Current Owner: Phina Wolf
Show Name: Silver Lining to My Cloud Of Pain
Pet Name: Silver
Gender: Female
Size: 23 inch 75 lbs
Color: Blue Merle
Genotype:
Breeding Notes:
Gah, she's so cute! Poor baby.
Chronological order of stories:
1.
First introduction (required)2.
Training3.
Meeting another pet4.
Dealing with special needs5.
New toy 6.
Theme song7.
Overcoming a fear8.
Favorite sleeping spot9.
Theme of your choice! - Meeting the FiancéFirst introduction (required)Josephina Lupa Ryden tapped her fingers nervously on the wheel of her red Ford pick up. She had been on the waiting list for months, and they finally had the perfect dog for her. Now all she had to do was to go, pick up the dog, sign some papers and take it home. She glanced at the clock as she parked infant of the Sweetnose Mastiff Rescue Center and sighed. Good, she should be the first person in to pick up her mastiff today, as they had opened only minutes ago. She unbuckled and climbed out i=of the car, snatching the collar and leash she had brought as she did so. Phina paused in front of the door, gathering her courage, then pushed it open. The sound of barking dogs greeted her ears, and served as background music as she worked with the receptionist to get all of the paper work signed, and then waited while her new dog was retrieved. Within a few minutes, the door to the back section of the rescue sound open and a dark blue merle Mastiff was led out, it's gait slightly altered by the loss of a leg. The fey's blue eyes shone with intelligence as Phina knelt down and slowly extended her hand for the dog to sniff. She carefully attached the collar and leash, stroking the dog's floppy ears sh she did so. "Hey there Silver." she said softly, "Who's ready to go home?"
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Meeting another petIt had taken Phina a while to decide which of her many dogs to introduce Silver to first. Most of them were slightly put out with her for being relegated to their outdoor kneels until now, as Phina had wanted to ensure that Silver was able to acquaint herself with her surroundings before she tried to introduce another dog. She had finally decided on
Vashta Nerada, her other disabled dog, to be the first. He was one of the calmest of her dogs, and she hoped that the fact that they were both disabled would help reduce any stress. Silver was flopped out on the couch when Phina pushed open the front door and led Vasht inside. Both dogs were immediately attentive, but Vasht did not pull on his leash. Silver hopped down from the couch and padded closer to Vasht, who was studying her with his one good eye. Phina forced herself to remain calm, knowing that her stress could ruin the entire meeting. Silver took another few steps forward, her head cocked and she sniffed tentatively at Vasht, who lowered his head slightly as he sniffed back. He stretched his head forward, and the two dogs touched noses. Phina breathed a sigh of relief. She kept Vasht on his leash for the rest of the day, but there was no need for it. The two dogs were two totally different personality types, Silver constantly moving from one location to the next, and Vasht climbing his usual spot at the end of the couch. Phina puttered around the kitchen, occasionally tossing scraps to the two eagerly waiting mouths. By the end of the day, Silver and Vasht were curled up back to back infrony of the fireplace. Phina felt bad to break them up, and make Vasht go back outside, but that was the safest option. Silver looked almost sad to see her friend go, and laid for the rest of the evening watching the door. Phina smiled, "One down. Eleven to go. And then we have to try the cats, and horses...."
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New toy Phina was worried as she perked the car and dashed inside her house. This was the first time she had ever left Silver completely unattended, and she had no idea how the dog would react. She had only been gone maybe fifteen minutes, but still. Her hands shook ash he unlocked the door and pushed it open, but there was no need for alarm. Silver was laying on the couch, her head resting on the arm and staring at the door. As soon as Phina entered, the mastiff sprung up and dashed over, stopping just before she bowled her owner over. "Hey girl! I missed you too!" Phina said, tousling the excited dog's ears. She reached into her purse and pulled out a large section of
deer antler, and laid it on the floor. Sliver sniffed at the strange object curiously, then tentatively pawed at it. "It's a deer antler." Phina advised, "It is safe to chew on, and won't splinter like a bone will." Silver looked up at her, her head cocked as if to say, "I'm sorry, I don't speak human, human." "Well, you'll figure it out quickly." Phina assured Silver. She was wrong however. For weeks, Silver refused to chew her new toy. She carried it around for place to place, rolled it across the floor, played tug of war with it, played fetch with it and hid it, but did not chew it. Her tennis balls however? Oh, she won't retrieve them, but gladly chews them to shreds. Goofy dog.
