Friday, April 07, 2006 - Jacque the French Bulldog visits

Jacque the French Bulldog is staying with us over the weekend, and he and Rufus have been getting to know each other...

Like most bulldogs, Jacque has breathing issues, and snores like a frieght train. He and Rufus sleep in the laundry room, so this does not bother me, but I think Rufus has not been getting much sleep as he has been a bit bleary at work the last two days...

Rufus and Prince

The weather earlier this week was stellar, and Rufus and his new buddy Prince engaged in a game of Steal the Stick.

Baron the Belgian Shephard showed up, and the boys said "hi" before going back to play...

Here are some pics...

Wednesday, April 05, 2006 - Rufus visits the Larsons

Gary Larson was kind enough to invite Rufus and over to meet Gusto, Evita, and Juna at his house in Wallingford. Gary is a really into agility and rally obedience, and has a great yard for training.

Rufus played "Chase the Ball" with Juna

He also worked hard at making friends with Evita

Gusto was his typical regal self, but Evita took time to demonstrate why she is ranked as one of the fasted Ridgebacks in the country at Coursing. When she gets going, she moves so fast that is hard to keep the camera on her, but I managed to capture a few videos.

A bit later, Jeanette Ennis and Newton swung by, and good butt sniffing was had by all...

After we moved inside, Rufus made himselve at home...

and this evolved into full blown play (Gary commented that Rufus and Evita were of about the same mental age ;D )

Rufus also bonded with "Unka Gary"...

Friday, March 31, 2006 - (partial) Litter Reunion!


Larry Seratt and Razi, one of Rufus's litter mates, met us at Norm's in Fremont last night for some beer and conversation. The boys went at it like they had never been parted.

Rufus is on the right...



After some initial end-of-leash wrestling (and an admonition from the wait staff to keep it down...), they more or less settled.

Mid-way through the evening, a Dudley the pug showed up and got social...

Razi and Larry are obviously bonded, and make a great pair

At the end of the evening we gave them one more romp before heading out.

I'll be out of town weekend after next, and Rufus is going to spend the weekend with Razi and Rufus. I can only imagine the ruckus that is going to result, and I'm jealous I'm not going to be there to see it...

Thursday, March 30, 2006 - Back with Pictures!!!


Rufus and I's new digital camera came in yesterday, and we promptly tried it out on a dog play session on our floor. Homer (weiner dog / chihuahua mix) swung by, and Dixie (korgie) came out of her shell for the first time to chase and wrestle.

With Rufus's recent growth, he discovered for that he can now follow Homer up onto the furniture, denying Homer this advantage in their play sessions.

All this resulted in a tired but happy puppy...

Monday, March 27, 2006 - Pic-less Rufus Update

Well, my digital camera disappeared last week, putting a sever cramp in my blogging... Just a couple of things to report (which would have been oh so much more interesting with images)Rufus saw his vet, Dr. Anderson last week for his final round of shots. Not that his immune system is topped off, its "dog park here we come!" Rufus bore up under the lavish affections of the staff quite well, and did not let his head swell under the influence of Dr. Anderson's high praise for his conformation, intelligence, and character. Everyone loves Rufus...Rufus has new friend - Mosey. Mosey is a one year old bulldog, and as such she is a little brick of muscle. Their wrestling sessions are something to behold... Rufus comes away slathered in slobber, but happy and tired.Rufus and I did Mount Si yesterday - 8 miles round trip and 4,000 of vertical gain. Rufus kept up like a champ and had a great time on the way down. The top 1/4 was covered in snow, and the trail back down was very icy. This phased Rufus not at all, as he too great pleasure in building up a head of speed before slamming on the breaks and sliding. Romping in the snow was also deemed to be highly enjoyable. I just sent off Rufus's registration papers to the American Kennel Society. After taking suggestions from the Yahoo Rhodesian Ridgebacks group, I settled on ARR Suppa Duppa Rufus Doofus. I got the clear impression that this caused severe consternation among some in the group (whose dogs are probably named Sir Regal Stawart of African Nobility or some such nonsense). I can't wait to show him just to hear the announcer read his full name over the PA system...

Friday, March 17, 2006 - Rufus Update

Rufus has been inhaling his kibble (not figuratively, LITTERALLY - he has been eating so fast that he has to stop to cough occasionally as food flies down the wrong tube). Below is the low tech solution I found to this...

Rufus has been fortuate enought to meet a number of children in the past week, and has been doing a stellar job of being calm and gentle

Steve's AMAZINGLY cute twins...




Another house ape who happened to stop by...

Monday, March 13, 2005 - Rufus's Weekend

Rufus had a busy weekend - here are some highlights:

Friday

Rufus thinks deep thoughts about life under my desk and says hi to a passer by:

The weather was rainy and cold here last week. Rufus was less than thrilled about going out in it for bio breaks...

Rufus stopped by to wrestle with Maggie, and Homer stopped by to wrestle with Rufus.

Saturday

We attended our weekly session of Puppy I at SeattleDogs. Rufus thoroughly enjoyed the frequent play sessions.

Sunday

We went to brunch at Norm's in Fremont, where Rufus met a (rather large) new friend.