In loving memory of our Rufus Pagura who we love so much. Rufus Pagura will be greatly missed and be in our hearts forever.

Rufus selected our family on Christmas Eve, 2000.   I had my eye on another puppy, but he untied my shoes and looked up at me with his intelligent eyes, and the rest was history.  Rufus had been bottle fed because his mom had health issues, and a cat was his primary care giver.  Rufus loved all cats, and spent many hours wrestling with his cat brother, George.  We worried he thought he was a cat...he picked up some cat habits.  He looked like a little brown rat at first;  someone called him our ugly little brown dog, but we think he is one of the cutest dogs ever.  Rufus had three biological puppy brothers, Harry, Peanut, and Jake, and two sisters.  He enjoyed his fuzzy elephants, chew toys (he could identify them by name), chasing "peanuts" (his name for squirrels), nappy time with his human sis, Angela, and was the "groomer" for all the other pets.  He was a sweet, humble little dog, content with his place in the pack.  He was joined in 2001 by his adopted sister puppy, Daisy, and they were inseperable crate mates ever since.

Rufus did make a solo trip to Washington DC on a TDY business trip.   He was loved by all the staff at the Holiday Inn in Alexandria VA.  He also managed to charm the staff at La Quinta en route to Key West to see his beloved Angela, and was caught by us at the front desk with Daisy, eating shrimp.

Rufus camping, March 19, 2012

Rufus went on many trips to the beach and camping.  When he wasn't traveling with the family he enjoyed visiting Endless Love Pet Palace and staying with his beloved Sheila.

Everyone, human or animal, that knew Rufus loved him.  He was predeceased by his cat brother and sisters, George, Blackie, and Kali.  He had a short time with his first adopted sister Millie, then spent a little while as the only dog before the arrival of Daisy.  He leaves behind Daisy, his cat sisters, Cookie and Missy, and cat brother Marvin, and his dog brothers Tyrone and Melvin.

Even though he was 11.5 years old, we weren't expecting him to be gone so soon; we hoped he would live a very long life and be a very old dog.  He was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in April, and seemed fine until he started on meds.  I spent the last couple of hours of his life holding the oxygen tube for him, he quietly passed on the way to a critical care vet.  I really thought he had a few years left.  The house is not the same without our senior dog, and he will be missed by all.  I still expect to see him in all his favorite hang outs, and was looking forward to taking him to the beach in July.  We will miss him so much.