Chapter 1: A New Life

Everyone knows that dogs are very special animals for many reasons. For one thing, they are absolutely adorable, especially as puppies. Who doesn't like cute things? For another, they are very smart and pick things up very quickly. They can be taught to perform special tasks and understand a wide range of commands. All over the world pups are esteemed for their help and loved for their loyalty. In one specific town, one of the most sought out groups in times of emergency is the PAW Patrol, a pack of extra intelligent rescue pups. Lead by their gifted human leader Ryder, the team of seven pups dedicates their time to the safety of their beloved town Adventure Bay and the surrounding area.

The pups could do everything from rescue kittens form trees to deep cave rescues and even daring volcanic ventures. One mission, however, proved to be quite a challenge for the team and it all started when they met a little pup named Amber…

One early summer, just up the coast from Adventure Bay, a young litter of four golden retriever pups was finally ready to be independent of their mother and given homes of their own. The pups were anxious that day, in good and bad ways. They didn't like the fact that they would be separated from each other and their mother but they knew that they wouldn't be too far from each other and still get to meet up at the dog park or on walks around the neighbor hoods. The thing that concerned them the most was their sister Amber. Although for the first two weeks after they were born the pups could not even open their eyes, when the time came that each of them could use their eyes for the first time, Amber still seemed to have some trouble. They knew she could see well enough to make her way around their doghouse and the yard when it was light outside, but as soon as it began to get dark, one of her sisters had to lead her around, walking by her side at all times.

The four sisters loved each other very much and never wanted any harm to come to either of their siblings. Now came the fateful day when the pups would be on their own with a new human family not knowing how life would be for them. To ensure that Amber would be given a good loving place to live, the sisters and their mother planned to make sure Amber looked just as desirable as any normal retriever pup. One at a time, people would come to the yard and check out the pups. Whenever someone especially nice came around, the pups would all go hide behind their mother and leave Amber out in the open sitting in her cutest pose. Unfortunately, something would always happen that would disinterest the person in her or make them pick one of her sisters instead. One little boy tried tossing a ring toy to Amber. Amber tried her best to follow the ring's path through the air, but as soon as it fell onto the grass, she lost it. Her sister Pearl tried to help by picking up the toy and bringing it over to her, but that just made the little boy take Pearl away. Slowly, each of Amber's sisters was picked out. Leaving her for last. In one way, this made Amber the only option, but as soon as her current human owner told the viewers that Amber was pretty much blind, the prospective families just turned her down. This made Amber feel like she was never going to find anyone who would love her the way her mom and sisters did. And worse of all, her current human owner said he was no longer able to take care of pets. He was just getting too old. He was even planning to give her mom away tomorrow. That night, Amber fell asleep cuddling close to her mom and sobbing silently.

The next day, Amber woke up to find her mother's warmth faded from her body. She was gone. She must have tried to wake her to say good-bye, but Amber must have tuckered herself out so much from crying that she didn't hear her mom leave. A bowl of puppy food and some water was left by the doghouse door for Amber. After she crunched a few bites and drank a bit, she gave her best squint and search the yard for any signs of animal or human life. It was quiet. She went around the side of the house all the way to the edge of the fence to take a good look at the front of the house. The owner's car wasn't in the driveway. Could he have left her for good? That food and water was probably the last she would ever get from him. But, surely he had to come back. This was his house after all. It probably wasn't going to be hers for much longer, though. No one wants to deal with a pup that can't do all the things that normal pups are supposed to do. Plus, he said he was getting to old for pups, she thought.

Amber was so upset by what she had just figured out. All she could do was sit by the fence and whimper quietly. Just a few moments later, the poodle pup from next door scampered over to where their two fences met and called out from behind her.

"Hey Amber, where'd everyone go?"

"They all left," sniffed Amber.

"Oh, when are they coming back? I wanted to show you all something."

"They're not coming back, Blizzard," she said turning to meet the poodle's gaze through the chain link fence. "They all have new homes now."

"Oh, is that what was going on? That's too bad," he said frowning for only a second. "At least you'll still be here. I can still show you this cool-"

"No, Blizzard, I'm not staying here either."

