This is Rrufus (note the 2 R's at the beginning...he can say his own name).
He's my parents' dog, and he is quite convinced that he's a person. He's the smartest dog we've ever seen (I know everyone says that about their dogs, but he really is). He understands more than some of the people I've worked with, and can identify the sound of my parents' car as they turn in to our street (at least 200 yards from the house and out of sight).
He also has a bit of a butter fetish. He can hear the butter dish being opened from anywhere in the house, and he'll sit and drool on your shoes until you give him a pat, at which point he'll inhale it and look at you for a second one. "Surely, you're not going to use that whole stick! It's a
waste to put it back in the fridge- I'll just polish it off for you!"
My parents can leave a steaming roast, turkey, ham, dog biscuits, or anything else on the kitchen table. Except butter. He's stolen at least 3 whole sticks that we know of, and broken one butter dish - there's probably been more.
My mom was told by a doc that she should switch to some kind of buttery substitute thing, and so as she was spreading it on her toast the other morning, Rrufus was standing by. She gave him a blob, which he promptly spat on the floor.
He can't believe it's not butter...
