Rufus Goes to Cornwall

One day Rufus was enjoying a peaceful slumber when he was awoken by a crash upstairs! “Oh shoot!” Came Tom’s muffled voiced. “I dropped the bag on my head!”

What an odd thing to do! Rufus ran up the stairs to find Tom. He bounded into the spare room and saw Tom in the corner, standing on a chair! As Rufus watched he pulled big bags out of the high cupboard and he and Nic filled them with clothes and shoes and many other things.

Tom and Nic carried the bags outside and put them in the car. Then they took Rufus’ bed, bowl and toys in the back where he always rode. “We’re going on holiday” they said. Rufus was very excited; he had never been on holiday before! He leapt into the car and off they set. They drove for hours and hours. Rufus was very bored, so he curled up in his basket to sleep.

The sudden gust of fresh air and the smells of a farm woke Rufus as the door was opened. He looked around to see what he could see. There were cows, sheep and goats! Ducks waddled by the pond and a cat stretched lazily out of reach.

Nic and Tom took the bags and all of Rufus’ things from the car and carried them into a little cottage next to the farm. It had a lovely slate roof and a big garden with lots of big green plants and a pond full of red and gold fish.

Rufus trotted into the cottage after his humans and there he saw Annie and Granny Frani! He was very happy to see them and wagged his tail. Annie gave him a big lick and they ran around the dining table! Rufus scampered into the kitchen and saw Emma! He ran around her ankles and sat down ready for a cuddle. Rufus liked Emma, she was Granny Frani’s sister and knew lots about maths!

One by one he saw all of the family; everyone had come to stay at the cottage. Rufus played with all the children and chased his ball up and down the garden! Annie joined in and round and round they scampered, enjoying all the sounds and smells of the farm.

Eventually the sun went down and the children went to bed. Rufus and Annie were sleepy, so they went inside and cuddled up with all the adults. I love holidays in Cornwall, Rufus thought.  I wonder what we will do tomorrow…

Rufus Moves House

One day Rufus noticed that Nic and Tom seemed to be spending an awful lot of time on their laptop. Nic would hand the laptop to Tom and say "what do you think of this one?" Tom would shake his head or nod and say "let's go and take a look at it". Rufus was very confused, they were already looking at the laptop!

A few weeks later Tom came home and patted Rufus on the head, saying, "we've found one at last! Now to start packing!" Rufus wasn't sure what packing was, but he hoped it would be fun.

Tom and Nic started to bring boxes back home, Rufus thought it was a great game to jump in them and hide. Sometimes he leapt out of the boxes to lick their faces! Nic was so surprised that she fell over on the rug!

Soon Rufus wasn't allowed in the boxes anymore. Tom and Nic were filling them with all the things they owned, although they didn't put Rufus' lead or toys in the boxes. Before Rufus could work out what they were doing, Tom went out and arrived home with a big van and some of his friends. Rufus was really happy to see Tom's friends, but they weren't there to play. All the people started to put the boxes in the van and when it was full and all the boxes were gone, they drove away.

Rufus was at home all by himself, his toys were the only things there. The little dog cried. What if they're not coming back? He thought. Rufus sat sadly by the window, hoping he hadn't been abandoned again.

A little while later Rufus curled up on the floor, maybe if he slept the time would go faster - like Christmas eve. Suddenly, there was the scrape of a key in the lock! Tom and Nic came through the door and picked up Rufus' things. He hadn't been left behind! Tom put Rufus' lead on him and they all went out to the car.

Eventually they pulled up at a little cottage. I haven't been here before, thought Rufus. I wonder where we are? They all walked up to the cottage together and Nic opened the door.  "This is our new home," said Tom. "It's really cozy and you will have a garden all of your very own!" Rufus wagged his tail and ran around the little cottage. All of their things were there! "We got it ready for you," said Nic. "Now you can settle right in."

Rufus Goes to the Lake

One sunny morning Rufus was sitting by the window and watching the clouds skate across the sky. Tom was having his breakfast and then they would go for a walk. Rufus loved going for walks, there were always so many sticks to play with in the park and lots of space to run around in.

After breakfast Tom and Nic put on their shoes took Rufus' lead down from the shelf. They went out the door, with Rufus trotting happily at their heels. Then they walked to the car and opened the doors. "This is odd," thought Rufus. We don't go to the park in the car."

"We're going somewhere different for our walk today Rufus," said Nic as he lept into the boot. "We're going to meet Auntie Sam and go round the lake."

Rufus wasn't sure what a lake was, but he was very excited. Rufus loved to see his Auntie Sam, she always liked to play and sometimes snuck him treats when she thought Nic wasn't looking!

They drove down the motorway, with Rufus sniffing all the smells that came in on the big gusts of wind through the windows. It would be great to see his Auntie Sam, maybe the lake was a toy that she had for him!

