*AN* Ok the story starts now. It should be short, I'm not going to go into much detail after the main plot point happens, just enough to clear up some questions and it will be based on personal encounters. Enjoy.
Paul,the director and Hank the stage hand are fictional characters, they are the first two names that popped into my head so any similarities are purely coincidental. Paul and Hank have made appearances in previous stories and will be making future appearances as well.
It had been a year since Shadow arrived and his success rate was 96% as far as learning a routine flawlessly. He was 10 years old and lively but his age meant health and movement decreases, but he was forgiven and given the extra time to learn. As with any animal actor, there were mishaps but nothing quite like the one that almost made his career end.
A normal day like any other, it was bright, sunny and warm. Since Shadow had been working, on days that he was needed, Katie came in later in the morning, although that meant she had to work some late nights and weekends, often by herself and she missed out on some of the fun that went on. Shadow was a little slow this morning, he was tired. His allergies had returned and he spent the night scratching. Katie eventually put a cone collar on him but that didn't stop Shadow from trying.
Katie gave him a quick brush to straighten out his fur and hide some of the bald spots he had made on himself. His wounds and rashes were treated with a topical ointment and she went over him head to tail. She deemed him suitable to work but only for a half day; he would have to go to the vet to get an anti-histamine shot to calm his itching. Plus it was a warm day and it wasnt helping his stress levels.
Things were going well thus far, Shadow made few mistakes but he was dragging on and panting heavily so it was break time. She snapped on a leash to bring him outside but part way down the hall he refused and lay down, still panting. She gave him some water and he drank what he wanted and continued outside. He quickly did his thing and went back in where she let him off leash and he wandered around for a few seconds before realizing he was free and went straight to Katie's dressing room.
Katie called him back but he didn't listen, although he did acknowledge her commands. He went to her room to find it blocked with the gate. He backed up and gauged the distance to jump but he really didn't want to. He was in a half jump stance when a crew member saw him and stopped him by moving the gate for him and replacing it when he had passed through and then continued on with her duties. Katie checked in on him a bit later and he wagged his tail lightly, paired with his usual expression to greet her. She paid no mind to his half-hearted tail wag and gave him a smile before cooing "Good boy" and leaving. He stayed put, craning his neck, ears pricked to see where she was going and when she was out of sight, went to the door.
He waited a bit, looked around and huffed then gave a small bark before backing up and jumping the gate with grace. He landed quietly on the other side and took off in the direction Katie went, nose to the ground. She had stopped in the break room to grab something to eat but went out the backdoor a minute before shadow came in, surprising the others. He pinned his ears and greeted everyone quickly before leaving the way he came in, continuing his exploration. This had become like his third home and was quite comfortable with all the sights and sounds and people although all the rules still stood to prevent accidents.
Shadow eventually wandered onto a hot set and was spooked a bit when a stage hand yelled at him. Shadow ran off to avoid the problem but the stage hand chased him, despite the rule not to. Shadow was quickly cornered and was afraid; the stage hand had a broom handle, ready to hit him in anger for disturbing the hot set that the stage hand would now get blamed for. Shadow turned vicious and began growling and bearing his teeth. The stage hand wasn't too put off and felt confident that he could take on the 80lb shepherd.
Shadow kept threatening and when the stage hand struck him, he yelped, falling to the ground. He was struck again and again out of anger but Shadow managed to get out of the way and get to his feet after the 4th hit and wasted no time in barking and snapping at the stage hand. The stage hand was startled at his response and couldn't get away fast enough and began to yell for help. He ran through the sets, Shadow hot on his heels, faster than ever even in his old age he was still fast and agile. Shadow jumped and zig-zagged through the sets, chasing the beater into a crowd of people who had heard the commotion.
They quickly gathered the situation and got out of the way. Katie had instructed to not chase him or deal with him in anyway that could be dangerous and let her handle it. She was already being paged and Shadow was mere nano seconds from springing onto the stage hand and taking him down like his police training taught him to do. Katie was running through the sound stage as fast as she could, hoping she could reach him before it was too late.
She knew that something set him off, he would only attack on his own if his or her lives were endangered. She had little time to think as she flew down the halls, nearly crying at the thought of possibly losing her best friend. She reached the set just as Shadow reached the stage hand's feet, nipping at them and trying to trip him to give Shadow an opening for a take down since he found nothing to launch over or with.
"Climb the slide!" Katie yelled out.
