FBR ~ Ruff

Updates can be found towards the bottom of the page

How Could Someone Do This To Me?

Ruff was found with a men's belt fastened tightly around his neck (shown in photo).

He was recently pulled from an animal shelter and would most likely have been "put to sleep" had we not rescued him. After a thorough examination by an FBR vet, it was agreed that even though Ruff seemed near death's door, good quality food, plenty of rest and a lot of TLC should start him on the road to recovery.

Ruff has the cutest underbite that allows his teeth and tongue to stick out making him look like he is laughing all the time. Even though it takes every bit of strength he has, he is always ready to give a little kiss and a tiny wag of his nub, (that is, if you can see his tail under the winter jacket he is wearing all the time to keep him warm). Ruff is estimated to be around 2-3 years old and has the body frame for a 75-80 pound Boxer but he only weighs a paltry 36 pounds.

Please keep him in your thoughts as this will be a long "Ruff" road to recovery. With the help of FBR and caring people like you, Ruff will heal and ultimately know what it is like to be warm, loved, and fed.

Ruff just arrived in his foster home so we will post more details soon and will regularly update this page with his progress and photographs.

RUFF UPDATE 4/1/08:

Helooooooo. Hey, is there anyone out there? I hope you all haven’t forgotten me.

Hi everyone. Mr. Ruff here. Sorry it has been so long since I last wrote but my Foster Mom has been keeping me really busy (and out of trouble). There is so much to tell you. Where to start, hmmmmm.

Ok, so my last visit to the vet was GREAT! I was given a clean bill of health. I was told that I no longer have that awful skin disease so can stop taking that terrible medicine in one month. I weighed in at 60 whole pounds! No more pokes or scrapes and no more shots for a while, Yea!!!!! I will be sad not to see all the friendly people at the vet’s office but maybe my Foster Mom will swing by there with me every once in a while.

Speaking of vets... my Foster Mom and Dad and I were invited to a convention for the American Animal Hospital Association to tell my story. Dr. Goss (she is the pretty blonde lady vet at Quail Hollow Animal Hospital) was there to tell everyone how bad I was when FLBR brought me in. She said I was the worse case she had ever seen in her 20 years of practice. Jeez, I didn’t think I was all that bad. Anyway, when I was at this convention I had all these people taking videos and pictures of me and giving me hugs. I also met another FLBR volunteer, Auntie Sandra (not Sandy). She was soooo nice hanging all over me and kissing me. Boy, you should have seen the stuff she pulled out of her huge black bag! I got a stuffed shark (it’s not so stuffed any more) and these dried up sweet potatoes. Auntie was a little concerned when I kept spitting out the potato things, she said her fur kids love them. Oh well, I guess I have a finicky pallet. I have now been on TV and in newspapers. Mom says to not let it go to my head; I put my collar on just like every other Boxer.

I love Mr. Shark, Auntie Sandra The ladies that saved my life

Last time I talked to you I told you that Brutus and I were going to school and it has been so much fun. I get a ton of treats and I lay on my blanket in the sun while Foster Dad massages me. Sometimes they make me get up and walk over jumps and through tires. What do they think I am, some kind of a circus animal? Mom and Dad said that it is really odd after being nearly starved to death that I am not food motivated, so today Mom sent these yucky squishy things with Dad called shrimp, to see if I would get a little more excited. Not!!! Every time Dad would plop one of those slimy things in my mouth I’d just spit it back out. Now Tazz's, (one of my classmates) Mom and Dad brings him really good treats, I think they are called hot dogs. Those I’ll do anything for. I hope Mom and Dad can afford hot dogs for the next class.

“Don’t you just love school, Bru?” “Not for a slimy shrimp!”

Last week I went to visit my Foster Grandparents; they are so nice. Grandpa says I look just like him. I’ll take that as a compliment. When I am at their place I have to be on my best behavior so that no one trips and falls. Sometime I move really slowly toward Grandma and ever so gently get on her lap and give her a big old kiss, she never sees it coming. Oh yea, and the best part is that when I am visiting with Grandma and Grandpa I get to sleep all bundled up on the bed; they just don’t know it.

Hang on Grams - I’m going to FALL! Nothing like a soft bed to sleep on.

Ok so I have a confession, I can’t swim. You see there is this big old hole on the lanai filled with water. Foster Mom says it is a pool. Sometimes when I go by the pool at night I see all these other dogs in there staring at me so I bark and bark but they never come out so I think I am safe. Anyway, the other day I was doing my typical Boxer laps around the pool and ker-plunk- in I go. Down, down, down I sink until I realize that if I move my legs I start going back up. However, staying on the top of the water takes a whole lot of energy so I start sinking again. You know, it is kind of scary looking up at the world from under water. Next thing you know Mom reaches in and hoists me out. I think I heard her muttering something about taking swimming 101.

