The events at the Zodiac competition that related to the "Year of the Dog" celebration were roughly the same for both genders. Male and female dog Animalians did the same events and were timed against each other. As the females finished their parts in the competition and the judges and staff moved to reset things for the males, Sarah and Malice made their way with Dot to where Travis was sitting along with Sandra Truman, Simon's mother, though since she became an Animalian, she preferred Sandy.
"You both did well," Travis said to Sarah they approached.
"And I got it all on my phone so I can send the video to Simon!" Sandy said with a smile as she held up her phone, "and I did ask. They let me do it."
Sarah and Malice gave a small chuckle at that. The competition wasn't something that was being filmed like the big dog shows that were broadcast on major networks or on Animal Planet. At best there might be clips for the local news reporting on Animalia's celebration of Chinese New Year and so on, but not much more than that. This meant that Simon wouldn't get much opportunity to see it, as he still had his year at the Police Academy to finish. From what he'd told Malice that he'd requested the posting in Animalia or Lyre, depending on the openings that could be available, but she knew that he'd have to finish all the courses and training which wasn't something would allow for a large number of breaks. He'd managed to come in for Valentines Day, but essentially had to had back after dinner. That made Malice miss him, especially when she saw Sarah hug Travis. In that while the line Sandra spoke had some humor to it, it did give Malice some happiness that Simon would get to see the competition.
"Thanks," Malice managed as she sat down in the seat that Sandy offered her while Sarah and Travis sat down on the other side of her. Dot sat down on the other side of Travis.
"And don't worry, Malice, I'll cheer for you when they get to the pageant part of the competition," Sarah added to her sister and patted Malice's shoulder.
Malice nodded at that, and was glad that Sarah wasn't upset over how the race ended. While she wasn't related to the Wesley family by blood, she'd loved all of them for how kind they were to her. In that, when she was uplifted, that love soon blossomed into that which Sarah had for her parents and for Belle and Bash as younger siblings. Malice felt she was part of their family where it mattered, and to her that was all that mattered, and while she did want to win, she didn't want to lose that bond of friendship and sisterhood that she had with Sarah, though she'd never say that out loud.
"Thanks, sis," Malice answered with a warm smile, "Though, I suppose for now, we'll just have to root for the boys."
Sarah nodded, blinked and then looked to Sandra, "Say, Sandy... did Mr. Truman ever get any information on where they bracketed him?"
That soon turned attention back to Sandy who then nodded. Sandy, like Simon had converted to be a Gray Wolf Animalian to be with one of the uplifted Wolves on the Animalia Police Force. Now, most uplifted Animalians often took a single name after their uplifting and the fact that humans often had a first, middle, and last name was often ignored, especially if their mate had also been uplifted. The cases where uplifted dogs, like Dallas, Dot, and Travis having a last name were usually more in relation to being owned by someone before their uplifting and taking on that family's name as well. Malice had done the same thing with the Wesleys. But uplifted wild animals, like wolves weren't owned by anyone, thus they often stuck with only having their own name.
In some cases though, particularly when an uplifted Animalian took an Animalian who was a converted Human, the Human's family name would carry over. Malice had heard that Clara had taken on her husband's surname and Robbie had taken on his wife's surname as well. And the uplifted Gray Wolf that Sandra had fallen for and became a Gray Wolf Animalian for, Luke, had done the same. In formal and respectful moments, even Malice couldn't help but refer to him as "Mr. Truman." He often preferred Luke, but there were times when it seemed more "appropriate" to be more formal than not.
It was something that worked, but did present some issues with where he would be placed with regard to the competition. As many of the groupings were based on the specific ways dogs were bread. However, while there was a growing scientific reasoning that was there to make the case that the Gray Wolf and the Domestic Dog were actually the same species and that dogs were a subspecies of wolf that was the result of selective breading that happened during the domestication process, there was still some issue with where any Wolf Animalians competing in the Year of the Dog competition, male or female, would be placed as wolves really didn't fit into the specific groups dogs were bread for. One female wolf had competed in the Working/Herding group while another had competed with Beth in the Working/Guarding group.
