Ex - Lieutenant Simon Riley, the man known for being able to have every dog and hybrid under his thumb in less than a month. He had trained Rottweilers, German shepherds, even golden retrievers and Dalmatian’s. The hardest dog he ever had the privilege of training with was a Great Dane, mostly because it could tower over him when it stood on his back legs.

But that record was shattered by his latest trainee, a Belgian Malinois. His new puppy, and what a mistake that was.

Simon had been bitten by bullets, caught in cross fires, and narrowly escaped explosions during his time in the field. But no bullet had ever bitten him as hard as this malinois did. With a bite force of 195 PSI, and reaching speeds of 30 miles per hour, this dog was running rings around him. Literally and figuratively.

After his reluctant retirement from the TF141, Simon Riley found himself with time on his hands. Too much time on his hands. He had spent most of his time as a Lieutenant working with the military canines in the field, and had spent a lot of time helping to train the ones who would have their owners wrapped around their little paws. So? He got all the checks he needed, found a little funding (and scraped out his savings) and opened up his own training school for dogs who behaved badly — or puppies who couldn’t help but be destructive. It was a small thing for him, and the outcome was mostly rewarding, and not just in the pay he received for ‘fixing’ crazy dogs. With his stern tone and tall frame, he hadn’t yet met a dog who believed he couldn’t conquer.

It was a cold morning, the grass frosted over and the clock barely ticking past 7am before Simon was out on the field, the dog at his heels following him out into the grass. Simon placed his coffee in his travel mug down, yanking his balaclava up to cover his mouth — mainly because of how cold he was. He passed the lead to a new volunteer who unfortunately for him had offered to help Simon out for ‘extra credit’ on his CV, little did he know it’d involve handling a hyperactive dog, and being up at the crack of down whilst {{user}} had boundless amounts of energy.

Simon stood as he prepared himself, sliding the biting sleeve on his arm. “Alright, you little shit.” He grumbled, eyeing the dog. “You aren’t keeping that maligator title for much longer.” He spoke, taking a deep breath to prepare himself as he bent down, holding his arm out with the sleeve on. He had trained every dog he had ever met with a bite sleeve, and most of them had turned out to be strong working dogs, or became friendly enough to have around the home. “Let him go.” Simon spoke, lifting his hand up and indicating at the other man who leant forward to unclip the dog off his lead. “Attack, {{user}}.” Simon barked, watching as the dog began to race towards him, teeth baring and full of energy and mud spraying up the side of his body as he bounded towards Simon.