When they got to Auntie Sam's house she gave him a big cuddle and Rufus licked her face to show her how happy he was to see her. Rufus liked Auntie Sam's house, there was a sweet little garden and sometimes a cat to chase! He couldn't see anything he thought might be the lake though.

On they went in the car, down little windy lanes, until they pulled up in a big space full of cars. "Is this the lake?" Rufus wondered.

"Come on Rufus!" said Tom, leading the way under a big stone bridge that looked and smelt like it had been there for hundreds of years.

On the other side of the bridge Rufus had a big surprise! There was the biggest puddle he had ever seen! It had trees in the middle and lots of strange animals floating on the top!

"This is the lake," said Auntie Sam, so on they went, Rufus sniffing and wagging his tail in happy surprise.

Rufus loved the lake, he crept up to the edge and gave it a little sniff. The day was hot and he was awfully thirsty, "I wonder if I can drink some of this?" thought Rufus. He stuck his little pink tongue in the water and wagged his tail with glee. The water was really fresh and tasty, it was ever so delicious!

Rufus watched the floating animals, some of them were brown, but some of them had shiny green heads! They made a funny quacking sound and kept bobbing their heads in the water. As Rufus watched, one of them started flapping its wings and with a big swoooosh was flying through the air!

"Ah! These must be birds!" thought Rufus. "They're much bigger than sparrows though!"

"Are you watching the ducks?" asked Auntie Sam. "They're far too quick for you to catch!"

Rufus thought this was a challenge, so he ran towards the water, to float on it like the ducks.

Suddenly Rufus sank! He kicked his legs and with a splutter made it to the top! All the ducks had gone, so he paddled back out of the water and dried himself with a big shake. Auntie Sam was right, the ducks were too fast for him!

Rufus pottered on, taking his humans with him. He sniffed and ran and played with the sticks that had washed up to shore. Soon the sun was ready to sleep, so off they headed back to the car. "I love lakes," thought Rufus, "We'll have to come back soon!"

Rufus Plays in the Snow

One day Rufus was getting ready to take Tom for his walk. He was standing ready in his harness, when Tom said to Rufus "it's snowing today, so I have a little red coat for you to wear."

"Snowing?" Thought Rufus. "I wonder what snowing is?"

Even though he didn't understand, Rufus stood still like a good boy and let Tom put the little red coat on him. It was soft and warm and covered his back and tummy just nicely! Rufus liked the little red coat so much that he wagged his tail and gave Tom a big smile to say thank you.

Tom put on a pair of green wellies, he always put the wellies on when it was raining. "I wonder if snow is like rain?" Rufus thought. "It must be wet, that's why Tom's wearing his wellies!"

Finally, Tom opened the door and they stepped outside together. Rufus couldn't believe his eyes! Everything was white! He couldn't see the grass anymore and the car and the trees were all covered in the strange, white stuff!

"Look Rufus," said Tom. "Isn't the snow pretty?"

Rufus wagged his tail slowly. The white stuff must be the snow. It was very pretty, but very cold. He was ever so pleased to have his little red coat on.

Tom and Rufus set off through the snow. Rufus had to lift his paws up high so that he could climb through it. "Walking in the snow is hard work!" He thought.

Eventually Tom and Rufus got to the park. All the trees and bushes were covered in snow. The swings in the playground were very still and held the powder balanced on their seats. "This is really pretty!" Thought Rufus.

Rufus began to run through the snow, he turned around to see if Tom was still behind him and saw an amazing sight! His little paws had left prints in the snow! Rufus thought that this was great, so he ran in a big circle, leaving lots of little prints behind him.

"Rufus!" Called Tom.

Rufus looked at Tom, he had a big ball of snow in his hand. "Wow!" Thought Rufus. "Snow can be made in to things!"

Tom threw the ball of snow and Rufus jumped up and caught it in his mouth. The ball broke and suddenly his mouth was full of water! This was why Tom was wearing wellies! Rufus had great fun catching the balls of snow and leaving little prints behind him as he ran.

Eventually it was time to go home. Rufus sniffed a big round man that some of the local children had made from the snow and then trotted down the road.

When they got in to the house Rufus saw that the snow they had brought in with them was melting on the floor and leaving puddles. Rufus helped Tom to mop up the water and then they took off his little red coat.

Nic was waiting on the sofa with some hot chocolate for her and Tom to drink, so all three of them snuggled up on the sette and warmed up together.

Rufus Meets Annie

One day Rufus was playing in the living room when Tom came up and spoke to him. Tom said "Nic and I are going on a little holiday to Italy, so we're going to leave you with your Granny Frani for a few days." Rufus was sad that Tom and Nic would be away for a few days, but he was very excited about going to stay at Granny Frani's house.

