Animal Tales - Tuffy and Rufus

We were without a dog for awhile and Leah began reading newspaper ads.  Vern was incensed that she would consider buying a dog, but it was hard for him to say no to Leah.  She found a breeder of shitzus and paid for it herself - it was about $75.00.   She named him Tuffy.  He followed her everywhere.  In the picture  he is standing under a low coffee table so you can see how small he was.  I don't remember how long we had him but at least six or seven years.  He loved to be carried and Maureen remembers  that he would be laying on his back and if you threw a small sofa pillow to him, he would bounce it around on all four paws.  As you can see from the picture, he wasn't the handsomest dog with his prominent overbite, but Leah loved him.    He was definitely a house dog.
      One early evening, all of us were gone except Leah.  She had taken him outside.  She was sitting on the back porch steps and he ran to the end of the sidewalk and fell over dead.   A couple of weeks ago when I was in Florida, my sister, Suzi, told me that when it happened, Leah called her on the phone and said:  "Aunt Suzi, Tuffy went down the steps and died".  Suzi asked if she wanted her to come over and Leah said:  "No, I just wanted to tell you."  and hung up.  That was our Leah, short and to the point.  Maureen was the first one home and they wrapped the body in an old towel and took it out to the apple tree where other pets were buried.  When we got home we felt so bad that Leah and been alone when it happened but she seemed to be alright with it.  Vern buried him and erected a small sign bearing his name.
Shortly after Tuffy died, Leah went for a ride on her bike and as she came down Cruger road riding from the vicinity  of  Cummings Lane, running behind was a pretty white with orangish markings little dog.    He had followed her home.  He was a nice little dog and obviously a good breed.  We looked him up in a dog book and the closest we could figure he was a Cairn Terrier.  We told her we couldn't keep him - he had a collar but no tag and that she would have to watch the paper for lost dogs.  She named him Rufus anyway.  Sure enough, a lost dog ad appeared for a Cairn Terrier and we called the number and a young couple came out and looked the dog over, played with it a bit.  The dog didn't seem very much interested in them and they decided it wasn't their dog.  And that was how we got and kept Rufus.  He was a good dog,  and he enjoyed being outside as well as in.
       Some nights he preferred to stay outside on the porch.  We left the screen door on to the porch  locked open so that he could  chase  bunnies - most of the dogs game of choice.  One night, he had stayed out, and the next morning when Vern left for work, he noticed that the bottom panel on the storm door into the house was all bent in.  Rufus was nowhere around, and we never saw him again.  Vern's theory was that a band of Coyotes had chased him up on the porch and that was how the panel was pushed in as he struggled to get away and they took him off and had him for dinner.    It was a while then before we had anymore dogs.
         Unless you want to count the two German Shepherd puppies that Angela and Maureen said had followed them home behind the car.  They came with colorful bandanas around their necks.  I assured them that I was sure they had a better home and to take them back.  And they did......begrudgingly.