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TrainingAfter much deliberation, Phina had decided to try to clicker train Silver. She had everything ready: an enclosed yard, plenty of treats, the clicker and the dog. Silver was currently attempting to dig her way out of the fence, but Phina solved that dilemma by clipping a leash to her gentle leader and tying the other end of the leash to her belt. Silver was not amused. She stood staring at Phina, head cocked, her paws and muzzle covered in dirt. Phina retrieved a treat from her pocket and held it slightly behind the center of Silver's head. Silver looked up, craning her neck to try and get at the treat. "Sit." Phina commanded, holding the treat further behind Silver's head, causing the mastiff to sit to see it. Phina clicked the clicker and tossed Silver the treat. Silver snapped it up and stood, eager for more. "Sit." Phina commanded again, and again placed a treat slightly behind Silver's eyes. Silver sat down slowly, and again received a treat when the clicker was clicked. "Good girl!!" Phina praised, "Who's a smart girl?" After a few more repetitions, Phina released Silver to go and attack the dirt under the fence again, unknowing that there was concrete wire stretching six feet down to prevent escapes under the fence.
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Dealing with special needsPhina was jolted awake by a yelp of pain from the foot of her bed. She leapt up, rushing to Silver's side, "What is it girl? What's the matter?" she crooned, cradling the dog's head in her lap and stroking her velvety ears. Silver was whimpering, her stump quivering violently as if in pain. "Poor baby, my poor baby." Phina murmured, shifting to look at Silver's stump. There she found what she had feared. She hadn't paid enough attention over the last week, and now Silver had pressure sores on her stump. "Oh my poor, poor baby." she gently shifted Silver so that as much pressure as possible was away from her stump, and rummaged through her closet, quickly locating a few old but soft blankets, which she folded and placed under the stump. Silver whined pitifully, but did not make an effort to move. "Stay." Phina commanded, then rushed down stairs, almost tripping over one of her other dogs in her rush to the kitchen. She quickly miked a saltwater solution and grabbed a few towels, then returned to Silver's side. "Here we are girl, this should make it feel better." She promised, and began to bathe the sore gently with the warm saltwater. "We'll get you to the vet tomorrow morning, and get some antibiotic or something." Phina promised. Silver thumped her tail on her bed, her body relaxing as Phina's gentle hands bathed her injury.
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Overcoming a fearSilver had insisted on tagging along with Phina on her trip into town to pick up groceries and the monthly delivery of dog food, she she paced next to her owner on her
Gentle Leader when she suddenly froze, growling softly. Phina frowned, looking around to see if she could find anything that should be scaring Silver. There were no there dogs around, and even if there had been, Silver had shown that she was good with other dogs, and tolerant of cats, of which there were none nearby that Phina could see. "What's the matter girl?" Phina asked, kneeling next to her dog to try and see the world from her point of view. She scanned their surroundings, gently stroking Silver's floppy ears as she did so. Suddenly she caught sight of the gaudy trimmings of a store window, all ready for christmas, complete with a man dressed as an elf standing outside dressed in red and green with huge curly toed shoes and a large Christmas hat. Silver was staring directly at the curls on the man's shoes. Phina frowned, extremely confused. "What is the matter Silver? They're just shoes. Weird shoes, granted but shoes."Phina stood and they began to walk toward the shop. Silver had stopped growling, but was hiding behind Phina as they approached the man with the 'scary' shoes. Phone nodded politely to the elf, who offered her some of the stores wares, which happened to be cookies. Phina smiled and accepted graciously, then asked if they sold dog cookies, in response to which the man pulled a Christmas tree shaped dog treat out of a small bag. He knelt and offered it to Silver before Phina could warn him that her dog was currently afraid of the man's shoes. Silver backed away slightly, staring at the huge curly on the and of the shoes, then at the treat. Phina shortened her lead, but did not pull Silver towards or away from the man. Within a few moments, Silver stepped forward and accepted the treat, her tail wagging softly. The man extended his hand for her to sniff, then scratched her ears gently. "She's a beautiful dog." He said, standing. Phina smiled at him, "Thank you. She's a new breed, a Sweetnose Mastiff." "Really? I have heard good things about those dogs. How did she loose her leg?" "Well, you see....."
