*AN* I'd like to start off by saying that one of my stories had been removed. Visit my profile for more details. This story was in my head for a while, in fact I had hinted about it a while back in the AN of one of my other stories from Christmas and earlier. This chapter covers some background and I thought about leaving it as a separate story. The background chapter is actually partly true/comes from my life. Shadow is my dog, my best bud. We make a great team and he is a very quick learner and eager to does go with me to many places, and has made a few appearances at my college. However, the basis of the story comes from a training/emergency patrol we had done the other day. some of his behavior/ training in this chapter are from that day, but Shadow has never formally acted. Summary for story to come later- prologue summary below*
*Summary (for prologue only): Shadow, Katie's beloved companion, joins her on the acting circuit. All goes well during a trial period to test Shadow's ability to act. Training all his life for many jobs has prepared him for this moment.*
Kendall was in his room taking a much needed nap when a stage hand, Hank, one of the casts best friends, walked in to ask a question. Seeing him asleep, he decided to find someone else. He walked through the halls and quickly found the Jennifers but they ignored him like always so he didn't even bother. He kept going, giving up hope before he walked by the lounge and did a double take as he backed up to see Mrs. Knight reading a magazine and sipping a mocha chino.
"Finally! I found someone I can talk to. Mrs. Knight, have you seen Katie at all? I've been looking all over for her and I cant find her or anyone to ask."
"Oh yes, she is with Logan, Lucy, and Camille playing some baseball in the back lot. Do you need her on set?"
"No, actually, the director wants a dog in one of the scenes and since she trains dogs and her dog Shadow seems pretty tame, he thought maybe we could borrow him."
"That's a good idea, I'm sure she would love to have him with her. She takes that dog everywhere with her, they are inseparable. He really is a good dog, too. The only thing is, that he really only listens to her and is protective of her so I would listen to what she says and don't try to force her out of the picture."
"Got it, I'll let Paul know. I better go catch them in the back before she disappears on me again!" Hank said leaving the room in a hurry. He ran out the back door that was propped open and saw the group running around in a makeshift baseball diamond. He waited a bit, since he wasn't in a big hurry to let them finish the current hit. Katie was up at bat, Logan pitching and she missed the first one, fouled the second but the third one she hit a near home run. She made it to second before Lucy got the ball and threatened an out. Hank took the opportunity to get their attention. The group stopped what they were doing when they saw their buddy come down the stairs and greeted him.
"Katie, I've been looking all over for you! Paul wanted me to ask if you would be willing to let us use Shadow for a scene. It would be under your instruction of course, we will provide anything he needs. Its just that it would be cheaper to use him since he's already trained and then we don't have to pay an actor."
"Sure I guess. Depends on what you want him to do, plus he will need time to adjust and learn his actions or whatever. He's trained to do different things but he still needs a trial run. I cant expect him to get it right on the first try. He needs at least a week."
"Sure. I'll let Paul know and then get back to you with any details of what he'll require and what he might need to do. Thanks."
"No problem." she said as he left up the stairs he was inside and out of sight and she turned back to her friends to go back to playing when he came out again.
"Almost forgot, Katie, you and Logan are due on set in 30 minutes. Visit hair and make-up."
"Got it." Logan replied.
Time passed quickly and Logan and Katie were in the midst of their shoot which lasted about an hour. They got a quick break while Kendall was prepped for his appearance. In minutes they were back on the set and off again in just over an hour. This time Katie wanted a nap but before hand, Hank caught up with her to tell her that Paul agreed to the time she would need with Shadow and if it helped, she could bring him in tomorrow to get started although the real thing wouldn't be until next week. She agreed and they discussed a few ground rules and needs before excusing her self for a nap. She had an old document on her computer pertaining to Shadow's 'rider' so to speak for jobs as well as his contract. She looked them over real quick, made some edits and then emailed them to Hank to look over and make his own changes if he needed too.
The next day, Katie was a bit late but she had been excused to have some extra time to prep for Shadow's arrival. All of the cast and crew were big animal lovers so there were no problems there, however, security in general wasn't fond of dogs on the set just for the clean-up factor. Nevertheless, Shadow made his appearance tail high and wagging, full of curiosity as he explored his new surroundings. He had never been here before and as part of previous training, he was very interested in making sure this was suitable for his master although she seemed pretty calm about it and eventually Shadow settled down.
Shadow was an older dog at nearly 9 but he had a lot of energy when needed. He was a relaxed and reserved dog in general but had a tendency to be over enthusiastic at times. He was intelligent and eager to please which made him the perfect dog to train. He only needed to be guided through something 4-5 times before he got the hang of it and then with practice, he was a master at the craft.
