Scruffy was a scrappy stray mutt from the mean streets of Chester, PA. Two weeks after we adopted Ruffles, we adopted Scruffy from the SPCA as a member of our family on his last day on death row.
Right away, he fit in at our house. He'd sneak out at least 3 times a week to run around the neighborhood. It didn't matter if you locked all the doors in the house, he would unlock them somehow and shoot out the door. He always came back in about an hour, though, like a good dog.
Scruffy always had Ruffles near him. They were like brothers; they fought all the time but loved each other. Once on a family canoe trip, Ruffles and Scruffy were in opposite canoes and barking at each other across the water. It must have gotten too heated for Ruffles because he jumped in and started to swim to Scruffy's canoe. Scruffy couldn't stand to be upstaged so he too jumped out of the canoe. There was only one problem - he didn't know how to swim! Ruffles was having the time of his life swimming in circles around the canoes while Scruffy was drowning - he couldn't even do the doggy paddle! He was a very smart dog, though, and flipped on his back. Have you ever seen a dog do the back float?
He also liked to sing along with my sister as she played her saxophone. Scruffy would sit down right next to Heather and howl in true dog form: sitting up straight, head titled back, and mouth open. As she went higher, he howled in higher tones. As she went lower, he did as well. The only way he would stop, besides if Heather stopped, was if someone was looking at him. With a self concious dog, you had to sneak to look and try hard not to laugh.
Ruffles got his name from the way he acted and it suited him like he suited us. When we brought him home, he tore right into a bag of Ruffles potato chips. He opened, and ate them, all by himself. Later when we found out he was a pure bred Cairn Terrier, my sister Heather figured he needed a more dignified name, hence the proper title Mister.
Ruffles was a permanent puppy. He adopted my mom as his mom and never let go. He loved to chase squirrels, frolic in the snow, untie Mom's shoes, rip and destroy paper towels, and many other fancy things.
One thing in particular he did was "hunt" anything and everything that moved. Afterall, he was a purebred Cairn Terrier. He was bred to chase rodents into rock piles called cairns, grab the animal, and shake it to death with his strong jaw. You could always tell when that dog was eating - he had to kill it before he would ingest it. He would slam his paw down on the edge of his food bowl and the kibble would go flying in any and all directions.
Ruffles was a very clever dog; he just didn't want anyone to know. He'd sneak lunchmeat off the table, catch vermin, and all kinds of other things. The thing that he did best, though, was eat a lollipop like a human. He'd ever-so-carefully peel the wrapper down the stick and make sure it was down all the way. Then, he put the lollipop stick inbetween his paws and proceeded to lick it just like a human would. When it got soft enough, Ruffles would bite down on the candy to get to the bubblegum center. And when he got there, he didn't eat the gum...he chewed it.
Ruffles was the happiness and guard dog of the family. He will be truly missed and in our every thought.
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