"I believe they put him in the guarding group, something about him being a police officer making that make the most sense," Sandy answered, "though he also said that when he looked at what the herding group would be tasked to do as part of the competition that he felt he could do that too. He described it as hunting without the kill, as that often wolf packs will isolate and herd a target to an area where the pack can overwhelm it and it can't be supported by others in its herd. All the competition would be is taking out the killing part of the effort."
"That makes some sense," Malice said slowly, "I mean... protecting people IS what he does as a police officer, right?"
"It is," Sandy nodded, "but he says he can do more than that... In a way... it's something similar to the German Shepherd Dog. It was initially bred to herd and guard sheep. However because that breed proved to be easily trainable and highly intelligent, they've been used in all sorts of roles... they are police and military dogs. They're used in search and rescue. They're used in assisting those with disabilities. Just because the breed was bred for one thing doesn't mean it can't do other things."
"Shows how amazing dogs can be," Sarah commented to Malice, who nodded in reply.
And from there they settled into watching the males compete as they went through their parts in the competition. The events were the same as those the females had gone through. They had the same tests of strength and agility and the race against the clock to do it. For Malice, though, her curiosity followed those in the guarding group's events. Especially as it pit Luke against Riley with regard to those events. Malice knew that Riley still lived with Jamie, though in a more brother/sister type relationship that what had been "threatened" the previous year, when Jamie ultimately chose Trevor to be her mate. She'd also heard some rumors that Riley had been seeing Tiffany off and on, when she was able to come up from UNLV, which included school breaks and official "leave" for the present Year of the Dog competition.
The guarding events more a test on the ability to keep suspected "attacker" from a selected target. For the event it was a doll that was placed in a small plastic chair. The contestant in the Working/Guarding group would then be tasked to stay between the "target" and a lone "attacker" for as long as possible. To make things interesting, Rick was playing the role of "attacker" to pit a Mountain Lion's quick reflexes and agility. The rules on him were obviously that he couldn't actually attack the dog Animalian protecting the toy and that he couldn't attempt to outright hurdle the dog Animalian either. He could dodge left and right to try and get around the dog Animalian and try to get to the doll. The uplifted dogs also couldn't attack Rick and their only role was to stay between Rick and the doll. Any physical contact that was judged to be accidental, such as diving to get in front of Rick and failing to beat his speed, would be a time deduction. Any contact that the judges felt there was deliberate intent would be an automatic disqualification. During the female's competition no one had had the later, though a few did end up with the former as Rick proved to be very quick when he wanted to be.
It then made for an interesting matchup as both Luke and Riley made their way through that event. Both did fairly well, the one who did the best was ultimately Luke. Riley was good, but in many ways, Luke was sleeker. Both were equally muscular in many ways, but Luke was slightly taller which allowed him to keep ahead of Rick a bit more easily. Riley was slightly shorter and more compact. In some ways it made for a good wrestler or boxer, and would give him a fair chance if he were allowed to go all out to defend the doll against Rick, but with the rules in the competition Riley's responses were limited. That ultimately gave Luke the advantage and he ultimately won the best role in the Working/Guarding group, joining Dallas, who had competed in the same category Dot had been in, a male German Shepherd who had been with the Lyre police before being uplifted and then transferred over to the ambulance service and was competing in the Working/Search and Rescue group. Malice thought she heard a loud "YES" echo through the room when a Basset Hound Animalian won in the Hound group, not knowing that the cheer came from Polly cheering on her teacher.
"Well... I suppose this means it'll be time to get ready for the pageant portion," Malice commented as she stood up.
"We'll cheer for you, sis," Sarah promised, "go get 'em!"
"You can do it," Sandy also encouraged, "just do your best!"
"You know I will," Malice smiled, "Someone will have to outdo Tiffany."