#bc eight is better than seven and i love the idea of will havin one more dog ..........

[truempathy]

will has adopted several dozen dogs over his lifetime --- around thirty, in total. he’s cared for even more. he doesn’t keep every dog he finds. the cuter, younger ones -- puppies, popular breeds like golden retrievers and black labs, and the very rare purebreed -- he finds homes for. people are really eager to adopt puppies, especially cute ones. they’re easy to find homes for. but the older dogs, the ones who aren’t as cute, the mutts ... the chances of someone else in the world adopting them over the twelve week golden lab they see in the shelter is slim to none. those, the lesser appreciated dogs, are the ones will adopts. lesser appreciated by others, yes, but not less loved. not by will, anyway.

in total, will has cared for (adopted, fostered, or saved) around eighty dogs.

he’s pretty well known in shelters in his area of virginia. a lot of dogs means a lot of time at the vet, at the shelter, at the pound. it’s a lot of money, too, but will hardly has a.) a significant other b.) a child or c.) any expensive tastes, so he figures the money he earns from his time at the fbi should go to something. and what better than animals? they’re kind, they’re compassionate, they love unconditionally. they don’t kill other dogs or humans for the fun of it. they don’t enjoy bloodshed. they don’t hate. not unless they’re forced to. not like humans do.

will doesn’t have a real family, but he considers his dogs his family. they’re a part of his life, and he’s hard pressed to give any one of them up. he can’t stand animal abusers, and he can’t see himself with anyone who can’t see themselves living with seven plus dogs. his dogs -- the pack, as he likes to call them -- are a rowdy bunch, lively and excitable but not overly loud. they consist of the following dogs :

WINSTON.  winston is an australian shepherd and cattle dog mix. will was on his way back from baltimore, maryland  -- consulting with jack on the minnesota shrike case for the very first time -- when he found winston walking on the road by himself. he assumes winston was abandoned by his previous family. left behind when they moved, probably. winston was friendly enough -- but wasn’t interested in hanging around will until he came back with treats. like he had somewhere to be. someone to find. he eventually got winston in his car, washed him (he was dirty, but will was surprised -- and a little charmed -- to find a lot of the spots he thought was old dirt were just fur markings), and introduced him to the rest of the pack. winston is the newest addition to his family, and the most responsible of the bunch. doesn’t bark out of turn, doesn’t mow over newcomers, and keeps the other dogs in line when they get too excitable. very sweet, very calm, very friendly. intuitive, too. he keeps closest to will out of all of them, especially when he senses will is upset or when he’s woken up from a nightmare.

BAXTER. a border collie, he’s very protective of will. he tends to be the first line of defense when it comes to will’s safety --- he’s very friendly to strangers, but his instinct is the sharpest out of the entire pack, and baxter can easily tell whenever someone’s around or something is on will’s property. he’s got the sharpest nose too, and is always the first to know when will’s getting food -- for the dogs, or for will himself. he’s the beggar of the bunch, and likes to sleep on will’s bed at night. and at day. whenever he can, really. baxter was the first out of the seven that will has now, and will found him alone in an alleyway when baxter was just a couple of weeks old. he wouldn’t have made it if will hadn’t dropped everything right then and there to help him, and even though will was supposed to be out of boston that night, he changed his mind and made reservations in a motel for the next week to stay close by after he brought baxter in to the vet. no owner was ever found, given baxter’s young age, and will quickly claimed baxter for his own, filling out the appropriate paperwork. eventually baxter recovered, got a clean bill of health, and was on his way back with will when he was strong and old enough to make the journey. baxter was will’s baby from the beginning, and will loves his dogs equally, but he’s a bit more lenient when it comes to baxter.

BUSTER.  a jack russell terrier who kept breaking out of the animal shelter whenever it was time for his walk, buster escaped one day and no one caught him in time, and no one was able to find him once he’d run off and out of sight. will did later that night, after buster knocked down one of his trash cans and trapped himself inside of it. will took him in, and it was pretty difficult to catch buster again even in the comfort of his own home with how quick the little guy ran, and how he excited the rest of the dogs and made them a bunch of running, jumping bodies. he called shelter the next morning, and they were wholly unsurprised to hear someone had found buster, if a little relieved. it made will pretty curious, enough to ask if this happened often. they said yes, that he’d been there for a few months already and no one’s looked at him. he wasn’t a puppy anymore after all no matter how he acted like it, and wasn’t cute enough. it was all will needed to hear, and he adopted buster that afternoon, whose name had originally been ronnie. will figured buster was more of an accurate title, because of how he likes to bust out of places whenever there’s a door open. buster’s super excitable and super loud. and, to will’s surprise, it wasn’t lola the chihuahua who had the napoleon complex, but buster.

