Name: Brier

Age: 2-3

Gender: Female

Breed: unknown mix (aka, a mutt)

Parents: ??? & Joe (c)Lone

Siblings: Jeremie(c)Saske, Nimbin (c)Larkspur), others unknown

Personality: Dependable, friendly, always there to help when needed. She takes charge when things get crazy, and while she is usually good tempered, if things start getting way, way, out of hand, she can get frustrated and tends to snap when she's short on temper. She's very firm when it comes to everyone doing their job, and she has no tolerance for laziness. She can also be very stubborn at times (though this helps when she's dealing with her herding).

History: Her mother and siblings were taken to a pound, and there Brier was adopted by a couple from the south who needed herding dogs. The couple lived on a big ranch with the rest of their family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, the whole shabang), The Mcaslin Clan Ranch, where they raised caribou and cattle. Brier was trained alongside the other ranch dogs, and she took to herding like a fish to water. Brier and the smaller ranch dogs were used for herding the caribou, as their owners wanted the quicker ones with the faster livestock, while the larger dogs were used to herd the cattle. Sometimes the owners would use all the dogs to herd the cattle, but this was usually only in the spring when the calves were born and the mothers were protective. Brier became the "leader" of the other ranch dogs, despite being one of the younger ones.

One day, Ol' Mac, one of the older herders, was kicked by a caribou and broke his leg. The vet said he'd recover, but he wouldn't be able to be used for herding anymore. Ol' Mac was retired as a house pet, and the Mcaslin's started looking into replacing him. Some of the other ranch dogs were slightly worried about a newcomer, as they were afraid of how well they'd work with the rest of team. Brier assured them it'd be fine, and the new dog would just have to get used to how they did things around here.

The Mcaslin's eventually found the new dog: a australian shepherd female.

The other dogs introduced themselves, but the new female only looked confused. Brier tried to get her to speak, but she just continued to look confused. The other dogs finally deemed her as a mute, so they instead showed her around. Their owners called her Celyn, so they called her that as well. Celyn looked interested, but acted a little oddly when they reached the barn. Once she saw the straw, she trotted over and laid down in it. She didn't lay down like dogs usually did though, in fact, she looked more like a cow laying down. Odd indeed.

Celyn acted strange at breakfast the next day to. She walked right up to the humans when they brought food, but once it was put down she ignored them while the others greeted their owners with licks and tail wags. After the humans left, the door accidently slammed, and Celyn jumped, went as rigid as a board, and fell over. She stayed like that for several minutes, no matter how much the other dogs nudged her or talked to her, then got back up as if nothing had happened. Brier was starting to doubt their owners had bought a suitable ranch dog.

Everything just went downhill from there. The caribou were cranky that morning, so when the dogs went to herd them, they bellowed and stomped their hooves impatiently. Brier ordered Celyn to stay with another herder, and she kept an eye on them both as they started herding the caribou. They were about halfway done when suddenly several caribou bolted away. Brier and three others went after them. As they got closer, Brier saw Celyn running ahead of them. But she wasn't herding the caribou, she was running with them, looking as wild eyed as they did. Thinking the female had been fooling around and caused the caribou to bolt, Brier was furious. While the other dogs got control of the caribou, Brier cut Celyn away and started shouting, asking what she had been thinking. Celyn cowered, but Brier was too frustrated to care at the moment. The two went back to the barn, Celyn walking behind her like a punished puppy. Celyn went into one of the stalls in the barn and the others left her alone, they were all tired and frustrated.

Later that evening, Mr. Mcaslin came out and took Celyn with him. The others didn't really notice, but one of them was curious and followed. Brier went after him, as the dog was known to get himself stuck in ridiculous places, and saw the owner put Celyn in the pasture with the caribou. Celyn seemed perfectly fine with it, and seeing this dog wasn't going to run at them, the caribou let her be. Confused, Brier sent the dog back to the barn, while she followed Mr. Mcaslin back to the house. Through the door, she heard Mr. Mcaslin telling some family members that their had been a mix up with Celyn. They had misunderstood the previous owner in thinking she was a herder, but after what had happened today, Mr. Mcaslin had gone to see him and the man explained that she was a livestock guard dog, a type of dog raised with the herd they were to protect, making the dog think it was one of their own species. Celyn had been raised with a herd of Fainting Goats, thus she thought she was one.

At that moment, there was a ruckus by the pasture, and Brier shot off as some Mcaslins came out the door. Brier got there to see Celyn fighting with a wolf. The wolf was much larger then Celyn, but she was holding her own. Brier was about to jump in and help, when Celyn landed several good blows and the wolf ran off. Impressed, Brier quickly explained to the other ranch dogs about Celyn. The dogs apologized to Celyn, and one of them said they should change her name from "some fancy city name" to a more ranch-like name. The others offered a couple names, but it wasn't until Brier spoke to her and called her sugarcube did she perk up. The dogs thereby dubbed her Sugarcube, or Sugar, and Brier decided to teach her how to act like a dog, rather then a goat.

Sugar has made progress, but she still acts a bit goat-ish at times (much to the confusion of dogs that don't know her).

Likes: herding, her family, swimming

Dislikes: laziness, rudeness, others getting hurt, when the herds are in a bad mood

Other: She speaks with a southern accent and dialect. This rubs off on Sugar, though her accent is much softer then Brier's

Voice: Ashleigh Ball

Theme Song: When God Fearin' Woman Get The Blues - Carrie Underwood on American Idol version

Relation To Balto: Each of her brothers is friends with a granddaughter of Steele