SCBdFC Rescue Program
Gallery of Re-Homed Bouviers
Info | Re-homed Contents | Sadie | Merlin | Rufus
Rufus...& now, Bonnie, too!
Bob Conti & Scott Darrell
Rufus adores his "forever" home. He shares his two dads, Scott Darrell and Bob Conti, with a Macaw parrot and a Senegal parrot. The little Senegal torments Rufus endlessly... she will stand on the floor at Rufus' feet, and bite his toes to make him move. Scott and Bob have done a tremendous job with Rufus in teaching him house-rules and continuing with his obedience training. They say that Rufus now handles most situations perfectly, is heeling very well, and even spends short periods of time off-leash in a field near their home. He's very cuddly and wants to be next to (or on) Scott or Bob when they have family time. We had the pleasure of seeing how much they all love each other at our Bouvalympics last winter. What a wonderful sight! Our "boys" remembered Rufus quite well, too. Simon ran up to Rufus and thugged his nose with a paw. Rufus greeted him in the same manner, they did a few tornado runs, then enjoyed the shade of a tree with their backs touching. Here's wishing Rufus and his family the very best! We appreciate families like Scott and Bob who give these "rescues" the life and love they deserve.
©copyright 1997 Bob Conti & Scott Darrell
Well it's been one year, and wow!, what was life like without Rufus? He's the best ... Bob and I both agree he's truly the smartest, craziest, cutest all-around best dog we've ever had.
He really started to come out of his shell in January and ever since he's just shown more personality ech month. While he loves everyone, I've become his favorite. Bob calls him my "shadow dog" ... he quietly follows me everywhere I go just to keep an eye out. Ruf is VERY well behaved now, although he'll still pull an Alpha-dog trick every once in a while.
He heels on leash and takes long walks off-leash each morning.
He also loves to go sailing and has become a GREAT swimmer when we go to Catalina!
Take a look at those pics ... imagine a 110+ pound dog on a 27' boat -- pretty close
quarters. He just loves the attention. Thanks again for all your help in getting
Ruf into our home. Hope to see you and all the BOYS soon at a Bouv-day in the Park
or whatever. Let us know if anything is planned.
Hope all is well for you. Best wishes, Scott, Bob, Rufus & Roosie
1998: Scott and Bob had to buy a bigger boat...just for Rufus!
1999: Scott and Bob adopted Bonnie! (formerly Bunny)
June, 1999 update from Bob and Scott:
Just a note, now that Summer's here and "the kids" are up and running. Bonnie is almost 12 weeks post-accident and almost as good as new. (Bonnie had an accident and broke a femur.) Still guarding the leg a bit, and she isn't roughousing with Ruf the way she did before the accident, but it's only a matter of time before the two of them are at each other (generally around sun-up is when the fun begins!).
Rufus on Harbor Patrolperson Shirley's boat.
Shirley has a cat that rides on the boat and Ruf is obsessed with the thing!
He spots Shirley's boat going around and gets all whiney. He's pathetic!
As you know, Rufus pushed us into a bigger boat. As you also know, we needed
a bigger dinghy, and this year wound up buying an 11-foot
inflatabile. Tooling
around Catalina with the two of them is a show stopper. We've even met some other
Bouv fanciers, former owners and the like. The two of them are also fast becoming
known to the locals as "regulars". In fact, one of our harbor patrolmen
specifically takes Rufus out on patrol with him (attracts a lot of attention with
Ruf at the bow).
Rufus' herding instincts are also pretty strong...we were walking one day and his
nose snapped up and he was gone, with me running after him in his dust. We rounded
a corner and there he was, five feet from a mangy old buffalo. The bufalo had no
concern about Ruf, and when Ruf went to try and move him, the buffalo put his head
down and did a little charge. Needless to say, Rufus went running in the opposite
direction, with me right after him. I think I even passed him!
In any event, the dogs are enjoying their summer and we're enjoying them.
They get sandy, junk sticks to their coats, they try to eat things that are disgusting...how
can you not love that? If we had the space and time, we'd have 10 more!
Rufus has become a good play-dog now (he really didn't know what to do before Bonnie).
Best regards,
Bob
SCBdFC Rescue Program
Gallery of Re-Homed Bouviers
Info | Re-homed Contents | Sadie | Merlin | Rufus