“After years of having a dog, you know him. You know the meaning of his snuffs and grunts and barks. Every twitch of the ears is a question or statement, every wag of the tail is an exclamation.”
~ Robert McCammon
Once upon a time there was a naughty young pup called Harry. He chewed everything. He was constantly underfoot. He’d bark in your ear and jump on your head to wake you up, just because it was morning and he didn’t want to waste a moment of another Very Good Day.
But then Harry grew up. Now he’s a calm and considerate dog, with great cattle handling skills and excellent manners, especially at the beach or when dining out at cafes.
Enter the new young brother. Rufous. Undeniably cute, but a total ratbag.
A hole-digging, slipper-destroying, house-chewing food devotee.
He’s chewed through an entire chair, eaten a hole in the side of my bed, destroyed three pairs of slippers – all mine, and has now taken to biting the heads off my daisies and flinging them around like snow, just as they are all coming into flower.
And did I mention how much he loves digging massive holes in the new lawn, or taking one shoe for a walk out into the middle of a paddock and then leaving it there?
Here he is, hiding, after eating the meat I’d put out on the bench for Ben to barbeque for our dinner. We ate eggs on toast instead!
Look at those eyes. It’s impossible to stay mad at him! I’m sure that Rufous will grow into a good boy one day too, and probably too soon. For all his naughtiness we adore him, and gee he makes us laugh.
Most of all, I love watching Rufous and Harry play. These two brothers are having the best adventures here at the farm.
Life is good, and filled with love.
I’m sending some of that love your way today. Hugs a million, Nicole <3 xoxo
haha oh how funny & cute xx
Those two are just adorable. Love McCammon’s quote. It’s so true 👍🏽
Such a cute story. It teaches us to be patient of the little beings (pets and children alike)
so needed to hear about Harry and Rufous… had to euthanize our poodle Tiffany yesterday, 18 human years old. 🙁
Oh darling friend, that’s such a hard sad place to be. We all send you love and puppy kisses. My heart has been broken open and healed by the love and loss of animal friends so many times. But it is always worth the pain of their loss to have known their love. Holding you all in my prayers and meditations ❤️
What a pair 🙂 I identify with the meat-stealing pet scenario, except here the stealth attacker is our 12-year-old cat Murphy, who does the ‘dog’s work’ whilst Smelly Dog waits patiently below to share. One thing is sure, our furry friends are a crucial part of our lives, however much they drive us barmy on occasions 🙂
Oh bless them I am laughing out loud here 😂😂😂
Cherryx
Thanks for the smile today. Needed that. Hope you are doing as well as you sound. 🙂
I so liked this post as a child I had a blue cattle dog that was very protective of me he was a wonderful dog, reading this made me think of him
They are very protective dogs and great friends 🐶❤️
everyone needs a naughty little brother so that you can appreciate the older one! the cuteness keeps them alive! I often say to my little red one (child) “its a good thing you’re cute or you’d be dead”! He laughs…
But does Rufous have the lurve for zippers and cords? Or is that still Harry’s special domain? *scratches and pats to both of them* xo <3
Like brother, like brother. While locked in the Room of Doom in Brisbane while we packed the ute ( we keep the dogs in the sunroom with the door shut so they can watch us but not run out onto the road!) Rufous quietly ate his way through the DVD player cord, a computer power pack and nibbled all around the edges of a remote control. Sigh. Such a neat nibbler though. Now when you hold the remote it feels like it has a special braille encoding. So clever!
It’s for when you are really tired and you want to watch something. He was just being helpful y’know. He says if he had his *own* DVD equipment he wouldn’t have to hint so hard <3
Mmmmwwwahaha. Just a bit naughty! Too cute…. love it 😂💕
A very good post and nice pictures. Thanks for sharing!
I have a red and a blue and I do think the reds have a bit more of the naughty streak on them. My red one if also food oriented and will steal anything she can get her jaws on but also how can you stay mad at such loving eyes. I blame the dingo linage its a wild streak
Exactly. That dingo wild streak. We actually call Rufous a ‘Fingo’ sometimes. Stands for Fox-Dingo, because he seems to have characteristics of both. And of Fruit Bat, but that’s a whole other story 🙂