it…” I cut them off.

“I will never turn away a dog from my door who needs loving care. Pompeii will always have a home here.” The worker smiled as I took the leash.

“You take care of him, he’s pure BH. We think that this boy has huge potential if you can over come his fear.” I nodded, my face serious.

“Don’t worry, he’s in good hands. I’ll take good care of him, the next time you see him, you won’t believe you’re seeing the same dog.”

The worker smiled. “I certainly hope so Phina.” With that they returned to their car and drove off, leaving me to try and coax Pompeii inside. It took a long time and lots of bacon bits, but eventually Pompeii was settled in his cage, hiding inside his igloo.

“I can’t wait to see you bloom Pompeii.” I told him. “The late bloomer is always the most magnificent.”

375 words

Task 2 - Bonding - Complete
After Pompeii arrived, I mostly ignored him. Not in the way you think, neglecting him and such, He was fed and watered daily and well cared for, but I pretended he wasn’t there in regards to my daily life. I didn’t try to approach the cage other than to feed and water him or in passing, I didn’t try to touch him or even talk to him that much. I Just let him get used to where he was and what it was like.

After about a few weeks of this, Pompeii began coming out of the igloo to do more than just eat and drink. He began to lay in the middle of his pen, just watching me go about daily life, cooking, cleaning, tending to Doctor, who I carefully kept out of the living room for now, everything I normally did. He didn’t bolt for the igloo when I opened the pen to feed and water him, but he did move to the other side, his pale blue grey eyes watching me carefully.

I still didn’t want to try and touch him, for fear of undoing all this hard work. Yes, it sounds easy, but you have no idea how hard it was to not spend every waking hour trying to get him to come over to me, or to sit in his pen, hoping he wouldn’t bolt. But I did start to talk to him, just silly nonsense mostly, about his coat, his eyes, what he thought of Doctor. He would watch me from the far end of the pen, his eyes and ears fixed on me.

It took several weeks of this before I felt that Pompeii was comfortable enough with me for me to move inside the pen. I sat in the corner farthest from the Igloo and the food and water, so as to not make Pompeii feel trapped. The whole first week he hid in the igloo whoever I came and sat down in the pen, talking to him. Then he slowly began to come out, at first only to watch me, but slowly, over the course of about a month, he began to just ignore me, going about whatever he wanted, and not freaking out when I moved or came or went.

I couldn’t wait for the next step, convincing him to let me touch, groom and harness him. But that is for another day.

403 words

Task 3 - Gaining Confidence - Complete
It had taken almost two months for Pompeii to get used to my presence, but this next step was even harder. Getting him used to my touch. This was the stage where we would either make leads and bounds of progress, or come across a huge set back. I decided to try and make Pompei want to be touched.

I brought Doctor into the living room for the first time in two months and let the dogs greet each other from opposite sides of the pen, Doctor on a leash incase one or the other became aggressive, but neither seem bothered by the others present, thank goodness!! I sat down next to Doctor and began petting him, scratching his ears and head, rubbing all over him and basically dotting on my boy as much as I could. Draco sighed with pleasure, leaning into the massage.

Pompeii, who had returned to his usual watching place laying down in the side of the pen closest to the kitchen, stood and cocked his head, unsure what to make of this. I continued fawning over Doctor, beginning to coo over him as well. He closed his eyes, whining with happiness. Pompeii trotted over to to the side of the pen closest to us and stuck his head through the bars, woofing curiously. Doctor wagged his tail happily and woofed back.

Pompeii put his front paws on the pen and barked, as if saying, “Hey! I want some too!!” Doctor grinned at him, his tongue lolling out. I stopped petting Doctor and moved over to Pompeii, setting me hand on the top of the pen. He shoved my hand with his nose, barking again. “Okay, okay.” I said, smiling. I gently began scratching Pompeii’s ears and head. Doctor barked jealously, so I petted his head with me other hand. “Good work boy.” I congratulated him as Pompeii sighed happily, stetting his head put for more attention. “I can’t wait to see what you two can do as a team.”

