Name: Tarnac
Nicknames: Tar
Gender: Male
Age: Five Years Old
Breed: Thai Ridgeback
Description:A large and muscular dog, Tarnac was bred for any work that involved aggression. Tall with a broad chest and well defined face, Tarnac is perfect for short spurts of speed and power, making him better in immediate situations and not so good at the situations that involve tracking down the criminals over long distances. He likes action and he likes action fast.
A Thai Ridgeback, Tarnac has the stereotypical tuft of fur that goes all the way down his spine, making his breed look perpetually aggressive with the hackles up even when at ease. Although the breed comes in several different colors, Tarnac is a Blue Ridgeback and his coat boasts a deep grey, almost blue-ish fur tinting. Short-haired and thin-coated, Tarnac usually has a very hard time in extreme cold weather but does well in the heat.
Normally, Tarnac walks leisurely, eyes half-hooded in a lazy expression. However, within the blink of an eye he can go from passive to tearing at the enemy with a ferocity only seen by dogs that have either had terrible lives or extensive training by professionals.
The only really distinguishing feature that marks Tarnac aside from other dogs his breed besides his smell is a thick knot of scars on his right hip where he was injured before he became a stray. Although usually fine, if the weather gets extreme in any way he has been known to display a slight limp.
History:Specifically bred for police work, Tarnac was taken from his mother and siblings even before he was weaned so that he would not begin to form a relationship and learn fondness or kindness toward others. As were his other siblings. Until he was one year old, Tarnac lived with a single man who had made a carreer out of and dedicated his life to training dogs like Tarnac. For one year Tarnac learned the basic commands such as sit, stay, lay down, as well as other specific ones to an extensive degree. He was being trained side-by-side with other puppies like him who would later be sold to extremely rich millionaires, FBI, Secret Service, and Police Work. Although they all lived together for a year until going to their new homes, none of the dogs ever became what one would call “friends”. Tarnac does not remember ever having said a word that first year, especially after the first few weeks.
Once they hit one year old, the dogs slowly began to be looked at by prospective owners and organizations. A police chief, against all odds, showed up and mentioned specific interest in Tarnac. Although reluctant to sell such a highly trained dog to do something as simple as police work, the owner sold Tarnac and received the due money. Tarnac was taken home to a large and prominent city on the West Coast. Unlike the other police dogs, it was not important for Tarnac to form a relationship with his police man and Tarnac was kept separate from the other dogs and never assigned a specific officer. Instead, he became the “back-up”. With his extensive training, Tarnac proved that he was worth the money the chief had spent on him and was only taken out in highly dangerous situations where an immediate end was needed to be put to a gun-fight or other highly dangerous situation that the police officers and normal dogs were not trained for. For four years, Tarnac proved his worth and was satisfied with his lonely, usually boring life with spurts of extreme action, as he had never known anything else.
Shortly after he turned five years old, an accident occurred where Tarnac was forced to act on instinct instead of training, and became highly confused. A police officer and two dogs had been killed already by the time Tarnac was taken out and standing there at attention on the edge of the house where the shooter was holed, Tarnac was given a command that he had never heard before.
He was going in with another officer. Expected to protect another officer. Not working alone, not independent. However, the big dog still did not hesitate, no matter how unusual. He was trained to follow commands, nothing else.
The criminal was finally killed and Tarnac protected the officer, keeping him alive. However, in the process Tarnac was shot several times. Although not fatal, the wounds were serious and the costs of getting Tarnac back up to the same level of training as he was before was not affordable by the department. The Chief who had the money to buy him in the first place was no longer with the department and the department had since been struggling money-wise. Tarnac had to go.
Knowing that he would never be a family dog, Tarnac was sold for cheap to a ranch just outside the city. Once he was back on his feet, Tarnac will be transferred there and expected to live there as a guard dog. Unable to adjust to the ranch after five years of fast and heavy police work, Tarnac made his way back to the city. He did understand that his previous handlers didn't want him back, though, and he settled by finding companionship with other dogs instead of humans. In fact, he seems to hold a bit of a grudge against humans now.
Personality:Bred and trained for aggression, Tarnac knows of little else. Not that he doesn’t want to; he has just never been exposed to any other type of behavior or been allowed to learn it. Trained only in discipline and aggression, those are pretty much the only two things that Tarnac is good at. When given a verbal command by the human trainer, Tarnac never even hesitates to obey. However, to become considered as a human trainer by him the human first has to earn his trust and respect, or else he would have obeyed any command, even those of the criminal he was supposed to be stopping.
However, since being forced into early retirement Tarnac has been learning things he has never been exposed to before. Normally confined by himself in a kennel away from the other dogs, Tarnac will have to learn how to cooperate with others. Also never having been exposed to things such as kindness from his own breed, personal feelings, and more room for instinct as there are less commands, Tarnac is having to learn a good portion of what he was never exposed to as a puppy and occasionally becomes frustrated and angry.
Over-all he is a good guy, though. He just never strikes anyone as extremely smart. A bit of a meat-head, he does try very hard, though. Tarnac does not like humans any more, though. Although he will always obey the dog in charge, Tarnac's hatred of humans is likely to get him into trouble some day.
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