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Favorite sleeping spotPhina sighed as she closed her laptop. It was never fun to receive bad news. That was why it was called BAD news. She had just received an email from one her friends near her winter home up in Alaska, where she took her dogs to practice sleding. According to her friend, the breeder who had sold Phina every dog from her fledgeling sled team had just closed down and would be selling no further dogs. "Well, no new friends from that quarter." She said to Vasht, who was curled at her feet, looking extremely disgruntled. "What's up with you, hu boy?" Phina asked, reaching down to scratch the melanistic dog's ears. She followed the gaze from his one good eye and laughed. Silver had rather firmly taken up residence in Vasht's customary spot at the end of the couch, which had been his for the past year and a half, and was sound asleep. "Good luck getting your spot back Vasht." Phina said, "Silver sleeps there during the day, and I don't think that you'll be able to convince her to budge an inch." Vasht sighed, laying his head on the floor. Sliver smiled an ornery doggy smile in her sleep.
202 words
Theme songPhina was driving Silver back to the Sweetnose Mastiff Rescue Center for Silver's post adoption checkup, and to pick up some final information that had been handed over late by her previous owners. She flicked on the radio, and smiled as she heard
Mended by Matthew West come on. "I love this song." She commented to Silver, "it always lifts me up." Sliver thumped her tail at the sound of her master's voice, then laid her head down on the seat, here eyes on the radio speakers. Phina listened to the lyrics for a few more minutes before parking and turning the car off, which turned the radio off. She got out, then walked around to let Silver out. As Silver stepped down, she let out a huge sigh as if in disappointment. "What's the matter girl?" Phina asked, "Missing all your old friends from here?" Silver looked up at her, her doggy tongue lolling out one side and Phina smiled. "Silly girl. Let's get this checkup over, shall we?"
Silver passed with flying colors and was released back into Phina's care. When she asked, she learned that yes, several of the recently rescued mastiffs had found homes, and that they were matching the last few up with families on the waiting list. Phina of course offered to take another if they would like her too, but they assured her that there should be homes lined up for all of the remaining mastiffs. She they got back into the car, Phina was surprised to hear Mended playing again. "That's funny." She commented quietly, buckling up. "This is only a verse or so from where we left off." Silver's eyes were glued to the speakers, here ears erect, as if listening to the song. "This is kinda your song, hu girl? Broken, then mended." Phina said, pulling out onto main street. Silver just thumped her tail, grinning a doggy grin.
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Theme of your choice! - Meeting the FiancéAs Phina rushed busily around the house, the four dogs whose turn it was to be inside watcher her curiously, trying to figure what all the panic was about. Silver was on her favorite spot at the end of the couch, which had just been cleaned and still had a light dusting of dog hair all over it, Vasht was curled discontentedly on a large chair, also just cleaned, and also covered in fur again.
River, a mastiff mutt who had been adopted from a friend, was lounging to one side of the fire place and
Kitten, a Bear Run Sheep dog, was sitting at the other side. Silver thumped her tail softly and Phina stopped for a moment and smiled, "Sorry guys, I just want to make sure that everything is at least presentable. Anyone want to go outside?" Kitten and River bounced up, their tails wagging. "Okay, come on then." Phina said, walking to the back door and releasing the two dogs into the large enclosed back yard. "Just you and Vasht again, hu Silver?" Phina asked, sitting down next to the blue merle Mastiff. Silver thumped her tail again, grinning her doggy grin. "Door thing that you ran along next to the sled team already today, or you'd be bouncing off the walls Phina commented. Before Silver could respond, there was a knock on the door and Phina sprang up and almost tripped over her own two feet getting to the door, which she immediately flung open. "Terence!" she said, quickly hugging her Fiancé, "How are you? How did the trip go?" Terence smiled and hugged her back, Good, I've missed you! It went great, all the animals performed well and all went back to their owners, who were amazed at their transformations." Phina grinned, then turned and called to Silver, "Come here girl, come meet Terence." Silver stood warily, and stepped off the couch padding slowly over. "Terence, this is Silver, the Sweetnose Mastiff rescue I told you about." Phina said, scratching Silver behind her ears. "Hey pretty girl." Terence said, crouching down and gently extending his hand toward the wary mastiff. Silver looked at terence, and then at Phina and then at the extended hand before stepping forward and sniffing it cautiously. "That's my good girl." Phina said, handing Terence a treat which he offered to Silver. The treat vanished within seconds, and Silver's tail began to wag happily. "That's my good girl." Phina said again, smiling.
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