Katie set up a place for him in her dressing room; his bed, toys and bowls were scattered around and he sniffed around before settling on her couch in a ball, looking at her with curious eyes asking if she was going to make him move. But she didn't and let him stay, giving him some love and pets. He was spoiled in a way and had free reign to do as he pleased but Katie still held the law and Shadow respected that. She left her door open but to avoid any mishaps, she brought one of her baby gates from home to keep him from leaving. He could jump it with ease but he didn't feel the need to exert himself since Katie was right there, he didn't want to get into trouble or leave her side. Even though this was informal, Shadow felt like he was working and stuck by her side.
After an hour and a half of free time to get settled, she was called to set. Shadow followed her but she put the gate up, trapping him inside. He looked at her confused as too why he had to stay behind, wagging his tail lightly and looking at the gate and then to her to hint that he wanted to go.
"Be a good, boy. I'll be right back." She said. She always said those words anytime that she left him behind. He knew the words and would just give sad eyes as she closed the door but sucked it up and sat on the stairs of her house as he waited for her to return. He whined a little bit to get her attention as she turned to walk away but when she didn't come back he howled and barked for a few seconds, spooking everyone around and making them stare.
Katie ignored his behavior and the others were shocked at Shadows sudden attitude but when they saw it didn't phase her, they just waited and in less than 30 seconds, Shadow stopped and huffed at the gate, watching Katie walk away. Once she was out of sight, Shadow yawned, whined, and yelped twice before turning away and walking in a circle in her room. He didn't lay down right away and just kept looking out the door to see what was going on and what people were doing but once he realized he was being ignored he got comfortable on his mat and took a nap.
He was sound asleep when Katie came back an hour later to get him for a practice scene. She called to him but he didn't wake up, instead he was flinching and growling in his sleep. She yelled his name but still soft enough to avoid spooking him and after a couple calls he managed to snap out of his dream and looked up groggily. Confused at his surroundings he got up quickly and just growled as he gained his bearings before wagging his tail and pinning his ears as he pranced to Katie to greet her, happy as can be. Knowing he'd be a little hyper, she clipped a leash on him instead of letting him follow her.
She made a quick stop outside to exercise him before making her way to the set. Naturally Shadow was a little put off by all the sights, sounds, smells and people. He had done acting jobs before but only small amateur performances like a children's play not a huge production like this. With Katie by his side, who wasn't worried at all about all the equipment, he quickly calmed down but still showed his concern by pulling away and whining.
Katie reassured him and he leaned into her for protection. Paul approached her and Shadow again got nervous and this time jumped backwards before letting out a snort. Katie had good control on him, letting him do what he wanted and then circled him to 'round up' where she wanted him to go rather than pulling, which he would then refuse to move. Once he was settled, Paul explained what he wanted Shadow to do and Katie tweaked it slightly to fit his training. They had the afternoon to practice, since the set they were using was no longer needed for the day.
It was a simple shoot, Shadow was to run across the pool set, originally jumping into the pool but because Shadow dislikes water, he would not go in on command and it could prove to be dangerous for him to be pushed, pulled or tossed in. Instead he would run towards the pool, stop dead and if it worked out, someone would trip over him into the pool or Shadow's agility training would make him do a sharp turn to avoid the pool but whoever was following wouldn't be as lucky.
The trick was getting Shadow near the pool and learn that he just needed to be near it but he wasn't going to get wet. It took several attempts for him to get close but step one was done in a half hour and the rest was done in the next hour. Shadow learned quickly although mastering his tricks was a different story. It took about 3 days before Shadow did his stunt without fail, however they had all been dry runs without added distractions that would be in the final product.
Adding the distractions made everything start over from scratch. Shadow refused to step near the pool and was frightened when someone flew over him into the pool. It was quickly wiped from the script and would go to agility. A rougher terrain was placed on Shadow's route to help him identify where to go and to avoid him falling or slipping as he turned. A run through went nearly perfect and with additional training he would do just fine.
By week's end, just before filming the scene, shadow was ready. It was decided to do his scene first to get it over and done with and it took several takes. Shadow was rewarded each time and Katie was right there watching to make sure he was happy and well as well as to give him commands. Shadow was confused at some points and just sat, per his training. Katie did a few run threw's by his side and once he got it and was focused she left him to do his work. He watched her closely and like magic, he performed with grace and precision on the first try. A round of applause came around and Shadow couldn't have been happier.
A second and third shot was done just to make sure there were options and he still did the same thing and was great. Everyone was nervous and had gotten their hopes up thinking that Shadow couldn't do this after all but Shadow was just as nervous and just needed some reassurance. The drastic change the day of shooting surprised everyone and Shadow earned himself a permanent position as part of the cast.