I think Foster Mom is going a little overboard with the flotation devices!

Oh before I forget, I have another new best friend. Her name is KiKi. KiKi is another FLBR dog that was adopted by Shantelle, Foster Mom’s daughter. When I first met KiKi I thought she was going to tear me to shreds but like Brutus, she is all bark and no bite. I can whack KiKi all the time with my paws and she only knocks me down once in a while (unlike Brutus). Now KiKi has the pointiest little ears and they are as cute as can be, but sometimes I’m afraid she is going to poke my eye out with one of them. Yeaaa, another playmate for “ME!"

My friends and I: KiKi, Brutus, Twinkie and of course... Moi

I think I’ll sign off for now; this has just been exhausting. I’ll be sure to check back a little sooner next time. I don’t want to lose all my new “favorite” friends.

I’m too tired to even pull in my tongue!

Sorry Auntie Sandra. Hey Twink, I bet mom can fix this one.

RUFF UPDATE 3/3/08:

Helllllloooo out there, Ruff here. Sorry it took so long to write but boy, does this family keep me busy! I am “doggon tired!” (Sheesh I am a hoot!). As I said I have been very busy with morning walks, the vet, school and festivals. I don’t have much time to write but thought I could eek out a few minutes while mom is in church (that is the one time I’m left behind (don’t know why, believe me I can pray with the best of them).

Twinkie just wears me out

So let’s get back to what the Rufster has been up to. Mom enrolled Brutus and I in this thing called school, in a program called Control Unleashed. I love it! I get to lay there and Foster Dad massages me and I pretty much sleep the whole time. One time they wanted me to jump over these bars but I thought what the heck, that’s hard work and the silly things fall over so easy so I just walk right through them. That takes a lot less energy (I think I knocked all three over, TWICE)! Brutus sometimes looks really mean at the other dogs but I know he is all bark and no bite. HA!

Ruff, you really have to act like you are enjoying this, for Mom’s sake.

I went to the vet again and AGAIN got all this love and everyone hugging me. But guess what, I weighed 58 POINT 5 pounds! Mom says that now I have to work on the muscle weight and I will be one sharp Boxer boy, but, wow, up and down those steps can be very tiring. The vet said the only thing left to work on is the skin problem and that I don’t have to come in for another visit for a whole month. That kind of makes me sad; I’ll miss seeing my friends.

Speaking of friends, I met a whole bunch of new most favorite friends at a festival I went to in Gulfport. There were all these ladies there with the coolest Boxer dogs and they just kept hugging me and kissing me and saying how good I looked, but I already knew that. I think mom said these were some of the Florida Boxer Rescue volunteers and they were there to tell people all about Boxers like me that need help. I had a good time but am afraid other dogs don’t appreciate my low, low "voice" and my special kind of Boxer play because some became pretty alarmed when I barked at them. I guess I’ll have to work on that at school.

My new friends and I are having soooo much fun on a Saturday afternoon

Dad and I had a serious talk about girls. Don’t worry Twinkie, Luna is cute but you are my girl!

Mom has been teaching me a new trick at home. I now have to ring this thing called a bell when I want to go potty. At first I was a little confused but now that I have caught on I am doing pretty well. Get this: ring the bell - go outside, ring the bell - go outside, ring - out, ring - out, out, out, out…… This is pretty great and you should see mom JUMP!

Ring the bell, everyone jumps, go outside. Sounds good to me!

Now let me tell you one thing I don’t much like about mom, she is a clean freak. One day Twinkie and I are just sleeping nice as can be and next thing you know WHAM!!! I’m in a bathtub getting water poured all over me. I was not pleased to say the least. I don’t know what the problem was I didn’t think I smelled and obviously Twinkie didn’t mind my Ruff aroma (hehehe) either. Obviously mom smelled something we didn’t and decided to change it. I hope this doesn’t become a habit!

I know Ruff, it’s really terrible when she does this, just be patient.

Ok, she’s got the camera make a break for it!!!!!

Oh yeah, one more thing before I sign off. Mom wanted me to tell you about a big Shin Dig that FLBR is going to throw in honor of, you guessed it, ME! It’s going to be a wonderful party with art work you can buy and tasty treats to eat; I hope they have those awful smelling ones there, I LOVE THEM. And of course I will be there to meet each and every person that shows up. So if you wanna meet me, you gotta show up to the event!

To get more information about the event just look on our website under “The Art of Rescue a Ruff Exhibit" (that’ me).

Well, got to go. I hope to see all of you at my party and I will keep writing to you as long

as they let me.

Sorry I almost forgot, my very best friend is no longer with me. Sorry Samantha.

Hey Twink, do you think mom can sew her up? Sorry purple teddy bear.

UPDATE 2/20/08:

Hey Ho everybody! It’s Ruff here, you know Mr. Ruff, Ruffle Duffle the Rufster? Thought I’d check in with all of you since it’s been a while and I’m sure you want to know what has been happening in this “new” world of mine.

