People seem to like Tuffy Toro (or, at least, her pictures), so here's my little tribute to our current dog.
Tuffy was, as my husband puts it, "a pass-around puppy," or, as he also put it, a "puppy in peril." As best we can determine, Tuffy
went from wherever she was born to the Animal Control shelter, was
picked up by A, given to A's relative, returned to A, passed on to my
co-worker D until a proper home could be found, and then taken in by me
while John was out of town and my mom was getting ready to move into
her own place after a year with us. That's a lot of homes in a
short time for a puppy who was, by veterinary estimate, only about 6
weeks old when we got her. No wonder she's so insecure!
And
she was definitely insecure. At D's apartment she barked and ran
away and hid under furniture. At our place the first week, she
chewed up the loveseat and the leather couch and tore a strip off the
wallpaper. John almost insisted on getting rid of her.
Instead he agreed to spend about $500 on obedience training with Karyn
Garvin. (Yes, I recommend her.)
Tuffy Toro (named after the
mascot of the Tucson Toros baseball team, since renamed and in some
ways ruined) turned out to be a smart little dog, albeit not as smart
as Jenny Dog (1979-1989), a.k.a. Princess Guinevere of Westcott
Street. Tuffy did well in the training, and never chewed
furniture again. She's also the first dog I've had who's not a
trash hound. Unfortunately, she's never gotten over her fear of
strangers, or even of people she's seen with some frequency.
During our 2003 and 2004 trips out of town, Tuffy never stopped barking
and running away from Kevin when he came over to feed her. She
does a little better than that on occasional trips to the off-leash dog
area at Reid Park, where at least she doesn't bark at anyone.
She's a little afraid of the other dogs, though.
We don't really
know what Tuffy is, breed-wise. She has a chow's purple tongue,
but she's got short fur and she's not very big. Any ideas,
people?
The best things about her are that she's very
gentle and sweet with John and me, she's very smart about interspecies
communication, and she doesn't chew things or play Houdini. The
worst things about her are her year-round shedding and her
insecurity. She often comes to us for reassurance, and runs away
at sudden movements and loud noises, anything from John using his angry
voice to the rustle of paper. Kitchen noises that bring most pets
running for a handout usually send Tuffy in the other direction. The
very best thing about Tuffy is that she's our dog.
Karen
You are looking at an archive edition of 
4 years ago
3 comments:
Tuffy is such a cutie! We had a kitty (Sarah Jane) much like your Tuffy Toro. When she came to live with us it was clear that she had not been treated well. While she lived to be just a month shy of fifteen she never got over her fear of strangers, although she did finally get used to a few close friends and family members. Just from looking at the pictures it is quite obvious that Tuffy has you right where she wants you! ;-)
Why, Julie! Surely you're not implying that I cave pretty much every time Tuffy comes up to me in the kitchen, and give her a treat! <g> Well, okay, guilty as charged.
Can I assume your kitty Sarah Jane was named after the Doctor's companion? T & T used to have a dog named Romana. - Karen
Of course, she was! What do you take us for?
On second thought, don't answer that!
Julie
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