Tom and Nic put Rufus in the car and they all drove to Granny Frani's house together. Granny Frani had a really big garden that Rufus loved to play in. There was an apple tree and a beech tree. Rufus loved to pick up the sticks that fell from their branches and play with them.

Granny Frani's garden also had lots of little nooks and crannies that Rufus loved to explore and sniff. He had great fun playing in Granny Frani's garden.

The next day it was time for Tom and Nic to go on their holiday. Rufus and Granny Frani waved them goodbye and then went to play in the garden together.

Tom's brother Ed also lived at Granny Frani's house. Ed loved Rufus very much, but he wanted to have a dog of his own. Ed said to Rufus "we're going to go to the rescue shelter and find a nice dog who will come and live here. You can play together whenever you come to visit."

So Rufus, Ed and Granny Frani set off to the rescue shelter together. There were many animals at the rescue shelter, all waiting for someone who would be able to give them a home and lots of love. There were brightly coloured birds, some of whom could shout "hello!" There were mice running in wheels and there were fluffy rabbits bouncing in their pens.

The biggests animals were the cats and dogs. The cats were of all different colours. Some were fluffy, some had very short fur. Some were old and some were young. All of them looked out of their enclosures and said "meow!"

Finally they got to where the dogs were staying. Like the cats there were all different kinds, but instead of saying "meow" the dogs all said "woof!"

Ed stopped in front of a pen with a big, black dog curled up inside. The big black dog was very quiet and shy. Granny Frani and Ed said "we like this dog, shall we take her for a walk?"

Rufus wagged his tail, so a nice lady took the big, black dog out of the pen and they all went for a walk.

Rufus ran up to the big, black dog and said "hello! My name is Rufus! Do you want to be friends?"

The big, black dog replied "my name is Annie. I'd really love a new home and some people to love me."

Ed and Granny Frani said "we like this dog, lets take her home to live with us!"

Rufus was so excited that Annie was going to live at Granny Frani's house and be loved that he ran around the grass and jumped really high, right over the top of Annie! Everyone laughed and they all got in the car together and went back to Granny Frani's house to start Annie's new life.

Rufus and the Yellow Ball

One day Rufus was looking happily out of the window and watching the world go by. He saw some children playing in the street outside with a football. They seemed to be having so much fun! Rufus wished that he had a ball to play with.

Rufus had a lovely pully toy. It was red and made of rubber. Rufus enjoyed playing with his pully toy, but he wished that he had a ball.

Rufus also had a black kong. Nic would fill it with treats and peanut butter and Rufus would spend hours playing with it. Even though he had a kong, Rufus wished he had a ball.

Rufus watched the children and wagged his tail. He thought "I would love a ball, but I'm lucky because I have other toys to play with."

A little while later Nic and Tom came home. Rufus didn't know where they'd been or how long they had been gone, but he was very pleased to see them. He jumped and bounced and wagged his tail.

"Rufus, I've got a present for you!" Said Tom. Tom reached in to his pocket and pulled out a yellow rubber ball! Rufus was so excited! He ran around the living room to celebrate and then gave Tom his paw in exchange for the ball. "Good boy!" Exclaimed Tom. Putting on his lead, Tom and Nic took Rufus in to the garden.

In the garden Tom and Nic took turns to throw the ball and Rufus caught it every time! "This is fun!" Thought Rufus excitedly, "I'm so lucky to have a yellow ball!" Rufus wagged his tail and even though he loved his other toys, he decided that the yellow ball was his favourite toy of all.

Rufus and the Mocking Cat

One day Rufus was curled up happily on the rug, he was day dreaming about bones and walking in the park. The sunshine came through the French windows and made a warm little patch for him to lie in. Suddenly, Rufus started. He had seen something on the other side of the glass!

What was it?!

The creature had four legs and a tail, just like Rufus. It was smaller though and had pointy ears and grey fur. "This must be a cat!" Rufus thought. "My mummy told me about cats!"

The cat (for that was what it was) looked at Rufus through the glass. It tilted it's head and said "Can you run really fast?"

"Yes I can!" Woofed Rufus proudly.

"I bet you can't catch me." Purred the cat.

"I can! I can!" Woofed Rufus. He didn't know why the cat wouldn't believe him, he could run ever so fast! Just the day before he'd run across the garden much faster than Tom.

"Come and get me then." Purred the cat.

Rufus jumped up and ran at the cat. He ran as fast as his little legs would carry him, but poor Rufus had forgotten that the door was shut! He hit the door with a big bang! "That wasn't very nice!" Rufus yelped to the cat.

The cat gave a little laugh, twitched his tail and walked away.

"One day I'll catch that Mocking Cat!" Rufus thought. Then he settled back down on the rug and day dreamed about bones.