Shadow

Shadow grew up in the alleys of New York with his brother, sister and a friendly dog who helped take care of them. His father was a stray,  caught by the animal pound and never seen again. His mother died after giving birth to him. After she died, a friendly and loyal dog named hazel took care of the puppies until they were big enough to take care of themselves. Hazel often checked in on the puppies and brought them food and made sure they were ok. Sadly, a few months later, Hazel was hit by a car and the pups were on their on. The oldest of the puppies, Ginger always told her brothers that in new York, they have to watch their surroundings and never fall into the wrong group. She looked out for Shadow and Max and made sure they were street smart dogs. Because of her advice and warnings, they survived many run ins with the dog police, people and cars, and everyday life. Then when Shadow was two, Ginger was caught and taken to a animal pound, so Max and Shadow had to make do with each other. Max looked out for Shadow and kept him out of trouble with other dogs until one day,  shadow wandered too far and ended near a vicious gang of German Shepard's. They cornered him and demanded to know why he was on their side of town. Shadow told them he didn't know where he was, asked them to back off and at the same time, called for max, who was wondering where his brother was. He eventually found him when he heard shadow whimpering and whining in pain, because the shepards decided not to hear his story and began biting and clawing him. Max came just before it was too vicious and too late and challenged the leader of the dogs, who was Julius to a fight. Julius decided to play dirty and all the dogs jumped him. Before max died, he told shadow to run and find safety. Shadow ran and ended up in a the middle of an intense dog fight. He heard other dogs telling him which way to run and where to dodge, but these dogs were too quick for him to make a move, so he ended up getting bitten and scratched up quickly. He was saved by the leader of the fights named Leo. Leo told Shadow that in this world, he's gotta be tough, so he has to learn to fight for what's his. He trained Shadow and helped him advance in the dog fights. Winning meant getting first choices for food and shelter, so it was important that you win. As the years passed, Shadow won numerous dog fights, which helped his popularity and support grow. During one dog fight, these unfamiliar dogs rushed into the pit and attacked everyone in sight. Julius was killed, along with most of the others. Shadow was severely wounded, but managed to get out of the pit and hobbled away until he tripped and landed in a ditch for two weeks. His food and water supply was scarce and he was barely breathing from all his scars.  Later on in the two weeks, a man walking by noticed shadow shivering and nearly anorexic from hunger, and called an animal shelter. He was quickly rescued and nursed back to health. Weeks later a couple came to the shelter looking for a dog. Their daughter had been killed recently in a car accident by a drunk driver and they were looking for a way to cope with their loss.  They eventually came over to Shadows cage, heard about his situation,  and decided he would be a great addition to the family. He was adopted and was a great joy and comfort to the couple, especially towards the wife, Michelle, who had a hard time dealing with the loss. Shadow was safe, he loved his new family and didn't have to worry about fighting to stay alive, because he was being looked after and cared for.