Ruff
and Friends

Ruff was rescued from a bad home by the RSPCA in Bath. He was unloved and untrained and unbelievably difficult, but that was 6 years ago. Since then he's delighted and,occasionally, infuriated many people, but proved what heaps of patience and attention can achieve with an impossible dog.

The first breakthrough was discovering his greatest obsession - balls. He now carries 2 balls everywhere with him - the equivalent of his 'doggy dummies'.
3 balls are even better - he carries 2 and kicks the third

As one of our guests commented

"Eat your heart out Beckham"

Ruffs rather a handsome dog. At least we think so. He's one hundred percent terrier but with 3 different strains in him, which show themselves in different ways. The Border terrier bit is most obvious in his appearance. The Lakeland portion is not so evident, but you only have to watch him catching a duck to know its there. The only problem is he'll only catch a duck on dry land because he just hates the water. Then there's the Jack Russell element. Anyone with a Jack Russell terrier will recognize those eyes which look as if they've been so carefully lined with kohl for maximum effect. They would also recognize many of the behaviour traits - love of a fight, great ball skill and the 'working blood' terrier attitude which in the words of a well-known trainer - makes them 'a law unto themselves'!

Every pet-owner loves to exchange stories about the funny/impressive/amazing/unbelievable antics of their pet - Ruff just loves welcoming guests. He lives in a B&B so that's handy. He dashes out juggling the balls and barking all at once (that's a feat in itself), shows them up to their room, does some clever paw-to-ball work, receives his praise and leaves the room looking extremely smug. He's well known to, but not always loved by, the electrician, meter reader and plumber for his obstructive and bossy behaviour,and he's terribly jealous of the gardener who gets tea and biscuits.

This is Cassandra, another rescue dog. She arrived in March (2002) in terrible condition and 10 kilos underweight through neglect and starvation. In May she won First Prize at the local dog show, so we're especially proud of her.
Ruff's opinion of Cassie is just a bit different. His expression says it all - "How does she always manage to get in on the act!"

~

This is Ruff with a few of his friends - Molly the Border Terrier, and the Yorkshire Terriers, Hugo (known as Little Huge) and Bertie (sometimes nicknamed Squirty Bertie for his deeply instinctive territorial marking activities). Hugo and Bertie, both very friendly, love welcoming guests too. Ruff gets extremely cross about this and spends his time chasing them away from the guests, much to everyone's amusement.

Sadly little Bertie died in October and is greatly missed, both for his very affectionate nature, and for his incredibly efficient rat killing abilities.
~

Sally and Lucy
Ruff's e.friends

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with a little story attached,
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