This is Rufus. He’s my newest friend. We shared my sandwich yesterday. And in case you can’t tell in the picture, he’s a big ol’ dude. Part something hound, part German shepherd, and according to his Person: “He’s useless. He ain’t a guard dog, he cain’t heard cattle. Well, I guess he barks when people come up. There are only two people he doesn’t like. He loves girls.”

Rufus certainly is endearing. After a game of tag and hide-and-seek while I moved a water hose, I tried to call him over to me. He wouldn’t come. I realized very quickly that he was leaving his mark on the back tire of my lawn mower. I also realized very quickly that he couldn’t even hit the tire and was instead soaking his own front leg. Awkward.

Needless to say, this buddy of mine did not have a ride on the mower with me. But he wanted to. Yeah, buddy. He wanted to.