Rufus is eleven years old. His birthday is Christmas Eve! His real name is Gorthleck Gwilliam, which you can see why we don't call him that. He flew on a big airplane from England when he was just a little bit older than me! Mom and Dad drove up to Maryland to meet him and brought him home a few weeks later.
Rufus wasn't really happy when I came to live at our house. He kind of got mad when I tried to eat all of his crumbs under the kitchen table and sleep on his bed. He also didn't like sharing Mom and Dad with me too much.
You could say that he's a little bit cranky. But I don't say it too loud because his teeth are way bigger than mine.I think he likes me though, because slowly but surely he is getting a little closer to me every day. Usually when he pushes me out of the way to eat my food out of my bowl.
I'm working on him, though. He actually kissed me the other day! Either that or he was trying to figure out if I would make a good snack.
Nick, I know this is your blog, but you have raised my curiousity about Rufus. Could you tell us more? Why the long trip long trip from England? Sounds interesting.......
ReplyDeleteHi Taryn! This is Nick's mom. He can't read, so he asked me to relay the story to you.
ReplyDeleteRufus was from Gorthleck over in York, I believe - the litter was raised by Miss K. McNally (who is known as "Cush") and her aunt is Shirley Hobbs of Grangefield. She is a judge - I think it's Carolyn Cannon who has a ribbon Miss McNally gave her at an event she judged here in the US.
My understanding at the time was that Rufus and his sister Reba were brought over by Shirley as show prospects, neither of which panned out and she decided they were better for companion homes. We actually went to see Reba, but fell in love with Rufus.
He has been a challenge. He is very devoted to us and very skittish with strangers. Nick has really, really helped him open up and he's blossoming in his relationships with outsiders. Now we can take him to baseball with us and he lets kids and adults pet him and will even dole out kisses...small ones, but kisses nonetheless.
Rufus is related to Carolyn's beloved Julie and to Lani's Maggie. :-)
Glad to hear that Nick is helping Rufus be more open to new people. Maggie is reserved with strangers, too - and was much more shy before Denzil showed up.
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons I wanted Denzil is that his dam was lovely,happy, and friendly. He turned out to be just as friendly, and his bold attitude with strangers really did help Maggie realize that strangers can be ok. Here's to hoping Rufus follows "cousin" Maggie's example!
Oh, we love big brother Rufus! We hope he comes round just like the old man in "Up" did. How can he not love you, Nick?
ReplyDeleteNick's been around grumpy old men corgis his whole life! I know he and Rufus will be good for each other.
ReplyDeleteHi Nicky, I hope Rufus doesn't make you mind too much. I am pretty sure you were getting a kiss, because of your cuteness factor.
ReplyDeleteI saw your feature on the Daily Corgi. You looked very handsome! Good thing they didn't use your picture from the top of this blog. You would have brought down the servers with all the hits! Your proud sister, Lowri
Lani: Maggie's reserve was probably from dad's side. Though you are right the Quizzy was such a bouncy happy little girl.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have a special ribbon that Cush awarded Juneau at a show many moons ago. Mandy was the handler the ribbon was awarded to, I hasten to add.
Thanks for the history on Rufus. I've met Shirley as Janet/Laura invited me to a puppy party at Shirley's house.
ReplyDeleteI understand the challenge of a reserved Cardi. Wilson is one of those. And, yep, super-people-friendly Jimmy has helped with that a bit. We call Wilson "Mr.Wilson" a la Dennis the Menace for his grumpy tendencies.
Oh, Nick...not to worry. Soon you will be buddies with your new "brother". My Cotton came to live with me in November and she owns a greyt big flat dog named Creel (a retired racing Greyhound). Creel likes her one day and then on other days asks me when she is going home!
ReplyDeleteAs a little aside to Taryn's comment - Spencer and Wilson are littermates - and let's face it, no one every called Spencer "reserved." Grumpy around puppies, yes.
ReplyDelete