"Then why do you look so sad about it. You're new home will probably be somewhere even cooler-"

"You don't get it! No one wants me, not even the human that lives here. He said he wasn't going to take care of dogs anymore. That means I'm all alone!"

"Oh… wow… I'm so sorry, Amber…" This time Blizzard had a bit more understanding in his voice and his ever-present smile had faded from his scruffy white face. Then the sparkle in his eyes returned suddenly with a flash. "I've got it! You can live with me! I still want you, Amber."

"Maybe, but what if your human finds me, she'll just bring me back here and then my human will get rid of me... He'd probably take me to a shelter and then when no one wants me there, they'll… they'll…"

"Then she doesn't have to find you! I found a nice box that my owner was going to throw away, but when she saw me playing with it, she thought it was so cute that she let me keep it. I know it's not as nice as your doghouse, but if your owner is really done with dogs, as you say, then he'll probably get rid of that too. I would let you stay in my doghouse, but then my human would surely find you."

The plan sounded better than ending up at the animal shelter, but there were a few things that concerned Amber. For one, she wasn't too fond of the idea of hiding in a cardboard box most of the day while Blizzard's human was around. And, for another thing, she didn't know of any way she could get over to his yard.

"And don't worry about the food; I've got this fancy food dispenser that I just learned how to work. My owner doesn't know yet, and I plan to keep it that way. Anyway, I can just go fill your bowl up when she's not looking."

Amber thought hard. "O-okay, fine, I'll come live with you, but how do I get over there?"

"That's what I've been trying to show you! There's a loose part of the fence near the back corner over there," he said gesturing. "There's already a dip in the ground over there, but with a bit of digging, I can make easier for you to crawl under!"

The two pups agreed on the plan and went their separate ways. Blizzard went to fix up the cardboard box and dig a deeper whole by the fence. Amber went to collect her bowls and puppy toys. When Amber made it back to her doghouse, after tripping on a tree root or two, she finished her half-eaten breakfast and lapped up the rest of her water. She stacked the bowls one inside the other and went on a search for her blue teddy bear. Out of all the toys they were given, Amber really loved that bear. Its light blue color made it easy to see in the green grass and she loved snuggling with it. She quickly glanced around and spotted something of a similar color resting up against the side of the doghouse. When she went over to pick it up, she noticed it was actually her sister Goldie's squeaky ball. Seeing it made Amber remember the hurt that she felt in her heart right where she kept the love she had for her mom and sisters. She missed them so much. And now, she probably would never see them again since no one would ever take her on walks or bring them over to play. No one would know where she was.

After Amber let a few tears sprinkle the grass at her feet, she shook the feeling off and went back to her mission of finding her bear. She walked behind the doghouse to the spot by the tree where she had been playing the other night and found her light blue bear waiting for her. She pounced on it and smothered it in hugs.

"At least I still have you, Little Blue." She picked the bear up in her mouth and gently placed it inside the stacked bowls. "We're going to be living somewhere else from now on. It might not be as nice as this home, but I'm sure you'll like it. Plus, we'll have Blizzard to help us out and to play with."

By the back corner of the fence, Amber could here Blizzards tags jingling as he rapidly scratched at the earth. "Hey, Amber!" exclaimed Blizzard panting. "I've almost got your escape route ready!"

"Thanks for all your help, Blizzard. Little Bl- I- I really appreciate it."

"No problem," he said continuing to dig. "Almost there… Got it!" Blizzard popped out from under the fence into Amber's yard.

"Wow, you're fast!"

"Yeah! You should see me run when it's bath time!" The two pups laughed. "Speaking of which, I think I heard my owner say that I wasn't looking very clean and that I would need a bath soon. I think she might give it to me today, especially after all this digging I've been doing," he said with a chuckle showing off his browning fur.

"Aw, I'm sorry, Blizzard."

