Rufus Enjoys Life at the Sanctuary

Rufus is one of our classic "sanctuary" dogs. He came here to live out his life in a safe place, where he can be who he is. One of our friends put it this way: "Smiling Dog Farms is a place where a dog can be a dog!"

And that has been true for Rufie! He is the poster boy for why sanctuaries exist! Rufus is not a candidate for adoption.
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Rufus was rescued from a shelter in the Dallas-Fort Worth area by a group that thought he could be adopted. The way Rufie's advocate and friend, Dianne, explains it, Rufus is great 99% of the time. It's that 1% that gets him into trouble!

When Rufus arrived, he was such a gentleman in every way that we doubted Dianne's beliefs about Rufus. He was sweet and loved to be held and loved on. We thought that he had been unfairly labeled.

Right up until he bit Sarah, one of our team members here at the farm!

And it was just as Dianne had explained it. After being so wonderfully behaved for several weeks, he simply turned around and bit Sarah on the arm. There was no provocation and no warning from Rufus. He just bit her. And then wagged his tail and acted like he had never done it!

Another of our good rescue friends, Jodie, who has a lot of insight and experience with dogs, suggested that dogs like Rufus are having seizures when they bite. It does make sense. It is over in a hurry, and then Rufus acts like nothing happened!

You can see from this picture that Rufus can be very gentle and loving. You just never know when he will go into one of his "spells" and bite!

The sanctuary was the ideal place for Rufie to live. He can bite team members like Sarah with impunity here. There are no penalties for biting at Smiling Dog Farms!

He has a play yard of his own and one of our older model cottages. He has his toys, and periodically he receives a package with more toys and treats from Dianne, who still asks about Rufus.

We love and accept Rufus just the way he is!