Shadow could scale a wall but she knew the slide would be too slippery and odd shaped for him to get a grip on to even try to climb on so the stage hand would be safe and at the same time, Shadow wouldn't injure himself. She yelled out a couple more times and the crowd followed. The stage hand finally took the hint and doubled back, nearly losing his life as Shadow jumped up, snapping at him. Katie raced towards the scene, crop and bite stick in hand, just as the stage hand jumped forward. Shadow followed blindly, jumping up after him. It was like slow motion as Katie reached out and grabbed him by the collar, knocking his jump path away from the stage hand. Shadow landed and turned around quickly ready to spring again at his prey, with not even a glance at Katie.
"Shadow, stand down!" she ordered. Almost instantly he stopped his attack and stood at her feet, panting heavily as he looked around with his normal calm and friendly demeanor. The stage hand was fished out and Shadow held no grudge, although he was wary and kept a watch. Before a discussion even started as to how or why this happened, Paul immediately went off on the stage hand. Cameras were rolling. both security and filming, and Paul saw everything.
"You're lucky you were caught in time other wise you would have been dog chow. This dog means the world to Katie and he is an important cast member for this show if you don't like him then leave. As a matter of fact, I don't want to wait around for another 'accident'. You're fired!" Paul said to a soaking wet stage hand.
Shadow was safe, much to Katie's relief but the damage had been done. He'd spend a few days on bed rest as she worked, per the vet's orders. Katie worried about his temperament, he had been beaten severely and she worried that he would be scared or aggressive. Once he went back to work a week later, he showed no fear or aggression although he was slightly nervous and had numerous breaks through out the day.
The months passed and he was soon the same old dog and acted like nothing was different and was back on the old routine and friendly with everyone. He was getting itchy again and it was near time to go for another anti-histamine shot, but until then he had to suffer through the heat and his allergies which made him a little cranky and a ban was put out to avoid all unnecessary contact. Shadow did his work and was content, he wasn't completely ignored and got several pats on the head and some good back scratches by her and some cast mates.
It was time to film a scene and Shadow was run through his part twice more to prepare and he was ready, tail down, wagging slowly. Shadow did his scene perfectly but Carlos flubbed up his line. Carlos just couldn't say one part and kept messing up but finally got it down on the 4th redo until Kendall forgot his next one. This time, Shadow only had to sit near Carlos at the pool, where he ended up after his part The scene would take off from Kendall's line, leaving Shadow to relax and take a bit of a break. Shadow was getting slightly antsy so in between takes he was given some water and a quick lap around the pool to keep the edge off. He was still itchy so when the cameras were rolling, Katie had to keep his attention on her just off camera.
They finished the scene in the next few minutes but were going to go through it once or twice more as always. Shadow was sitting next to Carlos, where he was supposed to be and leaned into Carlos when he started to pet him. Carlos heard his name called and looked up to get his next instructions, eventually letting go of Shadow to focus his attention on the person he was talking to. Shadow wandered around the set, bored as he sniffed around and settled on one of the loungers.
In a few minutes, they began to set up for the next take; Katie was in the bathroom so Hank went to get Shadow off the chair. He stopped when he saw Shadow pinning his ears and looking at him strangely, it was clear he wasn't going to move so he decided it was best to wait but that didn't stop Shadow from uttering a low growl on protest and warning. As soon as Katie came into the room Shadow stopped growling but sat firm, looking around menacingly. She was told about what was going on but wasn't shocked; it was normal. Shadow had a tendency to be territorial and dominant but she could work him over.
She signaled him to get out of the chair but he just growled even more so when she issued a voice command. The stage was quiet except for his growling and everyone kept their distance, Shadow barked in anger at her making everyone jump but Katie still had a secret weapon; a spray bottle of water. She waited to see if he would get out on his own before pulling it out so she stared at him and everyone waited as Shadow's loud growling became softer, shorter and more 'grumpy' as the two had a stare down. Katie's arms were folded as she stared him down and eventually Shadow fell silent as he flopped over on the chair, belly up. He still refused to get out of the chair so Katie pulled out the spray bottle; she didn't even have to spray it and Shadow couldn't get out fast enough.
It took a minute to round him up and calm him down so he was ready to do his thing, all the while he just kept his head on Katie's leg as a sort of apology for his behavior. She situated him in a new spot, per Paul's directions, and left him waiting for his next command. Carlos took his place next to Shadow, calling out to him to give him a pat on the head. Shadow accepted graciously and nuzzled Carlos a little bit before Shadow turned away to respond to Katie as she prepared him from a far. Carlos was ready and James took his place on the lounger before Paul called action.