“I’m a lucky, lucky dog”

Today foster mom and I drove to visit all my wonderful friends at QH (I love car rides) where I had my stitches removed from when I was neutered. No biggie! While I was at the office I was taken to be introduced to these furry critters called cats. Now I was all charming and went up to get a closer look at this fluffy white thing and WHAM! I got a paw to the face. Well I’ll tell you I was shocked! Thank goodness they had that cat in a cage or I think it would have eaten my face right off! I slowly backed out of that room so that creature wouldn’t get me from behind. I’m not so sure what that cat’s problem was, I just wanted to be friends, everyone loves me! Maybe he was just having a Ruff day (hehehe). Anyway, I go back next week to get all my boosters so that I can stay strong and healthy. I have to be able to keep up with girlfriend Twinkie.

“That cat was so mean Twinkie!”

Things around my foster home have been GREAT! I have found a wonderful new room to explore the only problem is that you have to go up these things called stairs. Now let me tell you the problem is not actually going UP the stairs it is when you have to come back DOWN! Half way down those stairs I pick up speed and my butt passes my front end. Thank goodness there is a wall at the bottom - at least it stops me.

“Slow down Ruff - you’re going to CRASH!”

Every morning foster mom and dad take all three of us for a nice long walk and I am starting to catch on to the rules. “Ruff, leave it!” Look at mom and get a treat, that’s easy enough. One day foster mom and I went out all on our own to practice and boy she had some really wonderfully smelly treats in her pouch. She also had some little yucky ones in there too. Well, she tried to put the yucky one in my mouth so I spit it back out. She popped in another yucky one and I spit that one out too (you’d think she would have figured it out by now). Finally she pulls out one of the wonderful treats and says “you know for a dog that was almost starved to death you sure have become awfully picky!” But dang, who wants chipped beef when you can have a steak! At the end of our walks we get to get a nice cold drink from a fountain that my foster grandma and grandpa bought just for me. How nice is that? I now have my own water fountain but I do have to share with Twinkie and Brutus.

“This is pure Heaven”

Speaking of Brutus and Twinkie, we have all become the best of friends. Well, Brutus doesn’t try and tackle me any more and that is an improvement. Most days you can find all three of us out sleeping on the couch on the lanai. It sure is nice not having bugs crawling all over me chewing me up. I think I like this new world I have stepped into thanks to Florida Boxer Rescue.

“Does life get any better than this?”

Well, got to go and get brushed - the best part of that is the cookie at the end. Stay tuned for the update next week after I go to my first day of school, that should be interesting!

“One cool Dude!”

FOSTER HOME UPDATE 2/6/08:

Hi Everyone, Ruff asked me to write this because, well, it was a "ruff" day yesterday after having been neutered. I know I can’t tell the stories as well as him but I’ll try.

The past week and a half have shown nothing but improvements in Ruff’s body as well as his spirit. I have never seen such a goofy Boxer! The minute Ruff sees a person or one of his foster siblings he throws his head up and back then tries to do the Boxer “schwink” with his butt and ends up bumping into things. Unfortunately he sometimes bumps into Brutus but he just leans over and gives him a kiss and keeps on moving. Brutus looks at me with an expression that clearly says “Do I really have to put up with this?” All and all, Ruff is getting along with both of his foster sibs wonderfully and has really started to build up some much needed muscle with all his play and running around the yard.

Another first for Ruff was being able to go on the morning walk with the whole family. The walk is about 2.5 to 3 miles (don’t worry we have been working up to this) and Ruff made it the whole way with no problem. I don’t think Ruff has had any real obedience training but he does so well on the leash, doesn’t pull or anything. Well, that is until he decides he wants to play in the middle of the road and starts to do the “play with me” pawing at Twinkie right in front of his foster dad. After quite a stumble but still able to keep from hitting the ground, dad looks at Ruff and say’s “What the heck are you doing?” I’m sure dad knows Ruff can’t answer him but after a throw back of his head and a butt wiggle (Ruff, not dad) you can’t help but laugh and the walk proceeded with no other mishaps.

Ruff weighed in at 56 lbs. and had a normal red and white blood count and the vets were very happy with his progress. Now all we have to do is get rid of the demodex and this will be one healthy boy (his hair is finally starting to grow back and he now has patches of peach fuzz all over).

Well, I've got to go. It is time to apply ice packs and try to make Ruff a little more comfortable.

FOSTER HOME UPDATE 1/27/08:

Ruff: “Hi Everyone, Ruff here. Went to the doctor, did great, love life, bye - got to go play.”