336 words
Task 4 - Training - Complete
I grinned as I looked at Pompeii, his tail wagging and his young lolling out in that goofy grin of his. While he had never become an outgoing dog, he had overcome his fear of humans and dogs, though no one could harness him but me, as I wad doing now. I couldn’t believe the progress we had made with Pompeii in just two and a half months!!! He was a far cry from the terrified, malnourished dog he had been when he came here. He coat was lush, soft, smooth and well groomed, his eyes were lustrous, bright and intelligent and his whole demeanor had changed to one of confidence. I tightened the last strap of his harness and clipped him in next to Doctor.

“Ready boys?” I asked. Used to this ritual, with barked happily in answer. “Mush!” I cried. Doctor took off, and Pompeii followed a moment after, hurrying to catch his stride. I ran along side the, a hand on the light sled they were pulling. I had decided on this method of teaching when I discovered that Pompeii learned best by doing and seeing, and was most at easy when he was with Doctor. I let them run for several minutes, then called out, “Woah boys!!” Doctor slowed to a stop, and Pompeii mimicked him.

I walked over to the two of them and fed them a bit of bacon. “Good boys!” I praised. Pompeii looked a little confused, but Doctor wagged his tail happily. I repeated the process several times, and soon Pompeii was starting off as soon as he heard mush, slowing when he heard easy and stopping as soon as he heard woah. I decided to give them a break, but Pompeii whined unhappily when I started to undo his harness.

“What is it boy?” I asked him, but the only answer he gave was nudging my hands away from the harness buckles. I looked at him a moment before shrugging, “Well, I guess we can practice some more.” I returned to my position next to the sled and called, “Mush! The dogs shot off, me barely keeping my hold on the step. “Easy boys!” I called, and they slowed a little. “Gee!” I called, and Pompeii hesitated, looking at Doctor. Doctor turned ed gently to the right, and Pompeii followed. I let them run in that direction for a few minutes before calling, “Haw!” Instead of waiting for Doctor, Pompeii turned to the left. “Clever boy!” I congratulated.

We practiced for several more minutes before I called a time out. I needed a rest, but the dogs seemed unfazed. “Well boys.” I said, smiling wearily. “You two make quite the team.”

450 words
Task 5 - First Meeting With Martha - Complete
I was in my favorite chair, reading Two Towers, one of my favorite books, with Pompeii curled up on my feet. Doctor was outside trying to convince Vasht to play with him, but to no avail. Vasht had lied in a corner, blind side to the wall, and had now started a nap in the sun. I scratched Pompeii’s ears gently and he whined in pleasure. We both started when we heard a knock on the front door. I checked my phone and gasped.

“Oh! That was today!! I’m an idiot. Come on Pompeii, you can be the first to meet her.” Pompeii cocked his head at me, but followed. I opened the door, admitting a small, excited bundle of fur and a good friend of mine. We went to the kitchen to talk, and Martha, the little fuzzball that had zipped in, ran to play with Pompeii. She was Doctor’s first daughter, and I hoped would have a more relaxed attitude, but no such luck.

Pompeii stared at the little bundle of chimeric fur for a moment, then began sniffing her curiously. Martha yipped happily and ran in circles around him, barking up a storm. Pompeii gave a soft woof and batted gently at the pup’s ears. Martha yipped and pounced on him. Pompeii obligingly ‘fell over’. Martha yipped happily, scrambling up onto Pompeii and licked his face. Pompeii gave me ‘you’re kidding me, right?’ look, but tolerated it like a champ. I grinned, “Don’t worry boy.” I comforted, “Her dad’ll have to deal with her soon.”

258 words

[Phina Wolf]

First and second tasks complete.

[Phina Wolf]

Third task done.

[Phina Wolf]

Fourth task done. (Can you tell I love writing about my new boy??)

[olivionary]

You have completed all the necessary tasks for your dog to become healthy.

Thank you for taking him in! Pompeii shall be moved onto the healthy lines.

[Phina Wolf]

Thank you so much!! We love our new boy to death!

[Phina Wolf]

May I have his Genome and Stats?? Sorry to be a bother.

[olivionary]

May I have his Genome and Stats?? Sorry to be a bother.

You already have his genes. And stats are being done at the end of the event when siezing is being sorted.

[Phina Wolf]

//bonks self on head// Right, duh. Okay. I was hoping to enter him in the training event is why I asked.