JACK.  jack is an american pitbull / terrier mix. his story is, unfortunately, not a very surprising one for the breed, will knows. will found jack abandoned and tied to a pole, dirty and dehydrated. it was out of the way enough, in a rural area where not a lot of foot or car traffic came through, and the empty plastic bowl with dried dog chow a couple of feet away made will think that it wasn’t by accident that jack was left here. despite jack’s hunger and thirst, he didn’t bite when will offered him water or food, and it didn’t take long for will to see jack had a collar and tag on him. will brought him back home after spending some time bonding and getting jack to relax around him, but even then on the ride hom jack was very quiet and reserved. he flinched a little when will got too close at first too. will called the number on the tag when he got back to his house in wolf trap, and got in touch with the owners fairly quickly. the owners were surprised to hear about jack at first, before they became extremely hedgy and evasive when will asked about jack. they claimed jack had run off, that they’d tried looking for him at first but eventually gave up when they couldn’t find him.

will didn’t mention the leash jack was on that was tied to the pole, or the empty container of food. neither did they. instead, he asked why they gave up so quickly, and they said it was because jack had become increasingly aggressive, and they figured someone would find him if they couldn’t and bring him to the pound. we probably should have seen it coming, they claimed, he is a pitbull after all. maybe it was for the best. it was hard to ignore the implications of that statement, and the reality of what had happened to jack. so will asked if they were going to pick him up, because he had him right there, and wasn’t surprised when they made excuses, saying they had children, and they didn’t want a pitbull around their kids. jack was next to him the entire time, quiet, shy, but not barking or biting or snarling at will even as he ran a gentle hand down his back.

the next day, will went to the shelter, told them the story, and got jack checked out and vaccinated. jack was a total angel, if a bit shy and skittish. will called the owners again, and after a bit of discussion (he may or may not have let slip he was an fbi agent after they hemmed and hawwed about doing it because of the legal repercussions), he was able to get them to legally give up jack, and will became the his rightful and legal owner. he also made a call to the aspca, telling them what happened, making sure what the owners did would go on record legally. it’s been a couple of years since then, and jack is now energetic and loving towards will and the other dogs, if a little shy around other strangers. he tends to be at the back of the pack when new people are over, but his demeanor is hard to ignore or mistake for anything other than what it is: happiness.

HARLEY.  a white german shepherd mix with brown markings, harley is a sweet girl and a little on the older side given her eight years. she was given up by her owners, but not without a lot of heartache. they loved her fiercely, and it showed in her sweet demeanor. they were sad to see her go, but knew it was for the best since they couldn’t care for her anymore, and didn’t want her to go to a pound or a shelter. they both knew because of her age that she wouldn’t be adopted. so when they saw will walking his five dogs, they were surprised but charmed, and talked to him despite his quiet and awkward demeanor. eventually they brought the subject of harley up, hoping he’d adopt her from them, and he was more than happy to oblige. after all, what was one more dog to the pack? he had the money, he had the time, and he had the space. harley adjusted well after whining and mourning for her previous owners, but the good company she had kept her spirits up, and it didn’t take too long for her to adjust and fit in. she’s a notorious jumper, jumping when it’s feeding time and whenever they go outside, and is great at frisbee and catch.

BONNIE.  bonnie is a bichon-frise with brown overtones. like harley, she’s a bit on the older side, being seven years old. she’s tail wagger extraordinaire, and usually wags her tail so much when she’s being pet or whenever will comes home that her entire back half of her body moves with it. will adopted her when he went to the shelter one day with another dog he’d found (this time, the owners took them back, they were worried sick and mortified that their dog got lost, but eternally thankful that will found them). will saw her -- heard her, more like -- because while there were tons of dogs in the shelter, she barked the loudest, and practically knocked herself into a wall with how hard she wagged her tail at the sight of him. the tail wagging only grew stronger when he approached her. susan -- one of the workers there who’d grown to know will well because of how often he comes in with dogs -- told him bonnie had been here for a couple of weeks, after being transferred in from another shelter. she hadn’t been adopted in a year, but had managed to avoid euthanasia because she was transferred. will adopted her right then and there. bonnie might not be a puppy, but she’s still young at heart. she’s very loud and energetic, barks a lot and tries to push her way to the front of the pack when its feeding time or when someone new comes around.

LOLA.  lola is a chihuahua terrier mix. she has a massive underbite, and pretty wispy hair. she’s definitely not the cutest dog on the planet, and everyone knew it. the shelter especially. will was surprised to hear from them -- considering they were all the way in maryland, and he’d never been to their shelter before. but as soon as they mentioned they were a kill shelter, he knew why. they told him that susan had called them, and mentioned him to them. the shelter susan was from was full -- they couldn’t take any more strays or new dogs, but if lola wasn’t adopted soon, she wouldn’t be adopted, ever. susan, the shelter, and will all knew that lola wouldn’t be adopted before the grace period was up. it didn’t take much convincing from there for will to agree to make the drive to maryland, and he did. it took him around four hours to get to the shelter - an extra thirty minutes than it should have been when he got lost - but he got there, and when he saw lola, he could understand why people would look past her in favor for the prettier dogs. she snuffled pretty loudly too, but will found it cute. she curled up in his lap easily when he approached her and pet her, and fell asleep fast, head tucked over his hand and nose pressed to his knuckles. will made sure that the next time she went asleep, it would be surrounded by five other dogs. it took some acclimation, but not a lot, and eventually lola fit in with the rest of the pack like she’d always been there. 

his dogs are all incredibly well trained, a reflection of the time, care and love that will put into raising them, keeping them fed and loved and safe. it only takes a sharp whistle and a click of the tongue from will to quiet them down when they start getting rowdy, and despite the open property with nothing to fence them in, they know better than to run off. ( other than the occasional bust-out from buster, that is. )  they’re incredibly friendly to all, to a fault really ---- they’re the worst kinds of guard dogs, even if they have keen senses and can sense when something is on will’s property. they don’t bite, even intruders, and are notoriously easy to win over with food and love.