Ruff's Foster Mom: Well, as you can tell, Mr. Ruff (he likes to be called that) is doing sooo much better it’s hard to keep him down. As Ruff said this was our third week office visit and it could not have gone better. Ruff now weighs 53 pounds and was even strong enough to be vaccinated today, ouch! We have been treating his demodex with this awful tasting medicine and I hope it isn’t going to take too long to start working. How do I know it is awful tasting you ask? Well, Ruff scrunches up his head, squeezes his eye shut and gags! That’s when we shove in a finger full of peanut butter. Next thing you know, I have peanut butter running down my arm, it is all over Ruff’s face and Twinkie is licking it off of everyone. It is a peanut butter mêlée!

Ruff: “Hi again, don’t forget to tell them about the 35 thing, you know mom, the blood and all. Hey Twinkie, wait for me - I’m not that fast yet!”

Ruff's Foster Mom: And off he goes again. As Ruff was saying, his red blood count was up to 35. That is as near normal as it needs to be. Well, while Ruff is out, I’ll tell you the next step and he isn’t going to like it much. In a week and a half Ruff will be going in for the big one. In other words, he is finally strong enough to be neutered.

Ruff: “Hey, did you tell everybody how nice everyone at Quail Hollow is and that I was giving everyone kisses? Boy, life is so much fun now. Dang, she just took my favorite toy. Twinkie give me back that purple teddy bear that is MINE! Samantha gave that to me when she busted me out of the pound!”

Ruff's Foster Mom: As Ruff said, the office staff at Quail Hollow has been wonderful and everyone manages to sneak out and give Ruff a hug whenever we come in (sorry Dr Goss). It was so funny when Twinkie and I (yes, Twinkie came along for moral support) sat in the room after they took Ruff in the back for his vaccinations, there was so much chatter and attention being given to Ruff it sounded like a party going on! I swear Ruff will be the only dog I know that will look forward to getting his vaccinations.

Ruff: “Ok, I’m dog-gone tired (ha! I still got it). By the looks of it mom has told you everything that has happened in the past week. I think Twinkie has worn me out! Come here you little cutie, lets snuggle up together by mom and take a nap.”

Ruff's Foster Mom: Well, as the two of them sleep, and have finally stopped pestering Brutus, I’ll sign off for now. Thank you again for all your support and I’ll keep you filled in on Ruff’s new adventures; I’m sure there will be a ton.

FOSTER HOME UPDATE 1/20/08:

Hi everyone, Ruff here. I am writing this myself because my foster mom wanted everyone to know that I am doing really well and wanted you to hear it from the horse's mouth, err, I mean dog's mouth. I had my second week vet check yesterday and it went GREAT! Everyone came out to see me and I just wiggled and wiggled - I've never had so much love and attention. The vet said my red blood count is up to 29 and I gained another 3 pounds! I know that doesn't sound like much but I was told the first week that I put on a lot of "water weight" because I was sooo dehydrated. I am also starting treatment for demodex, a nasty skin disease that made my hair fall out all over the place. My foster mom said when my hair grows back I am going to be just GORGEOUS! She said that I am kind of like a diamond in the "Ruff" right now and a little "Ruff" around the edges. HA! Get it? Ruff?! I just kill myself; I love this name.

I am feeling so much better and have even been able to meet my foster siblings, Brutus and Twinkie, who are pretty nice to me (I LOVE Twinkie! She is BEEEEEAUTIFUL!). Brutus and I are learning to be friends but he is letting me know this is his home and I am OK with that as long as he shares his family with me.

Well, got to go for now. Twinkie, that cute little thing, looks like she might like a little Boxer play and now that I am feeling a little better I will be happy to oblige her, at least for a little bit.

Check back next week and I'll let you know how my next Dr. visit goes. I'm sure it won't be as "Ruff" as the first one. HA! I'm too funny!

P.S. My foster mom is awesome -just look at how much she loves me!

FOSTER HOME UPDATE 1/14/08:

Well, Saturday was a GREAT day for Ruff. Ruff had his one week follow up visit with the vet and things couldn't have gone better. When Ruff was brought in last Saturday you'll remember his red blood count was 7 (normally this would be fatal in dogs). But, this Saturday his blood count was at 22! He is more than half way to having a normal red blood cell count!!! Yea! Also, Ruff put on 10 pounds the past week and actually has a little tummy. I think the word the vet used was "remarkable!" Today Ruff gave me a real live "kidney bean dance." For those of you who are not familiar with this particular Boxer dance, it refers to the way they bend themselves around almost in half and then try and walk sideways (it is quite a feat for a healthy Boxer). Unfortunately, Ruff kept walking off the brick pavers and toppling over, but was quick to get up and wiggle when I laughed at his antics.

I think Ruff is finally on the mend and hopefully the road will be smooth from here on out. Thank you for your thoughts, prayers and contributions for Ruff's recovery - keep them coming and I'll keep up the good food, kisses and most of all... love.

I'll give another update after our next vet visit next Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed for another 10 pounds!