Mr Toothless Tuffy
September 12, 1997
My sister brought me a dog she needed to find a home for (make a long story short, while away from college for the summer, her roommates had taken in a dog that they didn't really take care of and shouldn't of had since no pets were allowed in the building- Then when my sister returned to college she found Tuffy a small tan dog) I was thinking about getting a dog and said I would take him- Description: small tan dog, approximately 10 years old and his tongue sticks out- What showed up on my doorstep couldn't have been more pathetic- My sister and her boyfriend (now her husband) known bohemians, had this small 6 lbs tan dog with crazy dreaded hair and a hemp dog collar- The dog's hair was all matted and his ears were bald- He appeared to be an alien- Yes, his tongue did stick out of his mouth- He was very timid and he was really shaky- We just stared at each other- But within a few days I loved this alien looking dog as if I had given birth to it myself- We bonded- The dog gained my trust and would be my cuddle companion for the next 6 years- The first time my mother saw the dog she said "Only Sara would have a dog like that." I could not stand the name and wanted to change it- I wanted to change it to something that fit it more appropriately, like Marley- Since it had all these dreads- My friends said that I couldn't do that because "you can't change the name of a 10 year old dog"- Okay, the name Tuffy will stay but he soon became Mr Tuffy, Toothless Tuffy, Mr T, the Tuffster, fluffbucket and the nicknames go on- With in a week I got Mr Tuffy groomed- He apparently was a poodle and the groomer gave him the "official Poodle Do" but with limited hair to begin with he just looked like a shaved dog with a pompadour (looking a lot like Don King) In the beginning we learned each others traits- I had to adapt the most since I learned early on I was no longer the Alpha dog in my own home- Mr Tuffy had separation anxiety very bad and would be known to bark incesstantly for hours until I returned home (my neighbors didn't like me very much) and then I developed the "pet owners" version of separation anxiety- "I hope my dog isn't barking, I hope my dog doesn't bark, I hope my dog doesn't bark all day long while I am at work and my landlord doesn't threaten me with eviction again"- I would repeat that to myself all day long over and over while always looking at the clock- I began bringing Tuffy in the car with me everywhere since a dog barking inside a car would have a lesser penalty then being evicted- So the dog came with me EVERYWHERE- well not to the bar of course, but he was small enough no one would have seen him snuggling on my lap- Tuffy soon became my subject matter in my photos- Tuffy was probably the most photographed dog ever- I wanted to somehow make a book or calendar and found out it was already done (and done very well might I say) Mr Winkles was Mr Toothless Tuffy's long lost brother- Mr Toothless Tuffy was a very well traveled dog too- He accompanied me on many excursions- He traveled many hidden roads in the stated of Minnesota and Wisconsin-He had traveled cross country from Minnesota to Oregon- He had traveled all along the Oregon coast as well as a good portion of the western side of Oregon- He flew in a plane and made a pitstop in Dallas (and I mean pitstop literally too) From the beginning Mr Toothless Tuffy was not a healthy dog but he immediately made my life healthy with all the laughter he brought me- Through the years he lost 3 teeth (and two were a surprise since I thought he only had one) He had many roommates humans as well as cats- I think he thought he was a cat because he would constantly lick his paws- He had a dainty walk and when he would lay down he would cross his front paws- When he got excited he would bark and run in circles, for example whenever a pizza was delivered to the house he would go nuts!! (he loved pizza) He was too funny- He always had to sleep right next to me and therefore had to sleep inbetween me and any of my boyfriends (he lived through two boyfriends) Tuffy was always a constant hit with family, friends, and especially with strangers- He met some colorful individuals on the street- Many people have stopped me wondering what I was holding- "What is that?" "Is that a lamb?" "What happened to it's face?" As Mr Toothless Tuffy got older and lost his teeth, his lower jaw bone began to deteriorate (that is what the vets had told me) so his cute and cuddly face began to resemble something else-Not sure how to explain- He always had the most foul smelling breath and often had puss leakage too- Hell, I still kissed him multiple times a day, on or near the mouth- My mother thought I would catch some creepy incurable disease- I never did until the day he died , that is when I caught the most incurable disease; a broken heart- It has been 2 years since my beloved Mr Toothless Tuffy left this nutty world (9/10/03) He is always missed and just recently I have been wanting to get another Fluffbucket- I have a name for her (or him) too- My next dog will most likely be named Twylla Tu (my alias for ordering magazines and catalogs in the mail is Twyla) But Mr Toothless Tuffy and Ms Twylla Tu rhyme well together and they are currently being used in short stories that hopefully one day will be turn into published childrens books- Please hold your glasses up as I toast my truely faithful, old, smelly, alien looking, funny dancing and silly incesstantly barking dog-