"It's okay. I did this to help you out. Getting a bath is worth it!" He turned and gestured toward the newly dug path. "Here, I'll help you through. Just step this way," he tapped the grass nearest to the widest crawling space. "Now, I'll just lift the fence a little. Ooh, watch your step. There's a big rock right there." Finally, Amber was on the other side, her old life behind her and her new one in front. Blizzard carried her bowls and bear through and tossed them next to her.

"Come on! I'll show you your new house."

Amber picked up her things and followed him to a large cardboard box that was turned on its side. It was a tall box, so on its side it gave Amber plenty of space to in which to hide. Even better, the flap that hung from the "roof" down almost reached to the "floor" making it an extra awesome hideaway.

"Look," said Blizzard eagerly. "It's right next to my house. We're like neighbors… Well, you know, even closer neighbors," he giggled.

"Thank you so much, Blizzard," said Amber putting her things into the box and hugging her friend.

"No problem! And now, I'll have a pup to play with. Come on! I just found a new toy and my owner said she wouldn't be back until my dinnertime. We have the whole day to play!" Blizzard scampered away quickly and came back with a long, spiraled rubber tube.

"Isn't that a water hose?" asked Amber tentatively.

"Well, yeah, but I'm sure my owner doesn't need it. She already has a perfectly good one over there. This one's probably a random old one."

"Well, if you say so."

The two pups tugged and pulled and rolled around until the sun was high in the sky. Becoming thirsty, the two shared a drink from Blizzard's water bowl by the back door of the house. After sitting a bit in the shade the pups heard a car pull up and the familiar sound of the metal door opening and closing. The pups didn't wait to hear the keys jingling before dashing to their respective houses.

"Just hang tight in there. I'll be around to get your food bowl when my owner lets me in for dinner," said Blizzard reassuringly before springing into his doghouse right beside her.

There was a few minutes of silence and then the pups heard Blizzard's human come through the back door of the house. Then they heard something they weren't expecting. There was a gasp and then an angry, "Blizzard come out here, please!"

"Uh oh," Amber heard Blizzard say quietly. "Yes?" he questioned as Amber heard his paws slowly patting the grass in the direction of the house.

"What were you doing with my new water hose, Blizzard? First, you chew my old one up and I have to buy a new one to replace it. And then, you chew that one up too? I am not happy, Blizzard. You know better than that."

"I'm sorry, Rachel. I didn't realize this was the new one," said Blizzard with a whimper.

"I'm going to have to punish you for this. You know that, right?"

"Yes Ma'am," sighed Blizzard, his head low to the ground.

"You're going to have to stay tied to your doghouse with no toys for the rest of the day. I'll be bringing your dinner out to you later." With that, she walked Blizzard back to his doghouse and hooked his collar up to the chain that lay by the side near Amber's box.

"Blizzard?" came Rachel's voice close to where Amber was sitting in the box. "Did you dig that whole?" Amber shivered at hearing her so close, but she tried not to rattle the cardboard.

"W- Well…"

"Tell me the truth," she said sternly.

"It was me," came his gloomy response.

"No wonder you're so filthy. You're getting a bath right after dinner and then you're staying inside where I can watch you."

"But… But…"

"That's enough from you. I don't know why you're behaving this way." Rachel turned and walked back into the house muttering something to herself.

After a while, Amber spoke up hesitantly. "B- Blizzard?"

"Yeah, I'm here," he sighed trying not to sound too disappointed.

"I'm sorry this happened to you. It's all my fault."

"No it's not. It's mine. The hole, the hose, those were all my idea. And like I said, it's worth it to be able to help you." He paused for a moment and gave a small gasp. "Oh no…"

"What is it?"

"If I'm tied down here, I won't be able to bring you any food."

"Oh… T-that's alright. I'm sure you'll be able to tomorrow."

"Except if I get stuck inside all day tomorrow."

"Oh…"

"Wait, I've got it! I'll just dump half of the food I get into your bowl and then eat the rest so Rachel doesn't suspect anything. I don't know what I'm going to do about tomorrow, but I'll figure it out. You know I always have a plan!" he finished triumphantly.

"Well, okay, if it's alright with you." For the remaining afternoon hours, the two pups dozed in the warmth of the summer sun.