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This is Rudy. He is the Best Dog What Ever Was.
Rudy once belonged to the previous owners of our house. He is named after Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, as he was coldly dumped in the street tied into a garbage bag one Christmas Eve and rescued by the children of the previous owners. In the course of our bargaining with the owners for the house, we were asked if we would consider keeping Rudy, as they were moving into a smaller house and wouldn't have the space for a large-ish dog. I was sold immediately, having fallen in love with this sweet sweet canine as we took our initial tour of the house. From the moment I walked in Rudy was at my side, happy to be petted and fawned over (as I tend to do with all dogs I meet. I'm such a sucker.). When the offer was made, we had to discuss it regardless of my enthusiasm. Was he sick in some non-obvious way? Did he have worms? A bad temper that hadn't been apparent to us? Why would ANYONE want to leave this dog behind? We finally accepted the offer and moved into his house shortly thereafter. Not a thing wrong with him, either physically or mentally. Rudy readily accepted us as his new family, tho his sadness at the exit of his previous was apparent for weeks after we moved in. He's gotten over it since then.
When our son arrived one year ago, Rudy understood right away that this was a fragile little thing also in need of his care. He even tried to nip me once or twice when I was attending to the baby, mistakenly thinking I was hurting lil' monk because of his crying. Once I explained to Rudy that I loved the baby and wasn't hurting him, the nipping stopped. Rudy and lil' monk are well on their way to being best friends now. Such a caring, lovely dog is Rudy that the excited bonks on the head from lil' monk (we're still working on the "pet the puppy" concept) are tolerated by Rudy. He'll look to my wife and I for help in these situations, always with a look that says, "There's really nothing I can do about this, but it's rather bothersome. Help a puppy out, huh?" I think he has growled at lil' monk once or twice, but they're always supervised when together and we make sure to separate the two if it gets to that point. We also keep lil' monk from climbing on Rudy, and make sure Rudy has a safe space in which to chill if he needs it.
Rudy is also a cat lover. Despite his easygoing nature both our cats distrust him, and Rudy's overtures for snuggling are ignored or violently fought off. Teeny, our calico, enjoys play-fights and romping. Rudy is usually happy to play along, and though both cats still have their claws and are willing to use them, Rudy's never bitten or roughed up either cat.
Rudy enjoys chicken, long walks, and barking when our sprinkler system kicks on at night. |
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