My sister brought me a dog she needed to find a home for (make a long story short, while away from college for the summer, her roommates had taken in a dog that they didn't really take care of and shouldn't of had since no pets were allowed in the building- Then when my sister returned to college she found Tuffy a small tan dog) I was thinking about getting a dog and said I would take him- Description: small tan dog, approximately 10 years old and his tongue sticks out- What showed up on my doorstep couldn't have been more pathetic- My sister and her boyfriend (now her husband) known bohemians, had this small 6 lbs tan dog with crazy dreaded hair and a hemp dog collar- The dog's hair was all matted and his ears were bald- He appeared to be an alien- Yes, his tongue did stick out of his mouth- He was very timid and he was really shaky- We just stared at each other- But within a few days I loved this alien looking dog as if I had given birth to it myself- We bonded- The dog gained my trust and would be my cuddle companion for the next 6 years- The first time my mother saw the dog she said "Only Sara would have a dog like that." I could not stand the name and wanted to change it- I wanted to change it to something that fit it more appropriately, like Marley- Since it had all these dreads- My friends said that I couldn't do that because "you can't change the name of a 10 year old dog"- Okay, the name Tuffy will stay but he soon became Mr Tuffy, Toothless Tuffy, Mr T, the Tuffster, fluffbucket and the nicknames go on- With in a week I got Mr Tuffy groomed- He apparently was a poodle and the groomer gave him the "official Poodle Do" but with limited hair to begin with he just looked like a shaved dog with a pompadour (looking a lot like Don King) In the beginning we learned each others traits- I had to adapt the most since I learned early on I was no longer the Alpha dog in my own home- Mr Tuffy had separation anxiety very bad and would be known to bark incesstantly for hours until I returned home (my neighbors didn't like me very much) and then I developed the "pet owners" version of separation anxiety- "I hope my dog isn't barking, I hope my dog doesn't bark, I hope my dog doesn't bark all day long while I am at work and my landlord doesn't threaten me with eviction again"- I would repeat that to myself all day long over and over while always looking at the clock- I began bringing Tuffy in the car with me everywhere since a dog barking inside a car would have a lesser penalty then being evicted- So the dog came with me EVERYWHERE- well not to the bar of course, but he was small enough no one would have seen him snuggling on my lap- Tuffy soon became my subject matter in my photos- Tuffy was probably the most photographed dog ever- I wanted to somehow make a book or calendar and found out it was already done (and done very well might I say) Mr Winkles was Mr Toothless Tuffy's long lost brother- Mr Toothless Tuffy was a very well traveled dog too- He accompanied me on many excursions- He traveled many hidden roads in the stated of Minnesota and Wisconsin-He had traveled cross country from Minnesota to Oregon- He had traveled all along the Oregon coast as well as a good portion of the western side of Oregon- He flew in a plane and made a pitstop in Dallas (and I mean pitstop literally too) From the beginning Mr Toothless Tuffy was not a healthy dog but he immediately made my life healthy with all the laughter he brought me- Through the years he lost 3 teeth (and two were a surprise since I thought he only had one) He had many roommates humans as well as cats- I think he thought he was a cat because he would constantly lick his paws- He had a dainty walk and when he would lay down he would cross his front paws- When he got excited he would bark and run in circles, for example whenever a pizza was delivered to the house he would go nuts!! (he loved pizza) He was too funny- He always had to sleep right next to me and therefore had to sleep inbetween me and any of my boyfriends (he lived through two boyfriends) Tuffy was always a constant hit with family, friends, and especially with strangers- He met some colorful individuals on the street- Many people have stopped me wondering what I was holding- "What is that?" "Is that a lamb?" "What happened to it's face?" As Mr Toothless Tuffy got older and lost his teeth, his lower jaw bone began to deteriorate (that is what the vets had told me) so his cute and cuddly face began to resemble something else-Not sure how to explain- He always had the most foul smelling breath and often had puss leakage too- Hell, I still kissed him multiple times a day, on or near the mouth- My mother thought I would catch some creepy incurable disease- I never did until the day he died , that is when I caught the most incurable disease; a broken heart- It has been 2 years since my beloved Mr Toothless Tuffy left this nutty world (9/10/03) He is always missed and just recently I have been wanting to get another Fluffbucket- I have a name for her (or him) too- My next dog will most likely be named Twylla Tu (my alias for ordering magazines and catalogs in the mail is Twyla) But Mr Toothless Tuffy and Ms Twylla Tu rhyme well together and they are currently being used in short stories that hopefully one day will be turn into published childrens books- Please hold your glasses up as I toast my truely faithful, old, smelly, alien looking, funny dancing and silly incesstantly barking dog-
Long Live Mr Toothless Tuffy Y
posted by Ms SaraTee @ 9:56 AM
2 Comments:
Why does G always find siblings to take in ill-wanted dogs?
hmmm....anyone looking for a WONDERFULL little sheltie?/
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